I yank the horse to the side, he trips and falls into the ditch, just as second tripod appears.

One second later and it would have seen me. The poor horse broke his neck in the fall. The poor creature. But if he could move he would have died anyway, by the Martian heat ray.

I stay perfectly still until the tripods pass by. They are setting fires everywhere! When I'm sure they have passed I crawl through the stream into the woods. The storm has turned to hail. I am soaked and freezing.

Should I sneak back to my house for food and dry clothes? Or should I try to find the local soldiers to learn more? Or do something else?