The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells
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and must needs go on for ever . then suddenly it_was all over, and there_was nothing to_be seen but the backs of heads bobbing up and down as their owners ran in all directions .. .. I seemed altogether unhurt .I ran forward some paces, shouting, then turned about . i_was amazed .

I had come right through them in vast flying strides, they were all behind me, and running hither and thither to hide .

I_felt an enormous astonishment at_the evaporation of_the great fight into which I had hurled myself, and not a little exultation . it did_not seem to_me that I had discovered the Selenites were unexpectedly flimsy, but that i_was unexpectedly strong .I laughed stupidly . this fantastic moon !

I glanced for a moment at_the smashed and writhing bodies that were scattered over the cavern floor, with a vague idea of further violence, then hurried on after Cavor .

chapter 18

in_the sunlight

presently we saw that_the cavern before_us opened upon a hazy void . in another moment we had emerged upon a sort of slanting gallery, that projected into a vast circular space, a huge cylindrical pit running vertically up and down . round this pit the slanting gallery ran without any parapet or protection for a turn and a half, and then plunged high above into_the rock again . somehow it reminded me then one of_those spiral turns of_the railway through_the saint Gothard . it_was all tremendously huge . I_can scarcely hope to convey to_you the titanic proportion of all that place, the titanic effect of it . our eyes followed up the vast declivity of_the pit wall, and overhead and far above we beheld a round opening set with faint stars, and half of_the lip about_it well nigh blinding with_the white light of_the sun . at_that we cried aloud simultaneously .

" come on ! " I_said, leading the way .

" but there ? " said Cavor, and very carefully stepped nearer the edge of_the gallery .I followed his example, and craned forward and looked down, but i_was dazzled by_that gleam of light above, and I could_see only a bottomless darkness with spectral patches of crimson and purple floating therein . yet if I could_not_see, I_could hear . out of_this darkness came a sound, a sound like the angry hum one can hear if one puts one's ear outside a hive of bees, a sound out of_that enormous hollow, it may_be, four miles beneath our feet .. .

for a moment I listened, then tightened my grip on my crowbar, and led the way up the gallery .

" this must_be the shaft we looked down upon," said Cavor ." under that lid ."

" and below there, is where we saw the lights ."

" the lights ! " said he ." yes - the lights of_the world that now we_shall never see ."

" we'll come back," I_said, for now we had escaped so_much i_was rashly sanguine that we_should recover the sphere .

his answer I_did_not catch .

"Eh ? " I asked .

" it doesn't matter," he answered, and we hurried on in silence .

I suppose that slanting lateral way was four or five miles long, allowing for its curvature, and it ascended at a slope that_would_have made it almost impossibly steep on earth, but which one strode up easily under lunar conditions . we saw only two Selenites during all that portion of_our flight, and directly they became aware of us they ran headlong . it_was clear that_the knowledge of_our strength and violence had reached them . our way to_the exterior was unexpectedly plain . the spiral gallery straightened into asteeply ascendent tunnel, its floor bearing abundant traces of_the mooncalves, and so straight and short in proportion to its vast arch, that no part of it_was absolutely dark . almost immediately it began to lighten, and then far off and high up, and quite blindingly brilliant, appeared its opening on_the exterior, a slope of Alpine steepness surmounted by a crest of bayonet shrub, tall and broken down now, and dry and dead, in spiky silhouette against the sun .

and it_is strange that we men, to_whom this very vegetation had seemed so weird and horrible a little time ago, should now behold it with_the emotion a home-coming exile might feel at sight of_his native land . we welcomed even the rareness of_the air that made us pant as_we ran, and which rendered speaking no longer the easy thing that_it had_been, but an effort to_make oneself heard . larger grew the sunlit circle above us, and larger, and all the nearer tunnel sank into a rim of indistinguishable black . we saw the dead bayonet shrub no longer with any touch of green in_it, but brown and dry and thick, arid the M shadow of_its upper branches high out of sight made adensely interlaced pattern upon_the tumbled rocks . and at_the immediate mouth of_the tunnel was a wide trampled space where the mooncalves had come and gone .

we came out upon_this space at last into a light and heat that hit and pressed upon us . we traversed the exposed area painfully, and clambered up a slope among_the scrub stems, and sat down at last panting in a high place beneath the shadow of a mass of twisted lava . even in_the shade the rock felt hot .

the air was intensely hot, and we were in great physical discomfort, but for all that we were no longer in a nightmare . we seemed to_have come to our own province again, beneath the stars . all the fear and stress of_our flight through_the dim passages and fissures below had fallen from_us . that last fight bad filled us with an enormous confidence in ourselves so_far as_the Selenites were concerned . we looked back almost incredulously at_the black opening from_which we had just emerged . down there it_was, in a blue glow that now in_our memories seemed the next thing to absolute darkness, we had met with things like mad mockeries of men, helmet- headed creatures, and had walked in fear before them, and had submitted to_them until we_could submit no longer . and behold, they had smashed like wax and scattered like chaff, and fled and vanished like the creatures of a dream !

I rubbed my eyes, doubting whether we had_not slept and dreamt these things by reason of_the fungus we had eaten, and suddenly discovered the blood upon my face, and then that my shirt was sticking painfully to my shoulder and arm .

" confound it ! " I_said, gauging my injuries with an investigatory hand, and suddenly that distant tunnel mouth became, as it were, awatching eye .

"Cavor ! " I_said; " what_are they going to_do now ? and what_are we going to_do ? "

he shook his head, with_his eyes fixed upon_the tunnel ." how can one tell what they_will do ? "

" it depends on what they_think of us, and I don't see how we_can begin to guess that . and it depends upon what they_have in reserve . it's as_you say, Cavor, we_have touched the merest outside of_this world . they may_have all sorts of things inside here . even with those shooting things they_might make it bad for_us .. ..

" yet after all," I_said, " even if_we don't find the sphere at once, there_is a chance for_us . we_might hold out . even through_the night . we_might go down there again and make a fight for_it ."

I stared about me with speculative eyes . the character of_the scenery had altered altogether by reason of_the enormous growth and subsequent drying of_the scrub . the crest on_which we sat was high, and commanded a wide prospect of_the crater landscape, and we saw it now all sere and dry in_the late autumn of_the lunar afternoon .Rising one behind the other were long slopes and fields of trampled brown where the mooncalves had pastured, and far away in_the full blaze of_the sun a drove of_them basked slumberously, scattered shapes, each with a blot of shadow against it like sheep on_the side of a down . but never a sign of a selenite was to_be seen . whether they had fled on_our emergence from_the interior passages, or whether they were accustomed to retire after driving out the mooncalves, I_cannot guess . at_the_time I believed the former was_the case .

" if_we were to set fire to all this stuff, I_said, " we_might find the sphere among_the ashes ."

Cavor did_not seem to hear me . he_was peering under his hand at_the stars, that still, in_spite of_the intense sunlight, were abundantly visible in_the sky ." how long do_you_think we've have_been here ? " he asked at last .

" been where ? "

" on_the moon ."

" two earthly days, perhaps ."

" more nearly ten . do_you_know, the sun is past its zenith, and sinking in_the west . in four days' time or less it_will_be night ."

" but - we've only eaten once ! "

" I_know that . and - but there_are the stars ! "

" but why should time seem different because we_are on a smaller planet ? "

"I don't know . there it_is ! "

" how does one tell time ? "

" hunger - fatigue - all those things are different . everything is different - everything . to_me it seems that since first we came out_of_the sphere has_been only a question of hours - long hours - at most ."

"Ten days," I_said; " that leaves -" I looked up at_the sun for a moment, and then saw that_it_was halfway from_the zenith to_the western edge of things ."Four days ! .. .Cavor, we musn't sit here and dream . how do_you_think we_may begin ? "

I stood up ." we_must get a fixed point we_can recognise - we_might hoist a flag, or a handkerchief, or something - and quarter the ground, and work round that ."

he stood up beside me .

" yes," he_said, " there_is nothing for_it but to hunt the sphere . nothing . we_may find it - certainly we_may find it . and if_not -"

" we_must keep on looking ."

he look this_way and_that, glanced up at_the sky and down at_the tunnel, and astonished me by a sudden gesture of impatience ."Oh ! but we_have_done foolishly ! to_have come to_this pass ! think how it might_have_been, and_the things we_might_have done ! "

" we_might do something yet ."

" never the thing we_might_have done . here below out feet is a world . think of what that world must_be ! think of_that machine we saw, and_the lid and_the shaft ! they were just remote outlying things, and those creatures we_have seen and fought with no more than ignorant peasants, dwellers in_the outskirts, yokels and labourers half akin to brutes . down below ! Caverns beneath caverns, tunnels, structures, ways .. . it must open out, and be greater and wider and more populous as one descends . assuredly . right down at_the last the central sea that washes round the core of_the moon . think of_its inky waters under the spare lights - if, indeed, their eyes need lights ! think of_the cascading tributaries pouring down their channels to feed it ! think of_the tides upon its surface, and_the rush and swirl of_its ebb and flow ! perhaps they_have ships that go upon it, perhaps down there_are mighty cities and swarming ways, and wisdom and order passing the wit of man . and we_may die here upon it, and never see the masters who_must be - ruling over these things ! we_may freeze and die here, and_the air will freeze and thaw upon us, and then - ! then they_will come upon us, come on_our stiff and silent bodies, and find the sphere we_cannot find, and they_will understand at last too late all the thought and effort that ended here in vain ! "

his voice for all that speech sounded like the voice of someone heard in a telephone, weak and far away .

" but the darkness," I_said .

" one might get over that ."

" how ? "

"I don't know . how am I to_know ? one might carry a torch, one might_have a lamp - the others - might understand ."

he stood for a moment with_his hands held down and a rueful face, staring out over the waste that defied him . then with a gesture of renunciation he turned towards me with proposals for_the systematic hunting of_the sphere .

" we_can return," I_said .

he looked about him ." first of all we_shall_have to_get to earth ."

" we_could bring back lamps to carry and climbing irons, and a hundred necessary things ."

" yes," he_said .

" we_can take back an earnest of success in_this gold ."

he looked at my golden crowbars, and said nothing for a space . he stood with_his hands clasped behind his back, staring across the crater . at last he signed and spoke ." it_was I_found the way here, but to_find a way isn't always to_be master of a way . if I take my secret back to earth, what_will happen ? I_do_not_see how I_can keep my secret for a year, for even a part of a year . sooner or later it must come out, even if other men rediscover it . and then .. .Governments and powers will struggle to_get hither, they_will fight against one another, and against these moon people; it_will only spread warfare and multiply the occasions of war . in a little while, in a very little while, if I tell my secret, this planet to its deepest galleries will_be strewn with human dead . other things are doubtful, but that_is certain . it_is_not as_though man had any use

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