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!