"You are the first men I've seen coming this way this morning,"
said the lieutenant.  "What's brewing?"

His voice and face were eager.  The men behind him stared
curiously.  The artilleryman jumped down the bank into the road and
saluted.

"Gun destroyed last night, sir.  Have been hiding.  Trying to
rejoin battery, sir.  You'll come in sight of the Martians, I expect,
about half a mile along this road."