The Girl in the Golden Atom | Page 6

I tell how long it is prolonged, for the quantity of drug administered,
as only a fraction of the diminution has taken place when the animal
passes beyond the range of any microscope I now possess.
"These questions were overshadowed, however, by a far more serious
problem that encompassed them all.
"As I was planning to project myself into this unknown universe and to
reach the exact size proportionate to it, I soon realized such a result
could not be obtained were I in an unconscious state. Only by
successive doses of the drug, or its retardent about which I will tell you
later, could I hope to reach the proper size. Another necessity is that I
place myself on the exact spot on that ring where I wish to enter and to
climb down among its atoms when I have become sufficiently small to
do so. Obviously, this would be impossible to one not possessing all his
faculties and physical strength."
"And did you solve that problem, too?" asked the Banker.
"I'd like to see it done," he added, reading his answer in the other's
confident smile.
The Chemist produced two small paper packages from his wallet.
"These drugs are the result of my research," he said. "One of them
causes contraction, and the other expansion, by an exact reversal of the
process. Taken together, they produce no effect, and a lesser amount of
one retards the action of the other." He opened the papers, showing two
small vials. "I have made them as you see, in the form of tiny pills,
each containing a minute quantity of the drug. It is by taking them

successively in unequal amounts that I expect to reach the desired size."
"There's one point that you do not mention," said the Doctor. "Those
vials and their contents will have to change size as you do. How are
you going to manage that?"
"By experimentation I have found," answered the Chemist, "that any
object held in close physical contact with the living body being
contracted is contracted itself at an equal rate. I believe that my clothes
will be affected also. These vials I will carry strapped under my
armpits."
"Suppose you should die, or be killed, would the contraction cease?"
asked the Doctor.
"Yes, almost immediately," replied the Chemist. "Apparently, though I
am acting through the subconscious mind while its power is held in
abeyance, when this power is permanently withdrawn by death, the
drug no longer affects the individual cells. The contraction or
expansion ceases almost at once."
The Chemist cleared a space before him on the table. "In a
well-managed club like this," he said, "there should be no flies, but I
see several around. Do you suppose we can catch one of them?"
"I can," said the Very Young Man, and forthwith he did.
The Chemist moistened a lump of sugar and laid it on the table before
him. Then, selecting one of the smallest of the pills, he ground it to
powder with the back of a spoon and sprinkled this powder on the
sugar.
"Will you give me the fly, please?"
The Very Young Man gingerly did so. The Chemist held the insect by
its wings over the sugar. "Will someone lend me one of his shoes?"
The Very Young Man hastily slipped off a dancing pump.

"Thank you," said the Chemist, placing it on the table with a quizzical
smile.
The rest of the company rose from their chairs and gathered around,
watching with interested faces what was about to happen.
"I hope he is hungry," remarked the Chemist, and placed the fly gently
down on the sugar, still holding it by the wings. The insect, after a
moment, ate a little.
Silence fell upon the group as each watched intently. For a few
moments nothing happened. Then, almost imperceptibly at first, the fly
became larger. In another minute it was the size of a large horse-fly,
struggling to release its wings from the Chemist's grasp. A minute more
and it was the size of a beetle. No one spoke. The Banker moistened his
lips, drained his glass hurriedly and moved slightly farther away. Still
the insect grew; now it was the size of a small chicken, the multiple
lens of its eyes presenting a most terrifying aspect, while its ferocious
droning reverberated through the room. Then suddenly the Chemist
threw it upon the table, covered it with a napkin, and beat it violently
with the slipper. When all movement had ceased he tossed its quivering
body into a corner of the room.
"Good God!" ejaculated the Banker, as the white-faced men stared at
each other. The quiet voice of the Chemist brought them back to
themselves. "That, gentlemen, you must understand, was only a
fraction of the very