told me was a heliograph.
You are the first men I ve seen coming this way this morning, said
the lieutenant. What s brewing?
His voice and face were eager. The men behind him stared curiously. The
artilleryman jumped down the bank into the road and saluted.
Gun destroyed last night, sir. Have been hiding. Trying to rejoin
battery, sir. You ll come in sight of the Martians, I expect, about
half a mile along this road.
What the dickens are they like? asked the lieutenant.
Giants in armour, sir. Hundred feet high. Three legs and a body like
luminium, with a mighty great head in a hood, sir.
Get out! said the lieutenant. What confounded nonsense!
You ll see, sir. They carry a kind of box, sir, that shoots fire and
strikes you dead.
What d ye mean a gun?
No, sir, and the artilleryman began a vivid account of the Heat-Ray.
Halfway through, the lieutenant interrupted him and looked up at me. I
was still standing on the bank by the side of the road.
It s perfectly true, I said.
Well, said the lieutenant, I suppose it s my business to see it too.
Look here to the artilleryman we re detailed here clearing people out
of their houses. You d better go along and report yourself to
Brigadier-General Marvin, and tell him all you know. He s at Weybridge.
Know the way?
I do, I said; and he turned his horse southward again.
Half a mile, you say? said he.
49