Science fiction -- Periodicals; Science fiction, American -- Periodicals
I could hardly believe my eyes. The thing Harbauer had handed me was a
folded fragment of newspaper, such as I had often seen in museums. I
recognized the old-fashioned type, and the peculiar arrangement of the
columns. But, instead of being yellow and brittle with age, and
preserved in fragments behind sealed glass, this paper was fresh and
white, and the ink was as black as the day it had been printed. What
this man said, then, must be true! He must--
"I can understand your amazement," said Harbauer. "It had not occurred
to me that a paper which, to me, was printed only yesterday, would
seem so antique to you. But that must appear as remarkable to you as
fresh papyrus, newly inscribed with the hieroglyphics of the ancient
Egyptians, would seem to one of my own day and age. But read it; you
will see how my world viewed my efforts!" There was a sharpness, a
bitterness, in his voice that made me vaguely uneasy; even though he
had solved the riddle of moving in time as men have always moved in
space, my first conjecture that I had a madman to deal with might not
be so far from the truth. Ridicule and persecution have unseated the
reason of all too many men.
* * * * *
The type was unfamiliar to me, and the spelling was archaic, but I
managed to stumble through the article. It read, as nearly as I can
recall it, like this:
Harbauer Says Time
Is Like Great River
Jacob Harbauer, local inventor, in an exclusive interview,
propounds the theory that man can move about in time exactly
as a boat moves about on the surface of a swift-flowing
river, save that he cannot go back into time, on account of
the opposition of the current.
That is very fortunate, this writer feels; it would be a
terrible thing for example, if some good-looking scamp from
our present Twenty-first Century were to dive into the past
and steal Cleopatra from Antony, or start an affair with
Josephine and send Napoleon scurrying back from the front
and let the Napoleonic wars go to pot. We'd have to have all
our histories rewritten!
Harbauer is well-known in Denver as the eccentric inventor
who, for the last five or six years, has occupied a lonely
shack in the mountains, guarded by a high fence of barbed
wire. He claims that he has now perfected equipment which
will enable him to project himself forward in time, and
expects to make the experiment in the very near future.
This writer was permitted to view the equipment which
Harbauer says will shoot him into the future. The apparatus
is housed in a low, barn-like building in the rear of his
shack.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account