The Return Of The Man

The Return of the Moon Man
E. L. Malpass
A. D. 2500.
That was the year they brought the Electric to Pen-y-Craig Farm.
Wonderful it was, when Grandfather Griffiths pressed down the switch, and the great farm kitchen was flooded with light. There was Dai my father, and mother, blinking and grinning in the light, and Electric Plumber Williams, smug as you please, looking as though he hadinvented the Electric himself and sent it through the pipes. Only Gran was sad. Tears streaming down her face, she picked up the old paraffin lamp and carried it sadly into the scullery.
That was funny about Gran. She was progressive, and left to herself she would have filled the house with refrigerators and atomic cookers and washers. But Grandfather called these things devil's inventions, and wouldhave none of them. And yet, when Grandfather at last agreed to the Electric, Gran was in tears. Reaction, Auntie SpaceShip-Repairs Jones said it was.
'Well,' roared Grandfather. 'There's your Electric. But don't think that because you've talked me into this you'll talk me into any more of these devil's inventions. Let no one mention the words space-ship in my presence ever again.'
That wasintended for Gran. In her black clothes she was a rather pathetic-looking little woman, and no match for her fiery husband. But one thing she had always insisted that she wanted; a space-ship; and it had been a source of argument between them for years. I tell you all this that you may know that we of Pen-y-Craig are not the backward savages that some people would have you believe. We are in touch withmodern thought, even though we are apt to cling to the old ways. But what I really remember of those far-off, golden days of 2500 is of how the first Expedition to the Moon set off, and of how it landed in Ten Acre Field, and of the strange events that followed.
Men had been trying to set off for the Moon for years, perhaps for centuries. But you know how it is. Something always happened to stopthem. The weather was bad, or someone's auntie died, or there was an eclipse. In the autumn of 2500, however, they were ready at last. . .
It was cold that evening, and we were sitting by the fire, enjoying the Electric. Grandfather was listening in; suddenly he jumps to his feet and shouts, 'Blasphemy.'
No one took much notice, for if the old man didn't jump up and shout 'Blasphemy' at leastonce of an evening Gran thought he was sickening and gave him a purge. So Gran said dutifully, 'What is it, Mortimer?'
'Flying to the Moon, they are,' he cried. 'The space-ship has just left London. And they're dancing in the streets, and exploding fireworks in celebration. Sodom and ----'
But at that moment there was a noise as of a great wind passing over, and then a terrible crash as thoughsomeone had picked up all our milk chums and dropped them on the Dutch barn. We ran outside, and there, in the Ten Acre Field, a Thing was glinting in the frosty moonlight. Huge it was, like a great shining rocket.
Grandfather looked at it. 'Lost their way, maybe,' he said with malicious satisfaction. Then he felt in his waistcoat pocket and took out a card and put it in my hand. .
'Run you,Bronwen,' he said, 'and give them the business card of Uncle Space-Ship-Repairs Jones.'
But I was frightened, being but a little girl then, and clung to my mothers skirts. So Dai, my father, started up the tractor without a word, and rode off to fetch Uncle Space-Ship-Repairs Jones.
Down to the farm came the Moon Men, as the newspapers called them, their helmets bright in the moonlight, and soon Daimy father arrived. My uncle was sitting on the tractor with him, clutching a great spanner and grinning as pleased as Punch, and soon his banging and hammering came across the still air from Ten Acre.
One of the Moon Men, took off his great helmet.
'Bit my tongue when we landed sudden,' he said.
'Nothing to what you will bite when you land on the Moon,' said my grandfather.
'That is what I...