NovelGuide: The Time Machine: Novel Summary: Chapter Two

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Chapter Two

It is a week later. The Narrator returns to the Time Traveler's home in Richmond.  There he finds the Medical Man (here he is also referred to as the Doctor) and the Psychologist, both of whom were at the previous meeting.  Also at the house are three newcomers: a newspaper editor (Blank), a journalist (Dash) and a "quiet, shy man with a beard" (Chose).  The Time Traveler is not yet present, but a note he has left directs everyone to start dinner without him.  Halfway through the meal, the Time Traveler bursts into the house "in an amazing plight." He appears dirty, disordered, haggard, and drawn.  After a brief welcome, the Time Traveler retreats to his bedroom to get a change of clothes then returns to eat dinner.  When the meal is finished, The Time Traveler begins to tell the story of what has happened to him since four o'clock that afternoon.  Here, the Narrator makes a point to note that words alone cannot accurately describe the Time Traveler's tail by noting: "You cannot know how his expression followed the turns of the story!"