The Time Machine - International World History Project

The Time Machinebeyond the rhododendrons through the hazy downpour.But all else of the world was invisible.‘My sensations would be hard to describe. As thecolumns of hail grew thinner, I saw the white figure moredistinctly. It was very large, for a silver birch-tree touchedits shoulder. It was of white marble, in shape somethinglike a winged sphinx, but the wings, instead of beingcarried vertically at the sides, were spread so that it seemedto hover. The pedestal, it appeared to me, was of bronze,and was thick with verdigris. It chanced that the face wastowards me; the sightless eyes seemed to watch me; therewas the faint shadow of a smile on the lips. It was greatlyweather-worn, and that imparted an unpleasant suggestionof disease. I stood looking at it for a little space—half aminute, perhaps, or half an hour. It seemed to advance andto recede as the hail drove before it denser or thinner. Atlast I tore my eyes from it for a moment and saw that thehail curtain had worn threadbare, and that the sky waslightening with the promise of the Sun.‘I looked up again at the crouching white shape, andthe full temerity of my voyage came suddenly upon me.What might appear when that hazy curtain was altogetherwithdrawn? What might not have happened to men?What if cruelty had grown into a common passion? What32 of 148