Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/174

162 bulwarks of rock, and committed frightful havoc among the Sirians. The latter approached them, but they fell to pieces under the terrible fire. They tried to entrench themselves behind rocks in the same manner as their enemies, but the positions of the latter had been so skilfully chosen that there were no suitable ridges in the neighbourhood. Sometimes the mines blew up with terrible explosions under their advancing lines, hurling the fragments of ships far and wide. The contest lasted for days and weeks without either party gaining any advantage. Hundreds of vessels lay on the dark side of the moon ready to destroy any adversary that came near them with the rays of Ednogen. When the crews were thoroughly tired out, the ships retired to the shadow for a few hours and then came forth again with renewed energies for the struggle.

The surface of the moon was soon strewn with wreckage and the mangled