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1Then suddenly the white flashes of the Heat-Ray came leaping towards me. The houses caved in as they dissolved at its
2touch, and darted out flames; the trees changed to fire with a roar. The Ray flickered up and down the towing path,
3licking off the people who ran this way and that, and came down to the water's edge not fifty yards from where I stood.
4It swept across the river to Shepperton, and the water in its track rose in a boiling weal crested with steam. I turned
5shoreward. In another moment the huge wave, well-nigh at the boiling-point had rushed upon me. I screamed aloud, and
6scalded, half blinded, agonised, I staggered through the leaping, hissing water towards the shore. Had my foot stumbled,
7it would have been the end. I fell helplessly, in full sight of the Martians, upon the broad, bare gravelly spit that
8runs down to mark the angle of the Wey and Thames. I expected nothing but death. I have a dim memory of the foot of a
9Martian coming down within a score of yards of my head, driving straight into the loose gravel, whirling it this way and
10that and lifting again; of a long suspense, and then of the four carrying the debris of their comrade between them, now
11clear and then presently faint through a veil of smoke, receding interminably, as it seemed to me, across a vast space
12of river and meadow. And then, very slowly, I realised that by a miracle I had escaped. XIII. HOW I FELL IN WITH THE
13CURATE. After getting this sudden lesson in the power of terrestrial weapons, the Martians retreated to their original
14position upon Horsell Common; and in their haste, and encumbered with the debris of their smashed companion, they no
15doubt overlooked many such a stray and negligible victim as myself. Had they left their comrade and pushed on forthwith,
16there was nothing at that time between them and London but batteries of twelve-pounder guns, and they would certainly
17have reached the capital in advance of the tidings of their approach; as sudden, dreadful, and destructive their advent
18would have been as the earthquake that destroyed Lisbon a century ago. But they were in no hurry. Cylinder followed
19cylinder on its interplanetary flight; every twenty-four hours brought them reinforcement. And meanwhile the military
20and naval authorities, now fully alive to the tremendous power of their antagonists, worked with furious energy. Every
21minute a fresh gun came into position until, before twilight, every copse, every row of suburban villas on the hilly
22slopes about Kingston and Richmond, masked an expectant black muzzle. And through the charred and desolated
23area--perhaps twenty square miles altogether--that encircled the Martian encampment on Horsell Common, through charred
24and ruined villages among the green trees, through the blackened and smoking arcades that had been but a day ago pine
25spinneys, crawled the devoted scouts with the heliographs that were presently to warn the gunners of the Martian
26approach. But the Martians now understood our command of artillery and the danger of human proximity, and not a man
27ventured within a mile of either cylinder, save at the price of his life. It would seem that these giants spent the
28earlier part of the afternoon in going to and fro, transferring everything from the second and third cylinders--the
29second in Addlestone Golf Links and the third at Pyrford--to their original pit on Horsell Common. Over that, above the
30blackened heather and ruined buildings that stretched far and wide, stood one as sentinel, while the rest abandoned
31their vast fighting-machines and descended into the pit. They were hard at work there far into the night, and the
32towering pillar of dense green smoke that rose therefrom could be seen from the hills about Merrow, and even, it is
33said, from Banstead and Epsom Downs. And while the Martians behind me were thus preparing for their next sally, and in
34front of me Humanity gathered for the battle, I made my way with infinite pains and labour from the fire and smoke of
35burning Weybridge towards London. I saw an abandoned boat, very small and remote, drifting down-stream; and throwing off
36the most of my sodden clothes, I went after it, gained it, and so escaped out of that destruction. There were no oars in
37the boat, but I contrived to paddle, as well as my parboiled hands would allow, down the river towards Halliford and
38Walton, going very tediously and continually looking behind me, as you may well understand. I followed the river,
39because I considered that the water gave me my best chance of escape should these giants return. The hot water from the
40Martian's overthrow drifted downstream with me, so that for the best part of a mile I could see little of either bank.
41Once, however, I made out a string of black figures hurrying across the meadows from the direction of Weybridge.
42Halliford, it seemed, was deserted, and several of the houses facing the river were on fire. It was strange to see the
43place quite tranquil, quite desolate under the hot blue sky, with the smoke and little threads of flame going straight
44up into the heat of the afternoon. Never before had I seen houses burning without the accompaniment of an obstructive
45crowd. A little farther on the dry reeds up the bank were smoking and glowing, and a line of fire inland was marching
46steadily across a late field of hay. For a long time I drifted, so painful and weary was I after the violence I had been
47through, and so intense the heat upon the water. Then my fears got the better of me again, and I resumed my paddling.
48The sun scorched my bare back. At last, as the bridge at Walton was coming into sight round the bend, my fever and
49faintness overcame my fears, and I landed on the Middlesex bank and lay down, deadly sick, amid the long grass. I
50suppose the time was then about four or five o'clock. I got up presently, walked perhaps half a mile without meeting a
51soul, and then lay down again in the shadow of a hedge. I seem to remember talking, wanderingly, to myself during that
52last spurt. I was also very thirsty, and bitterly regretful I had drunk no more water. It is a curious thing that I felt
53angry with my wife; I cannot account for it, but my impotent desire to reach Leatherhead worried me excessively. I do
54not clearly remember the arrival of the curate, so that probably I dozed. I became aware of him as a seated figure in
55soot-smudged shirt sleeves, and with his upturned, clean-shaven face staring at a faint flickering that danced over the
56sky. The sky was what is called a mackerel sky--rows and rows of faint down-plumes of cloud, just tinted with the
57midsummer sunset. I sat up, and at the rustle of my motion he looked at me quickly. "Have you any water?" I asked
58abruptly. He shook his head. "You have been asking for water for the last hour," he said. For a moment we were silent,
59taking stock of each other. I dare say he found me a strange enough figure, naked, save for my water-soaked trousers and
60socks, scalded, and my face and shoulders blackened by the smoke. His face was a fair weakness, his chin retreated, and
61his hair lay in crisp, almost flaxen curls on his low forehead; his eyes were rather large, pale blue, and blankly
62staring. He spoke abruptly, looking vacantly away from me. "What does it mean?" he said. "What do these things mean?" I
63stared at him and made no answer. He extended a thin white hand and spoke in almost a complaining tone. "Why are these
64things permitted? What sins have we done? The morning service was over, I was walking through the roads to clear my
65brain for the afternoon, and then--fire, earthquake, death! As if it were Sodom and Gomorrah! All our work undone, all
66the work---- What are these Martians?" "What are we?" I answered, clearing my throat. He gripped his knees and turned to
67look at me again. For half a minute, perhaps, he stared silently. "I was walking through the roads to clear my brain,"
68he said. "And suddenly--fire, earthquake, death!" He relapsed into silence, with his chin now sunken almost to his
69knees. Presently he began waving his hand. "All the work--all the Sunday schools--What have we done--what has Weybridge
70done? Everything gone--everything destroyed. The church! We rebuilt it only three years ago. Gone! Swept out of
71existence! Why?" Another pause, and he broke out again like one demented. "The smoke of her burning goeth up for ever
72and ever!" he shouted. His eyes flamed, and he pointed a lean finger in the direction of Weybridge.
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