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I was very glad to do as he asked , and so become one of the privileged spectators within the contemplated enclosure . I failed to find Lord Hilton at his house , but I was told he was expected from London by the six o’clock train from Waterloo ; and as it was then about a quarter past five , I went home , had some tea , and walked up to the station to waylay him . IV . THE CYLINDER OPENS . When I returned to the common the sun was setting . Scattered groups were hurrying from the direction of Woking , and one or two persons were returning . The crowd about the pit had increased , and stood out black against the lemon yellow of the sky — a couple of hundred people , perhaps . There were raised voices , and some sort of struggle appeared to be going on about the pit . Strange imaginings passed through my mind . As I drew nearer I heard Stent’s voice : “ Keep back ! Keep back ! ” A boy came running towards me . “ It’s a - movin ’ , ” he said to me as he passed ; “ a - screwin ’ and a - screwin ’ out . I don’t like it . I’m a - goin ’ ’ ome , I am . ” I went on to the crowd . There were really , I should think , two or three hundred people elbowing and jostling one another , the one or two ladies there being by no means the least active . “ He’s fallen in the pit ! ” cried some one . “ Keep back ! ” said several . The crowd swayed a little , and I elbowed my way through . Every one seemed greatly excited . I heard a peculiar humming sound from the pit . “ I say ! ” said Ogilvy ; “ help keep these idiots back . We don’t know what’s in the confounded thing , you know ! ” I saw a young man , a shop assistant in Woking I believe he was , standing on the cylinder and trying to scramble out of the hole again . The crowd had pushed him in . The end of the cylinder was being screwed out from within . Nearly two feet of shining screw projected . Somebody blundered against me , and I narrowly missed being pitched onto the top of the screw . I turned , and as I did so the screw must have come out , for the lid of the cylinder fell upon the gravel with a ringing concussion . I stuck my elbow into the person behind me , and turned my head towards the Thing again . For a moment that circular cavity seemed perfectly black . I had the sunset in my eyes . I think everyone expected to see a man emerge — possibly something a little unlike us terrestrial men , but in all essentials a man . I know I did . But , looking , I presently saw something stirring within the shadow : greyish billowy movements , one above another , and then two luminous disks — like eyes . Then something resembling a little grey snake , about the thickness of a walking stick , coiled up out of the writhing middle , and wriggled in the air towards me — and then another .
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