grey. He looked over his shoulder suddenly. Only a rook, he said.
One gets to know that birds have shadows these days. This is a bit
open. Let us crawl under those bushes and talk.
Have you seen any Martians? I said. Since I crawled out
They ve gone away across London, he said. I guess they ve got a
bigger camp there. Of a night, all over there, Hampstead way, the sky
is alive with their lights. It s like a great city, and in the glare
you can just see them moving. By daylight you can t. But nearer I
haven t seen them (he counted on his fingers) five days. Then I saw
a couple across Hammersmith way carrying something big. And the night
before last he stopped and spoke impressively it was just a matter of
lights, but it was something up in the air. I believe they ve built a
flying-machine, and are learning to fly.
I stopped, on hands and knees, for we had come to the bushes.
Fly!
Yes, he said, fly.
I went on into a little bower, and sat down.
It is all over with humanity, I said. If they can do that they will
simply go round the world.
He nodded.
They will. But It will relieve things over here a bit. And
besides He looked at me. Aren t you satisfied it _is_ up with
humanity? I am. We re down; we re beat.
I stared. Strange as it may seem, I had not arrived at this fact a fact
perfectly obvious so soon as he spoke. I had still held a vague hope;
rather, I had kept a lifelong habit of mind. He repeated his words,
We re beat. They carried absolute conviction.
It s all over, he said. They ve lost _one_ just _one_. And they ve
made their footing good and crippled the greatest power in the world.
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