Through the open windows he had heard the cry of the newsboy as the
_Press_ put the greatest scoop of all time on the street. The phone had
rung like mad and George answered it. The doorbell buzzed repeatedly and
George ushered in newspapermen who had asked innumerable questions, to
which he had replied briefly, almost mechanically. The reporters had
fought for the use of the one phone in the house and had finally drawn
lots for it. A few had raced out to use other phones.
Photographers came and flashes popped and cameras clicked. The room was
in an uproar. On the rare occasions when the reporters were not using
the phone the instrument buzzed shrilly. Authoritative voices demanded
Dr. Silas White. George, his eyes on the old man, stated that Dr. Silas
White could not be disturbed, that he was busy.
From the street below came the heavy-throated hum of thousands of
voices. The street was packed with a jostling crowd of awed humanity,
every eye fastened on the house of Dr. Silas White. Lines of police held
them back.
"What makes them move so slowly?" asked a reporter, staring at the
globe. "They hardly seem to be moving. It looks like a slow motion
picture."
"They are not moving slowly," replied Dr. White. "There must be a
difference in time in the fourth dimension. Maybe what is hours to us is
only seconds to them. Time must flow more slowly there. Perhaps it is a
bigger place than this third plane. That may account for it. They aren't
moving slowly, they are fighting savagely. It's a fight to the death!
Watch!"
* * * * *
The grotesque arm of one of the figures in the milky globe was moving
out slowly, loafing along, aimed at the head of the other. Slowly the
other twisted his body aside, but too slowly. The fist finally touched
the head, still moving slowly forward, the body following as slowly. The
head of the creature twisted, bent backward, and the body toppled back
in a leisurely manner.
"What does White say?... Can't you get a statement of some sort from
him? Won't he talk at all? A hell of a fine reporter you are--can't even
get a man to open his mouth. Ask him about Henry Woods. Get a
human-interest slant on Woods walking into the light. Ask him how long
this is going to last. Damn it all, man, do something, and don't bother
me again until you have a real story--yes, I said a real story--are you
hard of hearing? For God's sake, do something!"
The editor slammed the receiver on the hook.
"Brooks," he snapped, "get the War Department at Washington. Ask them if
they're going to back up White. Go on, go on. Get busy.... How will you
get them? I don't know. Just get them, that's all. Get them!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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