The diamond drill., 1920-11-20

1
speed. smashing everything In their
path. At the tops. crouched In metal
hoods. lay the Martians.
Looking out from my windows at
dawn, j beheld an abomInable desola-
tion, blackened world that had been
green and fair. l struck out for Lon
don and for miles saw not living be-
ing. had reached the Thames when
| saw the Things coming. five OF them.
ran for the water. Straight toward
me sped one. but might have been
an ant In q mans path. II strode
through the river and lowered above
Shepperton. Then six hidden guns
belched together. One shell struck
the hood and there was horrible
confusion of flesh and blood and me-
tai. Something drove the uncontrolled
machine on, crashing through the viii
lage. toppling over the church-tower,
coIlapsing In the river. The others
+. rushed to the spot and the air was
! filed with kissing OF Heat Rays and
cracking of fires. Shepperton leaped
into flame. / staggered TO the shore
and when i looked up, the Things
were bearing away the smashed ma
chine.
l stumbled on, panic-stricken, dazed.
The world was doomed. These mon
sters could slay with Heat Rays be-
yond the range OF our biggest guns.
Not again could we kill one OF them
by surprise. Terror stalked through
London. To the horror OF Heat Rays
had been added the Black Smoke. a
cloud OF poison that bllghted all liv-
Ing things. So London streamed In
flight, 100000 people roaring out
along the highways until they were
rivers In flood.
fell into doze under hedge and
there the curate joined me. He was
half-mad with fright and clung to me.
We plodded on to a suburb where we
sought refuge I'm deserted house. At
midnight came a binding flash. When
day broke, we peered through a peep
hole and I'm the garden was n Marian.
Embedded in the earth was another
glowing cylinder.
For fifteen days was penned there.
so / saw more OF the monsters than
any other man now living. / watched
their intricate machlnes-the auto
matte digger, the sensitive handling
machine like a metallic spider,-so
flexible and 50 swiftly sure that they
seemed centuries In advance of our
rigid machinery. / could study too
the Martian habits. learned that
evolution had made them all brain.
cold. remorseless intelligences un-
swnyed by emotion. They neither
slept nor ate; they were sexless and
their young were budded Off, like the
young of corals. Most horrible to me
was the fact that they injected mems
blood into their veins for nourishment.
II was this that drove me to act
as did when the curate went raving
mad. i knew that his shouts would
warn the Martians OF our presence
and / tried TO silence him. He broke
away and caught him In the kitchen
where felled him with a meat-chop-
/ saw two dark eyes at the window.
fed TO the coal-cellar and above me
i heard a tapping. tapping. and then
the noise of heavy body being drag
ged across the floor.
Ipiled wood and coal over me when
I heard that tapping at the cellar
door. Through crevices could see
the terrible arm OF q handling-ma-
chine, waving, feeling. examining.
Once II ran across the heel OF my
boot and I nearly screamed. Then II
went away.
A week passed before dared look |
out. About the peep-hole was massed |
quantities OF the red weed that the |
Martians had brought-evidently vege- |
tation on Mars is red. pushed IL J
aside and gazed out. The garden was
deserted.
I crept into desolate world. About |
me was a smashed village. struggled
In through the outskirts OF London and
not until l reached Wimbledon Com
mon did / meet a man. He had food
uhN nhd Rtuho ACh taS aetoa~t
visions OF people living In the great
drains until they had science enough
TO conquer their conquerors. I stayed
with him until I had regaIned my
strength and then walked into dead
London.
The metropolis was stilled OF all It's
humming life. Here and there were
heaps OF dead, withered by Black
Smoke: here and there were signs of
destruction but IL was little changed
except for the horrible quiet. I was
near South Kensington when heard
the mournful bowling. -uIla. ulla !"
Not until the next day did see the
hood OF the giant that was making
this sobbing wall. He did not move
nor did three others that saw. stand
Ing strangely still. Driven by fear. I
resolved to end II all. walked toward
the Thing nearest me and saw birds