Chapter 23

“I saw it happen.” I proceeded to tell him. “We have chanced to come in for the thick of it,” said I, “and that is all.” “What is that flicker in the sky?” he asked abruptly. I told him it was the heliograph signalling—that it was the sign of human help and effort in the sky. “We are in the midst of it,” I said, “quiet as it is. That flicker in the sky tells of the gathering storm. Yonder, I take it are the Martians, and Londonward, where those hills rise about Richmond and Kingston and the trees give cover, earthw…