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XIII . HOW I FELL IN WITH THE CURATE . After getting this sudden lesson in the power of terrestrial weapons , the Martians retreated to their original position upon Horsell Common ; and in their haste , and encumbered with the debris of their smashed companion , they no doubt overlooked many such a stray and negligible victim as myself . Had they left their comrade and pushed on forthwith , there was nothing at that time between them and London but batteries of twelve - pounder guns , and they would certainly have reached the capital in advance of the tidings of their approach ; as sudden , dreadful , and destructive their advent would have been as the earthquake that destroyed Lisbon a century ago . But they were in no hurry . Cylinder followed cylinder on its interplanetary flight ; every twenty - four hours brought them reinforcement . And meanwhile the military and naval authorities , now fully alive to the tremendous power of their antagonists , worked with furious energy . Every minute a fresh gun came into position until , before twilight , every copse , every row of suburban villas on the hilly slopes about Kingston and Richmond , masked an expectant black muzzle . And through the charred and desolated area — perhaps twenty square miles altogether — that encircled the Martian encampment on Horsell Common , through charred and ruined villages among the green trees , through the blackened and smoking arcades that had been but a day ago pine spinneys , crawled the devoted scouts with the heliographs that were presently to warn the gunners of the Martian approach . But the Martians now understood our command of artillery and the danger of human proximity , and not a man ventured within a mile of either cylinder , save at the price of his life . It would seem that these giants spent the earlier part of the afternoon in going to and fro , transferring everything from the second and third cylinders — the second in Addlestone Golf Links and the third at Pyrford — to their original pit on Horsell Common . Over that , above the blackened heather and ruined buildings that stretched far and wide , stood one as sentinel , while the rest abandoned their vast fighting - machines and descended into the pit . They were hard at work there far into the night , and the towering pillar of dense green smoke that rose therefrom could be seen from the hills about Merrow , and even , it is said , from Banstead and Epsom Downs . And while the Martians behind me were thus preparing for their next sally , and in front of me Humanity gathered for the battle , I made my way with infinite pains and labour from the fire and smoke of burning Weybridge towards London .
Назад Сторінка 42 з 121 Сторінка 42 з 121 Вперед Читайте далі з перекладом Створіть безкоштовний акаунт: 7 днів Pro, далі 20 перекладів слів на день або платний тариф.
