Page 113 - THE TIME MACHINE

The Time Machine

steatite monster from South America that particularly took
my fancy.
‘As the evening drew on, my interest waned. I went
through gallery after gallery, dusty, silent, often ruinous,

the exhibits sometimes mere heaps of rust and lignite,
sometimes fresher. In one place I suddenly found myself
near the model of a tin-mine, and then by the merest
accident I discovered, in an air-tight case, two dynamite
cartridges! I shouted ‘Eureka!’ and smashed the case with
joy. Then came a doubt. I hesitated. Then, selecting a
little side gallery, I made my essay. I never felt such a
disappointment as I did in waiting five, ten, fifteen
minutes for an explosion that never came. Of course the
things were dummies, as I might have guessed from their
presence. I really believe that had they not been so, I
should have rushed off incontinently and blown Sphinx,
bronze doors, and (as it proved) my chances of finding the
Time Machine, all together into nonexistence.
‘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

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