isshut
in
against
intrusion
.
And
this
same
widening
gulf
—
which
is
due
to
the
length
and
expense
of
the
higher
educational
process
and
the
increased
facilities
for
and
temptations
towards
refined
habits
on
the
part
of
the
rich
—
will
make
that
exchange
between
class
and
class
,
that
promotion
by
intermarriage
which
at
present
retards
the
splitting
of
our
species
along
lines
of
social
stratification
,
less
and
less
frequent
.
So
,
in
the
end
,
above
ground
you
must
have
the
Haves
,
pursuing
pleasure
and
comfort
and
beauty
,
and
below
ground
the
Have-nots
;
the
Workers
getting
continually
adapted
to
the
conditions
of
their
labour
.
Once
they
were
there
,
they
would
,
no
doubt
,
have
to
pay
rent
,
and
not
a
little
of
it
,
for
the
ventilation
of
their
caverns
;
and
if
they
refused
,
they
would
starve
or
be
suffocated
for
arrears
.
Such
of
them
as
were
so
constituted
as
to
be
miserable
and
rebellious
would
die
;
and
,
in
the
end
,
the
balance
being
permanent
,
the
survivors
would
become
as
well
adapted
to
the
conditions
of
underground
life
,
and
as
happy
in
their
way
,
as
the
Overworld
people
were
to
theirs
.
As
it
seemed
to
me
,
the
refined
beauty
and
the
etiolated
pallor
followed
naturally
enough
.
"
The
great
triumph
of
Humanity
I
had
dreamed
of
took
a
different
shape
in
my
mind
.
It
had
been
no
such
triumph
of
moral
education
and
general
co-operation
as
I
had
imagined
.
Instead
,
I
saw
a
real
aristocracy
,
armed
with
a
perfected
science
and
working
to
a
logical
conclusion
the
industrial
system
of
to-day
.
Its
triumph
had
not
been
simply
a
triumph
over
nature
,
but
a
triumph
over
nature
and
the
fellow-man
.
This
,
I
must
warn
you
,
was
my
theory
at
the
time
.
I
had
no
convenient
cicerone
in
the
pattern
of
the
Utopian
books
.
My
explanation
may
be
absolutely
wrong
.
I
still
think
it
is
the
most
plausible
one
.
But
even
on
this
supposition
the
balanced
civilization
that
was
at
last
attained
must
have
long
since
passed
its
zenith
,
and
was
now
far
fallen
into
decay
.
The
too-perfect
security
of
the
Overworlders
had
led
them
to
a
slow
movement
of
degeneration
,
to
a
general
dwindling
in
size
,
strength
,
and
intelligence
.
That
I
could
see
clearly
enough
already
.
What
had
happened
to
the
Undergrounders
I
did
not
yet
suspect
;
but
,
from
what
I
had
seen
of
the
Morlocks
—
that
,
by
the
bye
,
was
the
name
by
which
these
creatures
were
called
—
I
could
imagine
that
the
modification
of
the
human
type
was
even
far
more
profound
than
among
the
'
Eloi
,
'
the
beautiful
race
that
I
already
knew
.
"
Then
came
troublesome
doubts
.
Why
had
the
Morlocks
taken
my
Time
Machine
?
For
I
felt
sure
it
was
they
who
had
taken
it
.
Why
,
too
,
if
the
Eloi
were
masters
,
could
they
not
restore
the
machine
to
me
?
And
why
were
they
so
terribly
afraid
of
the
dark
?
I
proceeded
,
as
I
have
said
,
to
question
Weena
about
this
Underworld
,
but
here
again
I
was
disappointed
.
At
first
she
would
not
understand
my
questions
,
and
presently
she
refused
to
answer
them
.
She
shivered
as
though
the
topic
was
unendurable
.
And
when
I
pressed
her
,
perhaps
a
little
harshly
,
she
burst
into
tears
.
They
were
the
only
tears
,
except
my
own
,
I
ever
saw
in
that
Golden
Age
.
When
I
saw
them
I
ceased
abruptly
to
trouble
about
the
Morlocks
,
and
was
only
concerned
in
banishing
these
signs
of
her
human
inheritance
from
Weena
's
eyes
.
And
very
soon
she
was
smiling
and
clapping
her
hands
,
while
I
solemnly
burnt
a
match
.
IX
THE
MORLOCKS
"
It
may
seem
odd
to
you
,
but
it
was
two
days
before
I
could
follow
up
the
new-found
clue
in
what
was
manifestly
the
proper
way
.
I
felt
a
peculiar
shrinking
from
those
pallid
bodies
.
They
were
just
the
half-bleached
colour
of
the
worms
and
things
one
sees
preserved
in
spirit
in
a
zoological
museum
.
And
they
were
filthily
cold
to
the
touch
.
Probably
my
shrinking
was
largely
due
to
the
sympathetic
influence
of
the
Eloi
,
whose
disgust
of
the
Morlocks
I
now
began
to
appreciate
.
"
The
next
night
I
did
not
sleep
well
.
Probably
my
health
was
a
little
disordered
.
I
was
oppressed
with
perplexity
and
doubt
.
Once
or
twice
I
had
a
feeling
of
intense
fear
for
which
I
could
perceive
no
definite
reason
.
I
remember
creeping
noiselessly
into
the
great
hall
where
the
little
people
were
sleeping
in
the
moonlight
—
that
night
Weena
was
among
them
—
and
feeling
reassured
by
their
presence
.
It
occurred
to
me
,
even
then
,
that
in
the
course
of
a
few
days
the
moon
must
pass
through
its
last
quarter
,
and
the
nights
grow
dark
,
when
the
appearances
of
these
unpleasant
creatures
from
below
,
these
whitened
Lemurs
,
this
new
vermin
that
had
replaced
the
old
,
might
be
more
abundant
.
And
on
both
these
days
I
had
the
restless
feeling
of
one
who
shirks
an
inevitable
duty
.
I
felt
assured
that
the
Time
Machine
was
only
to
be
recovered
by
boldly
penetrating
these
mysteries
of
underground
.
Yet
I
could
not
face
the
mystery
.
If
only
I
had
had
a
companion
it
would
have
been
different
.
But
I
was
so
horribly
alone
,
and
even
to
clamber
down
into
the
darkness
of
the
well
appalled
me
.
I
do
n't
know
if
you
will
understand
my
feeling
,
but
I
never
felt
quite
safe
at
my
back
.
"
It
was
this
restlessness
,
this
insecurity
,
perhaps
,
that
drove
me
further
and
further
afield
in
my
exploring
expeditions
.
Going
to
the
south-westward
towards
the
rising
country
that
is
now
called
Combe
Wood
,
I
observed
far
off
,
in
the
direction
of
nineteenth-century
Banstead
,
a
vast
green
structure
,
different
in
character
from
any
I
had
hitherto
seen
.
It
was
larger
than
the
largest
of
the
palaces
or
ruins
I
knew
,
and
the
facade
had
an
Oriental
look
:
the
face
of
it
having
the
lustre
,
as
well
as
the
palegreen
tint
,
a
kind
of
bluish-green
,
of
a
certain
type
of
Chinese
porcelain
.
This
difference
in
aspect
suggested
a
difference
in
use
,
and
I
was
minded
to
push
on
and
explore
.
But
the
day
was
growing
late
,
and
I
had
come
upon
the
sight
of
the
place
after
a
long
and
tiring
circuit
;
so
I
resolved
to
hold
over
the
adventure
for
the
following
day
,
and
I
returned
to
the
welcome
and
the
caresses
of
little
Weena
.
But
next
morning
I
perceived
clearly
enough
that
my
curiosity
regarding
the
Palace
of
Green
Porcelain
was
a
piece
of
self-deception
,
to
enable
me
to
shirk
,
by
another
day
,
an
experience
I
dreaded
.
I
resolved
I
would
make
the
descent
without
further
waste
of
time
,
and
started
out
in
the
early
morning
towards
a
well
near
the
ruins
of
granite
and
aluminium
.
"
Little
Weena
ran
with
me
.
She
danced
beside
me
to
the
well
,
but
when
she
saw
me
lean
over
the
mouth
and
look
downward
,
she
seemed
strangely
disconcerted
.
'
Good-bye
,
little
Weena
,
'
I
said
,
kissing
her
;
and
then
,
putting
her
down
,
I
began
to
feel
over
the
parapet
for
the
climbing
hooks
.
Rather
hastily
,
I
may
as
well
confess
,
for
I
feared
my
courage
might
leak
away
!
At
first
she
watched
me
in
amazement
.
Then
she
gave
a
most
piteous
cry
,
and
,
running
to
me
,
began
to
pull
at
me
with
her
little
hands
.
I
think
her
opposition
nerved
me
rather
to
proceed
.
I
shook
her
off
,
perhaps
a
little
roughly
,
and
in
another
moment
I
was
in
the
throat
of
the
well
.
I
saw
her
agonized
face
over
the
parapet
,
and
smiled
to
reassure
her
.
Then
I
had
to
look
down
at
the
unstable
hooks
to
which
I
clung
.
"
I
had
to
clamber
down
a
shaft
of
perhaps
two
hundred
yards
.
The
descent
was
effected
by
means
of
metallic
bars
projecting
from
the
sides
of
the
well
,
and
these
being
adapted
to
the
needs
of
a
creature
much
smaller
and
lighter
than
myself
,
I
was
speedily
cramped
and
fatigued
by
the
descent
.
And
not
simply
fatigued
!
One
of
the
bars
bent
suddenly
under
my
weight
,
and
almost
swung
me
off
into
the
blackness
beneath
.
For
a
moment
I
hung
by
one
hand
,
and
after
that
experience
I
did
not
dare
to
rest
again
.
Though
my
arms
and
back
were
presently
acutely
painful
,
I
went
on
clambering
down
the
sheer
descent
with
as
quick
a
motion
as
possible
.
Glancing
upward
,
I
saw
the
aperture
,
a
small
blue
disk
,
in
which
a
star
was
visible
,
while
little
Weena
's
head
showed
as
a
round
black
projection
.
The
thudding
sound
of
a
machine
below
grew
louder
and
more
oppressive
.
Everything
save
that
little
disk
above
was
profoundly
dark
,
and
when
I
looked
up
again
Weena
had
disappeared
.
"
I
was
in
an
agony
of
discomfort
.
I
had
some
thought
of
trying
to
go
up
the
shaft
again
,
and
leave
the
Underworld
alone
.
But
even
while
I
turned
this
over
in
my
mind
I
continued
to
descend
.
At
last
,
with
intense
relief
,
I
saw
dimly
coming
up
,
a
foot
to
the
right
of
me
,
a
slender
loophole
in
the
wall
.
Swinging
myself
in
,
I
found
it
was
the
aperture
of
a
narrow
horizontal
tunnel
in
which
I
could
lie
down
and
rest
.
It
was
not
too
soon
.
My
arms
ached
,
my
back
was
cramped
,
and
I
was
trembling
with
the
prolonged
terror
of
a
fall
.
Besides
this
,
the
unbroken
darkness
had
had
a
distressing
effect
upon
my
eyes
.
The
air
was
full
of
the
throb-and-hum
of
machinery
pumping
air
down
the
shaft
.
"
I
do
not
know
how
long
I
lay
.
I
was
roused
by
a
soft
hand
touching
my
face
.
Starting
up
in
the
darkness
I
snatched
at
my
matches
and
,
hastily
striking
one
,
I
saw
three
stooping
white
creatures
similar
to
the
one
I
had
seen
above
ground
in
the
ruin
,
hastily
retreating
before
the
light
.
Living
,
as
they
did
,
in
what
appeared
to
me
impenetrable
darkness
,
their
eyes
were
abnormally
large
and
sensitive
,
just
as
are
the
pupils
of
the
abysmal
fishes
,
and
they
reflected
the
light
in
the
same
way
.
I
have
no
doubt
they
could
see
me
in
that
rayless
obscurity
,
and
they
did
not
seem
to
have
any
fear
of
me
apart
from
the
light
.
But
,
so
soon
as
I
struck
a
match
in
order
to
see
them
,
they
fled
incontinently
,
vanishing
into
dark
gutters
and
tunnels
,
from
which
their
eyes
glared
at
me
in
the
strangest
fashion
.
"
I
tried
to
call
to
them
,
but
the
language
they
had
was
apparently
different
from
that
of
the
over-world
people
;
so
that
I
was
needs
left
to
my
own
unaided
efforts
,
and
the
thought
of
flight
before
exploration
was
even
then
in
my
mind
.
But
I
said
to
myself
,
'
You
are
in
for
it
now
,
'
and
,
feeling
my
way
along
the
tunnel
,
I
found
the
noise
of
machinery
grow
louder
.
Presently
the
walls
fell
away
from
me
,
and
I
came
to
a
large
open
space
,
and
,
striking
another
match
,
saw
that
I
had
entered
a
vast
arched
cavern
,
which
stretched
into
utter
darkness
beyond
the
range
of
my
light
.
The
view
I
had
of
it
was
as
much
as
one
could
see
in
the
burning
of
a
match
.
"
Necessarily
my
memory
is
vague
.
Great
shapes
like
big
machines
rose
out
of
the
dimness
,
and
cast
grotesque
black
shadows
,
in
which
dim
spectral
Morlocks
sheltered
from
the
glare
.
The
place
,
by
the
bye
,
was
very
stuffy
and
oppressive
,
and
the
faint
halitus
of
freshly-shed
blood
was
in
the
air
.
Some
way
down
the
central
vista
was
a
little
table
of
white
metal
,
laid
with
what
seemed
a
meal
.
The
Morlocks
at
any
rate
were
carnivorous
!
Even
at
the
time
,
I
remember
wondering
what
large
animal
could
have
survived
to
furnish
the
red
joint
I
saw
.
It
was
all
very
indistinct
:
the
heavy
smell
,
the
big
unmeaning
shapes
,
the
obscene
figures
lurking
in
the
shadows
,
and
only
waiting
for
the
darkness
to
come
at
me
again
!
Then
the
match
burnt
down
,
and
stung
my
fingers
,
and
fell
,
a
wriggling
red
spot
in
the
blackness
.
"
I
have
thought
since
how
particularly
ill-equipped
I
was
for
such
an
experience
.
When
I
had
started
with
the
Time
Machine
,
I
had
started
with
the
absurd
assumption
that
the
men
of
the
Future
would
certainly
be
infinitely
ahead
of
ourselves
in
all
their
appliances
.
I
had
come
without
arms
,
without
medicine
,
without
anything
to
smoke
—
at
times
I
missed
tobacco
frightfully
!
—
even
without
enough
matches
.
If
only
I
had
thought
of
a
Kodak
!
I
could
have
flashed
that
glimpse
of
the
Underworld
in
a
second
,
and
examined
it
at
leisure
.
But
,
as
it
was
,
I
stood
there
with
only
the
weapons
and
the
powers
that
Nature
had
endowed
me
with
—
hands
,
feet
,
and
teeth
;
these
,
and
four
safety
matches
that
still
remained
to
me
.
"
I
was
afraid
to
push
my
way
in
among
all
this
machinery
in
the
dark
,
and
it
was
only
with
my
last
glimpse
of
light
I
discovered
that
my
store
of
matches
had
run
low
.
It
had
never
occurred
to
me
until
that
moment
that
there
was
any
need
to
economize
them
,
and
I
had
wasted
almost
half
the
box
in
astonishing
the
Overworlders
,
to
whom
fire
was
a
novelty
.
Now
,
as
I
say
,
I
had
four
left
,
and
while
I
stood
in
the
dark
,
a
hand
touched
mine
,
lank
fingers
came
feeling
over
my
face
,
and
I
was
sensible
of
a
peculiar
unpleasant
odour
.
I
fancied
I
heard
the
breathing
of
a
crowd
of
those
dreadful
little
beings
about
me
.
I
felt
the
box
of
matches
in
my
hand
being
gently
disengaged
,
and
other
hands
behind
me
plucking
at
my
clothing
.
The
sense
of
these
unseen
creatures
examining
me
was
indescribably
unpleasant
.
The
sudden
realization
of
my
ignorance
of
their
ways
of
thinking
and
doing
came
home
to
me
very
vividly
in
the
darkness
.
I
shouted
at
them
as
loudly
as
I
could
.
They
started
away
,
and
then
I
could
feel
them
approaching
me
again
.
They
clutched
at
me
more
boldly
,
whispering
odd
sounds
to
each
other
.
I
shivered
violently
,
and
shouted
again
—
rather
discordantly
.
This
time
they
were
not
so
seriously
alarmed
,
and
they
made
a
queer
laughing
noise
as
they
came
back
at
me
.
I
will
confess
I
was
horribly
frightened
.
I
determined
to
strike
another
match
and
escape
under
the
protection
of
its
glare
.
I
did
so
,
and
eking
out
the
flicker
with
a
scrap
of
paper
from
my
pocket
,
I
made
good
my
retreat
to
the
narrow
tunnel
.
But
I
had
scarce
entered
this
when
my
light
was
blown
out
,
and
in
the
blackness
I
could
hear
the
Morlocks
rustling
like
wind
among
leaves
,
and
pattering
like
the
rain
,
as
they
hurried
after
me
.
"
In
a
moment
I
was
clutched
by
several
hands
,
and
there
was
no
mistaking
that
they
were
trying
to
haul
me
back
.
I
struck
another
light
,
and
waved
it
in
their
dazzled
faces
.
You
can
scarce
imagine
how
nauseatingly
inhuman
they
looked
—
those
pale
,
chinless
faces
and
great
,
lidless
,
pinkish-grey
eyes
!
—
as
they
stared
in
their
blindness
and
bewilderment
.
But
I
did
not
stay
to
look
,
I
promise
you
:
I
retreated
again
,
and
when
my
second
match
had
ended
,
I
struck
my
third
.
It
had
almost
burnt
through
when
I
reached
the
opening
into
the
shaft
.
I
lay
down
on
the
edge
,
for
the
throb
of
the
great
pump
below
made
me
giddy
.
Then
I
felt
sideways
for
the
projecting
hooks
,
and
,
as
I
did
so
,
my
feet
were
grasped
from
behind
,
and
I
was
violently
tugged
backward
.
I
lit
my
last
match
...
and
it
incontinently
went
out
.
But
I
had
my
hand
on
the
climbing
bars
now
,
and
,
kicking
violently
,
I
disengaged
myself
from
the
clutches
of
the
Morlocks
,
and
was
speedily
clambering
up
the
shaft
,
while
they
stayed
peering
and
blinking
up
at
me
:
all
but
one
little
wretch
who
followed
me
for
some
way
,
and
well-nigh
secured
my
boot
as
a
trophy
.
"
That
climb
seemed
interminable
to
me
.
With
the
last
twenty
or
thirty
feet
of
it
a
deadly
nausea
came
upon
me
.
I
had
the
greatest
difficulty
in
keeping
my
hold
.
The
last
few
yards
was
a
frightful
struggle
against
this
faintness
.
Several
times
my
head
swam
,
and
I
felt
all
the
sensations
of
falling
.
At
last
,
however
,
I
got
over
the
wellmouth
somehow
,
and
staggered
out
of
the
ruin
into
the
blinding
sunlight
.
I
fell
upon
my
face
.
Even
the
soil
smelt
sweet
and
clean
.
Then
I
remember
Weena
kissing
my
hands
and
ears
,
and
the
voices
of
others
among
the
Eloi
.
Then
,
for
a
time
,
I
was
insensible
.
X
WHEN
THE
NIGHT
CAME
"
Now
,
indeed
,
I
seemed
in
a
worse
case
than
before
.
Hitherto
,
except
during
my
night
's
anguish
at
the
loss
of
the
Time
Machine
,
I
had
felt
a
sustaining
hope
of
ultimate
escape
,
but
that
hope
was
staggered
by
these
new
discoveries
.
Hitherto
I
had
merely
thought
myself
impeded
by
the
childish
simplicity
of
the
little
people
,
and
by
some
unknown
forces
which
I
had
only
to
understand
to
overcome
;
but
there
was
an
altogether
new
element
in
the
sickening
quality
of
the
Morlocks
—
a
something
inhuman
and
malign
.
Instinctively
I
loathed
them
.
Before
,
I
had
felt
as
a
man
might
feel
who
had
fallen
into
a
pit
:
my
concern
was
with
the
pit
and
how
to
get
out
of
it
.
Now
I
felt
like
a
beast
in
a
trap
,
whose
enemy
would
come
upon
him
soon
.
"
The
enemy
I
dreaded
may
surprise
you
.
It
was
the
darkness
of
the
new
moon
.
Weena
had
put
this
into
my
head
by
some
at
first
incomprehensible
remarks
about
the
Dark
Nights
.
It
was
not
now
such
a
very
difficult
problem
to
guess
what
the
coming
Dark
Nights
might
mean
.
The
moon
was
on
the
wane
:
each
night
there
was
a
longer
interval
of
darkness
.
And
I
now
understood
to
some
slight
degree
at
least
the
reason
of
the
fear
of
the
little
upper-world
people
for
the
dark
.
I
wondered
vaguely
what
foul
villainy
it
might
be
that
the
Morlocks
did
under
the
new
moon
.
I
felt
pretty
sure
now
that
my
second
hypothesis
was
all
wrong
.
The
upper-world
people
might
once
have
been
the
favoured
aristocracy
,
and
the
Morlocks
their
mechanical
servants
;
but
that
had
long
since
passed
away
.
The
two
species
that
had
resulted
from
the
evolution
of
man
were
sliding
down
towards
,
or
had
already
arrived
at
,
an
altogether
new
relationship
.
The
Eloi
,
like
the
Carlovignan
kings
,
had
decayed
to
a
mere
beautiful
futility
.
They
still
possessed
the
earth
on
sufferance
:
since
the
Morlocks
,
subterranean
for
innumerable
generations
,
had
come
at
last
to
find
the
daylit
surface
intolerable
.
And
the
Morlocks
made
their
garments
,
I
inferred
,
and
maintained
them
in
their
habitual
needs
,
perhaps
through
the
survival
of
an
old
habit
of
service
.
They
did
it
as
a
standing
horse
paws
with
his
foot
,
or
as
a
man
enjoys
killing
animals
in
sport
:
because
ancient
and
departed
necessities
had
impressed
it
on
the
organism
.
But
,
clearly
,
the
old
order
was
already
in
part
reversed
.
The
Nemesis
of
the
delicate
ones
was
creeping
on
apace
.
Ages
ago
,
thousands
of
generations
ago
,
man
had
thrust
his
brother
man
out
of
the
ease
and
the
sunshine
.
And
now
that
brother
was
coming
back
—
changed
!
Already
the
Eloi
had
begun
to
learn
one
old
lesson
anew
.
They
were
becoming
re-acquainted
with
Fear
.
And
suddenly
there
came
into
my
head
the
memory
of
the
meat
I
had
seen
in
the
under-world
.
It
seemed
odd
how
it
floated
into
my
mind
:
not
stirred
up
as
it
were
by
the
current
of
my
meditations
,
but
coming
in
almost
like
a
question
from
outside
.
I
tried
to
recall
the
form
of
it
.
I
had
a
vague
sense
of
something
familiar
,
but
I
could
not
tell
what
it
was
at
the
time
.
"
Still
,
however
helpless
the
little
people
in
the
presence
of
their
mysterious
Fear
,
I
was
differently
constituted
.
I
came
out
of
this
age
of
ours
,
this
ripe
prime
of
the
human
race
,
when
Fear
does
not
paralyze
and
mystery
has
lost
its
terrors
.
I
at
least
would
defend
myself
.
Without
further
delay
I
determined
to
make
myself
arms
and
a
fastness
where
I
might
sleep
.
With
that
refuge
as
a
base
,
I
could
face
this
strange
world
with
some
of
that
confidence
I
had
lost
in
realizing
to
what
creatures
night
by
night
I
lay
exposed
.
I
felt
I
could
never
sleep
again
until
my
bed
was
secure
from
them
.
I
shuddered
with
horror
to
think
how
they
must
already
have
examined
me
.
"
I
wandered
during
the
afternoon
along
the
valley
of
the
Thames
,
but
found
nothing
that
commended
itself
to
my
mind
as
inaccessible
.
All
the
buildings
and
trees
seemed
easily
practicable
to
such
dexterous
climbers
as
the
Morlocks
,
to
judge
by
their
wells
,
must
be
.
Then
the
tall
pinnacles
of
the
Palace
of
Green
Porcelain
and
the
polished
gleam
of
its
walls
came
back
to
my
memory
;
and
in
the
evening
,
taking
Weena
like
a
child
upon
my
shoulder
,
I
went
up
the
hills
towards
the
south-west
.
The
distance
,
I
had
reckoned
,
was
seven
or
eight
miles
,
but
it
must
have
been
nearer
eighteen
.
I
had
first
seen
the
place
on
a
moist
afternoon
when
distances
are
deceptively
diminished
.
In
addition
,
the
heel
of
one
of
my
shoes
was
loose
,
and
a
nail
was
working
through
the
sole
—
they
were
comfortable
old
shoes
I
wore
about
indoors
—
so
that
I
was
lame
.
And
it
was
already
long
past
sunset
when
I
came
in
sight
of
the
palace
,
silhouetted
black
against
the
pale
yellow
of
the
sky
.
"
Weena
had
been
hugely
delighted
when
I
began
to
carry
her
,
but
after
a
time
she
desired
me
to
let
her
down
,
and
ran
along
by
the
side
of
me
,
occasionally
darting
off
on
either
hand
to
pick
flowers
to
stick
in
my
pockets
.
My
pockets
had
always
puzzled
Weena
,
but
at
the
last
she
had
concluded
that
they
were
an
eccentric
kind
of
vases
for
floral
decoration
.
At
least
she
utilized
them
for
that
purpose
.
And
that
reminds
me
!
In
changing
my
jacket
I
found
...
"
The
Time
Traveller
paused
,
put
his
hand
into
his
pocket
,
and
silently
placed
two
withered
flowers
,
not
unlike
very
large
white
mallows
,
upon
the
little
table
.
Then
he
resumed
his
narrative
.
"
As
the
hush
of
evening
crept
over
the
world
and
we
proceeded
over
the
hill
crest
towards
Wimbledon
,
Weena
grew
tired
and
wanted
to
return
to
the
house
of
grey
stone
.
But
I
pointed
out
the
distant
pinnacles
of
the
Palace
of
Green
Porcelain
to
her
,
and
contrived
to
make
her
understand
that
we
were
seeking
a
refuge
there
from
her
Fear
.
You
know
that
great
pause
that
comes
upon
things
before
the
dusk
?
Even
the
breeze
stops
in
the
trees
.
To
me
there
is
always
an
air
of
expectation
about
that
evening
stillness
.
The
sky
was
clear
,
remote
,
and
empty
save
for
a
few
horizontal
bars
far
down
in
the
sunset
.
Well
,
that
night
the
expectation
took
the
colour
of
my
fears
.
In
that
darkling
calm
my
senses
seemed
preternaturally
sharpened
.
I
fancied
I
could
even
feel
the
hollowness
of
the
ground
beneath
my
feet
:
could
,
indeed
,
almost
see
through
it
the
Morlocks
on
their
ant-hill
going
hither
and
thither
and
waiting
for
the
dark
.
In
my
excitement
I
fancied
that
they
would
receive
my
invasion
of
their
burrows
as
a
declaration
of
war
.
And
why
had
they
taken
my
Time
Machine
?
"
So
we
went
on
in
the
quiet
,
and
the
twilight
deepened
into
night
.
The
clear
blue
of
the
distance
faded
,
and
one
star
after
another
came
out
.
The
ground
grew
dim
and
the
trees
black
.
Weena
's
fears
and
her
fatigue
grew
upon
her
.
I
took
her
in
my
arms
and
talked
to
her
and
caressed
her
.
Then
,
as
the
darkness
grew
deeper
,
she
put
her
arms
round
my
neck
,
and
,
closing
her
eyes
,
tightly
pressed
her
face
against
my
shoulder
.
So
we
went
down
a
long
slope
into
a
valley
,
and
there
in
the
dimness
I
almost
walked
into
a
little
river
.
This
I
waded
,
and
went
up
the
opposite
side
of
the
valley
,
past
a
number
of
sleeping-houses
,
and
by
a
statue
—
a
Faun
,
or
some
such
figure
,
minus
the
head
.
Here
,
too
,
were
acacias
.
So
far
I
had
seen
nothing
of
the
Morlocks
,
but
it
was
yet
early
in
the
night
,
and
the
darker
hours
before
the
old
moon
rose
were
still
to
come
.
"
From
the
brow
of
the
next
hill
I
saw
a
thick
wood
spreading
wide
and
black
before
me
.
I
hesitated
at
this
.
I
could
see
no
end
to
it
,
either
to
the
right
or
the
left
.
Feeling
tired
—
my
feet
in
particular
,
were
very
sore
—
I
carefully
lowered
Weena
from
my
shoulder
as
I
halted
,
and
sat
down
upon
the
turf
.
I
could
no
longer
see
the
Palace
of
Green
Porcelain
,
and
I
was
in
doubt
of
my
direction
.
I
looked
into
the
thickness
of
the
wood
and
thought
of
what
it
might
hide
.
Under
that
dense
tangle
of
branches
one
would
be
out
of
sight
of
the
stars
.
Even
were
there
no
other
lurking
danger
—
a
danger
I
did
not
care
to
let
my
imagination
loose
upon
—
there
would
still
be
all
the
roots
to
stumble
over
and
the
tree
boles
to
strike
against
.
I
was
very
tired
,
too
,
after
the
excitements
of
the
day
;
so
I
decided
that
I
would
not
face
it
,
but
would
pass
the
night
upon
the
open
hill
.
"
Weena
,
I
was
glad
to
find
,
was
fast
asleep
.
I
carefully
wrapped
her
in
my
jacket
,
and
sat
down
beside
her
to
wait
for
the
moonrise
.
The
hill-side
was
quiet
and
deserted
,
but
from
the
black
of
the
wood
there
came
now
and
then
a
stir
of
living
things
.
Above
me
shone
the
stars
,
for
the
night
was
very
clear
.
I
felt
a
certain
sense
of
friendly
comfort
in
their
twinkling
.
All
the
old
constellations
had
gone
from
the
sky
,
however
:
that
slow
movement
which
is
imperceptible
in
a
hundred
human
lifetimes
,
had
long
since
re-arranged
them
in
unfamiliar
groupings
.
But
the
Milky
Way
,
it
seemed
to
me
,
was
still
the
same
tattered
streamer
of
star-dust
as
of
yore
.
Southward
(
as
I
judged
it
)
was
a
very
bright
red
star
that
was
new
to
me
:
it
was
even
more
splendid
than
our
own
green
Sirius
.
And
amid
all
these
scintillating
points
of
light
one
bright
planet
shone
kindly
and
steadily
like
the
face
of
an
old
friend
.
"
Looking
at
these
stars
suddenly
dwarfed
my
own
troubles
and
all
the
gravities
of
terrestrial
life
.
I
thought
of
their
unfathomable
distance
,
and
the
slow
inevitable
drift
of
their
movements
out
of
the
unknown
past
into
the
unknown
future
.
I
thought
of
the
great
precessional
cycle
that
the
pole
of
the
earth
describes
.
Only
forty
times
had
that
silent
revolution
occurred
during
all
the
years
that
I
had
traversed
.
And
during
these
few
revolutions
all
the
activity
,
all
the
traditions
,
the
complex
organizations
,
the
nations
,
languages
,
literatures
,
aspirations
,
even
the
mere
memory
of
Man
as
I
knew
him
,
had
been
swept
out
of
existence
.
Instead
were
these
frail
creatures
who
had
forgotten
their
high
ancestry
,
and
the
white
Things
of
which
I
went
in
terror
.
Then
I
thought
of
the
Great
Fear
that
was
between
the
two
species
,
and
for
the
first
time
,
with
a
sudden
shiver
,
came
the
clear
knowledge
of
what
the
meat
I
had
seen
might
be
.
Yet
it
was
too
horrible
!
I
looked
at
little
Weena
sleeping
beside
me
,
her
face
white
and
starlike
under
the
stars
,
and
forthwith
dismissed
the
thought
.
"
Through
that
long
night
I
held
my
mind
off
the
Morlocks
as
well
as
I
could
,
and
whiled
away
the
time
by
trying
to
fancy
I
could
find
signs
of
the
old
constellations
in
the
new
confusion
.
The
sky
kept
very
clear
,
except
for
a
hazy
cloud
or
so
.
No
doubt
I
dozed
at
times
.
Then
,
as
my
vigil
wore
on
,
came
a
faintness
in
the
eastward
sky
,
like
the
reflection
of
some
colourless
fire
,
and
the
old
moon
rose
,
thin
and
peaked
and
white
.
And
close
behind
,
and
overtaking
it
,
and
overflowing
it
,
the
dawn
came
,
pale
at
first
,
and
then
growing
pink
and
warm
.
No
Morlocks
had
approached
us
.
Indeed
,
I
had
seen
none
upon
the
hill
that
night
.
And
in
the
confidence
of
renewed
day
it
almost
seemed
to
me
that
my
fear
had
been
unreasonable
.
I
stood
up
and
found
my
foot
with
the
loose
heel
swollen
at
the
ankle
and
painful
under
the
heel
;
so
I
sat
down
again
,
took
off
my
shoes
,
and
flung
them
away
.
"
I
awakened
Weena
,
and
we
went
down
into
the
wood
,
now
green
and
pleasant
instead
of
black
and
forbidding
.
We
found
some
fruit
wherewith
to
break
our
fast
.
We
soon
met
others
of
the
dainty
ones
,
laughing
and
dancing
in
the
sunlight
as
though
there
was
no
such
thing
in
nature
as
the
night
.
And
then
I
thought
once
more
of
the
meat
that
I
had
seen
.
I
felt
assured
now
of
what
it
was
,
and
from
the
bottom
of
my
heart
I
pitied
this
last
feeble
rill
from
the
great
flood
of
humanity
.
Clearly
,
at
some
time
in
the
Long-Ago
of
human
decay
the
Morlocks
'
food
had
run
short
.
Possibly
they
had
lived
on
rats
and
suchlike
vermin
.
Even
now
man
is
far
less
discriminating
and
exclusive
in
his
food
than
he
was
—
far
less
than
any
monkey
.
His
prejudice
against
human
flesh
is
no
deep-seated
instinct
.
And
so
these
inhuman
sons
of
men
—
!
I
tried
to
look
at
the
thing
in
a
scientific
spirit
.
After
all
,
they
were
less
human
and
more
remote
than
our
cannibal
ancestors
of
three
or
four
thousand
years
ago
.
And
the
intelligence
that
would
have
made
this
state
of
things
a
torment
had
gone
.
Why
should
I
trouble
myself
?
These
Eloi
were
mere
fatted
cattle
,
which
the
ant-like
Morlocks
preserved
and
preyed
upon
—
probably
saw
to
the
breeding
of
.
And
there
was
Weena
dancing
at
my
side
!
"
Then
I
tried
to
preserve
myself
from
the
horror
that
was
coming
upon
me
,
by
regarding
it
as
a
rigorous
punishment
of
human
selfishness
.
Man
had
been
content
to
live
in
ease
and
delight
upon
the
labours
of
his
fellow-man
,
had
taken
Necessity
as
his
watchword
and
excuse
,
and
in
the
fulness
of
time
Necessity
had
come
home
to
him
.
I
even
tried
a
Carlyle-like
scorn
of
this
wretched
aristocracy-in-decay
.
But
this
attitude
of
mind
was
impossible
.
However
great
their
intellectual
degradation
,
the
Eloi
had
kept
too
much
of
the
human
form
not
to
claim
my
sympathy
,
and
to
make
me
perforce
a
sharer
in
their
degradation
and
their
Fear
.
"
I
had
at
that
time
very
vague
ideas
as
to
the
course
I
should
pursue
.
My
first
was
to
secure
some
safe
place
of
refuge
,
and
to
make
myself
such
arms
of
metal
or
stone
as
I
could
contrive
.
That
necessity
was
immediate
.
IN
the
next
place
,
I
hoped
to
procure
some
means
of
fire
,
so
that
I
should
have
the
weapon
of
a
torch
at
hand
,
for
nothing
,
I
knew
,
would
be
more
efficient
against
these
Morlocks
.
Then
I
wanted
to
arrange
some
contrivance
to
break
open
the
doors
of
bronze
under
the
White
Sphinx
.
I
had
in
mind
a
battering-ram
.
I
had
a
persuasion
that
if
I
could
enter
these
doors
and
carry
a
blaze
of
light
before
me
I
should
discover
the
Time
Machine
and
escape
.
I
could
not
imagine
the
Morlocks
were
strong
enough
to
move
it
far
away
.
Weena
I
had
resolved
to
bring
with
me
to
our
own
time
.
And
turning
such
schemes
over
in
my
mind
I
pursued
our
way
towards
the
building
which
my
fancy
had
chosen
as
our
dwelling
.
XI
THE
PALACE
OF
GREEN
PORCELAIN
"
I
found
the
Palace
of
Green
Porcelain
,
when
we
approached
it
about
noon
,
deserted
and
falling
into
ruin
.
Only
ragged
vestiges
of
glass
remained
in
its
windows
,
and
great
sheets
of
the
green
facing
had
fallen
away
from
the
corroded
metallic
framework
.
It
lay
very
high
upon
a
turfy
down
,
and
looking
north-eastward
before
I
entered
it
,
I
was
surprised
to
see
a
large
estuary
,
or
even
creek
,
where
I
judged
Wandsworth
and
Battersea
must
once
have
been
.
I
thought
then
—
though
I
never
followed
up
the
thought
—
of
what
might
have
happened
,
or
might
be
happening
,
to
the
living
things
in
the
sea
.
"
The
material
of
the
Palace
proved
on
examination
to
be
indeed
porcelain
,
and
along
the
face
of
it
I
saw
an
inscription
in
some
unknown
character
.
I
thought
,
rather
foolishly
,
that
Weena
might
help
me
to
interpret
this
,
but
I
only
learnt
that
the
bare
idea
of
writing
had
never
entered
her
head
.
She
always
seemed
to
me
,
I
fancy
,
more
human
than
she
was
,
perhaps
because
her
affection
was
so
human
.
"
Within
the
big
valves
of
the
door
—
which
were
open
and
broken
—
we
found
,
instead
of
the
customary
hall
,
a
long
gallery
lit
by
many
side
windows
.
At
the
first
glance
I
was
reminded
of
a
museum
.
The
tiled
floor
was
thick
with
dust
,
and
a
remarkable
array
of
miscellaneous
objects
was
shrouded
in
the
same
grey
covering
.
Then
I
perceived
,
standing
strange
and
gaunt
in
the
centre
of
the
hall
,
what
was
clearly
the
lower
part
of
a
huge
skeleton
.
I
recognized
by
the
oblique
feet
that
it
was
some
extinct
creature
after
the
fashion
of
the
Megatherium
.
The
skull
and
the
upper
bones
lay
beside
it
in
the
thick
dust
,
and
in
one
place
,
where
rainwater
had
dropped
through
a
leak
in
the
roof
,
the
thing
itself
had
been
worn
away
.
Further
in
the
gallery
was
the
huge
skeleton
barrel
of
a
Brontosaurus
.
My
museum
hypothesis
was
confirmed
.
Going
towards
the
side
I
found
what
appeared
to
be
sloping
shelves
,
and
,
clearing
away
the
thick
dust
,
I
found
the
old
familiar
glass
cases
of
our
own
time
.
But
they
must
have
been
air-tight
,
to
judge
from
the
fair
preservation
of
some
of
their
contents
.
"
Clearly
we
stood
among
the
ruins
of
some
latter-day
South
Kensington
!
Here
,
apparently
,
was
the
Palæontological
Section
,
and
a
very
splendid
array
of
fossils
it
must
have
been
,
though
the
inevitable
process
of
decay
that
had
been
staved
off
for
a
time
,
and
had
,
through
the
extinction
of
bacteria
and
fungi
,
lost
ninety-nine
hundredths
of
its
force
,
was
,
nevertheless
,
with
extreme
sureness
if
with
extreme
slowness
at
work
again
upon
all
its
treasures
.
Here
and
there
I
found
traces
of
the
little
people
in
the
shape
of
rare
fossils
broken
to
pieces
or
threaded
in
strings
upon
reeds
.
And
the
cases
had
in
some
instances
been
bodily
removed
—
by
the
Morlocks
as
I
judged
.
The
place
was
very
silent
.
The
thick
dust
deadened
our
footsteps
.
Weena
,
who
had
been
rolling
a
sea-urchin
down
the
sloping
glass
of
a
case
,
presently
came
,
as
I
stared
about
me
,
and
very
quietly
took
my
hand
and
stood
beside
me
.
"
And
at
first
I
was
so
much
surprised
by
this
ancient
monument
of
an
intellectual
age
,
that
I
gave
no
thought
to
the
possibilities
it
presented
.
Even
my
pre-occupation
about
the
Time
Machine
receded
a
little
from
my
mind
.
"
To
judge
from
the
size
of
the
place
,
this
Palace
of
Green
Porcelain
had
a
great
deal
more
in
it
than
a
Gallery
of
Palæontology
;
possibly
historical
galleries
;
it
might
be
,
even
a
library
!
To
me
,
at
least
in
my
present
circumstances
,
these
would
be
vastly
more
interesting
than
this
spectacle
of
oldtime
geology
in
decay
.
Exploring
,
I
found
another
short
gallery
running
transversely
to
the
first
.
This
appeared
to
be
devoted
to
minerals
,
and
the
sight
of
a
block
of
sulphur
set
my
mind
running
on
gunpowder
.
But
I
could
find
no
saltpetre
;
indeed
,
no
nitrates
of
any
kind
.
Doubtless
they
had
deliquesced
ages
ago
.
Yet
the
sulphur
hung
in
my
mind
,
and
set
up
a
train
of
thinking
.
As
for
the
rest
of
the
contents
of
that
gallery
,
though
,
on
the
whole
,
they
were
the
best
preserved
of
all
I
saw
,
I
had
little
interest
.
I
am
no
specialist
in
mineralogy
,
and
I
went
on
down
a
very
ruinous
aisle
running
parallel
to
the
first
hall
I
had
entered
.
Apparently
this
section
had
been
devoted
to
natural
history
,
but
everything
had
long
since
passed
out
of
recognition
.
A
few
shrivelled
and
blackened
vestiges
of
what
had
once
been
stuffed
animals
,
desiccated
mummies
in
jars
that
had
once
held
spirit
,
a
brown
dust
of
departed
plants
:
that
was
all
!
I
was
sorry
for
that
,
because
I
should
have
been
glad
to
trace
the
patient
re-adjustments
by
which
the
conquest
of
animated
nature
had
been
attained
.
Then
we
came
to
a
gallery
of
simply
colossal
proportions
,
but
singularly
ill-lit
,
the
floor
of
it
running
downward
at
a
slight
angle
from
the
end
at
which
I
entered
.
At
intervals
white
globes
hung
from
the
ceiling
—
many
of
them
cracked
and
smashed
—
which
suggested
that
originally
the
place
had
been
artificially
lit
.
Here
I
was
more
in
my
element
,
for
rising
on
either
side
of
me
were
the
huge
bulks
of
big
machines
,
all
greatly
corroded
and
many
broken
down
,
but
some
still
fairly
complete
.
You
know
I
have
a
certain
weakness
for
mechanism
,
and
I
was
inclined
to
linger
among
these
:
the
more
so
as
for
the
most
part
they
had
the
interest
of
puzzles
,
and
I
could
make
only
the
vaguest
guesses
at
what
they
were
for
.
I
fancied
that
if
I
could
solve
their
puzzles
I
should
find
myself
in
possession
of
powers
that
might
be
of
use
against
the
Morlocks
.
"
Suddenly
Weena
came
very
close
to
my
side
.
So
suddenly
that
she
startled
me
.
Had
it
not
been
for
her
I
do
not
think
I
should
have
noticed
that
the
floor
of
the
gallery
sloped
at
all
.
1
The
end
I
had
come
in
at
was
quite
above
ground
,
and
was
lit
by
rare
slit-like
windows
.
As
you
went
down
the
length
,
the
ground
came
up
against
these
windows
,
until
at
last
there
was
a
pit
like
the
'
area
'
of
a
London
house
before
each
,
and
only
a
narrow
line
of
daylight
at
the
top
.
I
went
slowly
along
,
puzzling
about
the
machines
,
and
had
been
too
intent
upon
them
to
notice
the
gradual
diminution
of
the
light
,
until
Weena
's
increasing
apprehensions
drew
my
attention
.
Then
I
saw
that
the
gallery
ran
down
at
last
into
a
thick
darkness
.
I
hesitated
,
and
then
,
as
I
looked
round
me
,
I
saw
that
the
dust
was
less
abundant
and
its
surface
less
even
.
Further
away
towards
the
dimness
,
it
appeared
to
be
broken
by
a
number
of
small
narrow
footprints
.
My
sense
of
the
immediate
presence
of
the
Morlocks
revived
at
that
.
I
felt
that
I
was
wasting
my
time
in
this
academic
examination
of
machinery
.
I
called
to
mind
that
it
was
already
far
advanced
in
the
afternoon
,
and
that
I
had
still
no
weapon
,
no
refuge
,
and
no
means
of
making
a
fire
.
And
then
down
in
the
remote
blackness
of
the
gallery
I
heard
a
peculiar
pattering
,
and
the
same
odd
noises
I
had
heard
down
the
well
.
"
I
took
Weena
's
hand
.
Then
,
struck
with
a
sudden
idea
,
I
left
her
and
turned
to
a
machine
from
which
projected
a
lever
not
unlike
those
in
a
signal-box
.
Clambering
upon
the
stand
,
and
grasping
this
lever
in
my
hands
,
I
put
all
my
weight
upon
it
sideways
.
Suddenly
Weena
,
deserted
in
the
central
aisle
,
began
to
whimper
.
I
had
judged
the
strength
of
the
lever
pretty
correctly
,
for
it
snapped
after
a
minute
's
strain
,
and
I
rejoined
her
with
a
mace
in
my
hand
more
than
sufficient
,
I
judged
,
for
any
Morlock
skull
I
might
encounter
.
And
I
longed
very
much
to
kill
a
Morlock
or
so
.
Very
inhuman
,
you
may
think
,
to
want
to
go
killing
one
's
own
descendants
!
But
it
was
impossible
,
somehow
,
to
feel
any
humanity
in
the
things
.
Only
my
disinclination
to
leave
Weena
,
and
a
persuasion
that
if
I
began
to
slake
my
thirst
for
murder
my
Time
Machine
might
suffer
,
restrained
me
from
going
straight
down
the
gallery
and
killing
the
brutes
I
heard
.
"
Well
,
mace
in
one
hand
and
Weena
in
the
other
,
I
went
out
of
that
gallery
and
into
another
and
still
larger
one
,
which
at
the
first
glance
reminded
me
of
a
military
chapel
hung
with
tattered
flags
.
The
brown
and
charred
rags
that
hung
from
the
sides
of
it
,
I
presently
recognized
as
the
decaying
vestiges
of
books
.
They
had
long
since
dropped
to
pieces
,
and
every
semblance
of
print
had
left
them
.
But
here
and
there
were
warped
boards
and
cracked
metallic
clasps
that
told
the
tale
well
enough
.
Had
I
been
a
literary
man
I
might
,
perhaps
,
have
moralized
upon
the
futility
of
all
ambition
.
But
as
it
was
,
the
thing
that
struck
me
with
keenest
force
was
the
enormous
waste
of
labour
to
which
this
sombre
wilderness
of
rotting
paper
testified
.
At
the
time
I
will
confess
that
I
thought
chiefly
of
the
Philosophical
Transactions
and
my
own
seventeen
papers
upon
physical
optics
.
"
Then
,
going
up
a
broad
staircase
,
we
came
to
what
may
once
have
been
a
gallery
of
technical
chemistry
.
And
here
I
had
not
a
little
hope
of
useful
discoveries
.
Except
at
one
end
where
the
roof
had
collapsed
,
this
gallery
was
well
preserved
.
I
went
eagerly
to
every
unbroken
case
.
And
at
last
,
in
one
of
the
really
air-tight
cases
,
I
found
a
box
of
matches
.
Very
eagerly
I
tried
them
.
They
were
perfectly
good
.
They
were
not
even
damp
.
I
turned
to
Weena
.
'
Dance
,
'
I
cried
to
her
in
her
own
tongue
.
For
now
I
had
a
weapon
indeed
against
the
horrible
creatures
we
feared
.
And
so
,
in
that
derelict
museum
,
upon
the
thick
soft
carpeting
of
dust
,
to
Weena
's
huge
delight
,
I
solemnly
performed
a
kind
of
composite
dance
,
whistling
The
Land
of
the
Leal
as
cheerfully
as
I
could
.
In
part
it
was
a
modest
cancan
,
in
part
a
step
dance
,
in
part
a
skirt
dance
(
so
far
as
my
tail-coat
permitted
)
,
and
in
part
original
.
For
I
am
naturally
inventive
,
as
you
know
.
"
Now
,
I
still
think
that
for
this
box
of
matches
to
have
escaped
the
wear
of
time
for
immemorial
years
was
a
most
strange
,
as
for
me
it
was
a
most
fortunate
,
thing
.
Yet
,
oddly
enough
,
I
found
a
far
unlikelier
substance
,
and
that
was
camphor
.
I
found
it
in
a
sealed
jar
,
that
by
chance
,
I
suppose
,
had
been
really
hermetically
sealed
.
I
fancied
at
first
that
it
was
paraffin
wax
,
and
smashed
the
glass
accordingly
.
But
the
odour
of
camphor
was
unmistakable
.
In
the
universal
decay
this
volatile
substance
had
chanced
to
survive
,
perhaps
through
many
thousands
of
centuries
.
It
reminded
me
of
a
sepia
painting
I
had
once
seen
done
from
the
ink
of
a
fossil
Belemnite
that
must
have
perished
and
become
fossilized
millions
of
years
ago
.
I
was
about
to
throw
it
away
,
but
I
remembered
that
it
was
inflammable
and
burnt
with
a
good
bright
flame
—
was
,
in
fact
,
an
excellent
candle
—
and
I
put
it
in
my
pocket
.
I
found
no
explosives
,
however
,
nor
any
means
of
breaking
down
the
bronze
doors
.
As
yet
my
iron
crowbar
was
the
most
helpful
thing
I
had
chanced
upon
.
Nevertheless
I
left
that
gallery
greatly
elated
.
"
I
cannot
tell
you
all
the
story
of
that
long
afternoon
.
It
would
require
a
great
effort
of
memory
to
recall
my
explorations
in
at
all
the
proper
order
.
I
remember
a
long
gallery
of
rusting
stands
of
arms
,
and
how
I
hesitated
between
my
crowbar
and
a
hatchet
or
a
sword
.
I
could
not
carry
both
,
however
,
and
my
bar
of
iron
promised
best
against
the
bronze
gates
.
There
were
numbers
of
guns
,
pistols
,
and
rifles
.
The
most
were
masses
of
rust
,
but
many
were
of
some
new
metal
,
and
still
fairly
sound
.
But
any
cartridges
or
powder
there
may
once
have
been
had
rotted
into
dust
.
One
corner
I
saw
was
charred
and
shattered
:
perhaps
,
I
thought
,
by
an
explosion
among
the
specimens
.
In
another
place
was
a
vast
array
of
idols
—
Polynesian
,
Mexican
,
Grecian
,
Phoenician
,
every
country
on
earth
I
should
think
.
And
here
,
yielding
to
an
irresistible
impulse
,
I
wrote
my
name
upon
the
nose
of
a
steatite
monster
from
South
America
that
particularly
took
my
fancy
.
"
As
the
evening
drew
on
,
my
interest
waned
.
I
went
through
gallery
after
gallery
,
dusty
,
silent
,
often
ruinous
,
the
exhibits
sometimes
mere
heaps
of
rust
and
lignite
,
sometimes
fresher
.
In
one
place
I
suddenly
found
myself
near
the
model
of
a
tin
mine
,
and
then
by
the
merest
accident
I
discovered
,
in
an
air-tight
case
,
two
dynamite
cartridges
!
I
shouted
'
Eureka
,
'
and
smashed
the
case
with
joy
.
Then
came
a
doubt
.
I
hesitated
.
Then
,
selecting
a
little
side
gallery
,
I
made
my
essay
.
I
never
felt
such
a
disappointment
as
I
did
in
waiting
five
,
ten
,
fifteen
minutes
for
an
explosion
that
never
came
.
Of
course
the
things
were
dummies
,
as
I
might
have
guessed
from
their
presence
.
I
really
believe
that
,
had
they
not
been
so
,
I
should
have
rushed
off
incontinently
and
blown
Sphinx
,
bronze
doors
,
and
(
as
it
proved
)
my
chances
of
finding
the
Time
Machine
,
all
together
into
non-existence
.
"
It
was
after
that
,
I
think
,
that
we
came
to
a
little
open
court
within
the
palace
.
It
was
turfed
,
and
had
three
fruit-trees
.
So
we
rested
and
refreshed
ourselves
.
Towards
sunset
I
began
to
consider
our
position
.
Night
was
creeping
upon
us
,
and
my
inaccessible
hiding-place
had
still
to
be
found
.
But
that
troubled
me
very
little
now
.
I
had
in
my
possession
a
thing
that
was
,
perhaps
,
the
best
of
all
defences
against
the
Morlocks
—
I
had
matches
!
I
had
the
camphor
in
my
pocket
,
too
,
if
a
blaze
were
needed
.
It
seemed
to
me
that
the
best
thing
we
could
do
would
be
to
pass
the
night
in
the
open
,
protected
by
a
fire
.
In
the
morning
there
was
the
getting
of
the
Time
Machine
.
Towards
that
,
as
yet
,
I
had
only
my
iron
mace
.
But
now
,
with
my
growing
knowledge
,
I
felt
very
differently
towards
those
bronze
doors
.
Up
to
this
,
I
had
refrained
from
forcing
them
,
largely
because
of
the
mystery
on
the
other
side
.
They
had
never
impressed
me
as
being
very
strong
,
and
I
hoped
to
find
my
bar
of
iron
not
altogether
inadequate
for
the
work
.
XII
IN
THE
DARKNESS
"
We
emerged
from
the
Palace
while
the
sun
was
still
in
part
above
the
horizon
.
I
was
determined
to
reach
the
White
Sphinx
early
the
next
morning
,
and
ere
the
dusk
I
purposed
pushing
through
the
woods
that
had
stopped
me
on
the
previous
journey
.
My
plan
was
to
go
as
far
as
possible
that
night
,
and
then
,
building
a
fire
,
to
sleep
in
the
protection
of
its
glare
.
Accordingly
,
as
we
went
along
I
gathered
any
sticks
or
dried
grass
I
saw
,
and
presently
had
my
arms
full
of
such
litter
.
Thus
loaded
,
our
progress
was
slower
than
I
had
anticipated
,
and
besides
Weena
was
tired
.
And
I
,
also
,
began
to
suffer
from
sleepiness
too
;
so
that
it
was
full
night
before
we
reached
the
wood
.
Upon
the
shrubby
hill
of
its
edge
Weena
would
have
stooped
,
fearing
the
darkness
before
us
;
but
a
singular
sense
of
impending
calamity
,
that
should
indeed
have
served
me
as
a
warning
,
drove
me
onward
.
I
had
been
without
sleep
for
a
night
and
two
days
,
and
I
was
feverish
and
irritable
.
I
felt
sleep
coming
upon
me
,
and
the
Morlocks
with
it
.
"
While
we
hesitated
,
among
the
black
bushes
behind
us
,
and
dim
against
their
blackness
,
I
saw
three
crouching
figures
.
There
was
scrub
and
long
grass
all
about
us
,
and
I
did
not
feel
safe
from
their
insidious
approach
.
The
forest
,
I
calculated
,
was
rather
less
than
a
mile
across
.
If
we
could
get
through
it
to
the
bare
hill-side
,
there
,
as
it
seemed
to
me
,
was
an
altogether
safer
resting-place
:
I
thought
that
with
my
matches
and
my
camphor
I
could
contrive
to
keep
my
path
illuminated
through
the
woods
.
Yet
it
was
evident
that
if
I
was
to
flourish
matches
with
my
hands
I
should
have
to
abandon
my
firewood
:
so
,
rather
reluctantly
,
I
put
it
down
.
And
then
it
came
into
my
head
that
I
would
amaze
our
friends
behind
by
lighting
it
.
I
was
to
discover
the
atrocious
folly
of
this
proceeding
,
but
it
came
to
my
mind
as
an
ingenious
move
for
covering
our
retreat
.
"
I
do
n't
know
if
you
have
ever
thought
what
a
rare
thing
flame
must
be
in
the
absence
of
man
and
in
a
temperate
climate
.
The
sun
's
heat
is
rarely
strong
enough
to
burn
,
even
when
it
is
focussed
by
dewdrops
,
as
is
sometimes
the
case
in
more
tropical
districts
.
Lightning
may
blast
and
blacken
,
but
it
rarely
gives
rise
to
wide-spread
fire
.
Decaying
vegetation
may
occasionally
smoulder
with
the
heat
of
its
fermentation
,
but
this
rarely
results
in
flame
.
In
this
decadence
,
too
,
the
art
of
fire-making
had
been
forgotten
on
the
earth
.
The
red
tongues
that
went
licking
up
my
heap
of
wood
were
an
altogether
new
and
strange
thing
to
Weena
.
"
She
wanted
to
run
to
it
and
play
with
it
.
I
believe
she
would
have
cast
herself
into
it
had
I
not
restrained
her
.
But
I
caught
her
up
,
and
,
in
spite
of
her
struggles
,
plunged
boldly
before
me
into
the
wood
.
For
a
little
way
the
glare
of
my
fire
lit
the
path
.
Looking
back
presently
,
I
could
see
,
through
the
crowded
stems
,
that
from
my
heap
of
sticks
the
blaze
had
spread
to
some
bushes
adjacent
,
and
a
curved
line
of
fire
was
creeping
up
the
grass
of
the
hill
.
I
laughed
at
that
,
and
turned
again
to
the
dark
trees
before
me
.
It
was
very
black
,
and
Weena
clung
to
me
convulsively
,
but
there
was
still
,
as
my
eyes
grew
accustomed
to
the
darkness
,
sufficient
light
for
me
to
avoid
the
stems
.
Overhead
it
was
simply
black
,
except
where
a
gap
of
remote
blue
sky
shone
down
upon
us
here
and
there
.
I
lit
none
of
my
matches
because
I
had
no
hands
free
.
Upon
my
left
arm
I
carried
my
little
one
,
in
my
right
hand
I
had
my
iron
bar
.
"
For
some
way
I
heard
nothing
but
the
crackling
twigs
under
my
feet
,
the
faint
rustle
of
the
breeze
above
,
and
my
own
breathing
and
the
throb
of
the
blood-vessels
in
my
ears
.
Then
I
seemed
to
know
of
a
pattering
about
me
.
I
pushed
on
grimly
.
The
pattering
grew
more
distinct
,
and
then
I
caught
the
same
queer
sounds
and
voices
I
had
heard
in
the
under-world
.
There
were
evidently
several
of
the
Morlocks
,
and
they
were
closing
in
upon
me
.
Indeed
,
in
another
minute
I
felt
a
tug
at
my
coat
,
then
something
at
my
arm
.
And
Weena
shivered
violently
,
and
became
quite
still
.
"
It
was
time
for
a
match
.
But
to
get
one
I
must
put
her
down
.
I
did
so
,
and
,
as
I
fumbled
with
my
pocket
,
a
struggle
began
in
the
darkness
about
my
knees
,
perfectly
silent
on
her
part
and
with
the
same
peculiar
cooing
sounds
from
the
Morlocks
.
Soft
little
hands
,
too
,
were
creeping
over
my
coat
and
back
,
touching
even
my
neck
.
Then
the
match
scratched
and
fizzed
.
I
held
it
flaring
,
and
saw
the
white
backs
of
the
Morlocks
in
flight
amid
the
trees
.
I
hastily
took
a
lump
of
camphor
from
my
pocket
,
and
prepared
to
light
it
as
soon
as
the
match
should
wane
.
Then
I
looked
at
Weena
.
She
was
lying
clutching
my
feet
and
quite
motionless
,
with
her
face
to
the
ground
.
With
a
sudden
fright
I
stooped
to
her
.
She
seemed
scarcely
to
breathe
.
I
lit
the
block
of
camphor
and
flung
it
to
the
ground
,
and
as
it
split
and
flared
up
and
drove
back
the
Morlocks
and
the
shadows
,
I
knelt
down
and
lifted
her
.
The
wood
behind
seemed
full
of
the
stir
and
murmur
of
a
great
company
!
"
She
seemed
to
have
fainted
.
I
put
her
carefully
upon
my
shoulder
and
rose
to
push
on
,
and
then
there
came
a
horrible
realization
.
In
manoeuvring
with
my
matches
and
Weena
,
I
had
turned
myself
about
several
times
,
and
now
I
had
not
the
faintest
idea
in
what
direction
lay
my
path
.
For
all
I
knew
,
I
might
be
facing
back
towards
the
Palace
of
Green
Porcelain
.
I
found
myself
in
a
cold
sweat
.
I
had
to
think
rapidly
what
to
do
.
I
determined
to
build
a
fire
and
encamp
where
we
were
.
I
