The Greatest Sci-Fi Works of H. G. Wells. H. G. Wells

Читать онлайн книгу.

The Greatest Sci-Fi Works of H. G. Wells - H. G. Wells


Скачать книгу
a fever. So we clambered back into the sunlight. We found that beyond a few abrasions I had received no serious injuries from my tumble, and at Cavor’s suggestion we were presently looking round for some safe and easy landing-place for my next leap. We chose a rocky slab some ten yards off, separated from us by a little thicket of olive-green spikes.

      “Imagine it there!” said Cavor, who was assuming the airs of a trainer, and he pointed to a spot about four feet from my toes. This leap I managed without difficulty, and I must confess I found a certain satisfaction in Cavor’s falling short by a foot or so and tasting the spikes of the scrub. “One has to be careful you see,” he said, pulling out his thorns, and with that he ceased to be my mentor and became my fellow-learner in the art of lunar locomotion.

      We chose a still easier jump and did it without difficulty, and then leapt back again, and to and fro several times, accustoming our muscles to the new standard. I could never have believed had I not experienced it, how rapid that adaptation would be. In a very little time indeed, certainly after fewer than thirty leaps, we could judge the effort necessary for a distance with almost terrestrial assurance.

      And all this time the lunar plants were growing around us, higher and denser and more entangled, every moment thicker and taller, spiked plants, green cactus masses, fungi, fleshy and lichenous things, strangest radiate and sinuous shapes. But we were so intent upon our leaping, that for a time we gave no heed to their unfaltering expansion.

      An extraordinary elation had taken possession of us. Partly, I think, it was our sense of release from the confinement of the sphere. Mainly, however, the thin sweetness of the air, which I am certain contained a much larger proportion of oxygen than our terrestrial atmosphere. In spite of the strange quality of all about us, I felt as adventurous and experimental as a cockney would do placed for the first time among mountains and I do not think it occurred to either of us, face to face though we were with the unknown, to be very greatly afraid.

      We were bitten by a spirit of enterprise. We selected a lichenous kopje perhaps fifteen yards away, and landed neatly on its summit one after the other. “Good!” we cried to each other; “good!” and Cavor made three steps and went off to a tempting slope of snow a good twenty yards and more beyond. I stood for a moment struck by the grotesque effect of his soaring figure — his dirty cricket cap, and spiky hair, his little round body, his arms and his knickerbockered legs tucked up tightly — against the weird spaciousness of the lunar scene. A gust of laughter seized me, and then I stepped off to follow. Plump! I dropped beside him.

      We made a few gargantuan strides, leapt three or four times more, and sat down at last in a lichenous hollow. Our lungs were painful. We sat holding our sides and recovering our breath, looking appreciation to one another. Cavor panted something about “amazing sensations.” And then came a thought into my head. For the moment it did not seem a particularly appalling thought, simply a natural question arising out of the situation.

      “By the way,” I said, “where exactly is the sphere?”

      Cavor looked at me. “Eh?”

      The full meaning of what we were saying struck me sharply.

      “Cavor!” I cried, laying a hand on his arm, “where is the sphere?”

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4RbRRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgADAEAAAMAAAABB9AAAAEBAAMAAAABDIAAAAECAAMAAAADAAAA ngEGAAMAAAABAAIAAAESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEVAAMAAAABAAMAAAEaAAUAAAABAAAApAEbAAUAAAAB AAAArAEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAkAAAAtAEyAAIAAAAUAAAA2IdpAAQAAAABAAAA7AAAASQA CAAIAAgACvyAAAAnEAAK/IAAACcQQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENDIDIwMTcgKE1hY2ludG9zaCkA MjAxNzowOToyNyAyMzoxODo0MQAABJAAAAcAAAAEMDIyMaABAAMAAAABAAEAAKACAAQAAAABAAAD hKADAAQAAAABAAAFoAAAAAAAAAAGAQMAAwAAAAEABgAAARoABQAAAAEAAAFyARsABQAAAAEAAAF6 ASgAAwAAAAEAAgAAAgEABAAAAAEAAAGCAgIABAAAAAEAABVHAAAAAAAAAEgAAAABAAAASAAAAAH/ 2P/tAAxBZG9iZV9DTQAB/+4ADkFkb2JlAGSAAAAAAf/bAIQADAgICAkIDAkJDBELCgsRFQ8MDA8V GBMTFRMTGBEMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAENCwsNDg0QDg4QFA4O DhQUDg4ODhQRDAwMDAwREQwMDAwMDBEMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwM/8AAEQgA oABkAwEiAAIRAQMRAf/dAAQAB//EAT8AAAEFAQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAMAAQIEBQYHCAkKCwEAAQUB AQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAQACAwQFBgcICQoLEAABBAEDAgQCBQcGCAUDDDMBAAIRAwQhEjEFQVFhEyJx gTIGFJGhsUIjJBVSwWIzNHKC0UMHJZJT8OHxY3M1FqKygyZEk1RkRcKjdDYX0lXiZfKzhMPTdePz RieUpIW0lcTU5PSltcXV5fVWZnaGlqa2xtbm9jdHV2d3h5ent8fX5/cRAAICAQIEBAMEBQYHBwYF NQEAAhEDITESBEFRYXEiEwUygZEUobFCI8FS0fAzJGLhcoKSQ1MVY3M08SUGFqKygwcmNcLSRJNU oxdkRVU2dGXi8rOEw9N14/NGlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vYnN0dXZ3eHl6e3x//a AAwDAQACEQMRAD8A83lKCrQ6fkns371Zr6ZmvaGHbtEkAu0BMbu38lWuEjo1eKPdzQ0lSDStZnRM yfotI/rf7FGzo+U08M/zv9iFHsgzj3DK36vvq+r1XXTb+jucxjato+k67Mxnt3+pv/RtwGXfzPv+ 0en/AIFQ6h0Z2D0rC6h6rrTmt3OZ6Zaxpcz162MydzvVs9P+eY+unZ/g/Vq96MHdYrxRh+pWcZrd gqc2tw27si1v063O3Mtz8uyt/wBOuy32fzVPps+7q92JX0+22uzGoYa6q3NrJa0lrv530/W3s2en VZ6nqU0epRV+httQ4Zq93Frr0dY/UINbiWuzyas1jrKi2lu4tbRkZ/8Ahcmqrc6nGr/nbqq/1n+c 9iysjoNdOLfknLAZRRgZEurIEZ7RZ79j7HN+ytd+Y2z1lZHVPrJ6ePSclj6sNpZRU9lT2BjqfsDq 312UuZcx2H+h23ep/wBuKP236wCo1C6oMNTKDFVO706v6N+k9Df6mL/2lv8A5/G/wNiXDkT7uHu5 vWOn1dO6hZiU3HJrYAWXOYK97XDcyxjWWX1vouZtux7q7nsuotrVIha2e3qvUcg5WbY224tDJG1g DW/RYyqlldVbdfzGfTVU9Pyf5P8Anf7E4RlWoR7kL0IaUJoVs4OR/J+//YonCv8A5P3/AOxO4Zdi kTj3DVhJWfsd38n70kuCXYruId3/0MWrH9Q7jEq3XjtHxUQx2O7a8QVZx6ftLiA6CBMEkT9yvSto mm3i11emA4hseKzc0NdeTWPaNArd2M6lwDRIOpMqIqDmkuGqaGPJWzj5Fbi07dD2WC17vtEOcR7t dV1uZjbaS9okxK5V9RGSHAaSosx1iy8qDw5C7LGS0EaqRDWiXHaPEqeOTdWHAR21RTSCIdr8VYvT RpbGi1w1rhLTIUXVFWm0BogaDwTupKQKQddHOfUUJ1RWi+pAczspAzQJafpFJWPTSRZn/9HN91h3 PO4+auYThVYHRKCzHhHppsJ9olX5ObIltZFnqO3ARoq+pfARjVayA8KbWCeITGKVkufmV3Gs+72G AGx2XOZVZbrA0XV9QrJbsrcA+CQsrGqbcAy0BzweVVyfM6HLX7YJ6sunbrMVjnDWIVn01cowmMZs ZpGsJOqjsrGOVxDQ5iHDll539rVFaXpBWhXoka/JPtiAaL6UB9K0LGQJQXMlPBbEAWj6BlJW/SMp J1sur//Sd1BRMfdWYW1ZjN8B9yq201NG7b9xAn/WFZ90ENI4JjqidcHxvCk1zRMtlviok48S6xrP IkKDsvDYCBkVz39wPkgZDuj2sg3jbkZmM/PyJpLq6wPAkzMHhVbei9UwmmxhlkTzJ4Vzp2dstttt uZW1ulYdzBO/tO7+0nzeq5Gcx7a8oMpAIkiS6NT23fRUBo69W4BIVEaAJ+jNvyahr7xo4E6rUs6e /Z7efNch099mJmsuDmkMIkEkA666ruKuo4eXU1teQxljgOHCQSjDJQpjzcsJSvXXRpDDsA1E/BQN B8FtOxWuq9MWH+s0+CkMVr4bIMcmBMp/veDF90HQvP24+moVc0DdwulswagPcQB5kBUzhY7nENeJ 8iFJHKF8eWIDi/ZtfJJbP7LdE7vb4pJ/ujuu9iT/AP/Tyc3O61WXV0ZNjqxoSXj+1H/R/wBfVUWM y78NoyrXjkmI+fu/zEqqGX2hu4BoPucY/u/13rf6X0/FttY60xUDFbSTDiOzZ/NYoDkLbGMbl5O/ o+W4u2FwaON7gTpz9BLDw2tb7ml7h9Ih0BdJ9YL6BaMPBaPbo9w1BPPb91H+r/QXXH1bDFbPIauQ OQ7Lo4o6kuBb0nIsBc0trZHbcT+8i4nSi2qYFjjy8jtxHP0V0HVnsZYMXGs0Gtjm+Pbg/wBtR6Z0 85IL7CW1MGo8/wB3RNOU7BcMUdSXBy+m2WBrKaXNc0HeTtgn8zZ/Z/8AJrS+r31O9cDJsyzU9pkN 2h2o/rH/AF/62tO/p5FjcTFEXPMvcQYaDrG4R9GvaugxsLEw62PcGsftDNwJjx8Pzne5OEzSw443 rq89lOrxso49DnWhv03EwJOsN2rW6F09thfc9z28HQkDurGddiYu1rKGvtt+iQ0E/wBaf8xFxLjS wU2N9MgF9pJE6n90bvpfRThJZKNArZfR6rGmwMMuMyfD/wAyXNZmE6kWR2XaHqTTSWxyuZ6o8Ftm seSexxkXI/brvs32Lad0x6k+fwSWTt/WJnWeUkrT/vv/1AVY9db68ZxDS4+55Pz/AJLf3lt9V6jg 9MwG14zQbyIrdoSDH0vbP7y4M51trw43W5LwQQ1o2tnn/X/Xfbu6vfcIy2UsaYAcRueAPDb+9/r+ j9T1K5gfNtxkCddA3+lUuzMiXbnB/DiRoJ9zpef8z3Lq+oZbul4jaqW7ZbtaAQDP725v565fov1i xKLgxmP6skS9wAAgy36X7isZnVG5uQ+85NdZYPZW4kkj+qmURqRqyj1EAagMsVmRfeAGFz7TJldB bY3BxA0t0rhrRujfYf621v8AXVDoudi1Y7shzw+46e0OO0fnOdtH9p6K/wBbqeS04sPpp0aHHR5P 0tx22fzqbGJ6hMj22De6L0gv2ZuSXesT6hj26H3bX7P33e9X7WYeSLLskuHpaOYXENEcfyVfqArr DXEF35xEx/0lgdf6nSX/AGJhAkg2kEc8bXc/67FJTHqSywnY5L8s/wAzXpUCQZd2Dd0oGTnW+p6R kvcd13MA/mV/mfzbP+nYsoNdj3WZNljjjUH9BSXEh1p4/wBH/Ltcg49lljnWOPueST8U6PdbMdHe +2wyIKzs3Ic6uzTt3BQnZDmgCUeoMuxnAtE/vJ1sfD1ea3O9T5pK/wDZ6Ptfpz3SRU//1eOuOQ0b bb2VsjRrCO+v5qCyyoH9FWbX/vO1/BE6T0LrnWRa/puM/NGOWi0sLBtLpcz+dcz6W1Gy+jfWvDGU LsSzHbg1Muyv5v2V2Fzanktd797q3/ze/wDm03hZzOP8vUjPruaDfYKmHho8PgEqsmql/wCrtLrD pucdNU+N9W/rHlZOPRVi2W35WOM6pm6uXY7iGsyPp7Gtc530H/pELqvTes9HzqaOo0PxbnM9VjXb DLQS3f8AonWN+kxDhXDIOm/4up0rNyrbnGyxwZGrWnaPh/WXovQ3Y7cVj2O3Ds7iT+c/83+yvP8A E6X9ZMTprerW41tWBaA4ZBFZbtd9G11Wt1db/wAy19PprYNf1xxsEZZqvZhBgs9ZraXNFZG/1dte +xrNn8j9H/hEhAbtmBhw+qRJ+m/+M9Tk5+Vjm3ItsZ6A0qYIDnmP3v3d/wD0FiU5dbXPucTbk
Скачать книгу