his insignificant territory and the British Isles were
packed all that was left of the world's two billion people: a blinded,
starving mob, driven mad by terror. How many there were there,
squirming, struggling, dying in a desperate unwillingness to give up
existence, no matter how intolerable, no one could calculate; any more
than a census could be taken of the numbers buried beneath the Grass now
holding untroubled sway over ninetenths of the globe.

Watchers were set upon the English coast in a manner reminiscent of
1940. I don't know exactly what value the giving of the alarm would have
been; nevertheless, night and day eyes were strained through binoculars
and telescopes for signs of the unique green on the horizon or the
first seed slipping through to find a home on insular soil.

Miss Francis' optimistic news had been communicated to the authorities,
but not given out over the BBC. This was an obvious precaution against a
wave of concerted invasion by the fear obsessed horde beyond the
Channel. While they might respect our barriers if the hope for survival
was dim, a chance pickup of the news that the Grass was doomed would be
sure to send its destined victims frenziedly seeking a refuge until the
consummation occurred. If such a thing happened our tiny islands would
be suffocated by refugees, our stores would not last a week, and we
should all go down to destruction together.

But in the mysterious way of rumor, the news spread to hearten the
islanders. They had always been determined to fight the Grass--if
necessary as the Chinese had fought it till overwhelmed--indeed, what
other course had they? But now their need was only to hold it at bay
until the new discovery could be implemented. And there was good chance
of its being put to use before the Grass had got far beyond the Rhine.

_93._ Now we were on the last lap, my interest in the progress of the
scientific tests was such that I insisted upon being present at every
field experiment. For some reason Miss Francis didnt care for this and
tried to dissuade me, both by her disagreeable manner (her
eccentricity--craziness would undoubtedly be a more accurate
term--increased daily) and by her assurances I couldnt possibly find
anything to hold my attention there. But of course I overruled her and
didnt miss a single one of these fascinating if sometimes disappointing
trials.

I vividly recall the first one. She had reiterated there would be
nothing worth