The Time Machine - International World History Project

The Time Machine‘Let’s see your experiment anyhow,’ said thePsychologist, ‘though it’s all humbug, you know.’The Time Traveller smiled round at us. Then, stillsmiling faintly, and with his hands deep in his trouserspockets, he walked slowly out of the room, and we heardhis slippers shuffling down the long passage to hislaboratory.The Psychologist looked at us. ‘I wonder what he’sgot?’‘Some sleight-of-hand trick or other,’ said the MedicalMan, and Filby tried to tell us about a conjurer he hadseen at Burslem; but before he had finished his preface theTime Traveller came back, and Filby’s anecdote collapsed.The thing the Time Traveller held in his hand was aglittering metallic framework, scarcely larger than a smallclock, and very delicately made. There was ivory in it, andsome transparent crystalline substance. And now I must beexplicit, for this that follows—unless his explanation is tobe accepted—is an absolutely unaccountable thing. Hetook one of the small octagonal tables that were scatteredabout the room, and set it in front of the fire, with twolegs on the hearthrug. On this table he placed themechanism. Then he drew up a chair, and sat down. Theonly other object on the table was a small shaded lamp,10 of 148