The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes by H.G. Wells
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the remarkable case of Davidson's eyes

by H .G .Wells

I .

the transitory mental aberration of Sidney Davidson, remarkable enough in itself, is still more remarkable if wade's explanation is_to_be credited . it sets one dreaming of_the oddest possibilities of intercommunication in_the_future, of spending an intercalary five minutes on_the other side of_the world, or being watched in_our most secret operations by unsuspected eyes . it happened that I was_the immediate witness of Davidson's seizure, and so it falls naturally to_me to_put the story upon paper .

when I_say that I was_the immediate witness of_his seizure, I mean that I was_the first on_the scene . the thing happened at_the Harlow technical college, just beyond the Highgate archway . he_was alone in_the larger laboratory when_the thing happened . i_was in a smaller room, where the balances are, writing up some notes . the thunderstorm had completely upset my work, of_course . it_was just after one_of_the louder peals that i_thought I heard some glass smash in_the other room .I stopped writing, and turned round to listen . for a moment I heard nothing; the hail was playing the devil's tattoo on_the corrugated zinc of_the roof . then came another sound, a smash-- no_doubt of it this_time . something heavy had_been knocked off the bench .I jumped up at once and went and opened the door leading into_the big laboratory .

i_was surprised to hear a queer sort of laugh, and saw Davidson standing unsteadily in_the middle of_the room, with a dazzled look on_his face . my first impression was_that he_was drunk . he_did_not notice me . he_was clawing out at something invisible a yard in front of_his face . he put out his hand, slowly, rather hesitatingly, and then clutched nothing ." what's come to_it ? " he_said . he held up his hands to_his face, fingers spread out ." great Scott ! " he_said . the thing happened three or four years_ago, when every_one swore by_that personage . then he began raising his feet clumsily, as_though he had expected to_find them glued to_the floor .

" Davidson ! " cried I ." what's the matter with_you ? " he turned round in my direction and looked about for_me . he looked over me and at me and on either side of me, without the slightest sign of seeing me ."Waves," he_said; " and aremarkably neat schooner .I'd swear that was Bellow's voice ._Hullo ! " he shouted suddenly at_the top of_his voice .

i_thought he_was up_to some foolery . then I_saw littered about his feet the shattered remains of_the best of_our electrometers ." what's up, man ? " said I ." you've smashed the electrometer ! "

" bellows again ! " said he ." friends left, if_my hands are gone . something about electrometers . which_way are_you, bellows ? " he suddenly came staggering towards me ." the damned stuff cuts like butter," he_said . he walked straight into_the bench and recoiled ." none so buttery that ! " he_said, and stood swaying .

I_felt scared ." Davidson," said I, " what on earth's come over you ? "

he looked round him in every direction ." I_could swear that was bellows . why don't you show yourself like a man, bellows ? "

it occurred to_me that he_must_be suddenly struck blind .I walked round the table and laid my hand upon his arm .I never saw a man more startled in my life . he jumped away from me, and came round into an attitude of self-defence, his face fairly distorted with terror ." good god ! " he cried ." what_was that ? "

" it's I-- bellows . confound it, Davidson ! "

he jumped when I answered him and stared-- how can I express it ? -- right through me . he began talking, not to_me, but to himself ." here in broad daylight on a clear beach . not a place to hide in ." he looked about him wildly ." here ! I'm off ." he suddenly turned and ran headlong into_the big electro- magnet-- so violently that, as we_found afterwards, he bruised his shoulder and jawbone cruelly . at_that he stepped back apace, and cried out with almost a whimper, " what, in heaven's name, has_come over me ? " he stood, blanched with terror and trembling violently, with_his right arm clutching his left, where that had collided with_the magnet .

by_that_time i_was excited and fairly scared ." Davidson," said I, "don't be afraid ."

he_was startled at my voice, but not so excessively as before .I repeated my words in as clear and as firm a tone as I_could assume ." bellows," he_said, " is_that you ? "

" can't you_see it's me ? "

he laughed ." I_can't even see it's myself . where the devil are we ? "

" here," said I, " in_the laboratory ."

" the laboratory ! " he answered in a puzzled tone, and put his hand to_his forehead ." i_was in_the laboratory-- till that flash came, but I'm hanged if I'm there now . what ship is_that ? "

" there's no ship," said I ." do be sensible, old chap ."

" no ship ! " he repeated, and seemed to forget my denial forthwith ."I suppose," said he slowly, " we're both dead . but the rummy part is I_feel just as_though I still had a body .Don't get used to_it all at once, I suppose . the old shop was struck by lightning, I suppose . jolly quick thing, bellows--eigh ? "

"Don't talk nonsense . you're very_much alive . you_are in_the laboratory, blundering about . you've just smashed a new electrometer .I don't envy you when Boyce arrives ."

he stared away from me towards the diagrams of cryohydrates ." I_must_be deaf," said he ." they've fired a gun, for there goes the puff of smoke, and I never heard a sound ."

I put my hand on_his arm again, and this_time he_was less alarmed ." we seem to_have a sort of invisible bodies," said he ." by Jove ! there's a boat coming round the headland . it's very_much like the old life after all-- in a different climate ."

I shook his arm ." Davidson," I cried, " wake up ! "

II .

it_was just then that Boyce came in . so soon as he spoke Davidson exclaimed: " old Boyce ! dead too ! what a lark ! " I hastened to explain that Davidson was in a kind of somnambulistic trance .Boyce was interested at once . we both did all we_could to rouse the fellow out of_his extraordinary state . he answered our questions, and asked us some of_his own, but his attention seemed distracted by his hallucination about a beach and a ship . he kept interpolating observations concerning some boat and_the davits, and sails filling with_the wind . it made one feel queer, in_the dusky laboratory, to hear him saying such things .

he_was blind and helpless . we had to walk him down the passage, one at each elbow, to Boyce's private room, and while Boyce talked to him there, and humoured him about_this ship idea, I went along the corridor and asked old wade to_come and look at him . the voice of_our dean sobered him a little, but not very_much . he asked where his hands were, and why he had to walk about up to_his waist in_the ground . wade thought over him a long_time-- you_know how he knits his brows-- and then made him feel the couch, guiding his hands to_it ." that's a couch," said wade ." the couch in_the private room of professor Boyce . horse- hair stuffing ."

Davidson felt about, and puzzled over it, and answered presently that he_could feel it all right, but he couldn't see it .

" what do you_see ? " asked wade . Davidson said he could_see nothing but alot of sand and broken- up shells . wade gave him some other things to_feel, telling him what they were, and watching him keenly .

" the ship is almost hull down," said Davidson presently, apropos of nothing .

" never mind the ship," said wade ." listen to_me, Davidson . do_you_know what hallucination means ? "

" rather," said Davidson .

" well, everything you_see is hallucinatory ."

" bishop Berkeley," said Davidson .

"Don't mistake me," said wade ." you_are alive and in_this room of Boyce's . but something has happened to your eyes . you_cannot_see; you_can feel and hear, but not see . do_you follow me ? "

" it seems to_me that I_see too_much ." Davidson rubbed his knuckles into his eyes ." well ? " he_said .

" that's all .Don't let it perplex you . bellows here and_I_will take you home in a cab ."

" wait a bit ." Davidson thought ." help me to sit down," said he presently; " and now--I'm sorry to trouble you-- but will_you tell me all that over again ? "

wade repeated it very patiently . Davidson shut his eyes, and pressed his hands upon his forehead ." yes," said he ." it's quite right . now my eyes are shut I_know you're right . that's you, bellows, sitting by me on_the couch .I'm in England again . and we're in_the dark ."

then he opened his eyes ." and there," said he, " is_the sun just rising, and_the yards of_the ship, and a tumbled sea, and a couple of birds flying .I never saw anything so real . and I'm sitting up_to my neck in a bank of sand ."

he bent forward and covered his face with_his hands . then he opened his eyes again ." dark sea and sunrise ! and yet I'm sitting on a sofa in old Boyce's room ! .. . god help me ! "

III .

that was_the beginning . for three weeks this strange affection of Davidson's eyes continued unabated . it_was far worse than being blind . he_was absolutely helpless, and had to_be fed like a newly- hatched bird, and led about and undressed . if he attempted to move, he fell over things or struck himself against walls or doors . after a day or so he got used to hearing our voices without seeing us, and willingly admitted he_was at home, and_that wade was right in what he_told him . my sister, to_whom he_was engaged, insisted on coming to_see him, and would sit for hours every day while he talked about_this beach of_his .Holding her hand seemed to comfort him immensely . he explained that when we left the college and drove home-- he lived in Hampstead village-- it appeared to him as_if we drove right through asandhill-- it_was perfectly black until he emerged again-- and through rocks and trees and solid obstacles, and when he_was taken to_his own room it made him giddy and almost frantic with_the fear of falling, because going upstairs seemed to lift him thirty or forty feet above the rocks of_his imaginary island . he kept saying he_should smash all the eggs . the end was_that he had to_be taken down into his father's consulting room and laid upon a couch that stood there .

he described the island as being a bleak kind of place on_the whole, with very little vegetation, except some peaty stuff, and alot of bare rock . there were multitudes of penguins, and_they made the rocks white and disagreeable to_see . the sea was often rough, and once there_was athunderstorm, and he lay and shouted at_the silent flashes . once_or_twice seals pulled up on_the beach, but only on_the first two_or_three days . he_said it_was very funny the way in_which_the penguins used to waddle right through him, and how he_seemed to lie among them without disturbing them .

I remember one odd thing, and_that was when he_wanted very badly to smoke . we put a pipe in_his hands-- he almost poked his eye out with it-- and lit it . but he couldn't taste anything .I've since found it's the same with me--I don't know if_it's the usual case-- that I_cannot enjoy tobacco at all unless I_can_see the smoke .

but the queerest part of_his vision came when wade sent him out in a bath- chair to_get fresh air . the Davidsons hired a chair, and got that deaf and obstinate dependant of theirs, Widgery, to attend to_it .Widgery's ideas of healthy expeditions were peculiar . my sister, who had_been to_the Dogs' home, met them in Camden town, towards king's cross, Widgery trotting along complacently, and Davidson, evidently most distressed, trying in_his feeble, blind way to attract Widgery's attention .

he positively wept when my sister spoke to him ."Oh, get me out of_this horrible darkness ! " he_said, feeling for her hand ." I_must get out of it, or I_shall die ." he_was quite incapable of explaining what_was the matter, but my sister decided he_must go home, and presently, as_they went uphill towards Hampstead, the horror seemed to drop from_him . he_said it_was good to_see the stars again, though it_was then about noon and ablazing day .

" it seemed," he_told me afterwards, " as_if i_was being carried irresistibly towards the water . i_was not very_much alarmed at first . of_course it_was night there--a lovely night ."

" of_course ? " I asked, for_that struck me as odd .

" of_course," said he ." it's always night there when it_is day here .. . well, we went right into_the water, which_was calm and shining under the moonlight-- just a broad swell that seemed to grow broader and flatter as I_came down into_it . the surface glistened just like a skin-- it might_have_been empty space underneath for all I_could tell to_the contrary . very slowly, for I rode slanting into_it, the water crept up_to my eyes . then I went under

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