Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/74

62 vanished altogether. The huge fleet, with its hundreds of thousands of brave men, had gone.

Many thoughts filled the minds of the people of England when their great fleet had departed. Some thought only of the glories of war, of fresh conquests and new mines of wealth; but others were thinking of husbands, brothers, and sons whom they might see no more. Many secretly wished that the national ambition had been more restrained, and that they had been contented with their own planet, and not crossed the oceans of space in search of fresh lands and fresh enemies. But everyone assumed an air of confidence, so the public spirit rose from day to day. The dockyards continued to work day and night, making another fleet that was to be despatched to invade Kairet as soon as it was ready. The workshops resounded with the thumping of hammers, the crunch of rolling-mills, and the hissing of metal as it was liquefied under the new