Oro And Arbuthnot Travel By Night
: When The World ShookAs time went on, Oro began to visit me more and more frequently, till at
last scarcely a night went by that he did not appear mysteriously in my
sleeping-place. The odd thing was that neither Bickley nor Bastin seemed
to be aware of these nocturnal calls. Indeed, when I mentioned them on
one or two occasions, they stared at me and said it was strange that he
should have come and gone as they saw nothing of him.
conversation, from which I gathered that he believed me to be suffering
from delusions consequent on my illness, or perhaps to have taken
to dreaming. This was not wonderful since, as I learned afterwards,
Bickley, after he was sure that I was asleep, made a practice of tying
a thread across my doorway and of ascertaining at the dawn that it
remained unbroken. But Oro was not to be caught in that way. I suppose,
as it was impossible for him to pass through the latticework of the open
side of the house, that he undid the thread and fastened it again when
he left; at least, that was Bastin's explanation, or, rather, one of
them. Another was that he crawled beneath it, but this I could not
believe. I am quite certain that during all his prolonged existence Oro
never crawled.
At any rate, he came, or seemed to come, and pumped me--I can use no
other word--most energetically as to existing conditions in the
world, especially those of the civilised countries, their methods of
government, their social state, the physical characteristics of the
various races, their religions, the exact degrees of civilisation that
they had developed, their attainments in art, science and literature,
their martial capacities, their laws, and I know not what besides.
I told him all I could, but did not in the least seem to satisfy his
perennial thirst for information.
"I should prefer to judge for myself," he said at last. "Why are you so
anxious to learn about all these nations, Oro?" I asked, exhausted.
"Because the knowledge I gather may affect my plans for the future," he
replied darkly.
"I am told, Oro, that your people acquired the power of transporting
themselves from place to place."
"It is true that the lords of the Sons of Wisdom had such power, and
that I have it still, O Humphrey."
"Then why do you not go to look with your own eyes?" I suggested.
"Because I should need a guide; one who could explain much in a short
time," he said, contemplating me with his burning glance until I began
to feel uncomfortable.
To change the subject I asked him whether he had any further information
about the war, which he had told me was raging in Europe.
He answered: "Not much; only that it was going on with varying success,
and would continue to do so until the nations involved therein were
exhausted," or so he believed. The war did not seem greatly to interest
Oro. It was, he remarked, but a small affair compared to those which he
had known in the old days. Then he departed, and I went to sleep.
Next night he appeared again, and, after talking a little on different
subjects, remarked quietly that he had been thinking over what I had
said as to his visiting the modern world, and intended to act upon the
suggestion.
"When?" I asked.
"Now," he said. "I am going to visit this England of yours and the town
you call London, and you will accompany me."
"It is not possible!" I exclaimed. "We have no ship."
"We can travel without a ship," said Oro.
I grew alarmed, and suggested that Bastin or Bickley would be a much
better companion than I should in my present weak state.
"An empty-headed man, or one who always doubts and argues, would be
useless," he replied sharply. "You shall come and you only."
I expostulated; I tried to get up and fly--which, indeed, I did do, in
another sense.
But Oro fixed his eyes upon me and slowly waved his thin hand to and fro
above my head.
My senses reeled. Then came a great darkness.
They returned again. Now I was standing in an icy, reeking fog, which I
knew could belong to one place only--London, in December, and at my side
was Oro.
"Is this the climate of your wonderful city?" he asked, or seemed to
ask, in an aggrieved tone.
I replied that it was, for about three months in the year, and began to
look about me.
Soon I found my bearings. In front of me were great piles of buildings,
looking dim and mysterious in the fog, in which I recognised the Houses
of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, for both could be seen from where
we stood in front of the Westminster Bridge Station. I explained their
identity to Oro.
"Good," he said. "Let us enter your Place of Talk."
"But I am not a member, and we have no passes for the Strangers'
Gallery," I expostulated.
"We shall not need any," he replied contemptuously. "Lead on."
Thus adjured, I crossed the road, Oro following me. Looking round, to
my horror I saw him right in the path of a motor-bus which seemed to go
over him.
"There's an end to Oro," thought I to myself. "Well, at any rate, I have
got home."
Next instant he was at my side quite undisturbed by the incident of the
bus. We came to a policeman at the door and I hesitated, expecting to
be challenged. But the policeman seemed absolutely indifferent to our
presence, even when Oro marched past him in his flowing robes. So
I followed with a like success. Then I understood that we must be
invisible.
We passed to the lobby, where members were hurrying to and fro, and
constituents and pressmen were gathered, and so on into the House. Oro
walked up its floor and took his stand by the table, in front of the
Speaker. I followed him, none saying us No.
As it chanced there was what is called a scene in progress--I think it
was over Irish matters; the details are of no account. Members shouted,
Ministers prevaricated and grew angry, the Speaker intervened. On the
whole, it was rather a degrading spectacle. I stood, or seemed to
stand, and watched it all. Oro, in his sweeping robes, which looked
so incongruous in that place, stepped, or seemed to step, up to the
principal personages of the Government and Opposition, whom I indicated
to him, and inspected them one by one, as a naturalist might examine
strange insects. Then, returning to me, he said:
"Come away; I have seen and heard enough. Who would have thought that
this nation of yours was struggling for its life in war?"
We passed out of the House and somehow came to Trafalgar Square. A
meeting was in progress there, convened, apparently, to advocate the
rights of Labour, also those of women, also to protest against things
in general, especially the threat of Conscription in the service of the
country.
Here the noise was tremendous, and, the fog having lifted somewhat, we
could see everything. Speakers bawled from the base of Nelson's column.
Their supporters cheered, their adversaries rushed at them, and in one
or two instances succeeded in pulling them down. A woman climbed up
and began to scream out something which could only be heard by a few
reporters gathered round her. I thought her an unpleasant-looking
person, and evidently her remarks were not palatable to the majority of
her auditors. There was a rush, and she was dragged from the base of one
of Landseer's lions on which she stood. Her skirt was half rent off
her and her bodice split down the back. Finally, she was conveyed
away, kicking, biting, and scratching, by a number of police. It was a
disgusting sight, and tumult ensued.
"Let us go," said Oro. "Your officers of order are good; the rest is not
good."
Later we found ourselves opposite to the doors of a famous restaurant
where a magnificent and gigantic commissionaire helped ladies from
motor-cars, receiving in return money from the men who attended on them.
We entered; it was the hour of dinner. The place sparkled with gems,
and the naked backs of the women gleamed in the electric light. Course
followed upon course; champagne flowed, a fine band played, everything
was costly; everything was, in a sense, repellent.
"These are the wealthy citizens of a nation engaged in fighting for its
life," remarked Oro to me, stroking his long beard. "It is interesting,
very interesting. Let us go."
We went out and on, passing a public-house crowded with women who had
left their babies in charge of children in the icy street. It was a
day of Intercession for the success of England in the war. This was
placarded everywhere. We entered, or, rather, Oro did, I following
him, one of the churches in the Strand where an evening service was in
progress. The preacher in the pulpit, a very able man, was holding forth
upon the necessity for national repentance and self-denial; also of
prayer. In the body of the church exactly thirty-two people, most
of them elderly women, were listening to him with an air of placid
acceptance.
"The priest talks well, but his hearers are not many," said Oro. "Let us
go."
We came to the flaunting doors of a great music-hall and passed through
them, though to others this would have been impossible, for the place
was filled from floor to roof. In its promenades men were drinking and
smoking, while gaudy women, painted and low-robed, leered at them. On
the stage girls danced, throwing their legs above their heads. Then they
vanished amidst applause, and a woman in a yellow robe, who pretended
to be tipsy, sang a horrible and vulgar song full of topical allusions,
which was received with screams of delight by the enormous audience.
"Here the hearers are very many, but those to whom they listen do not
talk well. Let us go," said Oro, and we went.
At a recruiting station we paused a moment to consider posters supposed
to be attractive, the very sight of which sent a thrill of shame through
me. I remember that the inscription under one of them was: "What will
your best girl say?"
"Is that how you gather your soldiers? Later it will be otherwise," said
Oro, and passed on.
We reached Blackfriars and entered a hall at the doors of which stood
women in poke-bonnets, very sweet-faced, earnest-looking women. Their
countenances seemed to strike Oro, and he motioned me to follow him
into the hall. It was quite full of a miserable-looking congregation
of perhaps a thousand people. A man in the blue and red uniform of the
Salvation Army was preaching of duty to God and country, of self-denial,
hope and forgiveness. He seemed a humble person, but his words were
earnest, and love flowed from him. Some of his miserable congregation
wept, others stared at him open-mouthed, a few, who were very weary,
slept. He called them up to receive pardon, and a number, led by the
sweet-faced women, came and knelt before him. He and others whispered to
them, then seemed to bless them, and they rose with their faces changed.
"Let us go," said Oro. "I do not understand these rites, but at last
in your great and wonderful city I have seen something that is pure and
noble."
We went out. In the streets there was great excitement. People ran to
and fro pointing upwards. Searchlights, like huge fingers of flame,
stole across the sky; guns boomed. At last, in the glare of a
searchlight, we saw a long and sinister object floating high above us
and gleaming as though it were made of silver. Flashes came from it
followed by terrible booming reports that grew nearer and nearer. A
house collapsed with a crash just behind us.
"Ah!" said Oro, with a smile. "I know this--it is war, war as it was
when the world was different and yet the same."
As he spoke, a motor-bus rumbled past. Another flash and explosion. A
man, walking with his arms round the waist of a girl just ahead of
us; seemed to be tossed up and to melt. The girl fell in a heap on the
pavement; somehow her head and her feet had come quite close together
and yet she appeared to be sitting down. The motor-bus burst into
fragments and its passengers hurtled through the air, mere hideous lumps
that had been men and women. The head of one of them came dancing down
the pavement towards us, a cigar still stuck in the corner of its mouth.
"Yes, this is war," said Oro. "It makes me young again to see it. But
does this city of yours understand?"
We watched a while. A crowd gathered. Policemen ran up, ambulances came.
The place was cleared, and all that was left they carried away. A few
minutes later another man passed by with his arm round the waist of
another girl. Another motor-bus rumbled up, and, avoiding the hole in
the roadway, travelled on, its conductor keeping a keen look-out for
fares.
The street was cleared by the police; the airship continued its course,
spawning bombs in the distance, and vanished. The incident was closed.
"Let us go home," said Oro. "I have seen enough of your great and
wonderful city. I would rest in the quiet of Nyo and think."
The next thing that I remember was the voice of Bastin, saying:
"If you don't mind, Arbuthnot, I wish that you would get up. The
Glittering Lady (he still called her that) is coming here to have a talk
with me which I should prefer to be private. Excuse me for disturbing
you, but you have overslept yourself; indeed, I think it must be nine
o'clock, so far as I can judge by the sun, for my watch is very erratic
now, ever since Bickley tried to clean it."
"I am sorry, my dear fellow," I said sleepily, "but do you know I
thought I was in London--in fact, I could swear that I have been there."
"Then," interrupted Bickley, who had followed Bastin into the hut,
giving me that doubtful glance with which I was now familiar, "I wish to
goodness that you had brought back an evening paper with you."
A night or two later I was again suddenly awakened to feel that Oro was
approaching. He appeared like a ghost in the bright moonlight, greeted
me, and said:
"Tonight, Humphrey, we must make another journey. I would visit the seat
of the war."
"I do not wish to go," I said feebly.
"What you wish does not matter," he replied. "I wish that you should go,
and therefore you must."
"Listen, Oro," I exclaimed. "I do not like this business; it seems
dangerous to me."
"There is no danger if you are obedient, Humphrey."
"I think there is. I do not understand what happens. Do you make use of
what the Lady Yva called the Fourth Dimension, so that our bodies
pass over the seas and through mountains, like the vibrations of our
Wireless, of which I was speaking to you?"
"No, Humphrey. That method is good and easy, but I do not use it because
if I did we should be visible in the places which we visit, since there
all the atoms that make a man would collect together again and be a
man."
"What, then, do you do?" I asked, exasperated.
"Man, Humphrey, is not one; he is many. Thus, amongst other things he
has a Double, which can see and hear, as he can in the flesh, if it is
separated from the flesh."
"The old Egyptians believed that," I said.
"Did they? Doubtless they inherited the knowledge from us, the Sons of
Wisdom. The cup of our learning was so full that, keep it secret as we
would, from time to time some of it overflowed among the vulgar, and
doubtless thus the light of our knowledge still burns feebly in the
world."
I reflected to myself that whatever might be their other
characteristics, the Sons of Wisdom had lost that of modesty, but I only
asked how he used his Double, supposing that it existed.
"Very easily," he answered. "In sleep it can be drawn from the body and
sent upon its mission by one that is its master."
"Then while you were asleep for all those thousands of years your Double
must have made many journeys."
"Perhaps," he replied quietly, "and my spirit also, which is another
part of me that may have dwelt in the bodies of other men. But
unhappily, if so I forget, and that is why I have so much to learn and
must even make use of such poor instruments as you, Humphrey."
"Then if I sleep and you distil my Double out of me, I suppose that you
sleep too. In that case who distils your Double out of you, Lord Oro?"
He grew angry and answered:
"Ask no more questions, blind and ignorant as you are. It is your part
not to examine, but to obey. Sleep now," and again he waved his hand
over me.
In an instant, as it seemed, we were standing in a grey old town that I
judged from its appearance must be either in northern France or Belgium.
It was much shattered by bombardment; the church, for instance, was a
ruin; also many of the houses had been burnt. Now, however, no firing
was going on for the town had been taken. The streets were full of armed
men wearing the German uniform and helmet. We passed down them and
were able to see into the houses. In some of these were German soldiers
engaged in looting and in other things so horrible that even the unmoved
Oro turned away his head.
We came to the market-place. It was crowded with German troops, also
with a great number of the inhabitants of the town, most of them elderly
men and women with children, who had fallen into their power. The
Germans, under the command of officers, were dragging the men from
the arms of their wives and children to one side, and with rifle-butts
beating back the screaming women. Among the men I noticed two or three
priests who were doing their best to soothe their companions and even
giving them absolution in hurried whispers.
At length the separation was effected, whereon at a hoarse word of
command, a company of soldiers began to fire at the men and continued
doing so until all had fallen. Then petty officers went among the
slaughtered and with pistols blew out the brains of any who still moved.
"These butchers, you say, are Germans?" asked Oro of me.
"Yes," I answered, sick with horror, for though I was in the mind and
not in the body, I could feel as the mind does. Had I been in the body
also, I should have fainted.
"Then we need not waste time in visiting their country. It is enough;
let us go on."
We passed out into the open land and came to a village. It was in the
occupation of German cavalry. Two of them held a little girl of nine
or ten, one by her body, the other by her right hand. An officer stood
between them with a drawn sword fronting the terrified child. He was
a horrible, coarse-faced man who looked to me as though he had been
drinking.
"I'll teach the young devil to show us the wrong road and let those
French swine escape," he shouted, and struck with the sword. The girl's
right hand fell to the ground.
"War as practised by the Germans!" remarked Oro. Then he stepped, or
seemed to step up to the man and whispered, or seemed to whisper, in his
ear.
I do not know what tongue or what spirit speech he used, or what he
said, but the bloated-faced brute turned pale. Yes, he drew sick with
fear.
"I think there are spirits in this place," he said with a German oath.
"I could have sworn that something told me that I was going to die.
Mount!"
The Uhlans mounted and began to ride away.
"Watch," said Oro.
As he spoke out of a dark cloud appeared an aeroplane. Its pilot saw the
band of Germans beneath and dropped a bomb. The aim was good, for the
missile exploded in the midst of them, causing a great cloud of dust
from which arose the screams of men and horses.
"Come and see," said Oro.
We were there. Out of the cloud of dust appeared one man galloping
furiously. He was a young fellow who, as I noted, had turned his head
away and hidden his eyes with his hand when the horror was done yonder.
All the others were dead except the officer who had worked the deed. He
was still living, but both his hands and one of his feet had been blown
away. Presently he died, screaming to God for mercy.
We passed on and came to a barn with wide doors that swung a little in
the wind, causing the rusted hinges to scream like a creature in pain.
On each of these doors hung a dead man crucified. The hat of one of
them lay upon the ground, and I knew from the shape of it that he was a
Colonial soldier.
"Did you not tell me," said Oro after surveying them, "that these
Germans are of your Christian faith?"
"Yes; and the Name of God is always on their ruler's lips."
"Ah!" he said, "I am glad that I worship Fate. Bastin the priest need
trouble me no more."
"There is something behind Fate," I said, quoting Bastin himself.
"Perhaps. So indeed I have always held, but after much study I cannot
understand the manner of its working. Fate is enough for me."
We went on and came to a flat country that was lined with ditches, all
of them full of men, Germans on one side, English and French upon the
other. A terrible bombardment shook the earth, the shells raining upon
the ditches. Presently that from the English guns ceased and out of the
trenches in front of them thousands of men were vomited, who ran forward
through a hail of fire in which scores and hundreds fell, across an open
piece of ground that was pitted with shell craters. They came to barbed
wire defenses, or what remained of them, cut the wire with nippers and
pulled up the posts. Then through the gaps they surged in, shouting and
hurling hand grenades. They reached the German trenches, they leapt into
them and from those holes arose a hellish din. Pistols were fired and
everywhere bayonets flashed.
Behind them rushed a horde of little, dark-skinned men, Indians who
carried great knives in their hands. Those leapt over the first trench
and running on with wild yells, dived into the second, those who were
left of them, and there began hacking with their knives at the defenders
and the soldiers who worked the spitting maxim guns. In twenty minutes
it was over; those lines of trenches were taken, and once more from
either side the guns began to boom.
"War again," said Oro, "clean, honest war, such as the god I call Fate
decrees for man. I have seen enough. Now I would visit those whom you
call Turks. I understand they have another worship and perhaps they are
nobler than these Christians."
We came to a hilly country which I recognised as Armenia, for once I
travelled there, and stopped on an seashore. Here were the Turks in
thousands. They were engaged in driving before them mobs of men, women
and children in countless numbers. On and on they drove them till
they reached the shore. There they massacred them with bayonets, with
bullets, or by drowning. I remember a dreadful scene of a poor woman
standing up to her waist in the water. Three children were clinging to
her--but I cannot go on, really I cannot go on. In the end a Turk waded
out and bayoneted her while she strove to protect the last living child
with her poor body whence it sprang.
"These, I understand," said Oro, pointing to the Turkish soldiers,
"worship a prophet who they say is the voice of God."
"Yes," I answered, "and therefore they massacre these who are Christians
because they worship God without a prophet."
"And what do the Christians massacre each other for?"
"Power and the wealth and territories that are power. That is, the King
of the Germans wishes to rule the world, but the other Nations do not
desire his dominion. Therefore they fight for Liberty and Justice."
"As it was, so it is and shall be," remarked Oro, "only with this
difference. In the old world some were wise, but here--" and he stopped,
his eyes fixed upon the Armenian woman struggling in her death agony
while the murderer drowned her child, then added: "Let us go."
Our road ran across the sea. On it we saw a ship so large that it
attracted Oro's attention, and for once he expressed astonishment.
"In my day," he said, "we had no vessels of this greatness in the world.
I wish to look upon it."
We landed on the deck of the ship, or rather the floating palace, and
examined her. She carried many passengers, some English, some American,
and I pointed out to Oro the differences between the two peoples. These
were not, he remarked, very wide except that the American women wore
more jewels, also that some of the American men, to whom we listened
as they conversed, spoke of the greatness of their country, whereas
the Englishmen, if they said anything concerning it, belittled their
country.
Presently, on the surface of the sea at a little distance appeared
something strange, a small and ominous object like a can on the top of a
pole. A voice cried out "Submarine!" and everyone near rushed to look.
"If those Germans try any of their monkey tricks on us, I guess the
United States will give them hell," said another voice near by.
Then from the direction of the pole with the tin can on the top of
it, came something which caused a disturbance in the smooth water and
bubbles to rise in its wake.
"A torpedo!" cried some.
"Shut your mouth," said the voice. "Who dare torpedo a vessel full of
the citizens of the United States?"
Next came a booming crash and a flood of upthrown water, in the wash of
which that speaker was carried away into the deep. Then horror! horror!
horror! indescribable, as the mighty vessel went wallowing to her doom.
Boats launched; boats overset; boats dragged under by her rush through
the water which could not be stayed. Maddened men and women running
to and fro, their eyes starting from their heads, clasping children,
fastening lifebelts over their costly gowns, or appearing from their
cabins, their hands filled with jewels that they sought to save. Orders
cried from high places by stern-faced officers doing their duty to the
last. And a little way off that thin pole with a tin can on the top of
it watching its work.
Then the plunge of the enormous ship into the deep, its huge screws
still whirling in the air and the boom of the bursting boilers. Lastly
everything gone save a few boats floating on the quiet sea and around
them dots that were the heads of struggling human beings.
"Let us go home," said Oro. "I grow tired of this war of your Christian
peoples. It is no better than that of the barbarian nations of the early
world. Indeed it is worse, since then we worshipped Fate and but a few
of us had wisdom. Now you all claim wisdom and declare that you worship
a God of Mercy."
With these words still ringing in my ears I woke up upon the Island of
Orofena, filled with terror at the horrible possibilities of nightmare.
What else could it be? There was the brown and ancient cone of the
extinct volcano. There were the tall palms of the main island and the
lake glittering in the sunlight between. There was Bastin conducting
a kind of Sunday school of Orofenans upon the point of the Rock of
Offerings, as now he had obtained the leave of Oro to do. There was the
mouth of the cave, and issuing from it Bickley, who by help of one of
the hurricane lamps had been making an examination of the buried
remains of what he supposed to be flying machines. Without doubt it was
nightmare, and I would say nothing to them about it for fear of mockery.
Yet two nights later Oro came again and after the usual preliminaries,
said:
"Humphrey, this night we will visit that mighty American nation, of
which you have told me so much, and the other Neutral Countries."
[At this point there is a gap in Mr. Arbuthnot's M.S., so Oro's
reflections on the Neutral Nations, if any, remain unrecorded. It
continues:]
On our homeward way we passed over Australia, making a detour to do so.
Of the cities Oro took no account. He said that they were too large and
too many, but the country interested him so much that I gathered he must
have given great attention to agriculture at some time in the past. He
pointed out to me that the climate was fine, and the land so fertile
that with a proper system of irrigation and water-storage it could
support tens of millions and feed not only itself but a great part of
the outlying world.
"But where are the people?" he asked. "Outside of those huge hives," and
he indicated the great cities, "I see few of them, though doubtless some
of the men are fighting in this war. Well, in the days to come this must
be remedied."
Over New Zealand, which he found beautiful, he shook his head for the
same reason.
On another night we visited the East. China with its teeming millions
interested him extremely, partly because he declared these to be the
descendants of one of the barbarian nations of his own day. He made
a remark to the effect that this race had always possessed points
and capacities, and that he thought that with proper government and
instruction their Chinese offspring would be of use in a regenerated
world.
For the Japanese and all that they had done in two short generations, he
went so far as to express real admiration, a very rare thing with Oro,
who was by nature critical. I could see that mentally he put a white
mark against their name.
India, too, really moved him. He admired the ancient buildings at Delhi
and Agra, especially the Taj Mahal. This, he declared, was reminiscent
of some of the palaces that stood at Pani, the capital city of the Sons
of Wisdom, before it was destroyed by the Barbarians.
The English administration of the country also attracted a word of
praise from him, I think because of its rather autocratic character.
Indeed he went so far as to declare that, with certain modifications,
it should be continued in the future, and even to intimate that he would
bear the matter in mind. Democratic forms of government had no charms
for Oro.
Amongst other places, we stopped at Benares and watched the funeral
rites in progress upon the banks of the holy Ganges. The bearers of the
dead brought the body of a woman wrapped in a red shroud that glittered
with tinsel ornaments. Coming forward at a run and chanting as they ran,
they placed it upon the stones for a little while, then lifted it up
again and carried it down the steps to the edge of the river. Here they
took water and poured it over the corpse, thus performing the rite of
the baptism of death. This done, they placed its feet in the water
and left it looking very small and lonely. Presently appeared a tall,
white-draped woman who took her stand by the body and wailed. It was the
dead one's mother. Again the bearers approached and laid the corpse upon
the flaming pyre.
"These rites are ancient," said Oro. "When I ruled as King of the World
they were practised in this very place. It is pleasant to me to find
something that has survived the changefulness of Time. Let it continue
till the end."
Here I will cease. These experiences that I have recorded are but
samples, for also we visited Russia and other countries. Perhaps, too,
they were not experiences at all, but only dreams consequent on my state
of health. I cannot say for certain, though much of what I seemed to
see fitted in very well indeed with what I learned in after days, and
certainly at the time they appeared as real as though Oro and I had
stood together upon those various shores.
More
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Arbuthnot Describes Himself
I suppose that I, Humphrey Arbuthnot, should begin this history in which Destiny has caused me to play so prominent a part, with some short account of myself and of my circumstances. I was born forty years ago in this very Devonshire village in ... At Harmony Lodge
The next three weeks went by both too quickly and too slowly for Cortin's taste. It took the Imperials only a couple of days to find a plague vaccine, but they were unable to find a cure; according to their medical people, it caused permanent p... Ayrault's Vision
When Ayrault's watch was ended, he roused Cortlandt, who took his place, and feeling a desire for solitude and for a last long look at the earth, he crossed the top of the ridge on the slope of which they had camped, and lay down on the farther side... Bastin And Bickley
Behold me once more a man without an occupation, but now the possessor of about L900,000. It was a very considerable fortune, if not a large one in England; nothing like the millions of which I had dreamed, but still enough. To make the most of it... Bastin Attempts The Martyr's Crown
That carved stone and the marble hand took a great hold of my imagination. What did they mean? How could they have come to the bottom of that hole, unless indeed they were part of some building and its ornaments which had been destroyed in the nei... Bastin Discovers A Resemblance
There is little more to tell. Shortly after our return Bickley, like a patriotic Englishman, volunteered for service at the front and departed in the uniform of the R.A.M.C. Before he left he took the opportunity of explaining to Bastin how muc... Concerning A Stranger From Spaceland
From dreams I proceed to facts. It was the last day of our 1999th year of our era. The patterning of the rain had long ago announced nightfall; and I was sitting (footnote 3) in the company of my wife, musing on the events of the past and the ... Concerning Irregular Figures
Throughout the previous pages I have been assuming--what perhaps should have been laid down at the beginning as a distinct and fundamental proposition--that every human being in Flatland is a Regular Figure, that is to say of regular construction.... Concerning Our Priests
It is high time that I should pass from these brief and discursive notes about things in Flatland to the central event of this book, my initiation into the mysteries of Space. THAT is my subject; all that has gone before is merely preface. For... Concerning The Inhabitants Of Flatland
The greatest length or breadth of a full grown inhabitant of Flatland may be estimated at about eleven of your inches. Twelve inches may be regarded as a maximum. Our Women are Straight Lines. Our Soldiers and Lowest Class of Workmen are Tri... Concerning The Women
If our highly pointed Triangles of the Soldier class are formidable, it may be readily inferred that far more formidable are our Women. For, if a Soldier is a wedge, a Woman is a needle; being, so to speak, ALL point, at least at the two extremit... Death And Departure
Now I must tell of my own terrible sorrow, which turned my life to bitterness and my hopes to ashes. Never were a man and a woman happier together than I and Natalie. Mentally, physically, spiritually we were perfectly mated, and we loved each ... Decision
Monday, 16 March 2572 Shannon had sent Blackfeather home to get ready for her trip, and was distracting himself from her loss by studying. He hadn't wasted his time in Odeon's mind; besides teaching the priest how to remove the compulsions... Hic Ille Jacet
At daybreak the thunder-shower passed off, but was followed by a cold, drenching rain. Supposing Ayrault had remained in the Callisto, Bearwarden and Cortlandt did not feel anxious, and, not wishing to be wet through, remained in the cave, keeping ... How I Came To Spaceland And What I Saw There
An unspeakable horror seized me. There was a darkness; then a dizzy, sickening sensation of sight that was not like seeing; I saw a Line that was no Line; Space that was not Space: I was myself, and not myself. When I could find voice, I shriek... How I Had A Vision Of Lineland
It was the last day but one of the 1999th year of our era, and the first day of the Long Vacation. Having amused myself till a late hour with my favourite recreation of Geometry, I had retired to rest with an unsolved problem in my mind. In the ... How I Then Tried To Diffuse The Theory Of Three Dimensions By Other Means And Of The Result
My failure with my Grandson did not encourage me to communicate my secret to others of my household; yet neither was I led by it to despair of success. Only I saw that I must not wholly rely on the catch-phrase, "Upward, not Northward," but must ... How I Tried To Teach The Theory Of Three Dimensions To My Grandson And With What Success
I awoke rejoicing, and began to reflect on the glorious career before me. I would go forth, methought, at once, and evangelize the whole of Flatland. Even to Women and Soldiers should the Gospel of Three Dimensions be proclaimed. I would begin ... How I Vainly Tried To Explain The Nature Of Flatland
Thinking that it was time to bring down the Monarch from his raptures to the level of common sense, I determined to endeavour to open up to him some glimpses of the truth, that is to say of the nature of things in Flatland. So I began thus: "How... How The Sphere Encouraged Me In A Vision
Although I had less than a minute for reflection, I felt, by a kind of instinct, that I must conceal my experiences from my Wife. Not that I apprehended, at the moment, any danger from her divulging my secret, but I knew that to any Woman in Flat... How The Sphere Having In Vain Tried Words Resorted To Deeds
It was in vain. I brought my hardest right angle into violent collision with the Stranger, pressing on him with a force sufficient to have destroyed any ordinary Circle: but I could feel him slowly and unarrestably slipping from my contact; not ... How The Stranger Vainly Endeavoured To Reveal To Me In Words The Mysteries Of Spaceland
As soon as the sound of the Peace-cry of my departing Wife had died away, I began to approach the Stranger with the intention of taking a nearer view and of bidding him be seated: but his appearance struck me dumb and motionless with astonishment... How Though The Sphere Shewed Me Other Mysteries Of Spaceland I Still Desire More And What Came Of It
When I saw my poor brother led away to imprisonment, I attempted to leap down into the Council Chamber, desiring to intercede on his behalf, or at least bid him farewell. But I found that I had no motion of my own. I absolutely depended on the v... In The Temple Of Fate
Yva glanced at me, and in her eyes I read tenderness and solicitude, also something of inquiry. It seemed to me as though she were wondering what I should do under circumstances that might, or would, arise, and in some secret fashion of which I wa... Land
At last the electric light really went out. I had looked at my watch just before this happened and wound it up, which, Bickley remarked, was superfluous and a waste of energy. It then marked 3.20 in the morning. We had wedged Bastin, who was now s... Love's Eternal Altar
Now of all these happenings I said very little to Bastin and Bickley. The former would not have understood them, and the latter attributed what I did tell him to mental delusions following on my illness. To Yva I did speak about them, however, imp... Mike Odeon's First Mass
Odeon smiled as he entered the Detention Center chapel's small sacristy to prepare for his First Mass. He'd gone to Mass every day it was physically possible since childhood, made Spiritual Communion otherwise, and he'd thought himself long sin... Natalie
Now what Bastin had said about marriage stuck in my mind as his blundering remarks had a way of doing, perhaps because of the grain of honest truth with which they were often permeated. Probably in my position it was more or less my duty to marry.... Of Our Methods Of Recognizing One Another
You, who are blessed with shade as well as light, you, who are gifted with two eyes, endowed with a knowledge of perspective, and charmed with the enjoyment of various colours, you, who can actually SEE an angle, and contemplate the complete circu... Of Recognition By Sight
I am about to appear very inconsistent. In the previous sections I have said that all figures in Flatland present the appearance of a straight line; and it was added or implied, that it is consequently impossible to distinguish by the visual orga... Of The Ancient Practice Of Painting
If my Readers have followed me with any attention up to this point, they will not be surprised to hear that life is somewhat dull in Flatland. I do not, of course, mean that there are not battles, conspiracies, tumults, factions, and all those ot... Of The Climate And Houses In Flatland
As with you, so also with us, there are four points of the compass North, South, East, and West. There being no sun nor other heavenly bodies, it is impossible for us to determine the North in the usual way; but we have a method of our own. By... Of The Doctrine Of Our Priests
As to the doctrine of the Circles it may briefly be summed up in a single maxim, "Attend to your Configuration." Whether political, ecclesiastical, or moral, all their teaching has for its object the improvement of individual and collective Confi... Of The Nature Of Flatland
I call our world Flatland, not because we call it so, but to make its nature clearer to you, my happy readers, who are privileged to live in Space. Imagine a vast sheet of paper on which straight Lines, Triangles, Squares, Pentagons, Hexagons, ... Of The Suppression Of The Chromatic Sedition
The agitation for the Universal Colour Bill continued for three years; and up to the last moment of that period it seemed as though Anarchy were destined to triumph. A whole army of Polygons, who turned out to fight as private soldiers, was utt... Of The Universal Colour Bill
But meanwhile the intellectual Arts were fast decaying. The Art of Sight Recognition, being no longer needed, was no longer practised; and the studies of Geometry, Statics, Kinetics, and other kindred subjects, came soon to be considered superfl... Oro And Arbuthnot Travel By Night
As time went on, Oro began to visit me more and more frequently, till at last scarcely a night went by that he did not appear mysteriously in my sleeping-place. The odd thing was that neither Bickley nor Bastin seemed to be aware of these nocturna... Oro In His House
We climbed on to the dais by some marble steps, and sat ourselves down in four curious chairs of metal that were more or less copied from that which served Oro as a throne; at least the arms ended in graven heads of snakes. These chairs were so co... Oro Speaks And Bastin Argues
The reader of what I have written, should there ever be such a person, may find the record marvelous, and therefore rashly conclude that because it is beyond experience, it could not be. It is not a wise deduction, as I think Bickley would admit t... Resurrection
We reached the sepulchre without stopping to look at the parked machines or even the marvelous statue that stood above it, for what did we care about machines or statues now? As we approached we were astonished to hear low and cavernous growlings.... Sacrifice
"The air in this place must be charged with some form of electricity, but the odd thing is that it does not seem to harm us," said Bickley in a matter-of-fact fashion as though he were determined not to be astonished. "To me it looks more like ... Shannon's Reaction
Shannon had decided to take advantage of Cortin's skill during the afternoon session. It had been some time since he'd combined his two preferences purely for pleasure instead of as an "object lesson"--since Piety, in fact--and he was overdue f... Shayan
Shannon's stomach churned in sick disgust, and he found it hard to keep from vomiting. He'd known that she'd be given a dozen helpers roughly equivalent to his doubles, so he hadn't been surprised when she, as acting Protector, was helped to se... The Accident
Bickley did return, having recovered his temper, since after all it was impossible for anyone to remain angry with the Lady Yva for long, and we spent a very happy time together. We instructed and she was the humble pupil. How swift and nimble ... The Chariot Of The Pit
Oro came and of necessity alone. Yet there was that in his air as he advanced into the temple, which suggested a monarch surrounded by the pomp and panoply of a great court. He marched, his head held high, as though heralds and pursuivants went in... The Command
I think that both Bastin and Bickley, by instinct as it were, knew what had passed between Yva and myself and that she had promised herself to me. They showed this by the way in which they avoided any mention of her name. Also they began to talk o... The Cyclone
We enjoyed our voyage exceedingly. In Egypt, a land I was glad to revisit, we only stopped a week while the Star of the South, which we rejoined at Suez, coaled and went through the Canal. This, however, gave us time to spend a few days in Cairo, ... The Dwellers In The Tomb
By now it was drawing towards sunset, so we made such preparations as we could for the night. One of these was to collect dry driftwood, of which an abundance lay upon the shore, to serve us for firing, though unfortunately we had nothing that we ... The Island In The Lake
We made the canoe fast and landed on the great rock, to perceive that it was really a peninsula. That is to say, it was joined to the main land of the lake island by a broad roadway quite fifty yards across, which appeared to end in the mouth of t... The Orofenans
To our shame we had a very pleasant supper that night off the grilled fish, which was excellent, and some tinned meat. I say to our shame, in a sense, for on our companions the sharks were supping and by rights we should have been sunk in woe. I s... The Proposals Of Bastin And Bickley
So far as my body was concerned I grew well with great rapidity, though it was long before I got back my strength. Thus I could not walk far or endure any sustained exertion. With my mind it was otherwise. I can not explain what had happened to it... The Under-world
That night we slept well and without fear, being quite certain that after their previous experience the Orofenans would make no further attempts upon us. Indeed our only anxiety was for Tommy, whom we could not find when the time came to give him ... Tommy
I lay still a while, on my back as I had fallen, and beneath the shield-like defence which Yva had given to me. Notwithstanding the fire-resisting, metalised stuff of which it was made, I noted that it was twisted and almost burnt through. Doubtle... Torture Cortin's Point Of View
Cortin was conducting the first part of her preliminary examination when Odeon interrupted. "Someone in the observation room, Excellency." She turned that way. "Colonel Bradford?" "Yes," Bradford replied over the intercom, "with Ranger M... Torture Odeon's Point Of View
Maybe an hour after Cortin began her preliminary examination, Odeon glanced toward the observation room, raised a hand in acknowledgement when he saw the light on above the window, and spoke softly to Cortin. "Someone in the observation room, Ex... Two Hundred And Fifty Thousand Years!
"You seem to have made the best of your time, old fellow," said Bickley in rather a sour voice. "I never knew people begin to call each other by their Christian names so soon," added Bastin, looking at me with a suspicious eye. "I know no oth... Visions Of The Past
She led us to the back of the statue and pointed to each of us where we should remain. Then she took her place at right angles to us, as a showman might do, and for a while stood immovable. Watching her face, once more I saw it, and indeed all her... Waiting
Thursday, 26 March 2572 (Morning, New Rome) Shayan smiled as he read the New Roman Times while eating breakfast. Sara had done excellently; these stories gave him all the details he needed to take action. The Strike Forces, the Sealing, Cort... Yva Explains
When I reached the rock I was pleased to find Marama and about twenty of his people engaged in erecting the house that we had ordered them to build for our accommodation. Indeed, it was nearly finished, since house-building in Orofena is a simple ... -and Epilogue
"Hold it!" The voice bellowed thunderingly from the loud-speakers of the six Earth ships that had boxed in the derelict. "Hold it! Don't bomb that ship! I'll personally have the head of any man who damages that ship!" In five of the ships, the co... 40000000 Years After
Entering within the boundaries of the solar system, a long, dark, pointed craft sped across the realms of space towards the tiny point of light which marked the dull red ball of the dying sun which would some day lie cold and dark forever. Like a ... 999 Priscilla
As the cutter touched the bank the entire party from the long-house, whites and natives, were gathered on the shore to meet it. At first the officers held off as though fearing a hostile demonstration, but when they saw the whites among the thron... A Barren Land
We had started under a sky overcast but calm. There was no fear of heat, none of disastrous rain. It was just the weather for tourists. The pleasure of riding on horseback over an unknown country made me easy to be pleased at our first start. I th... A Bird's Eye View Of The Lunar Mountains
I am rather inclined to believe myself that not one word of Ardan's rhapsody had been ever heard by Barbican or M'Nicholl. Long before he had spoken his last words, they had once more become mute as statues, and now were both eagerly watching, pen... A Bold Proposition
On his return Servadac communicated to the count the result of his expedition, and, though perfectly silent on the subject of his personal project, did not conceal the fact that the Spaniards, without the smallest right, had sold Ceuta to the Engl... A Break For Liberty
Xodar listened in incredulous astonishment to my narration of the events which had transpired within the arena at the rites of Issus. He could scarce conceive, even though he had already professed his doubt as to the deity of Issus, that one coul... A Carrier-pigeon
When, three hours after sunset, on the 23d of March, the Gallian moon rose upon the western horizon, it was observed that she had entered upon her last quarter. She had taken only four days to pass from syzygy to quadrature, and it was consequentl... A Catastrophe
SCARCELY six weeks passed before I had lost every feeling but dislike and abhorrence for this infamous experiment of Moreau's. My one idea was to get away from these horrible caricatures of my Maker's image, back to the sweet and wholesome interco... A Challenge
"Nothing, sir, can induce me to surrender my claim." "I am sorry, count, but in such a matter your views cannot modify mine." "But allow me to point out that my seniority unquestionably gives me a prior right." "Mere seniority, I assert, in... A Chance Strain From Grieg
I recalled waking up in another place, on a long slope of green hill that overlooked a valley. It was dawn again. The sun was just rising over the crest of the hill behind me, and it threw long shadows across the grass from the tall, slender trees... A Change Of Masters
WE MUST HAVE TRAVELED SEVERAL MILES THROUGH the dark and dismal wood when we came suddenly upon a dense village built high among the branches of the trees. As we approached it my escort broke into wild shouting which was immediately answered from... A Change Of Plan
It was long after their bed-time and the two sisters were utterly exhausted; but as the mysterious structure within which they lay glided northward between heaven and earth with the speed of a meteor, Rebecca and Phoebe long courted sleep in vain....