Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/163

Rh were dreadfully mutilated. By this successful charge the numbers of the two contending fleets were made very nearly equal.

The battle area had now become a scene of great confusion. The space around the ships was filled with smoke and wreckage. The two fleets were so mixed up together that organized fighting became impossible. The ships wandered about until they found an enemy and then fought with him hand-to-hand.

It was about this time that Providence prepared a retribution that was to fall upon both parties alike and punish them for their impious daring and unbridled passions. They had been recklessly letting loose through space, for the purpose of mutual destruction, giant forces which should have been used for better purposes. The admirals never guessed that the results of the great battle which had taken place months before in the depths of space would be likely to pursue