We reached the Palace of Green Porcelain around noon. It was completely empty and falling into ruin. The huge building was indeed made of green porcelain, and I saw some strange writing on the front. I hoped Weena could read it, but I soon found out she did not even know what writing was.
We went inside through the broken doors. Instead of a normal hall, we found a long room full of thick dust. I quickly realized we were in an old museum. In the center of the room, there was a huge skeleton of an extinct animal. Further on, there were rows of glass cases. Some of them were broken, and others had been taken away by the Morlocks. The place was very silent, and the thick dust hid the sound of our footsteps.
I wanted to explore more. We walked through several ruined rooms. We saw old rocks, destroyed stuffed animals, and large, broken machines. Suddenly, Weena came very close to my side. She looked terrified. I noticed that the floor of this room was sloping down into thick darkness. Looking closely at the dusty floor, I saw many small, narrow footprints. The Morlocks were near! Down in the dark, I heard the same strange noises I had heard in the well. I knew we were in danger, and I still had no weapon, no safe place, and no fire.
I took Weena’s hand and looked around quickly. I saw a heavy metal bar on one of the old machines. I pulled it as hard as I could, and it broke off. Now, I finally had a heavy metal club. I was ready to hit any Morlock that came near us, but I decided it was smarter to stay safe. I did not want to leave Weena, and I needed to survive to find my Time Machine.
Holding my new weapon in one hand and Weena in the other, we hurried out of the dark room. We passed through a huge library where the books were just brown, rotting paper. Next, we found a room for chemistry. Here, I finally had some good luck. Inside a closed glass case, I found a box of matches! I eagerly tried one, and it worked perfectly. They were not even damp. I was so happy that I danced around the room, which made little Weena laugh. Now, I had the best weapon against the Morlocks: fire.
Next, I found a sealed glass jar full of camphor. Camphor is a substance that burns very easily with a bright flame. It would make an excellent candle, so I put it in my pocket.
We spent the rest of the afternoon looking through more rooms. I saw old guns and swords, but they were covered in rust, so I decided to keep my heavy metal club. In one room, I found what looked like two sticks of dynamite! I was very excited and decided to test one in a small side room. I waited for fifteen minutes, but there was no explosion. They were just fake models for the museum. I was very disappointed, but perhaps it was a good thing. If they were real, I probably would have blown up the bronze doors, the Sphinx, and my Time Machine all at once!
As evening came, we found a small, open courtyard with three fruit trees inside the palace. We sat down to rest and eat. The sun was going down, and the dangerous night was coming. However, I did not feel afraid anymore. I had matches and camphor to make a fire, so we could sleep safely outside. In the morning, I would return to the White Sphinx. I felt sure that my strong metal club could break open the bronze doors. With fire and a weapon, I was finally ready to face the Morlocks and get my Time Machine back.