Short Fiction by H. G. Wells (ebook smartphone .txt) ๐
Description
H. G. Wells is probably best known for his imaginative longer works, such as his novels The War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man; but he was also a prolific short story writer. This Standard Ebooks edition of his short fiction includes fifty-four of Wellsโ stories, written between 1894 and 1909 and compiled from the collections The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents (1895), The Plattner Story and Others (1897), Tales of Time and Space (1899), Twelve Stories and a Dream (1903) and The Country of the Blind and Other Stories (1911). They are presented here in approximate order of first publication.
The stories vary wildly in genre and theme, ranging from tales of domestic romance, to ghost stories and tropical adventures, to far-future science fiction. Interestingly, many of the stories deal with the exciting but also frightening prospect of heavier-than-air flight and aerial warfare, and it is worth noting that these stories were written some years before the Wright brothers first took to the air.
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- Author: H. G. Wells
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But he did so at last, and went a little way to call up Holroyd. Then he went back to hail the cuberta. He hailed her again, and so she drove past him. Santa Rosa stood out clearly as her name.
As she came by and into the wake of the monitor, she pitched a little, and suddenly the figure of the crouching man collapsed as though all its joints had given way. His hat fell off, his head was not nice to look at, and his body flopped lax and rolled out of sight behind the bulwarks.
โCaramba!โ cried Gerilleau, and resorted to Holroyd forthwith.
Holroyd was halfway up the companion. โDid you see dat?โ said the captain.
โDead!โ said Holroyd. โYes. Youโd better send a boat aboard. Thereโs something wrong.โ
โDid youโ โby any chanceโ โsee his face?โ
โWhat was it like?โ
โIt wasโ โugh!โ โI have no words.โ And the captain suddenly turned his back on Holroyd and became an active and strident commander.
The gunboat came about, steamed parallel to the erratic course of the canoe, and dropped the boat with Lieutenant da Cunha and three sailors to board her. Then the curiosity of the captain made him draw up almost alongside as the lieutenant got aboard, so that the whole of the Santa Rosa, deck and hold, was visible to Holroyd.
He saw now clearly that the sole crew of the vessel was these two dead men, and though he could not see their faces, he saw by their outstretched hands, which were all of ragged flesh, that they had been subjected to some strange exceptional process of decay. For a moment his attention concentrated on those two enigmatical bundles of dirty clothes and laxly flung limbs, and then his eyes went forward to discover the open hold piled high with trunks and cases, and aft, to where the little cabin gaped inexplicably empty. Then he became aware that the planks of the middle decking were dotted with moving black specks.
His attention was riveted by these specks. They were all walking in directions radiating from the fallen man in a mannerโ โthe image came unsought to his mindโ โlike the crowd dispersing from a bullfight.
He became aware of Gerilleau beside him. โCapo,โ he said, โhave you your glasses? Can you focus as closely as those planks there?โ
Gerilleau made an effort, grunted, and handed him the glasses.
There followed a moment of scrutiny. โItโs ants,โ said the Englishman, and handed the focused field-glass back to Gerilleau.
His impression of them was of a crowd of large black ants, very like ordinary ants except for their size, and for the fact that some of the larger of them bore a sort of clothing of grey. But at the time his inspection was too brief for particulars. The head of Lieutenant da Cunha appeared over the side of the cuberta, and a brief colloquy ensued.
โYou must go aboard,โ said Gerilleau.
The lieutenant objected that the boat was full of ants.
โYou have your boots,โ said Gerilleau.
The lieutenant changed the subject. โHow did these men die?โ he asked.
Captain Gerilleau embarked upon speculations that Holroyd could not follow, and the two men disputed with a certain increasing vehemence. Holroyd took up the field-glass and resumed his scrutiny, first of the ants and then of the dead man amidships.
He has described these ants to me very particularly.
He says they were as large as any ants he has ever seen, black and moving with a steady deliberation very different from the mechanical fussiness of the common ant. About one in twenty was much larger than its fellows, and with an exceptionally large head. These reminded him at once of the master workers who are said to rule over the leaf-cutter ants; like them they seemed to be directing and coordinating the general movements. They tilted their bodies back in a manner altogether singular as if they made some use of the fore feet. And he had a curious fancy that he was too far off to verify, that most of these ants of both kinds were wearing accoutrements, had things strapped about their bodies by bright white bands like white metal threadsโ โโ โฆ
He put down the glasses abruptly, realising that the question of discipline between the captain and his subordinate had become acute.
โIt is your duty,โ said the captain, โto go aboard. It is my instructions.โ
The lieutenant seemed on the verge of refusing. The head of one of the mulatto sailors appeared beside him.
โI believe these men were killed by the ants,โ said Holroyd abruptly in English.
The captain burst into a rage. He made no answer to Holroyd. โI have commanded you to go aboard,โ he screamed to his subordinate in Portuguese. โIf you do not go aboard forthwith it is mutinyโ โrank mutiny. Mutiny and cowardice! Where is the courage that should animate us? I will have you in irons, I will have you shot like a dog.โ He began a torrent of abuse and curses, he danced to and fro. He shook his fists, he behaved as if beside himself with rage, and the lieutenant, white and still, stood looking at him. The crew appeared forward, with amazed faces.
Suddenly, in a pause of this outbreak, the lieutenant came to some heroic decision, saluted, drew himself together and clambered upon the deck of the cuberta.
โAh!โ said Gerilleau, and his mouth shut like a trap. Holroyd saw the ants retreating before da Cunhaโs boots.
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