never experienced on earth. He remained sprawling on the ground, as
he was unable to lift his body because of its intense weight. A
numbing pain, which he could not identify with any region of his
frame, acted from now onward as a lower, sympathetic note to all his
other sensations. It gnawed away at him continuously; sometimes it
embittered and irritated him, at other times he forgot it.

He felt something hard on his forehead. Putting his hand up, he
discovered there a fleshy protuberance the size of a small plum,
having a cavity in the middle, of which he could not feel the bottom.
Then he also became aware of a large knob on each side of his neck,
an inch below the ear.

From the region of his heart, a tentacle had budded. It was as long
as his arm, but thin, like whipcord, and soft and flexible.

As soon as he thoroughly realised the significance of these new
organs, his heart began to pump. Whatever might, or might not, be
their use, they proved one thing that he was in a new world.

One part of the sky began to get lighter than the rest. Maskull
cried out to his companions, but received no response. This
frightened him. He went on shouting out, at irregular intervals--
equally alarmed at the silence and at the sound of his own voice.
Finally, as no answering hail came, he thought it wiser not to make
too much noise, and after that he lay quiet, waiting in cold blood
for what might happen.

In a short while he perceived dim shadows around him, but these were
not his friends.