Amazing Stories, Vol. 2, No. 2 — page 58: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

162 of evergreens, the same blossom-laden trees and tree ferns. Here and there water shone like silver, and beyond, the land rose into blue undulating hills and so faded into the serenity of the sky. “A peculiar feature that presently attracted my attention was certain circular wells that appeared to sink to a profound depth. One lay by the path up the hill which I had followed during my first walk. These wells were rimmed with bronze, curi- ously wrought, and often protected by small cu- polas from the rain. Sitting by the side of these, and peering down, I failed to see any gleam of _ Water, and could catch no reflection from a lighted match. I heard a peculiar dull sound: thud, thud, thud, like the beating of some big engine, and I discovered from the flaring of the match that a steady current. of air set down the shaft. “Moreover, I carelessly threw a scrap of paper into the throat of the well, and instead of fluttering slowly down, it was at once sucked swiftly out of sight. After a time, too, I came to connect with these wells certain tall towers that stood here and there upon the hill slopes. Above these there was often apparent a peculiar flicker of the air, much as one sees it on a hot day above a sun-scorched beach. “Putting these things together there certainly seemed to me a strong suggestion of an extensive system of subterraneous ventilation, though its true import was difficult to imagine. I was at first inclined to associate it with the sanitary apparatus of these people. It was the obvious suggestion of these things, but it was absolutely wrong. “And here I must admit that I learned very little - of drains, and bells, and modes of conveyance and the like conveniences during my time in this real future. In some of the fictitious visions of Utopias and coming times I have read, there is a vast amount of detail about building construction and social arrangements and so forth. But while such details are easy enough to obtain when the whole world lies in one’s imagination, they are altogether inaccessible to a real traveler amid such realties as surrounded me. Conceive what tale of London a negro from Central Africa would take back to his tribe. What would he know of railway companies, of social movements, of telephone and telegraph wires, of parcels delivery company, and postal or- ders? And yet we at least would be willing enough to explain these things. And even of what we knew, how much could he make his untraveled friend believe? Then think how little is the gap between a negro and a man of our times, and how wide the interval between myself and the Golden Age people. I was sensible of much that was unseen, and which contributed to my comfort, but save for a general impression of automatic organization, I fear I can convey very little of the difference to your minds. “In the matter of sepulcher, for instance, I could see no traces of crematoria or anything suggestive of tombs. But it occurred to me that possibly cemeteries or crematoria existed at some spot be- yond the range of my explorations. This again was 2 question I deliberately put to myself, and upon which my curiosity was at first entirely de- feated. Neither were there any old or infirm among them. “I must confess that my satisfaction with my AMAZING STORIES first theories at an automatic civilization and a decadent humanity did not endure. Yet I could think of none other. Let me put my difficulties. The several big palaces I had explored were mere living places, great dining halls and sleeping apart- ments. I could find no machinery, no appliances of any kind. Yet these people were clothed in pleas- ant fabrics that must at times need renewal, their sandals though without ornament were fairly com- plex specimens of metal work. Somehow such things must be made. And the little people displayed no vestige of the creative tendencies of our time. There were no shops, no workshops, no indications of im- portations from any other part of the earth. They spent all their time in playing gently, in bathing in the river, in making love in a half playful fashion, in eating fruit, and sleeping. I could not see how things were kept going. “Then again about the Time Machine. Some- thing, I knew not what, had taken it into the hollow pedestal of the sphinx. Why? For the life of me I could not imagine. “Then there were those wells without water, those flickering pillars. I felt I missed a clew somewhere. I felt—how shall I say it? Suppose you found an inscription with sentences here and there in excel- lent plain English, and interpolated therewith others made up of words, even of letters, absolutely unknown to you. That was how the world of 802,701 presented itself to me on the third day of my stay. ccf \N that day, too, I made a friend—of a sort. It happened that as I was watching some of the little people bathing in a shallow of the river, one of them was seized with cramp and began drift- ing down the stream. The main current of the stream ran rather swiftly there, but not too swiftly for even a moderate swimmer. It will give you an idea, therefore, of the strange want of ideas of these people, when I tell you that none made the slightest attempt to rescue the weakly, crying little creature who was drowning before their eyes. “When I realized this I hurriedly slipped off my garments, and wading in from a point lower down, caught the poor little soul and brought her to land. “A little rubbing of the limbs soon brought her round, and I had the satisfaction of seeing that she was all right before I left her. I had got to such a low estimate of these little folks that I did not expect gratitude. In that, however, I was wrong. “The incident happened in the morning. In the afternoon I met my little woman, as I believe it was, when I was returning toward my center from one of my explorations and she received me with cries of delight and presented me with a big garland of flowers—evidently prepared for me. “The action took my imagination. Very possibly I had been feeling desolate. At any rate I did my best to display my appreciation of the gift. | “We were soon seated together in a little stone arbor, engaged in a conversation that was chiefly smiles. “The little creature’s friendliness affected me exactly as a child’s might. We passed each other flowers and she kissed my hands. I did the same to hers. Then I tried conversation and found out her name was Weena, which, though I don’t know : Comicbooksscom