Page:The Wreck of a World - Grove - 1890.djvu/52

36 in the side, or the toothache, or something, and must wait for my nurse and perambulator."

"For God's sake, sir," said Gell, "don't talk like that. What do you think best to do? Those miserable fellows have left us, and we can't do much alone, but I am loth to go without having a bang at the monsters."

"If that is your mind, Gell, as it is exactly what I mean to do myself, in God's name let us do our little best. Mind, don't waste a shot."

The guns were already loaded, and thanks to their exquisite mechanism were worked as easily, if not as quickly, by one man as ten. We trained them carefully on the two foremost engines, I gave the word, and we fired simultaneously. Two explosions followed, as the boilers of the two machines blew up together. They were total wrecks, and not only so, but their débris had considerably damaged the economy of their neighbours. Hastily reloading, we demolished two more with our second discharge. The third round I missed my machine, the fourth and fifth Gell missed his. By this time the uninjured machines had approached within two furlongs, and were closing in