Page:Meda - a tale of the future.djvu/317

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A TALE OF THE FUTURE.
313

right of the figure. I had hoped to be able to come up to it, and find out what kind of man it was, if man it could be called; but when I came near it, I had not the presence of mind to take my fingers off the buttons. When I was passing, however, I saw more clearly that the figure was truly that of an old man. He held out both his hands, as it were, to stop me, but I shot past out of his reach. I could see that his great gaunt limbs were quite naked; he had the same apparatus around his waist that I wore, but he evidently was not provided with any guiding power. I lifted my fingers off the buttons when I was well past him, and then came to a stop, assuming once again a vertical position. I tried several times to turn towards him, but this was impossible. Having overshot my mark, I could not now get any information from him; it was clear to me that I must wait for another chance meeting. So I touched the left hand buttons, and I sped away at an angle to the left; I then touched both, and I was drawn straight ahead.