The Time Machine | Page 3

through Time!' exclaimed the Very Young Man.
`That shall travel indifferently in any direction of Space and Time, as the driver

determines.'
Filby contented himself with laughter.
`But I have experimental verification,' said the Time Traveller.
`It would be remarkably convenient for the historian,' the Psychologist suggested. `One
might travel back and verify the accepted account of the Battle of Hastings, for instance!'
`Don't you think you would attract attention?' said the Medical Man. `Our ancestors had
no great tolerance for anachronisms.'
`One might get one's Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato,' the Very Young Man
thought.
`In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German scholars
have improved Greek so much.'
`Then there is the future,' said the Very Young Man. `Just think! One might invest all
one's money, leave it to accumulate at interest, and hurry on ahead!'
`To discover a society,' said I, `erected on a strictly communistic basis.'
`Of all the wild extravagant theories!' began the Psychologist.
`Yes, so it seemed to me, and so I never talked of it until--'
`Experimental verification!' cried I. `You are going to verify THAT?'
`The experiment!' cried Filby, who was getting brain-weary.
`Let's see your experiment anyhow,' said the Psychologist, `though it's all humbug, you
know.'
The Time Traveller smiled round at us. Then, still smiling faintly, and with his hands
deep in his trousers pockets, he walked slowly out of the room, and we heard his slippers
shuffling down the long passage to his laboratory.
The Psychologist looked at us. `I wonder what he's got?'
`Some sleight-of-hand trick or other,' said the Medical Man, and Filby tried to tell us
about a conjurer he had seen at Burslem; but before he had finished his preface the Time
Traveller came back, and Filby's anecdote collapsed.
The thing the Time Traveller held in his hand was a glittering metallic framework,
scarcely larger than a small clock, and very delicately made. There was ivory in it, and
some transparent crystalline substance. And now I must be explicit, for this that
follows--unless his explanation is to be accepted--is an absolutely unaccountable thing.
He took one of the small octagonal tables that were scattered about the room, and set it in

front of the fire, with two legs on the hearthrug. On this table he placed the mechanism.
Then he drew up a chair, and sat down. The only other object on the table was a small
shaded lamp, the bright light of which fell upon the model. There were also perhaps a
dozen candles about, two in brass candlesticks upon the mantel and several in sconces, so
that the room was brilliantly illuminated. I sat in a low arm-chair nearest the fire, and I
drew this forward so as to be almost between the Time Traveller and the fireplace. Filby
sat behind him, looking over his shoulder. The Medical Man and the Provincial Mayor
watched him in profile from the right, the Psychologist from the left. The Very Young
Man stood behind the Psychologist. We were all on the alert. It appears incredible to me
that any kind of trick, however subtly conceived and however adroitly done, could have
been played upon us under these conditions.
The Time Traveller looked at us, and then at the mechanism. `Well?' said the
Psychologist.
`This little affair,' said the Time Traveller, resting his elbows upon the table and pressing
his hands together above the apparatus, `is only a model. It is my plan for a machine to
travel through time. You will notice that it looks singularly askew, and that there is an
odd twinkling appearance about this bar, as though it was in some way unreal.' He
pointed to the part with his finger. `Also, here is one little white lever, and here is
another.'
The Medical Man got up out of his chair and peered into the thing. `It's beautifully made,'
he said.
`It took two years to make,' retorted the Time Traveller. Then, when we had all imitated
the action of the Medical Man, he said: `Now I want you clearly to understand that this
lever, being pressed over, sends the machine gliding into the future, and this other
reverses the motion. This saddle represents the seat of a time traveller. Presently I am
going to press the lever, and off the machine will go. It will vanish, pass into future Time,
and disappear. Have a good look at the thing. Look at the table too, and satisfy yourselves
there is no trickery. I don't want to waste this model, and then be told I'm a quack.'
There was a minute's pause perhaps. The Psychologist seemed about to speak to me, but
changed his mind. Then the Time Traveller put forth his finger towards the lever. `No,'