“I’mnotwalkingfast，amI？“criedGibberne，andslackenedhispacetoaquickmarch。
“You’vebeentakingsomeofthisstuff，“Ipuffed。
“No，“hesaid。“AttheutmostadropofwaterthatstoodinabeakerfromwhichIhadwashedoutthelasttracesofthestuff。Itooksomelastnight，youknow。Butthatisancienthistory，now。“
“Anditgoestwice？“Isaid，nearinghisdoorwayinagratefulperspiration。
“Itgoesathousandtimes，manythousandtimes！“criedGibberne，withadramaticgesture，flingingopenhisEarlyEnglishcarvedoakgate。
“Phew！“saidI，andfollowedhimtothedoor。
“Idon’tknowhowmanytimesitgoes，“hesaid，withhislatch-keyinhishand。
“Andyou——“
“Itthrowsallsortsoflightonnervousphysiology，itkicksthetheoryofvisionintoaperfectlynewshape！……Heavenknowshowmanythousandtimes。We’lltryallthatafter——Thethingistotrythestuffnow。“
“Trythestuff？“Isaid，aswewentalongthepassage。
“Rather，“saidGibberne，turningonmeinhisstudy。“Thereitisinthatlittlegreenphialthere！Unlessyouhappentobeafraid？“
Iamacarefulmanbynature，andonlytheoreticallyadventurous。
IWASafraid。Butontheotherhandthereispride。
“Well，“Ihaggled。“Yousayyou’vetriedit？“
“I’vetriedit，“hesaid，“andIdon’tlookhurtbyit，doI？
Idon’tevenlookliveryandIFEEL——“
Isatdown。“Givemethepotion，“Isaid。“Iftheworstcomestotheworstitwillsavehavingmyhaircut，andthatIthinkisoneofthemosthatefuldutiesofacivilisedman。Howdoyoutakethemixture？“
“Withwater，“saidGibberne，whackingdownacarafe。
Hestoodupinfrontofhisdeskandregardedmeinhiseasychair；
hismannerwassuddenlyaffectedbyatouchoftheHarleyStreetspecialist。“It’srumstuff，youknow，“hesaid。
Imadeagesturewithmyhand。
“Imustwarnyouinthefirstplaceassoonasyou’vegotitdowntoshutyoureyes，andopenthemverycautiouslyinaminuteorso’stime。Onestillsees。Thesenseofvisionisaquestionoflengthofvibration，andnotofmultitudeofimpacts；butthere’sakindofshocktotheretina，anastygiddyconfusionjustatthetime，iftheeyesareopen。Keep’emshut。“
“Shut，“Isaid。“Good！“
“Andthenextthingis，keepstill。Don’tbegintowhackabout。
Youmayfetchsomethinganastyrapifyoudo。Rememberyouwillbegoingseveralthousandtimesfasterthanyoueverdidbefore，heart，lungs，muscles，brain——everything——andyouwillhithardwithoutknowingit。Youwon’tknowit，youknow。You’llfeeljustasyoudonow。Onlyeverythingintheworldwillseemtobegoingeversomanythousandtimesslowerthaniteverwentbefore。That’swhatmakesitsodeucedqueer。“
“Lor’，“Isaid。“Andyoumean——“
“You’llsee，“saidhe，andtookupalittlemeasure。Heglancedatthematerialonhisdesk。“Glasses，“hesaid，“water。Allhere。
Mustn’ttaketoomuchforthefirstattempt。“
Thelittlephialgluckedoutitspreciouscontents。
“Don’tforgetwhatItoldyou，“hesaid，turningthecontentsofthemeasureintoaglassinthemannerofanItalianwaitermeasuringwhisky。“Sitwiththeeyestightlyshutandinabsolutestillnessfortwominutes，“hesaid。“Thenyouwillhearmespeak。“
Headdedaninchorsoofwatertothelittledoseineachglass。
“By-the-by，“hesaid，“don’tputyourglassdown。Keepitinyourhandandrestyourhandonyourknee。Yes——so。Andnow——“
Heraisedhisglass。
“TheNewAccelerator，“Isaid。
“TheNewAccelerator，“heanswered，andwetouchedglassesanddrank，andinstantlyIclosedmyeyes。
Youknowthatblanknon-existenceintowhichonedropswhenonehastaken“gas。“Foranindefiniteintervalitwaslikethat。ThenIheardGibbernetellingmetowakeup，andIstirredandopenedmyeyes。Therehestoodashehadbeenstanding，glassstillinhand。Itwasempty，thatwasallthedifference。
“Well？“saidI。
“Nothingoutoftheway？“
“Nothing。Aslightfeelingofexhilaration，perhaps。Nothingmore。“
“Sounds？“
“Thingsarestill，“Isaid。“ByJove！yes！TheyAREstill。Exceptthesortoffaintpat，patter，likerainfallingondifferentthings。
Whatisit？“
“Analysedsounds，“Ithinkhesaid，butIamnotsure。Heglancedatthewindow。“Haveyoueverseenacurtainbeforeawindowfixedinthatwaybefore？“
Ifollowedhiseyes，andtherewastheendofthecurtain，frozen，asitwere，cornerhigh，intheactofflappingbrisklyinthebreeze。
“No，“saidI；“that’sodd。“
“Andhere，“hesaid，andopenedthehandthatheldtheglass。NaturallyIwinced，expectingtheglasstosmash。Butsofarfromsmashingitdidnotevenseemtostir；ithunginmid-air——motionless。
“Roughlyspeaking，“saidGibberne，“anobjectintheselatitudesfalls16feetinthefirstsecond。Thisglassisfalling16feetinasecondnow。Only，yousee，ithasn’tbeenfallingyetforthehundredthpartofasecond。ThatgivesyousomeideaofthepaceofmyAccelerator。“Andhewavedhishandroundandround，overandundertheslowlysinkingglass。Finally，hetookitbythebottom，pulleditdown，andplaceditverycarefullyonthetable。“Eh？“
hesaidtome，andlaughed。
“Thatseemsallright，“Isaid，andbeganverygingerlytoraisemyselffrommychair。Ifeltperfectlywell，verylightandcomfortable，andquiteconfidentinmymind。Iwasgoingfastallover。Myheart，forexample，wasbeatingathousandtimesasecond，butthatcausedmenodiscomfortatall。Ilookedoutofthewindow。
Animmovablecyclist，headdownandwithafrozenpuffofdustbehindhisdriving-wheel，scorchedtoovertakeagallopingchar-a-bancthatdidnotstir。Igapedinamazementatthisincrediblespectacle。
“Gibberne，“Icried，“howlongwillthisconfoundedstufflast？“
“Heavenknows！“heanswered。“LasttimeItookitIwenttobedandsleptitoff。Itellyou，Iwasfrightened。Itmusthavelastedsomeminutes，Ithink——itseemedlikehours。Butafterabititslowsdownrathersuddenly，Ibelieve。“
IwasproudtoobservethatIdidnotfeelfrightened——Isupposebecausethereweretwoofus。“Whyshouldn’twegoout？“Iasked。
“Whynot？“
“They’llseeus。“
“Notthey。Goodness，no！Why，weshallbegoingathousandtimesfasterthanthequickestconjuringtrickthatwaseverdone。Comealong！Whichwayshallwego？Window，ordoor？“
Andoutbythewindowwewent。
AssuredlyofallthestrangeexperiencesthatIhaveeverhad，orimagined，orreadofotherpeoplehavingorimagining，thatlittleraidImadewithGibberneontheFolkestoneLeas，undertheinfluenceoftheNewAccelerator，wasthestrangestandmaddestofall。
Wewentoutbyhisgateintotheroad，andtherewemadeaminuteexaminationofthestatuesquepassingtraffic。Thetopsofthewheelsandsomeofthelegsofthehorsesofthischar-a-banc，theendofthewhip-lashandthelowerjawoftheconductor——whowasjustbeginningtoyawn——wereperceptiblyinmotion，butalltherestofthelumberingconveyanceseemedstill。Andquitenoiselessexceptforafaintrattlingthatcamefromoneman’sthroat！Andaspartsofthisfrozenedificetherewereadriver，youknow，andaconductor，andelevenpeople！Theeffectaswewalkedaboutthethingbeganbybeingmadlyqueer，andendedbybeingdisagreeable。Theretheywere，peoplelikeourselvesandyetnotlikeourselves，frozenincarelessattitudes，caughtinmid-gesture。Agirlandamansmiledatoneanother，aleeringsmilethatthreatenedtolastforevermore；awomaninafloppycapellinerestedherarmontherailandstaredatGibberne’shousewiththeunwinkingstareofeternity；amanstrokedhismoustachelikeafigureofwax，andanotherstretchedatiresomestiffhandwithextendedfingerstowardshisloosenedhat。Westaredatthem，welaughedatthem，wemadefacesatthem，andthenasortofdisgustofthemcameuponus，andweturnedawayandwalkedroundinfrontofthecyclisttowardstheLeas。
“Goodness！“criedGibberne，suddenly；“lookthere！“