whom I spoke. All over the district people were dining and supping;

working men were gardening after the labours of the day, children

were being put to bed, young people were wandering through the lanes

love-making, students sat over their books.

Maybe there was a murmur in the village streets, a novel and

dominant topic in the public-houses, and here and there a messenger,

or even an eye-witness of the later occurrences, caused a whirl of

excitement, a shouting, and a running to and fro; but for the most

part the daily routine of working, eating, drinking, sleeping, went on

as it had done for countless years--as though no planet Mars existed

in the sky. Even at Woking station and Horsell and Chobham that was

the case.

In Woking junction, until a late hour, trains were stopping and

going on, others were shunting on the sidings, passengers were

alighting and waiting, and everything was proceeding in the most

ordinary way. A boy from the town, trenching on Smith's monopoly, was

selling papers with the afternoon's news. The ringing impact of

trucks, the sharp whistle of the engines from the junction, mingled

with their shouts of "Men from Mars!" Excited men came into the

station about nine o'clock with incredible tidings, and caused no more

disturbance than drunkards might have done. People rattling

Londonwards peered into the darkness outside the carriage windows, and

saw only a rare, flickering, vanishing spark dance up from the

direction of Horsell, a red glow and a thin veil of smoke driving

The War of the Worlds