Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/213

Rh great capital of the Universe, while all around as far as the eye could reach were strewn uprooted trees, ruined buildings, and the wrecks of battleships. But the scorched and burnt ground was covered with an enthusiastic crowd of men and women, who cheered frantically when the Union Jack was displayed as the signal for departure. Then James Tarrant arrived, accompanied by the Admiral-in-Chief, and was received with frantic cheers and saluted as the saviour of his country. A moment later they were on board the flag-ship. Handkerchiefs and cocked hats were waved in the air, swords glistened in the sunlight, and the mighty fleet swept away into space.

Nothing of any importance occurred on the voyage. They did not meet with a single hostile war-ship all the way. The moon was soon passed and left far away in the distance. The orbits of Mars and Saturn were passed in quick succession, and finally that of Neptune, at the end of