“A curious contraption, isn’t it?”

“The nitency of it is remarkable! The quarrymen must have piled a hundred of those boulders in the road and it pushed them aside just like they’d been a child’s marbles.”

“Do you think it really fell from the sky? Or do you think it’s just a prank?”

“I don’t know what to think, but I can’t imagine such a thing having been built by any man or men in secret.”

A sharp intake of breath. “Perhaps it is a war engine?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps it is filled with TNT and they will drive it into Buckingham Palace and explode the whole lot.”

“Where’s the Army anyhow? Shouldn’t the Territorials be here by now?”

“They say there’s another one in Hyde Park, I’ll bet they’re all busy there. It’s not as though these fellows aren’t trying.”

“I saw the one who fell under it. It was horrid.”

“It’s stopped!”

“My God! What is that noise?”

“I think it’s opening!”

“Why is it so warm all of a sudden?”

“My God…”