"I've tried it," he said, "and I don't look hurt by it, do I?

I don't even look livery and I FEEL--"



I sat down. "Give me the potion," I said. "If the worst comes to

the worst it will save having my hair cut, and that I think is one

of the most hateful duties of a civilised man. How do you take the

mixture?"



"With water," said Gibberne, whacking down a carafe.



He stood up in front of his desk and regarded me in his easy chair;

his manner was suddenly affected by a touch of the Harley Street

specialist. "It's rum stuff, you know," he said.



I made a gesture with my hand.



"I must warn you in the first place as soon as you've got it down

to shut your eyes, and open them very cautiously in a minute or so's

time. One still sees. The sense of vision is a question of length

of vibration, and not of multitude of impacts; but there's a kind

of shock to the retina, a nasty giddy confusion just at the time,

if the eyes are open. Keep 'em shut."



"Shut," I said. "Good!"



"And the next thing is, keep still. Don't begin to whack about.

You may fetch something a nasty rap if you do. Remember you will

be going several thousand times faster than you ever did before,

heart, lungs, muscles, brain--everything--and you will hit hard

without knowing it. You won't know it, you know. You'll feel just

as you do now. Only everything in the world will seem to be going

ever so many thousand times slower than it ever went before. That's

what makes it so deuced queer."



"Lor'," I said. "And you mean--"



"You'll see," said he, and took up a little measure. He glanced

at the material on his desk. "Glasses," he said, "water. All here.

Mustn't take too much for the first attempt."



The little phial glucked out its precious contents.



"Don't forget what I told you," he said, turning the contents of

the measure into a glass in the manner of an Italian waiter measuring

whisky. "Sit with the eyes tightly shut and in absolute stillness

for two minutes," he said. "Then you will hear me speak."



He added an inch or so of water to the little dose in each glass.





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