Not that I apprehended, at the moment, any danger from her
divulging my secret, but I knew that to any Woman in Flatland
the narrative of my adventures must needs be unintelligible.
So I endeavoured to reassure her by some story, invented for
the occasion, that I had accidentally fallen through
the trap-door of the cellar, and had there lain stunned.
The Southward attraction in our country is so slight
that even to a Woman my tale necessarily appeared extraordinary
and well-nigh incredible; but my Wife, whose good sense far exceeds
that of the average of her Sex, and who perceived that I was
unusually excited, did not argue with me on the subject,
but insisted that I was ill and required repose. I was glad
of an excuse for retiring to my chamber to think quietly over
what had happened. When I was at last by myself, a drowsy sensation
fell on me; but before my eyes closed I endeavoured to reproduce
the Third Dimension, and especially the process by which a Cube
is constructed through the motion of a Square. It was not so clear
as I could have wished; but I remembered that it must be "Upward,
and yet not Northward", and I determined steadfastly to retain
these words as the clue which, if firmly grasped, could not fail
to guide me to the solution.
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