The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells
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. then I set to work in a very gingerly fashion on_the Cavorite blinds, to_see if I_could guess by any means how the sphere was travelling .

the first blind I opened I shut at once, and hung for a time flattened and blinded by_the sunlight that had hit me . after thinking a little I started upon_the windows at right angles to this_one, and got the huge crescent moon and_the little crescent earth behind it, the second time . i_was amazed to_find how far i_was from_the moon .I had reckoned that not_only should I_have little or none_of_the " kick- off" that_the earth's atmosphere had given us at our start, but that_the tangential " fly off" of_the moon's spin would_be at_least twenty-eight times less_than_the earth's .I had expected to discover myself hanging over our crater, and on_the edge of_the night, but all that was now only a part of_the outline of_the white crescent that filled the sky . and Cavor - ?

he_was already infinite .

I tried to imagine what could_have happened to him . but at_that_time I_could think of nothing but death .I seemed to_see him, bent and smashed at_the foot of some interminably high cascade of blue . and all about him the stupid insects stared .. .

under the inspiring touch of_the drifting newspaper I became practical again for a while . it_was quite clear to_me that what I had to_do was to_get back to earth, but as far as I could_see i_was drifting away from_it . whatever had happened to Cavor, even if he_was still alive, which seemed to_me incredible after_that blood- stained scrap, i_was powerless to help him . there he_was, living or dead behind the mantle of_that rayless night, and there he_must remain at_least until I_could summon our fellow men to_his assistance . should I do_that ? something of_the sort I had in my mind; to_come back to earth if_it were possible, and then as maturer consideration might determine, either to show and explain the sphere to a few discreet persons, and act with_them, or else to_keep my secret, sell my gold,, obtain weapons, provisions, and an assistant, and return with_these advantages to deal on equal terms with_the flimsy people of_the moon, to rescue Cavor, if_that were still possible, and at any rate to procure a sufficient supply of gold to_place my subsequent proceedings on a firmer basis . but that was hoping far; I had first to_get back .

I set myself to decide just exactly how the return to earth could_be contrived . as I struggled with_that problem I ceased to worry about what i_should do when I got there . at last my only care was to_get back .

I puzzled out at last that my best chance would_be to drop back towards the moon as near as I dared in_order to gather velocity, then to shut my windows, and fly behind it, and when i_was past to open my earthward windows, and so get off at a good pace homeward . but whether i_should ever reach the earth by_that device, or whether I might_not simply find myself spinning about_it in some hyperbolic or parabolic curve or other, I_could_not tell . later I had a happy inspiration, and by opening certain windows to_the moon, which had appeared in_the sky in front of_the earth, I turned my course aside so as_to head off the earth, which it had become evident to_me I_must pass behind without some such expedient . I_did a very great deal of complicated thinking over these, problems - for I_am no mathematician - and in_the end I_am certain it_was much more my good luck than my reasoning that enabled me to hit the earth . had I known then, as I_know now, the mathematical chances there were against me, I_doubt if i_should_have troubled even to touch the studs to_make any attempt . and having puzzled out what I considered to_be the thing to_do, I opened all my moonward windows, and squatted down - the effort lifted me for a time some feet or so into_the air, and I hung there in_the oddest way - and waited for_the crescent to_get bigger and bigger until I_felt i_was near enough for safety . then i_would shut the windows, fly past the moon with_the velocity I had got from_it - if I_did_not smash upon it - and so go on towards the earth .

and_that is what I_did .

at last I_felt my moonward start was sufficient .I shut out the sight of_the moon from my eyes, and in a state of mind that was, I now recall, incredibly free from anxiety or any distressful quality, I sat down to_begin a vigil in_that little speck of matter in infinite space that_would last until i_should strike the earth . the heater had made the sphere tolerably warm, the air had_been refreshed by_the oxygen, and except for_that faint congestion of_the head that was always with me while i_was away from earth, I_felt entire physical comfort .I had extinguished the light again, lest it should fail me in_the end; i_was in darkness, save for_the earthshine and_the glitter of_the stars below me . everything was so absolutely silent and still that I_might indeed have_been the only being in_the universe, and yet, strangely enough, I had no more feeling of loneliness or fear than if I had_been lying in bed on earth . now, this seems all the stranger to_me, since during my last hours in_that crater of_the moon, the sense of_my utter loneliness had_been an agony .. ..

incredible as_it_will seem, this interval of_time that I spent in space has no sort of proportion to any_other interval of_time in my life .Sometimes it seemed as_though I sat through immeasurable eternities like some god upon a lotus leaf, and again as_though there_was a momentary pause as I leapt from moon to earth . in truth, it_was altogether some weeks of earthly time . but I had done with care and anxiety, hunger or fear, for_that space .I floated, thinking with a strange breadth and freedom of all that we had undergone, and of all my life and motives, and_the secret issues of_my being .I seemed to myself to_have grown greater and greater, to_have lost all sense of movement; to_be floating amidst the stars, and always the sense of earth's littleness and_the infinite littleness of_my life upon it, was implicit in my thoughts .

I_can't profess to explain the things that happened in my mind . no_doubt they_could all be traced directly or indirectly to_the curious physical conditions under which i_was living .I set them down here just for what they_are worth, and without any comment . the most prominent quality of it_was apervading doubt of_my own identity .I became, if I_may so express it, dissociate from Bedford; I looked down on Bedford as a trivial, incidental thing with_which I chanced to_be connected . I_saw Bedford in many relations - as an ass or as a poor beast, where I had hitherto been inclined to regard him with a quiet pride as a very spirited or rather forcible person . I_saw him not_only as an ass, but as_the son of many generations of asses .I reviewed his school-days and_his early manhood, and_his first encounter with love, very_much as one might review the proceedings of an ant in_the sand . something of_that period of lucidity I_regret still hangs about me, and I_doubt if I_shall ever recover the full-bodied self satisfaction of_my early days . but at_the_time the thing was not in_the least painful, because I had that extraordinary persuasion that, as a matter of fact, i_was no more Bedford than i_was any_one else, but only a mind floating in_the still serenity of space . who_should I be disturbed about_this Bedford's shortcomings ? i_was not responsible for him or them .

for a time I struggled against this really very grotesque delusion .I tried to summon the memory of vivid moments, of tender or intense emotions to my assistance; I_felt that if I_could recall one genuine twinge of feeling the growing severance would_be stopped . but I_could_not do_it . I_saw Bedford rushing down chancery Lane, hat on_the back of_his head, coat tails flying out, en route for_his public examination . I_saw him dodging and bumping against, and even saluting, other similar little creatures in_that swarming gutter of people . me ? I_saw Bedford that same evening in_the sitting- room of a certain lady, and_his hat was on_the table beside him, and it wanted brushing badly, and he_was in tears . me ? I_saw him with_that lady in various attitudes and emotions - I never felt so detached before .. .. I_saw him hurrying off to Lympne to write a play, and accosting Cavor, and in_his shirt sleeves working at_the sphere, and walking out to Canterbury because he_was afraid to_come ! me ? I_did_not believe it .

I still reasoned that all this_was hallucination due to my solitude, and_the fact that I had lost all weight and sense of resistance .I endeavoured to recover that sense by banging myself about_the sphere, by pinching my hands and clasping them together . among other things, I lit the light, captured that torn copy of Lloyd's, and read those convincingly realistic advertisements about_the cutaway bicycle, and_the gentleman of private means, and_the lady in distress who was selling those "forks and spoons ." there_was no_doubt they existed surely enough, and, said I, " this_is your world, and you_are Bedford, and you_are going back to live among things like that for all the rest of your life ." but the doubts within me could still argue: " it_is_not you that_is reading, it_is Bedford, but you_are_not Bedford, you_know . that's just where the mistake comes in ."

" confound it ! " I cried; " and if I_am not Bedford, what am I ? "

but in_that direction no light was forthcoming, though the strangest fancies came drifting into my brain, queer remote suspicions, like shadows seen from away . do_you_know, I had a sort of idea that really i_was something quite outside not_only the world, but all worlds, and out of space and time, and that_this poor Bedford was just apeephole through which I looked at life ? .. .

Bedford ! however I disavowed him, there i_was most certainly bound up with_him, and I_knew that wherever or whatever I_might_be, I_must needs feel the stress of_his desires, and sympathise with all his joys and sorrows until his life should end . and with_the dying of Bedford - what then ? .. .

enough of_this remarkable phase of_my experiences ! I tell it here simply to show how one's isolation and departure from_this planet touched not_only the functions and feeling of every organ of_the body, but indeed also the very fabric of_the mind, with strange and unanticipated disturbances . all through_the major portion of_that vast space journey I hung thinking of_such immaterial things as_these, hung dissociated and apathetic, a cloudy megalomaniac, as it were, amidst the stars and planets in_the void of space; and not_only the world to_which i_was returning, but the blue-lit caverns of_the Selenites, their helmet faces, their gigantic and wonderful machines, and_the fate of Cavor, dragged helpless into that world, seemed infinitely minute and altogether trivial things to_me .

until at last I began to_feel the pull of_the earth upon my being, drawing me back again to_the life that_is real for men . and then, indeed, it grew clearer and clearer to_me that i_was quite certainly Bedford after all, and returning after amazing adventures to_this world of ours, and with a life that i_was very likely to lose in_this return .I set myself to puzzle out the conditions under which I_must fall to earth .

chapter 21

Mr Bedford at Littlestone

my line of flight was about parallel with_the surface as I_came into_the upper air . the temperature of sphere began to rise forthwith . I_knew it behoved me to drop at once . far below me, in adarkling twilight, stretched a great expanse of sea .I opened every window I_could, and fell - out of sunshine into evening, and out of evening into night . vaster grew the earth and vaster, swallowing up the stars, and_the silvery translucent starlit veil of cloud it wore spread out to catch me . at last the world seemed no longer a sphere but flat, and then concave . it_was no longer a planet in_the sky, but the world of man .I shut all but an inch or so of earthward window, and dropped with aslackening velocity . the broadening water, now so near that I could_see the dark glitter of_the waves, rushed up_to meet me . the sphere became very hot .I snapped the last strip of window, and sat scowling and biting my knuckles, waiting for_the impact .. ..

the sphere hit the water with a huge splash: it must_have sent it fathoms high . at_the splash I flung the Cavorite shutters open . down I went, but slower and slower, and then I_felt the sphere pressing against my feet, and so drove up again as a bubble drives . and at_the last i_was floating and rocking upon_the surface of_the sea, and my journey in space was at an end .

the night was dark and overcast . two yellow pinpoints far away showed the passing of a ship, and nearer was a red glare that came and went . had_not the electricity of_my glow- lamp exhausted itself, I_could_have got picked up that night . in_spite of_the inordinate fatigue i_was beginning to_feel, i_was excited now, and for a time hopeful, in a feverish, impatient

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