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    The First Men in the Moon
    The First Men in the Moon
    The First Men in the Moon
    Ebook251 pages4 hours

    The First Men in the Moon

    By H. G. Wells

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    This is H. G. Wells' 1901 scientific romance, "The First Men in the Moon". Referred to by Wells as one of his "fantastic stories", it tells the tale of one Mr. Bedford, an unconventional scientist, and his plan of space travel. Together with his friend Mr. Cavor, Mr. Bedford journeys to the moon only to discover that they are unwelcome visitors. A fantastic example of classic science fiction by the father of the genre, "The First Men in the Moon" is not to be missed by fans and collectors of Wells' work. Herbert George Wells (1866 - 1946) was a prolific English writer who wrote in a variety of genres, including the novel, politics, history, and social commentary. Today, he is perhaps best remembered for his contributions to the science fiction genre thanks to such novels as "The Time Machine" (1895), "The Invisible Man" (1897), and "The War of the Worlds" (1898). "The Father of Science Fiction" was also a staunch socialist, and his later works are increasingly political and didactic. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateSep 14, 2016
    ISBN9781473345317
    Author

    H. G. Wells

    H.G. Wells is considered by many to be the father of science fiction. He was the author of numerous classics such as The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The War of the Worlds, and many more. 

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    • 4/5
      England, ca 1905..En ikke alt for succesfuld forretningsmand, Mr. Bedford, forsøger at skrive et skuespil for at slippe ud af en finansiel kattepine, da han forstyrres af en videnskabsmand, professor Cavor, der har sat præcis en halv time af hver dag til at gå en tur. De kommer til at snakke sammen og Bedford bliver indviet i Cavors opfindelse af et stof, der kan skærme for tyngdekraft.Efter en eksplosion udløst af første portion af stoffet får de det tæmmet, udruster et rumskib og tager til Månen. Efter en noget hård landing opdager de at der er en smule luft på Månen og at de godt kan trække vejret der omend noget besværet.Mad er sværere at finde, men de opdager at der findes både planter og dyr på Månen. Planterne vokser meget hurtigere end på jorden, men er også større og mere luftige og svampede i det. De spiser en masse af en stor svamp og bliver meget påvirkede af det, så de opdager stort set ikke at de bliver taget til fange af selenitter.Guld er ikke et sjældent metal på Månen og fx bliver de lænket med kæder af guld. De slipper fri og da de er meget stærkere end selenitterne, fordi de er vant til Jordens tyngdekraft, bliver al modstand fejet til side på blodig og brutal vis.Bedford vil gerne tilbage til Jorden med en masse guld, mens Cavor gerne vil forske. De deler sig op for at finde rumskibet og Cavor bliver fanget. Bedford finder rumskibet og kommer efter nogle dage tilbage til Jorden. Her skyller rumskibet ind på land ved Dungeness og han redder sig noget forkommen i land og får nogle tililende til at hjælpe med at få optegnelser og guldkæder fra borde.Mens han venter på at komme til hægterne igen, sniger en lokal knægt sig ombord og rumskibet forsvinder med ham ombord og formentlig uden at lugen er lukket, så hverken knægt eller rumskib bliver set mere.Bedford tror at alt er endt i fiasko, men netop som han har fået lidt af beretningen trykt i et tidsskrift melder en radioamatør sig med oplysningen om at han har fået meddelelser sendt fra Månen. Den sidste del af bogen er således Cavor's beretninger fra Månen. Han beskriver måneboerne som et slags insektsamfund styret af Den Store Lunar. Cavor kommer til at afsløre over for denne at han er den eneste, der ved hvordan man laver cavorit. Da Den Store Lunar har fordøjet den oplysning, kommer der ikke flere meddelelser fra Cavor.Glimrende bog, der selvfølgelig ikke hænger sammen med hvad vi siden har fundet ud af om Månen, men Cavor og Bedford er interessante personer og skildringen af Selenitterne og deres samfund er også interessant.
    • 3/5
      Following his success with The Invisible Man, The Time Machine and War of the Worlds, H G Wells turned his attention to space travel. Like his three previous novels; First Men in the Moon is firmly set in late Victorian England and it is an unconventional scientist who once again proves to be the catalyst for the story. Mr Cavor working in his country house with a team of untrained assistants, invents a material that negates the effects of gravity, which he names Cavorite. His lonely walks along the sea front attract the attention of Bedford, a bankrupt business man and the two men soon become associates and so starts their mad adventures fuelled by a sort of comic book fantasy that is never remotely believable.The two men are soon hard at work in Cavor’s backyard building a space capsule which will feature window shutters made of Cavorite with which they will be able to manipulate in such a way as to escape the earth’s gravitational pull and fly to the moon. Today this sounds like pure hokum and it cannot have sounded any better in 1901 when Well’s book was published. This is what Well’s astronaughts were wearing inside their sphere:“The interior was warm, the thermometer stood at eighty, and as we should lose little or none of this by radiation, we were dressed in shoes and thin flannels. We had however, a bundle of thick woollen clothing and several thick blankets to guard against mischance.”They did take some oxygen cylinders, but these were not needed when they found breathable atmosphere on the moon. Yes of course they made it to the moon and with some desperate manoeuvrings with the Cavorite blinds managed to land safely enough. This is Mr Cavor on the moon enjoying it’s lesser gravitational pull:“Good we cried to each other ‘Good’ and Cavor made three steps and went off to a tempting slope of snow a good twenty yards and more beyond. I stood for a moment struck by the grotesque effect of his soaring figure - his dirty cricket cap, and spiky hair, his little round body, his arms and his knicker-bockered legs tucked up tightly - against the weird spaciousness of the lunar scene. A gust of laughter seized me, and then I stepped off to follow. Plump! I dropped beside him.”Wells is having tremendous fun with his “Boys Own” adventure and this is the main problem with his book. There are some passages where the characters reflect on the folly of man and his rapacious needs and there is the juxtaposition between the two characters, but I never got the sense that this is what the book was really about. The story is told by Bedford in the first person, now safely back on earth and so we realise that at least one of the adventurers lived to tell the tale. Our two unlikely protagonists find life on the moon which is a honeycomb of tunnels and caves inhabited by the Selenites: sort of intelligent ant like beings. It is Cavor by his dispatches from the moon that describes their society their natural history and finally his meeting with their ruler: The Grand Lunar.First Men in the Moon has the feel of a pot boiler; Wells seems here to have taken his fantasy writing as far as it would go and is stretching all bounds of possibility with this novel. It is however never dull and Well’s easy flowing style carries the reader along with him. It is amusing and if you don’t mind the silly story it is a fun read. 3 stars.
    • 4/5
      I loved this book.Its about two men who end up traveling to the moon in a glass sphere using Cavorite. It's such a classic. Obviously we now know that none of the things that happened in the book can actually happen on the moon, but its still a great read. I really enjoyed the way the two main characters interacted with each other and the strange insect moon people. The story was engrossing and I would definitely recommend it to others.
    • 4/5
      A sort of Trip to the Moon meets First Contact story. Amazing to think it was written in 1901. It was probably hard SF of its day and even now sounds very plausible in its ideas except obviously for life on the moon.
    • 4/5
      Rereading H.G. Wells has been quite an experience. When I first read this one, I remember, I was most impressed by the adventure story. This time around, 45 years later, I was struck by Wells' humor. There were times I almost laughed out loud while reading, a reaction not to the pseudo-science but to Wells deft handling of social satire and irony. A very good read.
    • 5/5
      The Science Fiction elements of this story are somewhat dated. The notion of a virtually hollow Moon and a substance that is opaque to gravity's "rays" both ring, today, less like science fiction and more like fantasy. The truly wonderful thing about these older SF works (Verne, Wells, even Capek), however, is that as they age they attain this additional status as artifacts of an era and its expectations. The fact that the mechanism by which Cavor and Bedford travel to the Moon is, today, patently absurd is fascinating rather than detracting from the work. To see what seemed possible at that time and turns out not to be is as interesting as the instances in which these visionaries got it right. Then again, Wells was never quite so concerned with making his stories plausible as Verne generally was. The essence of Wells's stories is, rather, thinly veiled social commentary (for instance on social stratification in The Time Machine). Here, Cavor's transmissions toward the end are a priceless example and the weird eyes of the Grand Lunar a terrific lens through which to see ourselves. Also of note in this story is the extent of detail he put toward the physiology of his alien race and how it relates to social structure. Finally, I can't say enough for the character work. The trope of the unreliable narrator is exquisitely employed. Bedford's annotation on Cavor's transmissions and the ways in which they contradict the version he put forward when he thought no one could question it is the sort of thing Nabokov might have written.
    • 5/5
      This is not science fiction so much as fantasy. Even 100 years ago, Wells's contemporaries knew there was no atmosphere on the moon. To create a world within the planet is a fantastic idea, but there are so many holes in the idea that it smells like swiss cheese (which is what many alleged the moon was made of for awhile). Cavorite, a substance named after its inventor Cavor, is something else. This is science of a sort. It may be possible to use anti-energy to rebel against gravitation, but if so, we haven't figured out how to harness it yet. We do know there is such a thing as anti-matter, and that may work against gravitation, but for one small problem, i.e., if we take one small bit of anti-matter and somehow manage to get it so it is exposed to any gravitational field within normal physics, a systemic sized explosion would occur, thereby wiping out all humanity, and, of course, the experiement. As far as a story, however, Wells does it again, keeping us entertained throughout and waiting to see what gems hius mind has in store for us.
    • 4/5
      I think what one can sometimes forget, when consider Wells only in light of his major classic SF works, is that he's more than some clever ideas (typically with bad movie adaptations). Wells was not only a visionary genius, he was a very good writer as well. This book combines humour, flawed and very human characters, disturbing and very alien characters, and incredible scientific insight and realism.The book was published in 1901, yet its ideas about flaws of humans and our civilisations still ring true. As well, his ability to create plausible fictional science is quite extraordinary.
    • 2/5
      Although I am a fan of H G Wells, I have to say I found this one very tedious and so dated that it was quite difficult to read (and I am no stranger to SF-related suspension of disbelief!). What dialogue there is is stilted and it only really came alive in the last dozen pages or so when the Grand Lunar compared the Earthling way of life to that of his Selenites. Disappointing.
    • 5/5
      Imagine the disappointment for those first astronaughts! No, the moon was not alive with vegetation, and strange little creatures curious and afraid of what the men brought, and what they wanted. No, there were no Klingons either. But what a shame!Wells' novel has dated badly in some respects, with the Victorian 'science' it employs, and its crazy ideas about life on the moon. But it is intriguing, and the ending is one of the all-time great, moralistic endings. And what if Wells had actually been talking about Africa all along, as some have suggested? Would it be seen differently as a metaphor that way?
    • 4/5
      The story's protaginist, Mr. Bedford, meets a scientist on the verge of an amazing discovery - a material that blocks gravity. The two characters then build a device that enables them to travel to the moon, where they encounter an extraordinary landscape, populated by strange plants, animals and even an intellegent human-like population. The book provides one of the fist examples of science fiction, and introduces the concept of space exploration decades before this feat became a reality. It has been read as a critique of imperialism, through the main character's desire to exploit the seemingly abundant supply of gold on the moon, and his brutal treatment of the resident population. This book is less well known than Wells' other works, but I would say that it is just as good as 'war of the worlds'. Some caution is advised for those who would have difficulty with the outdated scientific (mis)conceptions, ie. breathing on the moon, gravity-blocking material, animals on the moon!
    • 5/5
      Great story.....shows the predictable nature of man. Wonder what happened to the little boy who went off in the sphere? Wells is great about leaving his characters on the cusp and the ending the story so you can use your own imagination. Well ahead of his time.
    • 3/5
      In The First Men in the Moon, by H.G. Wells, a scientist named Cavor develops a substance named cavorite, which shields the force of gravity. He and a businessman friend, Bedford, construct a spherical structure using cavorite and travel to the Moon. They discover a Moon that has enough oxygen in its atmosphere for humans to breathe and a reduced gravity that enables them to travel quickly by taking extremely long jumps. They also discover an active biosphere with rapidly growing plants, and intelligent human-insect creatures called Selenites. The Selenites live inside the Moon, not on its surface. Cavor and Bedford are taken captive by the Selenites, but Bedford escapes from captivity and manages to fly the sphere back to Earth along with a quantity of gold that makes him a wealthy man. He tried to rescue Cavor before he left the moon, but could not find him. Instead he found a note from Cavor and some blood the made him believe Cavor was dead. However, it turns out that Cavor was not dead, and he eventually sends a series of radio messages to Earth, which are very descriptive of the Selenite society and life on the Moon. This is a classic work of science fiction and Wells includes very creative descriptions of the vessel that carries Cavor and Bedford to the Moon and brings Bedford back to Earth. He also provides detailed descriptions of the Moon and its environment. Wells created a very interesting habitat and society on the moon, which is remarkable for a book published in 1901. The last twenty-five percent of the book, consisting primarily of Cavor’s messages describing the moon and the Selenite physiology and society, was the most interesting part of the book for me. I would probably categorize this book as a fantasy because today’s scientific knowledge of the Moon negates most of Wells’ descriptions. However, it still conveys his amazing creativity and I’m glad I finally read it.
    • 4/5
      As some have created barriers to heat or sound or water, so our heroes have created a barrier against gravity. This material, called Cavorite, it then used to create a spherical capsule to ferry them to the moon. There they find life, of course, because if they found what's really on the moon (i.e., nothing), we would have no story. The aliens were interesting enough, but what really fascinated me was the idea of the atmosphere freezing into snow at night, then thawing into thin-but-breathable air each day. I felt real suspense as the characters desperately searched for shelter as the deadly sunset approached. While Wells is most known for his visionary science fiction, what I love is the interaction between the two main characters, particularly Bedford's outrage at Cavor's absent-minded apathy. This short book may not be one of his more famous works, but I definitely enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      Early science fiction novel that describes a trip to the moon. Surprisingly bleak in the end.
    • 2/5
      I don't believe I have ever read H.G. Wells work before, though I grew up with the original War of the Worlds movie on heavy replay. I think this is a case where I can say I read a classic work and I am grateful that it was a quick read. I found it curious how Wells got some details right, like the lack of gravity in space, even as his moon is populated by verdant flora during the daytime and subterranean bug-like aliens. The colonialism aspect of it all made me cringe but the ending was not unsatisfying in this regard.
    • 4/5
      Finding himself nearly bankrupt after a failed business venture, Mr. Bedford retreats to a cottage in the English coastal town of Lympne. There, he intends to write a play that he hopes to sell and thus, restore his financial position.However, Bedford’s writing sessions are frequently interrupted by a peculiar and apparently self-absorbed little man whose daily perambulations bring him past Bedford’s window. This would not be a problem except that he utters a loud and vexing buzzing sound as he passes.After a few incidents of this, Bedford decides to confront the man, who introduces himself as a scientist named Cavor. He is surprised to hear that he actually makes this bizarre buzzing noise as he walks and apologizes to Bedford. During their conversation, Cavor reveals that he is working on an experiment to create a gravity-defying material.A few days later, during one of Cavor’s daily excursions, his home laboratory explodes, nearly leveling his house and damaging neighboring properties. Yet, rather than lamenting it as a disaster, Cavor realizes that he has found accidental success in the creation of Cavorite.The two men then construct a massive glass sphere lined with Cavorite—leaving several openings for windows—and decide to literally float from the Earth’s surface to the moon. An airtight manhole cover becomes their airlock. Maneuvering is handled by the use of blinds covering the windows. Once in space, opening the blinds over a window facing Earth or the moon causes the sphere to succumb to the gravitational pull of one or the other body.Their journey to Earth’s satellite proceeds without incident and eventually, Cavor and Bedford venture out onto the moon’s surface to find that while thin, the air is breathable. They encounter snow and a stunning variety of flora, some of which is edible, but with amusing side effects. During the day, the sun’s heat is nearly unbearable; even worse is the night’s insufferable cold.Eventually, the two men encounter enormous animals they decide to call mooncalves, which are tended to by herdsmen that resemble bipedal insects with massive craniums. Cavor and Bedford refer to them as Selenites. Eventually, the two men from Earth reveal themselves to the Selenites. As a result, they are introduced to a diverse society thriving beneath the moon’s surface……but will the first contact between humans and Selenites end in amity or utter disaster?The First Men in the Moon (notice it’s “in” not “on” the moon) was published in 1901. By then, scientific knowledge about space and the moon was fairly advanced—the fact that space is a vacuum, the fact that the moon and the Earth are comprised of the same elements, and the fact that the moon’s gravity is a fraction of Earth’s—but obviously there were many unknowns.Thus, if you can ignore the fact that two chaps are bounding across the lunar surface clad only in tweed jackets and golf knickers, then you’ll probably enjoy this preposterous but fantastic adventure by the legendary H.G. Wells.
    • 4/5
      Fun story about two English men (one a brilliant but unknown scientist, the other an unlucky business man) who devise a spherical space ship and ride it to the moon. On the moon, they discover a race of intelligent beings, the Selenites, who capture them and take them into an underground world. Before much can happen, the non-scientist runs amok and escapes back to Earth in the ship, marooning the scientist for ever.
    • 4/5
      Before I review this book I want to say two things: 1) I am new to the sci-fi genre, so I don't have a lot to compare this with, and 2) I do not really care about how scientifically accurate the facts are. That being said, I thought this was a really good book. It began a little slowly, but once it picked up, it was hard to put down. The book sort of felt like a social commentary, and I couldn't help but identify strongly with the Selenites and I was angered with the way the main character treated them. The ending couple of chapters are the best chapters of the whole book, and the last paragraph left me with chills. Also, the book was easy to read for someone not familiar with science; I did not feel lost at any point in the book, and science has always been a weaker subject for me.
    • 3/5
      Very early sci-fi - reflecting the era & world-views of its times.Read Dec 2006
    • 4/5
      A wide-reaching and highly entertaining read. Wells takes us along for a high-pitched sci-fi adventure from the Earth to the moon and keeps us thrilled along the ride. Although it is not a perfect novel, and is dated by today's science fiction standards, there is still much to like and admire here. For all those interested in classics, science fiction, and English literature you should check this out.3.75 stars.
    • 4/5
      This lesser-known work by the author of War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Time Machine is a charming exploration of turn-of-the-century capitalism, British imperialism, scientific curiosity, and some pretty wild ideas about what is happening on/in the moon. Our unreliable (but weirdly lovable) narrator, Mr. Bedford is a bankrupted businessman who rents a cottage in a small town to write a play and become wildly wealthy. No worries that he has never written a play before -- lack of confidence is not his problem. He runs into Mr. Cavor, an absent-minded scientist type who is at work to create Carvorite, a substance that will stop the force of gravity from acting on any object underneath it. While Cavor is only interested in scientific discovery and acclaim, Bedford sees dollar signs and throws in with Cavor on the creation of this amazing substance. Once discovered, the two come up with the idea of using it to travel to the moon in a sphere coated with Cavorite, controlling their passage by opening and closing shutters to alter the effect of gravity. Bedford has an eye on the profits of moon mining, Cavor seems to want to just see what will happen. At first, the moon seems frozen and barren, but as the two week long "day" starts to dawn, crazy short-lived plants begin to bloom around the sphere. The men find that they are able to breathe the atmosphere and that they have amazing strength on this low-gravity planet. Soon, however, they realize that they are not alone as they encounter a group of Selenites tending to a herd of mooncalves. The Selenites are human-like insects with hidden technological prowess in their complicated cities inside the moon surrounding a central sea in the middle of the planet. During their explorations of the surface of the moon, Bedford and Cavor become hungry enough to eat some crazy mushrooms that have a drug-like effect and promptly lose sight of their life-giving sphere. Shortly afterward, they are captured by the Selenites. Because of their very different approaches (Bedford wants to kill the aliens, Cavor wants to communicate and learn from them), tension builds between the unlikely partners and things, ultimately, do not go very well, although they do get very exciting and interesting.This is a great adventure story with some solid and imaginative science. Published in 1901, this draws on the theories of Tesla and a lot of conjecture to imagine what humans in space might look like. Bedford is a very flawed narrator, but has some awareness of his limitations, and it is easy to see Wells poking fun at the British Empire and capitalism in general. There is a sprinkling of sexism and racism in this book, but compared to other early science fiction, it's refreshingly free of the worst of those tendencies. Highly recommended for fans of early sci-fi or those who like to see capitalism poke a little fun at itself.
    • 4/5
      An interesting book full of great imagination. I'll never like Wells as much as Verne but he has his moments. One of the strangest choices for this novel is to make the protagonist such a selfish rat. Otherwise it is a pretty good read. My favorite is still "The Time Machine".
    • 4/5
      The 1960 film The Time Machine starring Rod Taylor is am adulteration of H.G. Wells' novel by the same name. The Eloi speak English and each and everyone of them appear to desire Rod Taylor; well, who doesn't? The whole enterprise appears to be a cautionary tale about Nuclear War and Free Love. I approached The First Men In The Moon with a wary eye about such cinematic mistreatments. I suspect Eric Roberts would star in this one.

      It should be noted that I was puzzled by the title, about the verb "in". Was this an Anglosim that had passed from favor? No, idiot, the majority of the novel occurs within the moon: its hollow and rife with Mooncalves, providers of sustaining protein. Wells was operating with only whiff of scientific modernity at his reach. Marconi and Tesla ruminate within these pages, but not much further. Gravity remains the concept with the most play in the novel. It creates a host of possibilities. What fires the whole operation as literature is the dynamic between the two human characters. It is a relationship needled with petulance and despair. The utility of the adventure is argued repeatedly.

      It is rather bleak and often slow going, but worth the departure and the sage questions it raises.

    Book preview

    The First Men in the Moon - H. G. Wells

    THE FIRST MEN

    IN THE MOON

    By

    H. G. Wells

    Copyright © 2016 Read Books Ltd.

    This book is copyright and may not be

    reproduced or copied in any way without

    the express permission of the publisher in writing

    British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

    A catalogue record for this book is available from

    the British Library

    Contents

    H. G. Wells

    Chapter 1

    Chapter 2

    Chapter 3

    Chapter 4

    Chapter 5

    Chapter 6

    Chapter 7

    Chapter 8

    Chapter 9

    Chapter 10

    Chapter 11

    Chapter 12

    Chapter 13

    Chapter 14

    Chapter 15

    Chapter 16

    Chapter 17

    Chapter 18

    Chapter 19

    Chapter 20

    Chapter 21

    Chapter 22

    Chapter 23

    Chapter 24

    Chapter 25

    Chapter 26

    H. G. Wells

    Herbert George Wells was born in Bromley, England in 1866. He apprenticed as a draper before becoming a pupil-teacher at Midhurst Grammar School in West Sussex. Some years later, Wells won a scholarship to the School of Science in London, where he developed a strong interest in biology and evolution, founding and editing the Science Schools Journal. However, he left before graduating to return to teaching, and began to focus increasingly on writing. His first major essay on science, ‘The Rediscovery of the Unique’, appeared in 1891. However, it was in 1895 that Wells seriously established himself as a writer, with the publication of the now iconic novel, The Time Machine.

    Wells followed The Time Machine with the equally well-received War of the Worlds (1898), which proved highly popular in the USA, and was serialized in the magazine Cosmopolitan. Around the turn of the century, he also began to write extensively on politics, technology and the future, producing works The Discovery of the Future (1902) and Mankind in the Making (1903). An active socialist, in 1904 Wells joined the Fabian Society, and his 1905 book A Modern Utopia presented a vision of a socialist society founded on reason and compassion. Wells also penned a range of successful comic novels, such as Kipps (1905) and The History of Mr Polly (1910).

    Wells’ 1920 work, The Outline of History, was penned in response to the Russian Revolution, and declared that world would be improved by education, rather than revolution. It made Wells one of the most important political thinkers of the twenties and thirties, and he began to write for a number of journals and newspapers, even travelling to Russia to lecture Lenin and Trotsky on social reform. Appalled by the carnage of World War II, Wells began to work on a project dealing with the perils of nuclear war, but died before completing it. He is now regarded as one of the greatest science-fiction writers of all time, and an important political thinker.

    Chapter 1

    Mr. Bedford Meets Mr. Cavor at Lympne

    As I sit down to write here amidst the shadows of vine-leaves under the blue sky of southern Italy, it comes to me with a certain quality of astonishment that my participation in these amazing adventures of Mr. Cavor was, after all, the outcome of the purest accident. It might have been any one. I fell into these things at a time when I thought myself removed from the slightest possibility of disturbing experiences. I had gone to Lympne because I had imagined it the most uneventful place in the world. Here, at any rate, said I, I shall find peace and a chance to work!

    And this book is the sequel. So utterly at variance is destiny with all the little plans of men. I may perhaps mention here that very recently I had come an ugly cropper in certain business enterprises. Sitting now surrounded by all the circumstances of wealth, there is a luxury in admitting my extremity. I can admit, even, that to a certain extent my disasters were conceivably of my own making. It may be there are directions in which I have some capacity, but the conduct of business operations is not among these. But in those days I was young, and my youth among other objectionable forms took that of a pride in my capacity for affairs. I am young still in years, but the things that have happened to me have rubbed something of the youth from my mind. Whether they have brought any wisdom to light below it is a more doubtful matter.

    It is scarcely necessary to go into the details of the speculations that landed me at Lympne, in Kent. Nowadays even about business transactions there is a strong spice of adventure. I took risks. In these things there is invariably a certain amount of give and take, and it fell to me finally to do the giving reluctantly enough. Even when I had got out of everything, one cantankerous creditor saw fit to be malignant. Perhaps you have met that flaming sense of outraged virtue, or perhaps you have only felt it. He ran me hard. It seemed to me, at last, that there was nothing for it but to write a play, unless I wanted to drudge for my living as a clerk. I have a certain imagination, and luxurious tastes, and I meant to make a vigorous fight for it before that fate overtook me. In addition to my belief in my powers as a business man, I had always in those days had an idea that I was equal to writing a very good play. It is not, I believe, a very uncommon persuasion. I knew there is nothing a man can do outside legitimate business transactions that has such opulent possibilities, and very probably that biased my opinion. I had, indeed, got into the habit of regarding this unwritten drama as a convenient little reserve put by for a rainy day. That rainy day had come, and I set to work.

    I soon discovered that writing a play was a longer business than I had supposed; at first I had reckoned ten days for it, and it was to have a pied-a-terre while it was in hand that I came to Lympne. I reckoned myself lucky in getting that little bungalow. I got it on a three years' agreement. I put in a few sticks of furniture, and while the play was in hand I did my own cooking. My cooking would have shocked Mrs. Bond. And yet, you know, it had flavour. I had a coffee-pot, a sauce-pan for eggs, and one for potatoes, and a frying-pan for sausages and bacon—such was the simple apparatus of my comfort. One cannot always be magnificent, but simplicity is always a possible alternative. For the rest I laid in an eighteen-gallon cask of beer on credit, and a trustful baker came each day. It was not, perhaps, in the style of Sybaris, but I have had worse times. I was a little sorry for the baker, who was a very decent man indeed, but even for him I hoped.

    Certainly if any one wants solitude, the place is Lympne. It is in the clay part of Kent, and my bungalow stood on the edge of an old sea cliff and stared across the flats of Romney Marsh at the sea. In very wet weather the place is almost inaccessible, and I have heard that at times the postman used to traverse the more succulent portions of his route with boards upon his feet. I never saw him doing so, but I can quite imagine it. Outside the doors of the few cottages and houses that make up the present village big birch besoms are stuck, to wipe off the worst of the clay, which will give some idea of the texture of the district. I doubt if the place would be there at all, if it were not a fading memory of things gone for ever. It was the big port of England in Roman times, Portus Lemanis, and now the sea is four miles away. All down the steep hill are boulders and masses of Roman brickwork, and from it old Watling Street, still paved in places, starts like an arrow to the north. I used to stand on the hill and think of it all, the galleys and legions, the captives and officials, the women and traders, the speculators like myself, all the swarm and tumult that came clanking in and out of the harbour. And now just a few lumps of rubble on a grassy slope, and a sheep or two—and I. And where the port had been were the levels of the marsh, sweeping round in a broad curve to distant Dungeness, and dotted here and there with tree clumps and the church towers of old medieval towns that are following Lemanis now towards extinction.

    That outlook on the marsh was, indeed, one of the finest views I have ever seen. I suppose Dungeness was fifteen miles away; it lay like a raft on the sea, and farther westward were the hills by Hastings under the setting sun. Sometimes they hung close and clear, sometimes they were faded and low, and often the drift of the weather took them clean out of sight. And all the nearer parts of the marsh were laced and lit by ditches and canals.

    The window at which I worked looked over the skyline of this crest, and it was from this window that I first set eyes on Cavor. It was just as I was struggling with my scenario, holding down my mind to the sheer hard work of it, and naturally enough he arrested my attention.

    The sun had set, the sky was a vivid tranquillity of green and yellow, and against that he came out black—the oddest little figure.

    He was a short, round-bodied, thin-legged little man, with a jerky quality in his motions; he had seen fit to clothe his extraordinary mind in a cricket cap, an overcoat, and cycling knickerbockers and stockings. Why he did so I do not know, for he never cycled and he never played cricket. It was a fortuitous concurrence of garments, arising I know not how. He gesticulated with his hands and arms, and jerked his head about and buzzed. He buzzed like something electric. You never heard such buzzing. And ever and again he cleared his throat with a most extraordinary noise.

    There had been rain, and that spasmodic walk of his was enhanced by the extreme slipperiness of the footpath. Exactly as he came against the sun he stopped, pulled out a watch, hesitated. Then with a sort of convulsive gesture he turned and retreated with every manifestation of haste, no longer gesticulating, but going with ample strides that showed the relatively large size of his feet—they were, I remember, grotesquely exaggerated in size by adhesive clay—to the best possible advantage.

    This occurred on the first day of my sojourn, when my play-writing energy was at its height and I regarded the incident simply as an annoying distraction—the waste of five minutes. I returned to my scenario. But when next evening the apparition was repeated with remarkable precision, and again the next evening, and indeed every evening when rain was not falling, concentration upon the scenario became a considerable effort. Confound the man, I said, one would think he was learning to be a marionette! and for several evenings I cursed him pretty heartily. Then my annoyance gave way to amazement and curiosity. Why on earth should a man do this thing? On the fourteenth evening I could stand it no longer, and so soon as he appeared I opened the french window, crossed the verandah, and directed myself to the point where he invariably stopped.

    He had his watch out as I came up to him. He had a chubby, rubicund face with reddish brown eyes—previously I had seen him only against the light. One moment, sir, said I as he turned. He stared. One moment, he said, certainly. Or if you wish to speak to me for longer, and it is not asking too much—your moment is up—would it trouble you to accompany me?

    Not in the least, said I, placing myself beside him.

    My habits are regular. My time for intercourse—limited.

    This, I presume, is your time for exercise?

    It is. I come here to enjoy the sunset.

    You don't.

    Sir?

    You never look at it.

    Never look at it?

    No. I've watched you thirteen nights, and not once have you looked at the sunset—not once.

    He knitted his brows like one who encounters a problem.

    Well, I enjoy the sunlight—the atmosphere—I go along this path, through that gate—he jerked his head over his shoulder—and round—

    You don't. You never have been. It's all nonsense. There isn't a way. To-night for instance—

    Oh! to-night! Let me see. Ah! I just glanced at my watch, saw that I had already been out just three minutes over the precise half-hour, decided there was not time to go round, turned—

    You always do.

    He looked at me—reflected. Perhaps I do, now I come to think of it. But what was it you wanted to speak to me about?

    Why, this!

    This?

    Yes. Why do you do it? Every night you come making a noise—

    Making a noise?

    Like this. I imitated his buzzing noise. He looked at me, and it was evident the buzzing awakened distaste. Do I do that? he asked.

    Every blessed evening.

    I had no idea.

    He stopped dead. He regarded me gravely. Can it be, he said, that I have formed a Habit?

    Well, it looks like it. Doesn't it?

    He pulled down his lower lip between finger and thumb. He regarded a puddle at his feet.

    My mind is much occupied, he said. "And you want to know why! Well, sir, I can assure you that not only do I not know why I do these things, but I did not even know I did them. Come to think, it is just as you say; I never  have  been beyond that field…. And these things annoy you?"

    For some reason I was beginning to relent towards him. Not annoy, I said. But—imagine yourself writing a play!

    I couldn't.

    Well, anything that needs concentration.

    Ah! he said, of course, and meditated. His expression became so eloquent of distress, that I relented still more. After all, there is a touch of aggression in demanding of a man you don't know why he hums on a public footpath.

    You see, he said weakly, it's a habit.

    Oh, I recognise that.

    I must stop it.

    But not if it puts you out. After all, I had no business—it's something of a liberty.

    Not at all, sir, he said, not at all. I am greatly indebted to you. I should guard myself against these things. In future I will. Could I trouble you—once again? That noise?

    Something like this, I said. Zuzzoo, zuzzoo. But really, you know—

    I am greatly obliged to you. In fact, I know I am getting absurdly absent-minded. You are quite justified, sir—perfectly justified. Indeed, I am indebted to you. The thing shall end. And now, sir, I have already brought you farther than I should have done.

    I do hope my impertinence—

    Not at all, sir, not at all.

    We regarded each other for a moment. I raised my hat and wished him a good evening. He responded convulsively, and so we went our ways.

    At the stile I looked back at his receding figure. His bearing had changed remarkably, he seemed limp, shrunken. The contrast with his former gesticulating, zuzzoing self took me in some absurd way as pathetic. I watched him out of sight. Then wishing very heartily I had kept to my own business, I returned to my bungalow and my play.

    The next evening I saw nothing of him, nor the next. But he was very much in my mind, and it had occurred to me that as a sentimental comic character he might serve a useful purpose in the development of my plot. The third day he called upon me.

    For a time I was puzzled to think what had brought him. He made indifferent conversation in the most formal way, then abruptly he came to business. He wanted to buy me out of my bungalow.

    You see, he said, I don't blame you in the least, but you've destroyed a habit, and it disorganises my day. I've walked past here for years—years. No doubt I've hummed…. You've made all that impossible!

    I suggested he might try some other direction.

    No. There is no other direction. This is the only one. I've inquired. And now—every afternoon at four—I come to a dead wall.

    But, my dear sir, if the thing is so important to you—

    It's vital. You see, I'm—I'm an investigator—I am engaged in a scientific research. I live— he paused and seemed to think. Just over there, he said, and pointed suddenly dangerously near my eye. The house with white chimneys you see just over the trees. And my circumstances are abnormal—abnormal. I am on the point of completing one of the most important—demonstrations—I can assure you one of the most important demonstrations that have ever been made. It requires constant thought, constant mental ease and activity. And the afternoon was my brightest time!—effervescing with new ideas—new points of view.

    But why not come by still?

    It would be all different. I should be self-conscious. I should think of you at your play—watching me irritated—instead of thinking of my work. No! I must have the bungalow.

    I meditated. Naturally, I wanted to think the matter over thoroughly before anything decisive was said. I was generally ready enough for business in those days, and selling always attracted me; but in the first place it was not my bungalow, and even if I sold it to him at a good price I might get inconvenienced in the delivery of goods if the current owner got wind of the transaction, and in the second I was, well—undischarged. It was clearly a business that required delicate handling. Moreover, the possibility of his being in pursuit of some valuable invention also interested me. It occurred to me that I would like to know more of this research, not with any dishonest intention, but simply with an idea that to know what it was would be a relief from play-writing. I threw out feelers.

    He was quite willing to supply information. Indeed, once he was fairly under way the conversation became a monologue. He talked like a man long pent up, who has had it over with himself again and again. He talked for nearly an hour, and I must confess I found it a pretty stiff bit of listening. But through it all there was the undertone of satisfaction one feels when one is neglecting work one has set oneself. During that first interview I gathered very little of the drift of his work. Half his words were technicalities entirely strange to me, and he illustrated one or two points with what he was pleased to call elementary mathematics, computing on an envelope with a copying-ink pencil, in a manner that made it hard even to seem to understand. Yes, I said, yes. Go on! Nevertheless I made out enough to convince me that he was no mere crank playing at discoveries. In spite of his crank-like appearance there was a force about him that made that impossible. Whatever it was, it was a thing with mechanical possibilities. He told me of a work-shed he had, and of three assistants—originally jobbing carpenters—whom he had trained. Now, from the work-shed to the patent office is clearly only one step. He invited me to see those things. I accepted readily, and took care, by a remark or so, to underline that. The proposed transfer of the bungalow remained very conveniently in suspense.

    At last he rose to depart, with an apology for the length of his call. Talking over his work was, he said, a pleasure enjoyed only too rarely. It was not often he found such an intelligent listener as myself, he mingled very little with professional scientific men.

    So much pettiness, he explained; so much intrigue! And really, when one has an idea—a novel, fertilising idea—I don't want to be uncharitable, but—

    I am a man who believes in impulses. I made what was perhaps a rash proposition. But you must remember, that I had been alone, play-writing in Lympne, for fourteen

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