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361
At
that
I
ducked
at
once
under
water
,
and
,
holding
my
breath
until
movement
was
an
agony
,
blundered
painfully
ahead
under
the
surface
as
long
as
I
could
.
The
water
was
in
a
tumult
about
me
,
and
rapidly
growing
hotter
.
362
When
for
a
moment
I
raised
my
head
to
take
breath
and
throw
the
hair
and
water
from
my
eyes
,
the
steam
was
rising
in
a
whirling
white
fog
that
at
first
hid
the
Martians
altogether
.
The
noise
was
deafening
.
Then
I
saw
them
dimly
,
colossal
figures
of
grey
,
magnified
by
the
mist
.
They
had
passed
by
me
,
and
two
were
stooping
over
the
frothing
,
tumultuous
ruins
of
their
comrade
.
363
The
third
and
fourth
stood
beside
him
in
the
water
,
one
perhaps
two
hundred
yards
from
me
,
the
other
towards
Laleham
.
The
generators
of
the
Heat-Rays
waved
high
,
and
the
hissing
beams
smote
down
this
way
and
that
.
Отключить рекламу
364
The
air
was
full
of
sound
,
a
deafening
and
confusing
conflict
of
noises
--
the
clangorous
din
of
the
Martians
,
the
crash
of
falling
houses
,
the
thud
of
trees
,
fences
,
sheds
flashing
into
flame
,
and
the
crackling
and
roaring
of
fire
.
365
Dense
black
smoke
was
leaping
up
to
mingle
with
the
steam
from
the
river
,
and
as
the
Heat-Ray
went
to
and
fro
over
Weybridge
its
impact
was
marked
by
flashes
of
incandescent
white
,
that
gave
place
at
once
to
a
smoky
dance
of
lurid
flames
.
The
nearer
houses
still
stood
intact
,
awaiting
their
fate
,
shadowy
,
faint
and
pallid
in
the
steam
,
with
the
fire
behind
them
going
to
and
fro
.
366
For
a
moment
perhaps
I
stood
there
,
breast-high
in
the
almost
boiling
water
,
dumbfounded
at
my
position
,
hopeless
of
escape
.
Through
the
reek
I
could
see
the
people
who
had
been
with
me
in
the
river
scrambling
out
of
the
water
through
the
reeds
,
like
little
frogs
hurrying
through
grass
from
the
advance
of
a
man
,
or
running
to
and
fro
in
utter
dismay
on
the
towing
path
.
367
Then
suddenly
the
white
flashes
of
the
Heat-Ray
came
leaping
towards
me
.
The
houses
caved
in
as
they
dissolved
at
its
touch
,
and
darted
out
flames
;
the
trees
changed
to
fire
with
a
roar
.
The
Ray
flickered
up
and
down
the
towing
path
,
licking
off
the
people
who
ran
this
way
and
that
,
and
came
down
to
the
water
's
edge
not
fifty
yards
from
where
I
stood
.
It
swept
across
the
river
to
Shepperton
,
and
the
water
in
its
track
rose
in
a
boiling
weal
crested
with
steam
.
I
turned
shoreward
.
Отключить рекламу
368
In
another
moment
the
huge
wave
,
well-nigh
at
the
boiling-point
had
rushed
upon
me
.
I
screamed
aloud
,
and
scalded
,
half
blinded
,
agonised
,
I
staggered
through
the
leaping
,
hissing
water
towards
the
shore
.
Had
my
foot
stumbled
,
it
would
have
been
the
end
.
I
fell
helplessly
,
in
full
sight
of
the
Martians
,
upon
the
broad
,
bare
gravelly
spit
that
runs
down
to
mark
the
angle
of
the
Wey
and
Thames
.
I
expected
nothing
but
death
.
369
I
have
a
dim
memory
of
the
foot
of
a
Martian
coming
down
within
a
score
of
yards
of
my
head
,
driving
straight
into
the
loose
gravel
,
whirling
it
this
way
and
that
and
lifting
again
;
of
a
long
suspense
,
and
then
of
the
four
carrying
the
debris
of
their
comrade
between
them
,
now
clear
and
then
presently
faint
through
a
veil
of
smoke
,
receding
interminably
,
as
it
seemed
to
me
,
across
a
vast
space
of
river
and
meadow
.
And
then
,
very
slowly
,
I
realised
that
by
a
miracle
I
had
escaped
.
370
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
.