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diff --git a/src/io/crystalegg.xml b/src/io/crystalegg.xml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e916e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/io/crystalegg.xml @@ -0,0 +1,767 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?> +<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN" + "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd"> +<book> + +<bookinfo> + <title>The Crystal Egg</title> + <author><firstname>H. G.</firstname><surname>Wells</surname></author> +</bookinfo> + + +<chapter> + +<para> + There was, until a year ago, a little and very grimy-looking shop +near Seven Dials over which, in weather-worn yellow lettering, the name +of "C. Cave, Naturalist and Dealer in Antiquities," was inscribed. The +contents of its window were curiously variegated. They comprised some +elephant tusks and an imperfect set of chessmen, beads and weapons, a +box of eyes, two skulls of tigers and one human, several moth-eaten +stuffed monkeys (one holding a lamp), an old-fashioned cabinet, a +flyblown ostrich egg or so, some fishing-tackle, and an extraordinarily +dirty, empty glass fish tank. There was also, at the moment the story +begins, a mass of crystal, worked into the shape of an egg and +brilliantly polished. And at that two people, who stood outside the +window, were looking, one of them a tall, thin clergyman, the other a +black-bearded young man of dusky complexion and unobtrusive costume. The +dusky young man spoke with eager gestulation, and seemed anxious for his +companion to purchase the article. +</para> + +<para> + While they were there, Mr. Cave came into his shop, his beard still +wagging with the bread and butter of his tea. When he saw these men and +the object of their regard, his countenance fell. He glanced guiltily +over his shoulder, and softly shut the door. He was a little old man, +with pale face and peculiar watery blue eyes; his hair was a dirty grey, +and he wore a shabby blue frock-coat, an ancient silk hat, and carpet +slippers very much down at heel. He remained watching the two men as +they talked. The clergyman went deep into his trouser pocket, examined a +handful of money, and showed his teeth in an agreeable smile. Mr. Cave +seemed still more depressed when they came into the shop. +</para> + +<para> + The clergyman, without any ceremony, asked the price of the crystal +egg. Mr. Cave glanced nervously towards the door leading into the +parlour, and said five pounds. The clergyman protested that the price +was high, to his companion as well as to Mr. Cave -- it was, indeed, +very much more than Mr. Cave had intended to ask, when he had stocked +the article -- and an attempt at bargaining ensued. Mr. Cave stepped to +the shop-door, and held it open. "Five pounds is my price," he said, as +though he wished to save himself the trouble of unprofitable discussion. +As he did so, the upper portion of a woman's face appeared above the +blind in the glass upper panel of the door leading into the parlour, and +stared curiously at the two customers. "Five pounds is my price," said +Mr. Cave, with a quiver in his voice. +</para> + +<para> + The swarthy young man had so far remained a spectator, watching Cave +keenly. Now he spoke. "Give him five pounds," he said. The clergyman +glanced at him to see if he were in earnest, and, when he looked at Mr. +Cave again, he saw that the latter's face was white. "It's a lot of +money," said the clergyman, and, diving into his pocket, began counting +his resources. He had little more than thirty shillings, and he appealed +to his companion, with whom he seemed to be on terms of considerable +intimacy. This gave Mr. Cave an opportunity of collecting his thoughts, +and he began to explain in an agitated manner that the crystal was not, +as a matter of fact, entirely free for sale. His two customers were +naturally surprised at this, and inquired why he had not thought of that +before he began to bargain. Mr. Cave became confused, but he stuck to +his story, that the crystal was not in the market that afternoon, that a +probable purchaser of it had already appeared. The two, treating this as +an attempt to raise the price still further, made as if they would leave +the shop. But at this point the parlour door opened, and the owner of +the dark fringe and the little eyes appeared. +</para> + +<para> + She was a coarse-featured, corpulent woman, younger and very much +larger than Mr. Cave; she walked heavily, and her face was flushed. +"That crystal is for sale, she said. "And five pounds is a good enough +price for it. I can't think what you're about, Cave, not to take the +gentleman's offer!" +</para> + +<para> + Mr. Cave, greatly perturbed by the irruption, looked angrily at her +over the rims of his spectacles, and, without excessive assurance, +asserted his right to manage his business in his own way. An altercation +began. The two customers watched the scene with interest and some +amusement, occasionally assisting Mrs. Cave with suggestions. Mr. Cave, +hard driven, persisted in a confused and impossible story of an enquiry +for the crystal that morning, and his agitation became painful. But he +stuck to his point with extraordinary persistence. +It was the young Oriental who ended this curious controversy. He +proposed that they should call again in the course of two days -- so as +to give the alleged enquirer a fair chance. "And then we must insist," +said the clergyman. "Five pounds." Mrs. Cave took it on herself to +apologise for her husband, explaining that he was sometimes "a little +odd," and as the two customers left, the couple prepared for a free +discussion of the incident in all its bearings. +</para> + +<para> + Mrs. Cave talked to her husband with singular directness. The poor +little man, quivering with emotion, muddled himself between his stories, +maintaining on the one hand that he had another customer in view, and on +the other asserting that the crystal was honestly worth ten guineas. +"Why did you ask five pounds?" said his wife. "Do let me manage my +business my own way!" said Mr. Cave. +</para> + +<para> + Mr. Cave had living with him a step-daughter and a step-son, and at +supper that night the transaction was re-discussed. None of them had a +high opinion of Mr. Cave's business methods, and this action seemed a +culminating folly. +</para> + +<para> + "It's my opinion he's refused that crystal before," said the +step-son, a loose-limbed lout of eighteen. +</para> + +<para> + "But Five Pounds!" said the step-daughter, an argumentative young +woman of six-and-twenty. +</para> + +<para> + Mr. Cave's answers were wretched; he could only mumble weak +assertions that he knew his own business best. They drove him from his +half-eaten supper into the shop, to close it for the night, his ears +aflame and tears of vexation behind his spectacles. "Why had he left the +crystal in the window so long? The folly of it!" That was the trouble +closest in his mind. For a time he could see no way of evading sale. +</para> + +<para> + After supper his step-daughter and step-son smartened themselves up +and went out and his wife retired upstairs to reflect upon the business +aspects of the crystal, over a little sugar and lemon and so forth in +hot water. Mr. Cave went into the shop, and stayed there until late, +ostensibly to make ornamental rockeries for gold-fish cases but really +for a private purpose that will be better explained later. The next day +Mrs. Cave found that the crystal had been removed from the window, and +was lying behind some second-hand books on angling. She replaced it in a +conspicuous position. But she did not argue further about it, as a +nervous headache disinclined her from debate. Mr. Cave was always +disinclined. The day passed disagreeably. Mr. Cave was, if anything, +more absent-minded than usual, and uncommonly irritable withal. In the +afternoon, when his wife was taking her customary sleep, he removed the +crystal from the window again. +</para> + +<para> + The next day Mr. Cave had to deliver a consignment of dog-fish at one +of the hospital schools, where they were needed for dissection. In his +absence Mrs. Cave's mind reverted to the topic of the crystal, and the +methods of expenditure suitable to a windfall of five pounds. She had +already devised some very agreeable expedients, among others a dress of +green silk for herself and a trip to Richmond, when a jangling of the +front door bell summoned her into the shop. The customer was an +examination coach who came to complain of the non-delivery of certain +frogs asked for the previous day. Mrs. Cave did not approve of this +particular branch of Mr. Cave's business, and the gentleman, who had +called in a somewhat aggressive mood, retired after a brief exchange of +words -- entirely civil so far as he was concerned. Mrs. Cave's eye then +naturally turned to the window; for the sight of the crystal was an +assurance of the five pounds and of her dreams. What was her surprise to +find it gone! +</para> + +<para> + She went to the place behind the locker on the counter, where she had +discovered it the day before. It was not there; and she immediately +began an eager search about the shop. +</para> + +<para> + When Mr. Cave returned from his business with the dog-fish, about a +quarter to two in the afternoon, he found the shop in some confusion, +and his wife, extremely exasperated and on her knees behind the counter, +routing among his taxidermic material. Her face came up hot and angry +over the counter, as the jangling bell announced his return, and she +forthwith accused him of "hiding it." +</para> + +<para> + "Hid what?" asked Mr. Cave. +</para> + +<para> + "The crystal!" +</para> + +<para> + At that Mr. Cave, apparently much surprised, rushed to the window. +"Isn't it here?" he said. "Great Heavens! what has become of it?" +</para> + +<para> + Just then, Mr. Cave's step-son re-entered the shop from the inner +room -- he had come home a minute or so before Mr. Cave -- and he was +blaspheming freely. He was apprenticed to a second-hand furniture dealer +down the road, but he had his meals at home, and he was naturally +annoyed to find no dinner ready. +</para> + +<para> + But, when he heard of the loss of the crystal, he forgot his meal, +and his anger was diverted from his mother to his step-father. Their +first idea, of course, was that he had hidden it. But Mr. Cave stoutly +denied all knowledge of its fate -- freely offering his bedabbled +affidavit in the matter -- and at last was worked up to the point of +accusing, first, his wife and then his step-son of having taken it with +a view to a private sale. So began an exceedingly acrimonious and +emotional discussion, which ended for Mrs. Cave in a peculiar nervous +condition midway between hysterics and amuck, and caused the step-son to +be half-an-hour late at the furniture establishment in the afternoon. +Mr. Cave took refuge from his wife's emotions in the shop. +</para> + +<para> + In the evening the matter was resumed, with less passion and in a +judicial spirit, under the presidency of the step-daughter. The supper +passed unhappily and culminated in a painful scene. Mr. Cave gave way at +last to extreme exasperation, and went out banging the front door +violently. The rest of the family, having discussed him with the freedom +his absence warranted, hunted the house from garret to cellar, hoping to +light upon the crystal. +</para> + +<para> + The next day the two customers called again. They were received by +Mrs. Cave almost in tears. It transpired that no one could imagine all +that she had stood from Cave at various times in her married pilgrimage. +. . . She also gave a garbled account of the disappearance. The +clergyman and the Oriental laughed silently at one another, and said it +was very extraordinary. As Mrs. Cave seemed disposed to give them the +complete history of her life they made to leave the shop. Thereupon Mrs. +Cave, still clinging to hope, asked for the clergyman's address, so +that, if she could get anything out of Cave, she might communicate it. +The address was duly given, but apparently was afterwards mislaid. Mrs. +Cave can remember nothing about it. +</para> + +<para> + In the evening of that day, the Caves seem to have exhausted their +emotions, and Mr. Cave, who had been out in the afternoon, supped in a +gloomy isolation that contrasted pleasantly with the impassioned +controversy of the previous days. For some time matters were very badly +strained in the Cave household, but neither crystal nor customer +reappeared. +</para> + +<para> + Now, without mincing the matter, we must admit that Mr. Cave was a +liar. He knew perfectly well where the crystal was. It was in the rooms +of Mr. Jacoby Wace, Assistant Demonstrator at St. Catherine's Hospital, +Westbourne Street. It stood on the sideboard partially covered by a +black velvet cloth, and beside a decanter of American whisky. It is from +Mr. Wace, indeed, that the particulars upon which this narrative is +based were derived. Cave had taken off the thing to the hospital hidden +in the dog-fish sack, and there had pressed the young investigator to +keep it for him. Mr. Wace was a little dubious at first. His +relationship to Cave was peculiar. He had a taste for singular +characters, and he had more than once invited the old man to smoke and +drink in his rooms, and to unfold his rather amusing views of life in +general and of his wife in particular. Mr. Wace had encountered Mrs. +Cave, too, on occasions when Mr. Cave was not at home to attend to him. +He knew the constant interference to which Cave was subjected, and +having weighed the story judicially, he decided to give the crystal a +refuge. Mr. Cave promised to explain the reasons for his remarkable +affection for the crystal more fully +on a later occasion, but he spoke distinctly of seeing visions therein. +He called on Mr. Wace the same evening. +</para> + +<para> + He told a complicated story. The crystal he said had come into his +possession with other oddments at the forced sale of another curiosity +dealer's effects, and not knowing what its value might be, he had +ticketed it at ten shillings. It had hung upon his hands at that price +for some months, and he was thinking of "reducing the figure," when he +made a singular discovery. +</para> + +<para> + At that time his health was very bad -- and it must be borne in mind +that, throughout all this experience, his physical condition was one of +ebb -- and he was in considerable distress by reason of the negligence, +the positive ill-treatment even, he received from his wife and +step-children. His wife was vain, extravagant, unfeeling and had a +growing taste for private drinking; his step-daughter was mean and +over-reaching; and his step-son had conceived a violent dislike for him, +and lost no chance of showing it. The requirements of his business +pressed heavily upon him, and Mr. Wace does not think that he was +altogether free from occasional intemperance. He had begun life in a +comfortable position, he was a man of fair education, and he suffered, +for weeks at a stretch, from melancholia and insomnia. Afraid to disturb +his family, he would slip quietly from his wife's side, when his +thoughts became intolerable, and wander about the house. And about three +o'clock one morning, late in August, chance directed him into the shop. +</para> + +<para> + The dirty little place was impenetrably black except in one spot, +where he perceived an unusual glow of light. Approaching this, he +discovered it to be the crystal egg, which was standing on the corner of +the counter towards the window. A thin ray smote through a crack in the +shutters, impinged upon the object, and seemed as it were to fill its +entire interior. +</para> + +<para> + It occurred to Mr. Cave that this was not in accordance with the laws +of optics as he had known them in his younger days. He could understand +the rays being refracted by the crystal and coming to a focus in its +interior, but this diffusion jarred with his physical conceptions. He +approached the crystal nearly, peering into it and round it, with a +transient revival of the scientific curiosity that in his youth had +determined his choice of a calling. He was surprised to find the light +not steady, but writhing within the substance of the egg, as though that +object was a hollow sphere of some luminous vapour. In moving about to +get different points of view, he suddenly found that he had come between +it and the ray, and that the crystal none the less remained luminous. +Greatly astonished, he lifted it out of the light ray and carried it to +the darkest part of the shop. It remained +bright for some four or five minutes, when it slowly faded and went out. +He placed it in the thin streak of daylight, and its luminousness was +almost immediately restored. +</para> + +<para> + So far, at least, Mr. Wace was able to verify the remarkable story of +Mr. Cave. He has himself repeatedly held this crystal in a ray of light +(which had to be of a less diameter than one millimetre). And in a +perfect darkness, such as could be produced by velvet wrapping, the +crystal did undoubtedly appear very faintly phosphorescent. It would +seem, however, that the luminousness was of some exceptional sort, and +not equally visible to all eyes; for Mr. Harbinger -- whose name will be +familiar to the scientific reader in connection with the Pasteur +Institute -- was quite unable to see any light whatever. And Mr. Wace's +own capacity for its appreciation was out of comparison inferior to that +of Mr. Cave's. Even with Mr. Cave the power varied very considerably: +his vision was most vivid during states of extreme weakness and fatigue. +</para> + +<para> + Now, from the outset this light in the crystal exercised a curious +fascination upon Mr. Cave. And it says more for his loneliness of soul +than a volume of pathetic writing could do, that he told no human being +of his curious observations. He seems to have been living in such an +atmosphere of petty spite that to admit the existence of a pleasure +would have been to risk the loss of it. He found that as the dawn +advanced, and the amount of diffused light increased, the crystal became +to all appearance non-luminous. And for some time he was unable to see +anything in it, except at night-time, in dark corners of the shop. +</para> + +<para> + But the use of an old velvet cloth, which he used as a background for +a collection of minerals, occurred to him, and by doubling this, and +putting it over his head and hands, he was able to get a sight of the +luminous movement within the crystal even in the day-time. He was very +cautious lest he should be thus discovered by his wife, and he practised +this occupation only in the afternoons, while she was asleep upstairs, +and then circumspectly in a hollow under the counter. And one day, +turning the crystal about in his hands, he saw something. It came and +went like a flash, but it gave him the impression that the object had +for a moment opened to him the view of a wide and spacious and strange +country; and, turning it about, he did, just as the light faded, see the +same vision again. +</para> + +<para> + Now, it would be tedious and unnecessary to state all the phases of +Mr. Cave's discovery from this point. Suffice that the effect was this: +the crystal, being peered into at an angle of about 137 degrees from the +direction of the illuminating ray, gave a clear and consistent picture +of a wide and peculiar country-side. It was not dream-like at +all: it produced a definite impression of reality, and the better the +light the more real and solid it seemed. It was a moving picture: that +is to say, certain objects moved in it, but slowly in an orderly manner +like real things, and, according as the direction of the lighting and +vision changed, the picture changed also. It must, indeed, have been +like looking through an oval glass at a view, and turning the glass +about to get at different aspects. +</para> + +<para> + Mr. Cave's statements, Mr. Wace assures me, were extremely +circumstantial, and entirely free from any of that emotional quality +that taints hallucinatory impressions. But it must be remembered that +all the efforts of Mr. Wace to see any similar clarity in the faint +opalescence of the crystal were wholly unsuccessful, try as he would. +The difference in intensity of the impressions received by the two men +was very great, and it is quite conceivable that what was a view to Mr. +Cave was a mere blurred nebulosity to Mr. Wace. +</para> + +<para> + The view, as Mr. Cave described it, was invariably of an extensive +plain, and he seemed always to be looking at it from a considerable +height, as if from a tower or a mast. To the east and to the west the +plain was bounded at a remote distance by vast reddish cliffs, which +reminded him of those he had seen in some picture; but what the picture +was Mr. Wace was unable to ascertain. These cliffs passed north and +south -- he could tell the points of the compass by the stars that were +visible of a night -- receding in an almost illimitable perspective and +fading into the mists of the distance before they met. He was nearer the +eastern set of cliffs, on the occasion of his first vision the sun was +rising over them, and black against the sunlight and pale against their +shadow appeared a multitude of soaring forms that Mr. Cave regarded as +birds. A vast range of buildings spread below him; he seemed to be +looking down upon them; and, as they approached the blurred and +refracted edge of the picture, they became indistinct. There were also +trees curious in shape, and in colouring, a deep mossy green and an +exquisite grey, beside a wide and shining canal. And something great and +brilliantly coloured flew across the picture. But the first time Mr. +Cave saw these pictures he saw only in flashes, his hands shook, his +head moved, the vision came and went, and grew foggy and indistinct. And +at first he had the greatest difficulty in finding the picture again +once the direction of it was lost. +</para> + +<para> + His next clear vision, which came about a week after the first, the +interval having yielded nothing but tantalising glimpses and some useful +experience, showed him the view down the length of the valley. The view +was different, but he had a curious persuasion, which his subsequent +observations abundantly confirmed, that he was regarding this strange +world from exactly the same spot, although he was looking +in a different direction. The long facade of the great building, whose +roof he had looked down upon before, was now receding in perspective. He +recognised the roof. In the front of the facade was a terrace of massive +proportions and extraordinary length, and down the middle of the +terrace, at certain intervals, stood huge but very graceful masts, +bearing small shiny objects which reflected the setting sun. The import +of these small objects did not occur to Mr. Cave until some time after, +as he was describing the scene to Mr. Wace. The terrace overhung a +thicket of the most luxuriant and graceful vegetation, and beyond this +was a wide grassy lawn on which certain broad creatures, in form like +beetles but enormously larger, reposed. Beyond this again was a richly +decorated causeway of pinkish stone; and beyond that, and lined with +dense red weeds, and passing up the valley exactly parallel with the +distant cliffs, was a broad and mirror-like expanse of water. The air +seemed full of squadrons of great birds, manoeuvring in stately curves; +and across the river was a multitude of splendid buildings, richly +coloured and glittering with metallic tracery and facets, among a forest +of moss-like and lichenous trees. And suddenly something flapped +repeatedly across the vision, like the fluttering of a jewelled fan or +the beating of a wing, and a face, or rather the upper part of a face +with very large eyes, came as it were close to his own and as if on the +other side of the crystal. Mr. Cave was so startled and so impressed by +the absolute reality of these eyes, that he drew his head back from the +crystal to look behind it. He had become so absorbed in watching that he +was quite surprised to find himself in the cool darkness of his little +shop, with its familiar odour of methyl, mustiness, and decay. And, as +he blinked about him, the glowing crystal faded, and went out. +</para> + +<para> + Such were the first general impressions of Mr. Cave. The story is +curiously direct and circumstantial. From the outset, when the valley +first flashed momentarily on his senses, his imagination was strangely +affected, and, as he began to appreciate the details of the scene he +saw, his wonder rose to the point of a passion. He went about his +business listless and distraught, thinking only of the time when he +should be able to return to his watching. And then a few weeks after his +first sight of the valley came the two customers, the stress and +excitement of their offer, and the narrow escape of the crystal from +sale, as I have already told. +</para> + +<para> + Now, while the thing was Mr. Cave's secret, it remained a mere +wonder, a thing to creep to covertly and peep at, as a child might peep +upon a forbidden garden. But Mr. Wace has, for a young scientific +investigator, a particularly lucid and consecutive habit of mind. +Directly the crystal and its story came to him, and he had satisfied +himself, by seeing the phosphorescence with his own eyes, that there +really was a certain evidence for Mr. Cave's statements, he proceeded to +develop the matter systematically. Mr. Cave was only too eager to come +and feast his eyes on this wonderland he saw, and he came every night +from half-past eight until half-past ten, and sometimes, in Mr. Wace's +absence, during the day. On Sunday afternoons, also, he came. From the +outset Mr. Wace made copious notes, and it was due to his scientific +method that the relation between the direction from which the initiating +ray entered the crystal and the orientation of the picture were proved. +And, by covering the crystal in a box perforated only with a small +aperture to admit the exciting ray, and by substituting black holland +for his buff blinds, he greatly improved the conditions of the +observations; so that in a little while they were able to survey the +valley in any direction they desired. +</para> + +<para> + So having cleared the way, we may give a brief account of this +visionary world within the crystal. The things were in all cases seen by +Mr. Cave, and the method of working was invariably for him to watch the +crystal and report what he saw, while Mr. Wace (who as a science student +had learnt the trick of writing in the dark) wrote a brief note of his +report. When the crystal faded, it was put into its box in the proper +position and the electric light turned on. Mr. Wace asked questions, and +suggested observations to clear up difficult points. Nothing, indeed, +could have been less visionary and more matter-of-fact. +</para> + +<para> + The attention of Mr. Cave had been speedily directed to the bird-like +creatures he had seen so abundantly present in each of his earlier +visions. His first impression was soon corrected, and he considered for +a time that they might represent a diurnal species of bat. Then he +thought, grotesquely enough, that they might be cherubs. Their heads +were round, and curiously human, and it was the eyes of one of them that +had so startled him on his second observation. They had broad, silvery +wings, not feathered, but glistening almost as brilliantly as new-killed +fish and with the same subtle play of colour, and these wings were not +built on the plan of a bird-wing or bat, Mr. Wace learned, but supported +by curved ribs radiating from the body. (A sort of butterfly wing with +curved ribs seems best to express their appearance.) The body was small, +but fitted with two bunches of prehensile organs, like long tentacles, +immediately under the mouth. Incredible as it appeared to Mr. Wace, the +persuasion at last became irresistible, that it was these creatures +which owned the great quasi-human buildings and the magnificent garden +that made the broad valley so splendid. And Mr. Cave perceived that the +buildings, with other peculiarities, had no doors, but that the great +circular windows, which +opened freely, gave the creatures egress and entrance. They would alight +upon their tentacles, fold their wings to a smallness almost rod-like, +and hop into the interior. But among them was a multitude of +smaller-winged creatures, like great dragon-flies and moths and flying +beetles, and across the greensward brilliantly-coloured gigantic +ground-beetles crawled lazily to and fro. Moreover, on the causeways and +terraces, large-headed creatures similar to the greater winged flies, +but wingless, were visible, hopping busily upon their hand-like tangle +of tentacles. +</para> + +<para> + Allusion has already been made to the glittering objects upon masts +that stood upon the terrace of the nearer building. It dawned upon Mr. +Cave, after regarding one of these masts very fixedly on one +particularly vivid day, that the glittering object there was a crystal +exactly like that into which he peered. And a still more careful +scrutiny convinced him that each one in a vista of nearly twenty carried +a similar object. +</para> + +<para> + Occasionally one of the large flying creatures would flutter up to +one, and, folding its wings and coiling a number of its tentacles about +the mast, would regard the crystal fixedly for a space, -- sometimes for +as long as fifteen minutes. And a series of observations, made at the +suggestion of Mr. Wace, convinced both watchers that, so far as this +visionary world was concerned, the crystal into which they peered +actually stood at the summit of the end-most mast on the terrace, and +that on one occasion at least one of these inhabitants of this other +world had looked into Mr. Cave's face while he was making these +observations. +</para> + +<para> + So much for the essential facts of this very singular story. Unless +we dismiss it all as the ingenious fabrication of Mr. Wace, we have to +believe one of two things: either that Mr. Cave's crystal was in two +worlds at once, and that, while it was carried about in one, it remained +stationary in the other, which seems altogether absurd; or else that it +had some peculiar relation of sympathy with another and exactly similar +crystal in this other world, so that what was seen in the interior of +the one in this world, was, under suitable conditions, visible to an +observer in the corresponding crystal in the other world; and vice +versa. At present, indeed, we do not know of any way in which two +crystals could so come en rapport, but nowadays we know enough to +understand that the thing is not altogether impossible. This view of the +crystals as en rapport was the supposition that occurred to Mr. Wace, +and to me at least it seems extremely plausible. . . . +</para> + +<para> + And where was this other world? On this, also, the alert intelligence +of Mr. Wace speedily threw light. After sunset, the sky darkened +rapidly -- there was a very brief twilight interval indeed -- and the +stars shone out. They were recognisably the same as those we see, +arranged in the same constellations. Mr. Cave recognised the Bear, the +Pleiades, Aldebaran, and Sirius: so that the other world must be +somewhere in the solar system, and, at the utmost, only a few hundreds +of millions of miles from our own. Following up this clue, Mr. Wace +learned that the midnight sky was a darker blue even than our midwinter +sky, and that the sun seemed a little smaller. And there were two small +moons! "like our moon but smaller, and quite differently marked" one of +which moved so rapidly that its motion was clearly visible as one +regarded it. These moons were never high in the sky, but vanished as +they rose: that is, every time they revolved they were eclipsed because +they were so near their primary planet. And all this answers quite +completely, although. Mr. Cave did not know it, to what must be the +condition of things on Mars. +</para> + +<para> + Indeed, it seems an exceedingly plausible conclusion that peering +into this crystal Mr. Cave did actually see the planet Mars and its +inhabitants. And, if that be the case, then the evening star that shone +so brilliantly in the sky of that distant vision, was neither more nor +less than our own familiar earth. +</para> + +<para> + For a time the Martians -- if they were Martians -- do not seem to +have known of Mr. Cave's inspection. Once or twice one would come to +peer, and go away very shortly to some other mast, as though the vision +was unsatisfactory. During this time Mr. Cave was able to watch the +proceedings of these winged people without being disturbed by their +attentions, and, although his report is necessarily vague and +fragmentary, it is nevertheless very suggestive. Imagine the impression +of humanity a Martian observer would get who, after a difficult process +of preparation and with considerable fatigue to the eyes, was able to +peer at London from the steeple of St. Martin's Church for stretches, at +longest, of four minutes at a time. Mr. Cave was unable to ascertain if +the winged Martians were the same as the Martians who hopped about the +causeways and terraces, and if the latter could put on wings at will. He +several times saw certain clumsy bipeds, dimly suggestive of apes, white +and partially translucent, feeding among certain of the lichenous trees, +and once some of these fled before one of the hopping, round-headed +Martians. The latter caught one in its tentacles, and then the picture +faded suddenly and left Mr. Cave most tantalisingly in the dark. On +another occasion a vast thing, that Mr. Cave thought at first was some +gigantic insect, appeared advancing along the causeway beside the canal +with extraordinary rapidity. As this drew nearer Mr. Cave perceived that +it was a mechanism of shining +metals and of extraordinary complexity. And then, when he looked again, +it had passed out of sight. +</para> + +<para> + After a time Mr. Wace aspired to attract the attention of the +Martians, and the next time that the strange eyes of one of them +appeared close to the crystal Mr. Cave cried out and sprang away, and +they immediately turned on the light and began to gesticulate in a +manner suggestive of signalling. But when at last Mr. Cave examined the +crystal again the Martian had departed. +</para> + +<para> + Thus far these observations had progressed in early November, and +then Mr. Cave, feeling that the suspicions of his family about the +crystal were allayed, began to take it to and fro with him in order +that, as occasion arose in the daytime or night, he might comfort +himself with what was fast becoming the most real thing in his existence. +</para> + +<para> + In December Mr. Wace's work in connection with a forthcoming +examination became heavy, the sittings were reluctantly suspended for a +week, and for ten or eleven days -- he is not quite sure which -- he saw +nothing of Cave. He then grew anxious to resume these investigations, +and, the stress of his seasonal labours being abated, he went down to +Seven Dials. At the corner he noticed a shutter before a bird fancier's +window, and then another at a cobbler's. Mr. Cave's shop was closed. +</para> + +<para> + He rapped and the door was opened by the step-son in black. He at +once called Mrs. Cave, who was, Mr. Wace could not but observe, in cheap +but ample widow's weeds of the most imposing pattern. Without any very +great surprise Mr. Wace learnt that Cave was dead and already buried. +She was in tears, and her voice was a little thick. She had just +returned from Highgate. Her mind seemed occupied with her own prospects +and the honourable details of the obsequies, but Mr. Wace was at last +able to learn the particulars of Cave's death. He had been found dead in +his shop in the early morning, the day after his last visit to Mr. Wace, +and the crystal had been clasped in his stone-cold hands. His face was +smiling, said Mrs. Cave, and the velvet cloth from the minerals lay on +the floor at his feet. He must have been dead five or six hours when he +was found. +</para> + +<para> + This came as a great shock to Wace, and he began to reproach himself +bitterly for having neglected the plain symptoms of the old man's +ill-health. But his chief thought was of the crystal. He approached that +topic in a gingerly manner, because he knew Mrs. Cave's peculiarities. +He was dumbfoundered to learn that it was sold. +</para> + +<para> + Mrs. Cave's first impulse, directly Cave's body had been taken +upstairs, had been to write to the mad clergyman who had offered five +pounds for the crystal, informing him of its recovery; but after a +violent hunt in which her daughter joined her, they were convinced +of the loss of his address. As they were without the means required to +mourn and bury Cave in the elaborate style the dignity of an old Seven +Dials inhabitant demands, they had appealed to a friendly +fellow-tradesman in Great Portland Street. He had very kindly taken over +a portion of the stock at a valuation. The valuation was his own and the +crystal egg was included in one of the lots. Mr. Wace, after a few +suitable consolatory observations, a little offhandedly proffered +perhaps, hurried at once to Great Portland Street. But there he learned +that the crystal egg had already been sold to a tall, dark man in grey. +And there the material facts in this curious, and to me at least very +suggestive, story come abruptly to an end. The Great Portland Street +dealer did not know who the tall dark man in grey was, nor had he +observed him with sufficient attention to describe him minutely. He did +not even know which way this person had gone after leaving the shop. For +a time Mr. Wace remained in the shop, trying the dealer's patience with +hopeless questions, venting his own exasperation. And at last, realising +abruptly that the whole thing had passed out of his hands, had vanished +like a vision of the night, he returned to his own rooms, a little +astonished to find the notes he had made still tangible and visible upon +his untidy table. +</para> + +<para> + His annoyance and disappointment were naturally very great. He made a +second call (equally ineffectual) upon the Great Portland Street dealer, +and he resorted to advertisements in such periodicals as were likely to +come into the hands of a bric-a-brac collector. He also wrote letters to +The Daily Chronicle and Nature, but both those periodicals, suspecting a +hoax, asked him to reconsider his action before they printed, and he was +advised that such a strange story, unfortunately so bare of supporting +evidence, might imperil his reputation as an investigator. Moreover, the +calls of his proper work were urgent. So that after a month or so, save +for an occasional reminder to certain dealers, he had reluctantly to +abandon the quest for the crystal egg, and from that day to this it +remains undiscovered. Occasionally, however, he tells me, and I can +quite believe him, he has bursts of zeal, in which he abandons his more +urgent occupation and resumes the search. +</para> + +<para> + Whether or not it will remain lost for ever, with the material and +origin of it, are things equally speculative at the present time. If the +present purchaser is a collector, one would have expected the enquiries +of Mr. Wace to have readied him through the dealers. He has been able to +discover Mr. Cave's clergyman and "Oriental" -- no other than the Rev. +James Parker and the young Prince of Bosso-Kuni in Java. I am obliged to +them for certain particulars. The object of the Prince was simply +curiosity -- and extravagance. He was so eager to buy, +because Cave was so oddly reluctant to sell. It is just as possible that +the buyer in the second instance was simply a casual purchaser and not a +collector at all, and the crystal egg, for all I know, may at the +present moment be within a mile of me, decorating a drawing-room or +serving as a paper-weight -- its remarkable functions all unknown. +Indeed, it is partly with the idea of such a possibility that I have +thrown this narrative into a form that will give it a chance of being +read by the ordinary consumer of fiction. +</para> + +<para> + My own ideas in the matter are practically identical with those of +Mr. Wace. I believe the crystal on the mast in Mars and the crystal egg +of Mr. Cave's to be in some physical, but at present quite inexplicable, +way en rapport, and we both believe further that the terrestrial crystal +must have been -- possibly at some remote date -- sent hither from that +planet, in order to give the Martians a near view of our affairs. +Possibly the fellows to the crystals in the other masts are also on our +globe. No theory of hallucination suffices for the facts. +</para> + +</chapter> + +</book> + |