astonishing variation of their Sunday experiences. In the midst of it

all the worthy vicar was very pluckily holding an early celebration,

and his bell was jangling out above the excitement.

I and the artilleryman, seated on the step of the drinking

fountain, made a very passable meal upon what we had brought with

us. Patrols of soldiers--here no longer hussars, but grenadiers in

white--were warning people to move now or to take refuge in their

cellars as soon as the firing began. We saw as we crossed the

railway bridge that a growing crowd of people had assembled in and

about the railway station, and the swarming platform was piled with

boxes and packages. The ordinary traffic had been stopped, I believe,

in order to allow of the passage of troops and guns to Chertsey, and

I have heard since that a savage struggle occurred for places in the

special trains that were put on at a later hour.

We remained at Weybridge until midday, and at that hour we found

ourselves at the place near Shepperton Lock where the Wey and Thames

join. Part of the time we spent helping two old women to pack a

little cart. The Wey has a treble mouth, and at this point boats are

to be hired, and there was a ferry across the river. On the

Shepperton side was an inn with a lawn, and beyond that the tower of

Shepperton Church--it has been replaced by a spire--rose above the

trees.

Here we found an excited and noisy crowd of fugitives. As yet the

The War of the Worlds