moods. I do not know how far my experience is common. At times I suffer from the strangest sense of detachment from myself and the world about me; I seem to watch it all from the outside, from somewhere inconceivably remote, out of time, out of space, out of the stress and tragedy of it all. This feeling was very strong upon me that night. Here was another side to my dream.

But the trouble was the blank incongruity of this serenity and the swift death flying yonder, not two miles away. There was a noise of business from the gasworks, and the electric lamps were all alight. I stopped at the group of people.

ЋWhat news from the common?Л said I.

There were two men and a woman at the gate.

ЋEh?Л said one of the men, turning.

ЋWhat news from the common?Л I said.

Ћ'Ain't yer justbeen there?Л asked the men.

ЋPeople seem fair silly about the common,Л said the woman over the gate. ЋWhat's it all abart?Л

ЋHaven't you heard of the men from Mars?Л said I; Ћthe creatures from Mars?Л

ЋQuite enough,Л said the woman over the gate. ЋThanksЛ; and all three of them laughed.

I felt foolish and angry. I tried and found I could not tell them what I had seen. They laughed again at my broken sentences.

ЋYou'll hear more yet,Л I said, and went on to my home.

I startled my wife at the doorway, so haggard was I. I went into the dining room, sat down, drank some wine, and so soon as I could collect myself sufficiently I told her the things I had seen. The dinner, which was a cold one, had already been served, and remained neglected on the table while I told my story.

ЋThere is one thing,Л I said, to allay the fears I had aroused; Ћthey are the most sluggish things I ever saw crawl. They may keep the pit and kill people who come near them, but they cannot get out of it€ But the horror of them!Л

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