The Time Traveller held a shining metal object in his hand. It was no bigger than a small clock, and it was beautifully made. It had ivory and clear glass parts. He took a small table and put it in front of the fire. Then he placed the machine on the table. The room was very bright because there were many candles and a lamp. I sat in a chair near the fire. Filby sat behind the Time Traveller. The Medical Man, the Psychologist, and the Very Young Man stood around the table. We all watched very carefully. I am completely sure that no one could play a trick on us in that bright room.
"This little machine," the Time Traveller said, "is only a model. It is my plan for a machine to travel through time." He pointed to it. "Look, here is one little white lever, and here is another."
The Medical Man looked closely at it. "It is beautifully made," he said.
"It took two years to make," answered the Time Traveller. "Now, I want you to understand. When you push this lever, the machine goes into the future. The other lever sends it into the past. This little seat is for the time traveller. Soon, I am going to push the lever, and the machine will disappear. Have a good look at it. Check the table, too, so you find out there is no trick."
We were all quiet. The Time Traveller reached out his finger towards the lever. "No," he said suddenly. He turned to the Psychologist. "Give me your hand." He took the Psychologist's hand and told him to point his finger. So, in the end, it was the Psychologist himself who sent the model on its journey.
We all saw the lever move. Suddenly, we felt a cold wind, and a candle went out. The little machine spun around quickly. For a second, it looked like a ghost. Then, it was gone! The table was completely empty.
Everyone was silent for a minute. The Psychologist was so surprised that he looked under the table.
The Time Traveller laughed happily and started to fill his pipe with tobacco.
We stared at each other. "Look here," said the Medical Man. "Are you serious about this? Do you really believe that the machine travelled through time?"
"Certainly," said the Time Traveller, lighting his pipe. "And what is more, I have a big machine nearly finished in my laboratory. When it is ready, I am going to travel through time myself."
"Do you mean it went into the future?" asked Filby.
"Into the future or the past—I am not sure which."
"It must have gone into the past," the Psychologist said. "If it travelled into the future, it would still be here right now, waiting to go forward."
"But," I said, "if it travelled into the past, we would have seen it here last week, and the week before that!"
"That is a very good point," said the Mayor.
"Not at all," said the Time Traveller. He looked at the Psychologist. "You can explain this."
"Of course," said the Psychologist, finally understanding. "It is very simple. We cannot see the machine, just as we cannot see the wheel of a fast bicycle or a bullet flying through the air. If the machine is travelling through time fifty times faster than we are, it moves too quickly for our eyes to see." He passed his hand through the empty space above the table. "You see?" he laughed.
We sat and looked at the empty table for a while. Then the Time Traveller asked what we thought.
"It sounds possible tonight," said the Medical Man. "But let us wait until tomorrow morning to see if we still believe it."
"Would you like to see the real Time Machine?" asked the Time Traveller.
He picked up the lamp and led us down a long, dark hall to his laboratory. I remember the dancing shadows on the walls as we followed him. We were all very confused but excited. In the laboratory, we saw a much larger version of the little machine. It had metal, ivory, and clear glass parts. It was almost finished.
"Look here," said the Medical Man. "Are you completely serious? Or is this just a clever trick?"
The Time Traveller held up the lamp. "In that machine," he said, "I am going to explore time. I have never been more serious in my life."
None of us knew what to say. I looked at Filby, and he winked at me to show he still did not believe a word of it.