The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells
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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 .Oh ! 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 - un - discharged . 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 acopying- 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 days, and my compunction for_his ruined walk still hung about me ." why_not," said I, " make this your new habit ? in_the place of_the one I spoilt ? at_least, until we_can settle about_the bungalow . what you_want is to_turn over your work in your mind . that you_have always done during your afternoon walk . unfortunately that's over - you_can't get things back as_they were . but why_not come and talk about_your work to_me; use me as a sort of wall against which you_may throw your thoughts and catch them again ? it's certain I don't know enough to steal your ideas myself - and I_know no scientific men -" .

I stopped . he_was considering .Evidently the thing, attracted him ." but I'm afraid i_should bore you," he_said .

" you_think I'm too dull ? "

" Oh, no; but technicalities "

"Anyhow, you've interested me immensely this afternoon ."

" of_course it would_be a great help to_me . nothing clears up one's ideas so_much as explaining them . hitherto - "

" my dear_Sir, say no more ."

" but really can_you spare the time ? "

" there_is no rest like change of occupation," I_said, with profound conviction .

the affair was over . on my verandah steps he turned ." I_am already greatly indebted to_you," he_said .

I_made an interrogative noise .

" you_have completely cured me of_that ridiculous habit of humming," he explained .

i_think I_said i_was glad to_be of any service to him, and he turned away .

immediately the train of thought that_our conversation had suggested must_have resumed its sway . his arms began to wave in their former fashion . the faint echo of "zuzzoo" came back to_me on_the breeze .. ..

well, after all, that was not my affair .. ..

he_came the next_day, and again the next_day after_that, and delivered two lectures on physics to our mutual satisfaction . he talked with an air of being extremely lucid about_the " ether" and "tubes of force," and " gravitational potential," and things like that, and I sat in my other folding- chair and said, " yes," " go on," " I follow you," to_keep him going . it_was tremendously difficult stuff, but I_do_not thing he ever suspected how_much I_did_not understand him . there were moments when I doubted whether i_was well employed, but at any rate i_was resting from_that confounded play . now_and_then things gleamed on me clearly for a space, only to vanish just when i_thought I had hold of_them .Sometimes my attention failed altogether, and i_would give it up and sit and stare at him, wondering whether, after all, it would_not_be better to use him as a central figure in a good farce and let all this other stuff slide . and then, perhaps, i_would catch on again for a bit .

at_the earliest opportunity I went to_see his house it_was large and carelessly furnished; there were no servants other_than his three assistants, and_his dietary and private life were characterised by a philosophical simplicity . he_was a water- drinker, a vegetarian, and all those logical disciplinary things . but the sight of_his equipment settled many doubts . it looked like business from cellar to attic - an amazing little place to_find in an out- of- the- way village . the ground- floor rooms contained benches and apparatus, the bakehouse and scullery boiler had developed into respectable furnaces, dynamos occupied the cellar, and there_was agasometer in_the garden . he showed it to_me with all the confiding zest of a man who has_been living too_much alone . his seclusion was overflowing now in an excess of confidence, and I had the good luck to_be the recipient .

the three assistants were creditable specimens of_the class of" handy- men " from_which they came . conscientious if unintelligent, strong, civil, and willing . one, Spargus, who did the cooking and all the metal work, had_been a sailor; a second, Gibbs, was a joiner; and_the third was an ex-jobbing gardener, and now general assistant . they were the merest labourers . all the intelligent work was_done by Cavor . theirs was_the darkest ignorance compared even with my muddled impression .

and now, as_to_the nature of_these inquiries . here, unhappily, comes a grave difficulty . I_am no scientific expert, and if I were to attempt to set forth in_the highly scientific language of Mr Cavor the aim to_which his experiments tended, I_am afraid i_should confuse not_only the reader but myself, and almost certainly i_should make some blunder that_would bring upon me the mockery of every up- to- date student of mathematical physics in_the country . the best thing I_can do therefore is, i_think to_give my impressions in my own inexact language, without any attempt to wear a garment of knowledge to_which I_have no claim .

the object of Mr Cavor's search was a substance that should_be " opaque " - he used some other word I_have forgotten, but " opaque" conveys the idea - to " all forms of radiant energy ." " radiant energy," he_made me understand, was anything like light or heat, or those Rontgen Rays there_was so_much talk about a year or so ago, or the electric waves of Marconi, or gravitation . all these things, he_said, radiate out from centres, and act on bodies at a distance, whence comes the term " radiant energy ." now almost all substances are opaque to some form or other of radiant energy . glass, for example, is transparent to light, but much less so to heat, so that_it_is useful as a fire- screen; and alum is transparent to light, but blocks heat completely .a solution of iodine in carbon bisulphide, on_the other hand, completely blocks light, but is quite transparent to heat . it_will hide a fire from_you, but permit all its warmth to reach_you .Metals are not_only opaque to light and heat, but also to electrical energy, which passes through both iodine solution and glass almost as_though they were_not interposed . and so on .

now all known substances are " transparent" to gravitation . you_can use screens of various sorts to cut off the light or heat, or electrical influence of_the sun, or the warmth of_the earth from anything; you_can screen things by sheets of metal from Marconi's rays, but nothing will cut off the gravitational attraction of_the sun or the gravitational attraction of_the earth . yet why there should_be nothing is hard to_say .Cavor did_not see why such a substance should_not exist, and certainly I_could_not tell him .I had never thought of_such a possibility before . he showed me by calculations on paper, which lord Kelvin, no_doubt, or professor lodge, or professor Karl Pearson, or any of_those great scientific people might_have understood, but which simply reduced me to a hopeless muddle, that not_only was such a substance possible, but that_it must satisfy certain conditions . it_was an amazing piece of reasoning . much as it amazed and exercised me at_the_time, it would_be impossible to reproduce it here ." yes," I_said to_it all, " yes; go on ! " suffice it for_this story that he believed he_might_be able to manufacture this possible substance opaque to gravitation out of a complicated alloy of metals and something new - a new element, I fancy - called, I believe, helium, which_was sent to him from London in sealed stone jars . doubt has_been thrown upon_this detail, but I_am almost certain it_was helium he had sent him in sealed stone jars . it_was certainly something very gaseous and thin . if only I had taken notes .. .

but then, how was I to foresee the necessity of taking notes ?

any_one with_the merest germ of an imagination will understand the extraordinary possibilities of_such a substance, and will sympathise a little with_the emotion I_felt as_this understanding emerged from_the haze of abstruse phrases in_which Cavor expressed himself . comic relief in a play indeed ! it_was some_time before i_would believe that I had interpreted him aright, and i_was very careful not to ask questions that_would_have enabled him to gauge the profundity of misunderstanding into which he dropped his daily exposition . but no one reading the story of it here will sympathise fully, because from my barren narrative it_will_be impossible to gather the strength of_my conviction that_this astonishing substance was positively going to_be made .

I_do_not recall that I_gave my play an hour's consecutive work at any_time after my visit to_his house . my imagination had other things to_do . there seemed no limit to_the possibilities of_the stuff; whichever way I tried I_came on miracles and revolutions . for example, if one wanted to lift a weight, however enormous, one had only to_get a sheet of_this substance beneath it, and one might lift it with a straw my first natural impulse was to apply this principle to guns and ironclads, and all the material and methods of war, and from_that to shipping, locomotion, building, every conceivable form of human industry . the chance that had brought me into_the very birth- chamber of_this new time - it_was an epoch, no less - was one of_those chances that come once in a thousand years . the thing unrolled, it expanded and expanded . among other things I_saw in_it my redemption as a business man . I_saw a parent company, and daughter companies, applications to right of us, applications to left, rings and trusts, privileges, and concessions spreading and spreading, until one vast, stupendous Cavorite company ran and ruled the world .

and i_was in_it !

i_took my line straight away . I_knew i_was staking everything, but I jumped there and then .

" we're on absolutely the biggest thing that has ever been invented," I_said, and put the accent on " we ." " if_you_want to_keep me out of_this, you'll have to_do_it with a gun .I'm coming down to_be your fourth labourer to- morrow ."

he_seemed surprised at my enthusiasm, but

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