Philip Van Doren Stern (ed) (44 page)

"It
was
after
that,
I
think,
that
we
came
to
a
little
open
court
within the
palace.
It
was
turfed,
and
had
three
fruit-trees.
So
we
rested
and refreshed
ourselves.
Towards
sunset
I
began
to
consider
our
position. Night
was
creeping
upon
us,
and
my
inaccessible
hiding
place
had still
to
be
found.
But
that
troubled
me
very
little
now.
I
had
in
my possession
a
thing
that
was,
perhaps,
the
best
of
all
defences
against the
Morlocks—I
had
matches!
I
had
the
camphor
in
my
pocket,
too, if
a
blaze
were
needed.
It
seemed
to
me
that
the
best
thing
we
could do
would
be
to
pass
the
night
in
the
open,
protected
by
a
fire.
In
the morning
there
was
the
getting
of
the
Time
Machine.
Towards
that, as
yet,
I
had
only
my
iron
mace.
But
now,
with
my
growing
knowledge,
I
felt
very
differently
towards
those
bronze
doors.
Up
to
this,
I had
refrained
from
forcing
them,
largely
because
of
the
mystery
on the
other
side.
They
had
never
impressed
me
as
being
very
strong,
and I
hoped
to
find
my
bar
of
iron
not
altogether
inadequate
for
the
work.

9

"We
emerged
from
the
palace
while
the
sun
was
still
in
part
above the
horizon.
I
was
determined
to
reach
the
White
Sphinx
early
the next
morning,
and
ere
the
dusk
I
purposed
pushing
through
the
woods that
had
stopped
me
on
the
previous
journey.
My
plan
was
to
go
as far
as
possible
that
night,
and
then,
building
a
fire,
to
sleep
in
the protection
of
its
glare.
Accordingly,
as
we
went
along
I
gathered
any sticks
or
dried
grass
I
saw,
and
presently
had
my
arms
full
of
such litter.
Thus
loaded,
our
progress
was
slower
than
I
had
anticipated, and
besides
Weena
was
tired.
And
I
began
to
suffer
from
sleepiness too;
so
that
it
was
full
night
before
we
reached
the
wood.
Upon
the shrubby
hill
of
its
edge
Weena
would
have
stopped,
fearing
the
darkness
before
us;
but
a
singular
sense
of
impending
calamity,
that
should indeed
have
served
me
as
a
warning,
drove
me
onward.
I
had
been without
sleep
for
a
night
and
two
days,
and
I
was
feverish
and
irritable.
I
felt
sleep
coming
upon
me,
and
the
Morlocks
with
it.

"While
we
hesitated,
among
the
black
bushes
behind
us,
and
dim against
their
blackness,
I
saw
three
crouching
figures.
There
was
scrub and
long
grass
all
about
us,
and
I
did
not
feel
safe
from
their
insidious approach.
The
forest,
I
calculated,
was
rather
less
than
a
mile
across. If
we
could
get
through
it
to
the
bare
hillside,
there,
as
it
seemed
to me,
was
an
altogether
safer
resting-place;
I
thought
that
with
my matches
and
my
camphor
I
could
contrive
to
keep
my
path
illuminated
through
the
woods.
Yet
it
was
evident
that
if
I
was
to
flourish matches
with
my
hands
I
should
have
to
abandon
my
firewood;
so, rather
reluctantly,
I
put
it
down.
And
then
it
came
into
my
head that
I
would
amaze
our
friends
behind
by
lighting
it.
I
was
to
discover the
atrocious
folly
of
this
proceeding,
but
it
came
to
my
mind
as
an ingenious
move
for
covering
our
retreat.