about nine o’clock
In Woking junction , until a late hour , trains were stopping and going on , others were shunting on the sidings , passengers were alighting and waiting , and everything was proceeding in the most ordinary way . A boy from the town , trenching on Smith 's monopoly , was selling papers with the afternoon 's news . The ringing impact of trucks , the sharp whistle of the engines from the junction , mingled with their shouts of `` Men from Mars ! '' Excited men came into the station about nine o'clock with incredible tidings , and caused no more disturbance than drunkards might have done . People rattling Londonwards peered into the darkness outside the carriage windows , and saw only a rare , flickering , vanishing spark dance up from the direction of Horsell , a red glow and a thin veil of smoke driving across the stars , and thought that nothing more serious than a heath fire was happening . It was only round the edge of the common that any disturbance was perceptible . There were half a dozen villas burning on the Woking border .