<f211r.P.10;W> even the daily papers woke up to the disturbances at -
<f211r.P.11;W> last and popular notes appeared here there and everywhere -
<f211r.P.12;W> concerning the volcanoes upon mars the seriocomic periodi -
<f211r.P.13;W> cal punch i remember made a happy use of it in the -
<f211r.P.14;W> political cartoon and all unsuspected those missiles the -
<f211r.P.15;W> martians had fired at us drew earthward rushing now at a -
<f211r.P.16;W> pace of many miles a second through the empty gulf of -
<f211r.P.17;W> space hour by hour and day by day nearer and nearer it -
<f211r.P.18;W> seems to me now almost incredibly wonderful that with -
<f211r.P.19;W> that swift fate hanging over us men could go about their -
<f211r.P.20;W> petty concerns as they did i remember how jubilant markham -
<f211r.P.21;W> was at securing a new photograph of the planet for the -
<f211r.P.22;W> illustrated paper he edited in those days people in these -
<f211r.P.23;W> latter times scarcely realise the abundance and enterprise -
<f211r.P.24;W> of our nineteenthcentury papers for my own part i was -
<f211r.P.25;W> much occupied in learning to ride the bicycle and busy -
<f211r.P.26;W> upon a series of papers discussing the probable developments -
<f211r.P.27;W> of moral ideas as civilisation progressed =
<f211r.P.28;W> one night the first missile then could scarcely have been -
<f211r.P.29;W> miles away i went for a walk with my wife it -
<f211r.P.30;W> was starlight and i explained the signs of the zodiac to -
<f211r.P.31;W> her and pointed out mars a bright dot of light creeping -
<f211r.P.32;W> zenithward towards which so many telescopes were pointed -
<f211r.P.33;W> it was a warm night coming home a party of excursionists -
<f211r.P.34;W> from chertsey or isleworth passed us singing and playing -
<f211r.P.35;W> music there were lights in the upper windows of the houses -
<f211r.P.36;W> as the people went to bed from the railway station in the -
<f211r.P.37;W> distance came the sound of shunting trains ringing and -
<f211r.P.38;W> rumbling softened almost into melody by the distance my -
<f211r.P.39;W> wife pointed out to me the brightness of the red green and -
<f211r.P.40;W> yellow signal lights hanging in a framework against the sky -
<f211r.P.41;W> it seemed so safe and tranquil =