Now I felt worse than before. The Morlocks were something new, something inhuman and evil, and I hated them. Before, I had felt like a man who has fallen into a hole. Now I felt like an animal in a trap.
The enemy I feared may surprise you. It was the darkness of the new moon. Weena had talked about “the Dark Nights”, and now I could guess what they meant. Every night the moon was smaller and the darkness longer.
My theory was wrong, I saw now. Perhaps long ago the Eloi had been the masters and the Morlocks their servants, but that time was gone. Ages ago man had pushed his brother out of the sunshine, and now that brother was coming back, changed. The Eloi were learning fear again. And suddenly I remembered the meat under the ground. Something about it seemed familiar, but I could not tell what.
But I was not as helpless as the little people. I decided to make weapons and to find a safe place to sleep. No building near the river seemed safe from such good climbers as the Morlocks. Then I remembered the Palace of Green Porcelain. In the evening I put Weena on my shoulder and set off towards the south-west. I had thought it was seven or eight miles away, but it was nearer eighteen. And the heel of one of my shoes was loose, so soon I was limping.
After a while Weena wanted to walk. She ran beside me and picked flowers to put in my pockets. My pockets had always puzzled her, but in the end she had decided that they were a strange kind of vase. And that reminds me! When I changed my jacket this evening, I found these two white flowers in a pocket. I’ll put them here on the little table.
As it grew dark, Weena grew tired and afraid. I took her in my arms, and she put her arms round my neck and pressed her face against my shoulder. From the top of a hill I saw a thick wood, wide and black in front of me. I could no longer see the palace, and I was not sure of my direction. Under those trees there would be no light from the stars, and who knew what was waiting there? So I decided to spend the night on the open hill.
Weena was fast asleep. I wrapped her in my jacket and sat down beside her to wait for the moon. The night was very clear. Looking at the stars, I felt that my troubles were very small. All the nations, languages and books of mankind had disappeared, and in their place were these weak little creatures and the white Things I feared. Then I thought of the great fear between them, and suddenly, with a shiver, I knew what the meat I had seen might be. But it was too horrible. I looked at little Weena, asleep beside me, her face white like a star, and I pushed the thought away.
At last the old moon rose, thin and white, and soon after it came the dawn. No Morlocks had come near us. My foot was swollen and painful, so I took off my shoes and threw them away.
We went down into the wood, which was green and pleasant in the daylight. We found some fruit for breakfast and met other Eloi, laughing and dancing in the sunshine as if there were no such thing as night. And then I thought of the meat again, and now I was sure. Long ago the Morlocks’ food had run short, and they had turned to the Eloi. These pretty little people were like cattle in a field, kept and eaten by the Morlocks. And there was Weena, dancing beside me!
My plans were simple. First I needed a safe place and a weapon. Then I wanted fire, because nothing would work better against the Morlocks. Then I needed something to break open the bronze doors under the White Sphinx. If I could get inside with a light, I was sure I would find the Time Machine. And I had decided to take Weena with me to our own time. With these plans in my head, I walked on towards the palace.