An insane resolve possessed me.  I would die and end it.  And I
would save myself even the trouble of killing myself.  I marched on
recklessly towards this Titan, and then, as I drew nearer and the
light grew, I saw that a multitude of black birds was circling and
clustering about the hood.  At that my heart gave a bound, and I began
running along the road.

I hurried through the red weed that choked St. Edmund's Terrace (I
waded breast-high across a torrent of water that was rushing down from
the waterworks towards the Albert Road), and emerged upon the grass
before the rising of the sun.  Great mounds had been heaped about the
crest of the hill, making a huge redoubt of it--it was the final and
largest place the Martians had made--and from behind these heaps there
rose a thin smoke against the sky.  Against the sky line an eager dog
ran and disappeared.  The thought that had flashed into my mind grew
real, grew credible.  I felt no fear, only a wild, trembling
exultation, as I ran up the hill towards the motionless monster.  Out
of the hood hung lank shreds of brown, at which the hungry birds
pecked and tore.