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“ Then there is the future , ” said the Very Young Man . “ Just think ! One might invest all one’s money , leave it to accumulate at interest , and hurry on ahead ! ” “ To discover a society , ” said I , “ erected on a strictly communistic basis . ” “ Of all the wild extravagant theories ! ” began the Psychologist . “ Yes , so it seemed to me , and so I never talked of it until — ” “ Experimental verification ! ” cried I . “ You are going to verify that ? ” “ The experiment ! ” cried Filby , who was getting brain - weary . “ Let’s see your experiment anyhow , ” said the Psychologist , “ though it’s all humbug , you know . ” The Time Traveller smiled round at us . Then , still smiling faintly , and with his hands deep in his trousers pockets , he walked slowly out of the room , and we heard his slippers shuffling down the long passage to his laboratory . The Psychologist looked at us . “ I wonder what he’s got ? ” “ Some sleight - of - hand trick or other , ” said the Medical Man , and Filby tried to tell us about a conjuror he had seen at Burslem , but before he had finished his preface the Time Traveller came back , and Filby’s anecdote collapsed . II . The Machine The thing the Time Traveller held in his hand was a glittering metallic framework , scarcely larger than a small clock , and very delicately made . There was ivory in it , and some transparent crystalline substance . And now I must be explicit , for this that follows — unless his explanation is to be accepted — is an absolutely unaccountable thing . He took one of the small octagonal tables that were scattered about the room , and set it in front of the fire , with two legs on the hearthrug . On this table he placed the mechanism . Then he drew up a chair , and sat down . The only other object on the table was a small shaded lamp , the bright light of which fell upon the model . There were also perhaps a dozen candles about , two in brass candlesticks upon the mantel and several in sconces , so that the room was brilliantly illuminated . I sat in a low arm - chair nearest the fire , and I drew this forward so as to be almost between the Time Traveller and the fireplace . Filby sat behind him , looking over his shoulder . The Medical Man and the Provincial Mayor watched him in profile from the right , the Psychologist from the left . The Very Young Man stood behind the Psychologist . We were all on the alert . It appears incredible to me that any kind of trick , however subtly conceived and however adroitly done , could have been played upon us under these conditions . The Time Traveller looked at us , and then at the mechanism . “ Well ? ” said the Psychologist . “ This little affair , ” said the Time Traveller , resting his elbows upon the table and pressing his hands together above the apparatus , “ is only a model . It is my plan for a machine to travel through time . You will notice that it looks singularly askew , and that there is an odd twinkling appearance about this bar , as though it was in some way unreal . ” He pointed to the part with his finger . “ Also , here is one little white lever , and here is another . ”
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