THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
sion, and for some time a multitude of boats and barges jammed in the northern arch of the Tower Bridge, and the sailors and lighter-men had to fight savagely against the people who swarmed upon them from the river front. People were actually clambering down the piers of the bridge from above.
When, an hour later, a Martian appeared beyond the Clock Tower and waded down the river, nothing but wreckage floated above Limehouse.
Of the falling of the fifth cylinder I have presently to tell. The sixth star fell at Wimbledon. My brother, keeping watch beside the women sleeping in the chaise in a meadow, saw the green flash of it far beyond the hills. On Tuesday the little party, still set upon get ting across the sea, made its way through the swarming country towards Colchester. The news that the Martians were now in possession of the whole of London was confirmed. They had been seen at Highgate, and even, it was said, at Neasdon. But they did not come into my brother's view until the morrow.
That day the scattered multitudes began to realize the urgent need of provisions. As they grew hungry the rights of property ceased to be regarded. Farmers were out to defend their cattlesheds, granaries, and ripening root
172
