Free Sherlock Holmes and the Discarded Cigarette by Fred Thursfield Page A

and pushing it up makes if go...correct?”
    Wells nodded his head in agreement. Then sensing where this was going he said “Once the machine has been stopped the crystal shaft can safely be removed thus making the machine inoperable until it has been reinserted”
    Forming a workable solution in my head I looked around the immediate area until I spied a long length of heavy twine. “Mr. Wells I believe I have a solution to both yours and Holmes problem.
    Gathering up the twine and taking it to the machine I asked Holmes, knowing his expertise about knots to wrap the crystal shaft a couple of times then securely tie the twine. “Mr. Wells how far into the future is your machine capable of traveling to?”
    Until just now only experiencing his machine as a set of mechanical drawings Wells was unsure of the answer. Crouching down Wells scrutinized the controls until he found the one that would set the machines destination date.
    â€œWell this is incredible Dr. Watson and Mr. Holmes but it appears who ever built the machine had in mind going far into the future.” said Wells as he continued to appreciate the craftsmanship that had been involved in bringing the mechanical drawings to life.
    Drawing Wells back to the present I asked again “How far? to the year 2295 Dr. Watson.” “Watson” Holmes said with some pride as he figured out my compromise “you propose to send Mr. Wells machine far enough into the future where it will cause no harm or ever be accessible to anyone. Then Holmes smiled when he finished working out the last details “And thus saving it from being needlessly destroyed.”

    Holmes then turned to the one person who had the most to loose in these events “Is Dr. Watsons compromise agreeable with you Mr. Wells?” Wells looking considerably relieved nodded yes. Then with Wells setting the machines final arrival date all three of us left the machine with me paying the twine in front of us as we walked backward to about ten feet away from the machine.

Chapter 32
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    When I had reached the end of the twine I pulled it taught then handed it to Wells. “When you are ready” I said to Wells realizing he needed no instruction as to what to do next. Knowing what would happen as he pulled on the now much taught twine Wells looked first at me then at Holmes and hauntingly asked “Can I have one last look at my machine before I send it into oblivion?”
    Holmes and I understanding that Wells had just come to accept that his very much theoretical had come into being and that none of us would ever see it again agreed to give him a little time alone to inspect and become aquatinted with the time machine.
    We watched as the twine slipped from Wells fingers and he made his way over to where the machine was resting. When he got to it he caressed the shiny brass frame, stroked the polished wood work, and peered intently at the controls, instruments and the machinery that made it do what it was built to do but to both Holmes and my amazement he did not sit in the operator’s seat.
    Coming back to where Holmes and I were standing Wells picked up the end of the twine and announced “Gentlemen I am ready” We watched as Wells gave the twine a short but firm tug, the crystal rod in response moved up a bit and we the saw the large disk at the back of the machine start to rotate.
    With each tug Wells applied to the twine the crystal rod moved further up and the faster the disk started to spin. Then in a reverse or what we had seen when the machine first had arrived arrive the image of the machine started to get more and more out of focus.

Chapter 33
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    It was at this time Holmes did something totally unexpected, he took the end of the twine from Wells fingers, gave it a sharp pull up as this was taking place two remarkable things happened first the machine winked out of existence and the crystal control rod now separated from its socket shot