A Classic Reprint from AMAZING STORIES, October, 1930
The MAN who SAW
the FUTURE
By EDMOND HAMILTON
Jean de Marselait, InquisitorExtraordinary of theKing of France, raised his headfrom the parchments that litteredthe crude desk at which hesat. His glance shifted along thelong stone-walled, torchlit roomto the file of mail-clad soldierswho stood like steel statues by itsdoor. A word from him and twoof them sprang forward.
"You may bring in the prisoner,"he said.
The two disappeared throughthe door, and in moments therecame a clang of opening boltsand grating of heavy hinges fromsomewhere in the building. Thenthe clang of the returning soldiers,and they entered the roomwith another man between themwhose hands were fettered.
Illustrated by MOREYHe was a straightfigure, and wasdressed in drab tunicand hose. His darkhair was long andstraight, and hisface held a dreamingstrength, altogetherdifferent from thebattered visages ofthe soldiers or thechangeless mask ofthe Inquisitor. Thelatter regarded theprisoner for a moment, and thenlifted one of the parchmentsfrom before him and read fromit in a smooth, clear voice.
"Henri Lothiere, apothecary'sassistant of Paris," he read, "ischarged in this year of our lordone thousand four hundred andforty-four with offending againstGod and the king by committingthe crime of sorcery."
The prisoner spoke for the firsttime, his voice low but steady. "Iam no sorcerer, sire."
Jean de Marselait read calmlyon from the parchment. "It isstated by many witnesses thatfor long that part of Paris, calledNanley by some, has been troubledby works of the devil. Everand anon great claps of thunderhave been heard issuing from anopen field there without visiblecause. They were evidentlycaused by a sorcerer of powersince even exorcists could nothalt them.
"It is attested by many thatthe accused, Henri Lothiere, didin spite of the known diabolicalnature of the thing, spend muchtime at the field in question. It isalso attested that the said HenriLothiere did state that in hisopinion the thunderclaps werenot of diabolical origin, and thatif they were studied, their causemight be discovered.
"It being suspected from thisthat Henri Lothiere was himselfthe sorcerer causing the thunderclaps,he was watched and onthe third day of June was seen togo in the early morning to theunholy spot with certain instruments.There he was observedgoing through strange and diabolicalconjurations, when therecame suddenly another thunderclapand the said Henri Lothieredid vanish entirely from view inthat moment. This fact is attestedbeyond all doubt.
"The news spreading, manyhundreds watched around thefield during that day. Upon thatnight before midnight, anotherthunderclap was heard and thesaid Henri Lothiere was seen bythese hundreds to appear at thefield's center as swiftly and asstrangely as he had vanished.The fear-stricken hundredsaround the field heard him tellthem how, by diabolical power,he had gone for hundreds ofyears into the future, a thingsurely possible only to the deviland his minions, and heard himtell other blasphemies beforethey seized him and brought himto the Inquisitor of the King,praying that he be burned andhis work of sorcery thus halted.
"Therefore, Henri Lothiere,since you were seen to vanish andto reappear as only the servantsof the evil one might do, andwere he