The world below

“Applied science,” said the Professor, “is always incredible to the vulgar mind.” “You know, George, they really did go—disappeared absolutely—and there’s only one door to the room, and we sat round it. There’s no kid about that,” young Danby added—perhaps recognising that his father lacked somewhat in the amenities of social intercourse. “If I go at all, I shall take an axe,” I remarked irrelevantly. Bryant leant forward, and knocked the ashes out of his pipe. “Templeton went like a Pirate Chief,” he said, smiling slightly. It was the first time he had spoken. “Look here, Bryant,” I said, “tell me what really happened, and I’ll do my best to believe it.” He hesitated a moment, and then answered slowly, “It’s true enough, what they’ve told you, as far as we can tell it. As to theories of time and space, I know no more than you do. I used to think they were obvious. I’ve heard the Professor talk two nights a week for three years, and I’ve realised that it isn’t all quite as simple as it seemed, though I don’t get much further. But the next room’s a fact. We lay things down on the central slab, and the room goes dark, and we go back in two minutes, and it gets light again, and they’re still there. And the Professor says he’s projected them 500,000 years ahead in the interval, and they don’t look any the worse for the journey.” “And it must be true, because they don’t deny it,” I said flippantly. “It sounds rather a dull game, but not very difficult.” “Yes, I know how it sounds,” he answered, “and we thought just the same; but it did seem to prove one thing—that it did no harm to the objects of the experiment. “If they went anywhere, at least they came back safely. So at last we tried it with Harry Brett—and he didn’t. We left him there, and we went back, and the room was empty. It’s just a bare circular room, metal-walled, with one exit. You can see for yourself. It wouldn’t hide a fly. “The next day Harry’s wife came and kicked up a row, and we got frightened, and told Templeton, and he said he didn’t believe a word of