John Buchan

The Gap in the Curtain John Buchan

Buchan's novel opens with the narrator, Sir Edward Leithen, being introduced at a house party to the brilliant physicist and mathematician professor Moe. Moe has been working on a new theory of time, and believes he has found a way of enabling people to see, as if through a 'gap in the curtain', details of a future event. He enlists several of the house party guests into an experiment. For several days, each has to apply his whole concentration to anticipate what will be printed on a chosen page of The Times newspaper exactly one year hence. The subjects' efforts are to be supported by mental and physical preparation and by the taking of an unspecified drug. The professor gathers his subjects together and urges them to 'turn their eyes inwardly' as they stare at a blank sheet of paper. He explains that they will each see some text which will appear in that future copy of The Times. Arnold Tavenger, a city magnate, sees a note of a great combine of all the michelite producing interests of the world; David Mayot MP sees a report of a speech in the House by a member who, completely unexpectedly, has become prime minister; Reginald Daker sees his name as a member of an archaeological expedition to the Yucatán; and Sir Robert Goodeve and Captain Charles Ottery both read the announcements of their own deaths. The effort of bringing this about proves too much for Moe and he dies on the spot.