From here and there ascended the smoke of burning; and once, as he flitted over one of the great squares to the south of Battersea, he had seen as it were a scattered squadron of ants running as if in fear or pursuit....

He knew what was happening....

Well, after all, man was not yet perfectly civilised.
He did not like to think of what awaited him at home.

Once, about five hours earlier, he had listened to his wife's voice through the telephone, and what he had heard had nearly caused him to leave all and go to her.

Yet he was scarcely prepared for what he found.
As he came into the sitting-room, there was no sound, except that far-away hum from the seething streets below.