“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！“