Война миров

           Thenthere’scellars,vaults,stores,fromwhichboltingpassagesmaybemadetothedrains. Andtherailwaytunnelsandsubways. Eh?Youbegintosee? Andweformaband—able-bodied,clean-mindedmen. We’renotgoingtopickupanyrubbishthatdriftsin. Weaklingsgooutagain." 

           "Asyoumeantmetogo?" 

           "Well—lparleyed,didn’tI?" 

           "Wewon’tquarrelaboutthat.Goon." 

           "Thosewhostopobeyorders. Able-bodied,clean-mindedwomenwewantalso—mothersandteachers. Nolackadaisicalladies—noblastedrollingeyes. Wecan’thaveanyweakorsilly. Lifeisrealagain,andtheuselessandcumbersomeandmischievoushavetodie. Theyoughttodie. Theyoughttobewillingtodie. It’sasortofdisloyalty,afterall,toliveandtainttherace. Andtheycan’tbehappy. Moreover,dying’snonesodreadful;it’sthefunkingmakesitbad. Andinallthoseplacesweshallgather. OurdistrictwillbeLondon. Andwemayevenbeabletokeepawatch,andrunaboutintheopenwhentheMartianskeepaway. Playcricket,perhaps. That’showweshallsavetherace.Eh? It’sapossiblething? Butsavingtheraceisnothinginitself. AsIsay,that’sonlybeingrats. It’ssavingourknowledgeandaddingtoitisthething. Theremenlikeyoucomein. There’sbooks,there’smodels. Wemustmakegreatsafeplacesdowndeep,andgetallthebookswecan; notnovelsandpoetryswipes,butideas,sciencebooks. That’swheremenlikeyoucomein. WemustgototheBritishMuseumandpickallthosebooksthrough. Especiallywemustkeepupourscience—learnmore. WemustwatchtheseMartians. Someofusmustgoasspies. Whenit’sallworking,perhapsIwill.