Then, on the ninth day, we saw the Martians eating
Inside the hood of their new machine
They were draining the fresh, living blood of men and women
And injecting it into their own veins
It's a sign! I've been given a sign!
They must be cast out and I have been chosen to do it!
I must confront them now!
Those machines are just demons in another form!
I shall destroy them with my prayers!
I shall burn them with my Holy Cross!
I shall -
No, parson, no!
The curious eye of a Martian appeared at the window-slit
And a menacing claw explored the room
I dragged the parson down to the coal cellar
I heard the Martian fumbling at the latch
In the darkness I could see the claw touching things
Walls, coal, wood - and then it touch my boot!
I almost shouted!
For a time it was still and then, with a click, it gripped something
The parson!
With slow, deliberate movements
His unconscious body was dragged away
And there was nothing I could do to prevent it.
I crept to the blocked window-slit and peered through the creeper
The Martians, and all their machinery, had gone!
Trembling, I dug my way out and clambered to
The top of the mound Not a Martian in sight!
The day seemed dazzling bright after my imprisonment
And the sky a glowing blue
Red Weed covered every scrap of ground
But a gentle breeze kept it swaying
And oh! the sweetness of the air!