Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/136

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CHAPTER X

A Peaceful Interval

When Alec Brandon came to his senses again, he was dimly conscious of a feeling of quietness and peace, that was quite different from the noise and clang that was deafening his ears when he lost consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He lay on a bed in a good-sized room, which was lighted by a dimly-burning lamp that hung from the ceiling. He tried to move, but an overpowering weight held him down to the bed, and he felt a dull pain in one of his legs. In a few seconds his head whirled round, and he became unconscious. How long he lay he knew not, but when his senses returned he felt