I had a clear view of the battle at the mine. As the red machines came within range, the railway gun and the camouflaged seventy-fives began firing. One of the red ships suddenly went down in flames, and then two more. Whether they were hit, or were victims of the Vernon Ray, I do not know.
But in a few minutes the vicinity of the mine was dotted with the coiling hills of purple gas from the gravity-destroying bombs. I saw railway cars and engines, guns and tanks, and even the railroad rails and the mining machinery, torn from their places and plunging into the air. Suddenly the huge glass dome was shattered, and a great object shot up through it—Dr. Vernon's terrible instrument!
But in a few minutes the vicinity of the mine was dotted with the coiling hills of purple gas. I saw railway cars and engines, guns and tanks, and even the railroad rails and the mining machinery, torn from their places and plunging into the air.
What can men do against instruments that hurl them off the earth?
By that time I was so high that the whole plain about the mine was but a tiny brownish patch, and soon that was veiled in the mists of distance. I grew very cold, and beat my arms against my sides to warm them. My breath grew short, and presently my nose began to bleed. The blue sky grew darker until a few stars broke into view, and then many. The flaming sun seemed to give no heat. Intense cold crept over my limbs.
As I was floating upward to my doom, I thought of the impending fate of the earth. The red fleets might sweep over the world, sending armies, battleships, cities and factories into the frozen night of space. That madman, Vars, with his incredible allies that we had glimpsed, with the negative gravity bombs and Dr. Vernon's ray machine, could realize his mad dream of world dominion. Humanity would be helpless against his insane power.
Amid those speculations of the horror to come, my consciousness faded.