Latest / The H. G. Wells Library / The Invisible Man Chapters 5-7

Transcript

The Invisible Man Chapters 5-7 · The H. G. Wells Library

0:00
Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
0:04
Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information, ought to volunteer, please
0:08
Speaker 1: visit www dot LibriVox dot org. To day's reading by
0:12
Speaker 1: Alex Foster www dot Alex Foster dot me dot UK.
0:18
Speaker 1: The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells, Chapter five, The
0:23
Speaker 1: Burglary at the Vicarage. The facts of the burglary at
0:31
Speaker 1: the Vicarage came to us chiefly through the medium of
0:33
Speaker 1: the vicar and his wife. It occurred in the small
0:36
Speaker 1: hours of whit Monday, the day devoted in iping to
0:39
Speaker 1: the club festivities. Missus Bunting, it seems, woke up suddenly
0:43
Speaker 1: in the stillness that comes before the dawn, with the
0:46
Speaker 1: strong impression that the door of their bedroom had opened
0:48
Speaker 1: and closed. She did not arouse her husband at first,
0:52
Speaker 1: but sat up in bed listening. She then distinctly heard
0:56
Speaker 1: the pad pad pad of bare feet coming out of
0:58
Speaker 1: the adjoining dressing room and war walking along the passage
1:00
Speaker 1: towards the staircase. As soon as she felt assured of this,
1:04
Speaker 1: she roused the reverend mister Bunting as quietly as possible.
1:08
Speaker 1: He did not strike a light, but putting on his spectacles,
1:11
Speaker 1: her dressing gown and his bath slippers. He went out
1:14
Speaker 1: on to the landing to listen. He heard quite distinctly
1:17
Speaker 1: a fumbling going on at his study desk downstairs, and
1:20
Speaker 1: then a violent sneeze. At that, he returned to his bedroom,
1:25
Speaker 1: armed himself with the most obvious weapon, the poker, and
1:29
Speaker 1: descended the staircase as noiselessly as possible. Mister Bunting came
1:33
Speaker 1: out on the landing. The hour was about four and
1:37
Speaker 1: the ultimate darkness of the night was past. There was
1:39
Speaker 1: a faint shimmer of light in the hall, but the
1:42
Speaker 1: study doorway yawned impenetrably black. Everything was still except the
1:46
Speaker 1: faint creaking of the stairs under mister Bunting's tread, and
1:49
Speaker 1: the slight movements in the study. Then something snapped. The
1:53
Speaker 1: drawer was open, and there was a rustle of papers.
1:56
Speaker 1: Then came in an imprecation, and a match was struck,
1:58
Speaker 1: and the study was flooded with the yellow light. Mister
2:01
Speaker 1: Bunting was now in the hall, and through the crack
2:04
Speaker 1: in the door he could see the desk and the
2:06
Speaker 1: open drawer, and a candle burning on the desk, but
2:08
Speaker 1: the robber he could not see. He stood there in
2:12
Speaker 1: the hall undecided what to do, and Missus Bunting, her
2:16
Speaker 1: face white and intent, crept slowly downstairs after him. One
2:21
Speaker 1: thing kept mister Bunting's courage, the persuasion that this burglar
2:24
Speaker 1: was a resident in the village. They heard the chink
2:28
Speaker 1: of money and realized that the robber had found the
2:30
Speaker 1: housekeeping reserve of gold two pounds ten in half sovereigns altogether.
2:35
Speaker 1: At that sound, mister Bunting was nerved to abrupt action.
2:38
Speaker 1: Gripping the poker firmly, he rushed into the room, closely
2:41
Speaker 1: followed by Missus Bunting. Surrender, cried mister Bunting fiercely, and
2:46
Speaker 1: then stooped amazed. Apparently the room was perfectly empty, yet
2:52
Speaker 1: their conviction that they had that very moment heard someone
2:54
Speaker 1: moving in the room had amounted to a certainty. For
2:57
Speaker 1: half a minute, perhaps they stood gaping. Then Missus Bunting
3:00
Speaker 1: went across the room and looked behind the screen, while
3:02
Speaker 1: mister Bunting, by a kindred impulse, peered under the desk.
3:06
Speaker 1: Then Missus Bunting turned back the window curtains, and mister
3:08
Speaker 1: Bunting looked up the chimney and probed it with the poker.
3:12
Speaker 1: Then Missus Bunting scrutinized the waste paper basket, and mister
3:15
Speaker 1: Bunting opened the lid of the coalscuttle. Then they came
3:18
Speaker 1: to a stop and stood with eyes interrogating each other.
3:22
Speaker 1: I could have sworn, said mister Bunting. The candle, said
3:26
Speaker 1: Missus Bunting. Who lit the candle? The drawer, said mister Bunting,
3:30
Speaker 1: And the money's gone. She went hastily to the doorway.
3:35
Speaker 1: Off all the strange occurrences. There was a violent sneeze
3:40
Speaker 1: in the passage. They rushed out, and as they did so,
3:42
Speaker 1: the kitchen door slammed. Bring the candle, said mister Bunting,
3:46
Speaker 1: and led the way. They both heard a sound of
3:49
Speaker 1: bolts being hastily shot back. As he opened the kitchen door,
3:53
Speaker 1: he saw through the scullery that the back door was
3:55
Speaker 1: just opening, and the faint light of early dawn displayed
3:58
Speaker 1: the dark masses of the garden beyond. He is certain
4:01
Speaker 1: that nothing went out of the door. It opened, stood
4:04
Speaker 1: open for a moment, and then closed with a slam.
4:07
Speaker 1: As it did so, the candle Missus Bunting was carrying
4:10
Speaker 1: from the study flickered and fled. It was a moment
4:13
Speaker 1: or more before they entered the kitchen. The place was empty.
4:18
Speaker 1: They refastened the back door, examined the kitchen, pantry and
4:22
Speaker 1: scullery thoroughly, and at last went down into the cellar.
4:26
Speaker 1: There was not a soul to be found in the house.
4:27
Speaker 1: Search as they would, daylight found the vicar and his wife,
4:33
Speaker 1: a quaintly costumed little couple, still marveling about on their
4:36
Speaker 1: own ground floor by the unnecessary light of a guttering candle.
4:43
Speaker 1: Chapter six. The Furniture that Went Mad. Now it happened
4:50
Speaker 1: that in the early hours of whit Monday, before Milly
4:53
Speaker 1: was hunted out for the day, mister Hall and Missus
4:55
Speaker 1: Hall both rose and went noiselessly down into the cellar.
4:59
Speaker 1: Their business there was of a private nature, and had
5:02
Speaker 1: something to do with the specific gravity of their beer.
5:06
Speaker 1: They had hardly entered the cellar when Missus Hall found
5:08
Speaker 1: she had forgotten to bring down a bottle of sasparidav
5:10
Speaker 1: from their joint room. As she was the expert and
5:14
Speaker 1: principal operator in this affair, Hall, they properly went upstairs
5:17
Speaker 1: for it. On the landing, he was surprised to see
5:21
Speaker 1: that the stranger's door was a jarb He went on
5:24
Speaker 1: into his own room and found the bottle as he
5:25
Speaker 1: had been directed. But returning with the bottle, he noticed
5:29
Speaker 1: that the bolts of the front door had been shot back,
5:32
Speaker 1: that the door was in fact simply on the latch,
5:35
Speaker 1: And with a flash of inspiration he connected this with
5:37
Speaker 1: the stranger's room upstairs and suggestions of mister Teddy Henry.
5:41
Speaker 1: He distinctly remembered holding the candle while missus Hall shot
5:44
Speaker 1: these bolts overnight. At the sight, he stopped gaping, then,
5:48
Speaker 1: with the bottle still in his hand, went upstairs again.
5:51
Speaker 1: He rapped at the stranger's door. There was no answer.
5:55
Speaker 1: He rapped again, then pushed the door wide open and entered.
5:59
Speaker 1: It was as he expected the bed the room also
6:02
Speaker 1: was empty, and what was stranger even to his heavy intelligence.
6:08
Speaker 1: On the bedroom chair and along the rail of the
6:10
Speaker 1: bed were scattered the garments, the only garments so far
6:13
Speaker 1: as he knew, and the bandages of their guest. His
6:17
Speaker 1: big slouch hat even was cocked jauntily over the bed post.
6:22
Speaker 1: As Hall stood there, he heard his wife's voice coming
6:24
Speaker 1: out of the depth of the cellar with that rapid
6:27
Speaker 1: telescoping of the syllables and interrogative cocking up of the
6:30
Speaker 1: final words to have high note by which the West
6:32
Speaker 1: Sussex villager is wont to indicate a brisk impatience. George
6:37
Speaker 1: Yugaway want At that, he turned and hurried down to
6:41
Speaker 1: her Janny. He staid, over the rail of the cellar
6:44
Speaker 1: steps tis the truth what Henfrey says. He's not in
6:47
Speaker 1: his roomy end, and the front door is unbolted. At
6:51
Speaker 1: first Missus Hall did not understand, and as soon as
6:54
Speaker 1: she did she resolved to see the empty room for herself. Hall,
6:57
Speaker 1: still holding the bottle, went first yent there. He said,
7:01
Speaker 1: his clothes are and what was he doing without his clothes? Then?
7:04
Speaker 1: As the most curious business. As they came up the
7:08
Speaker 1: cellar steps, they both it was afterwards ascertained, fancied. They
7:11
Speaker 1: heard the front door open and shut, but seeing it
7:14
Speaker 1: closed and nothing there, neither said a word to the
7:16
Speaker 1: other about it. At the time Missus Hall passed her
7:19
Speaker 1: husband in the passage and ran on first upstairs. Someone
7:23
Speaker 1: sneezed on the staircase. Hall, following six steps behind, thought
7:28
Speaker 1: that he heard her sneeze. She going on first, was
7:31
Speaker 1: under the pression that Hall was sneezing. She flung open
7:34
Speaker 1: the door and stood regarding the room off all a
7:37
Speaker 1: curious she said, she heard a sniff close behind her head,
7:41
Speaker 1: as it seemed in turning, was surprised to see Hall
7:44
Speaker 1: a dozen feet off on the topmost stair, but in
7:47
Speaker 1: another moment he was beside her. She bent forward and
7:50
Speaker 1: put her hand on the pillow, and then under the clothes.
7:53
Speaker 1: Cold she said, he's been up this hour or more.
7:57
Speaker 1: As she did so, a most extraordinary thing happened. The
8:01
Speaker 1: bedclothes gathered themselves together, leaped suddenly into a sort of peak,
8:05
Speaker 1: and then jumped headlong over the bottom rail. It was
8:08
Speaker 1: exactly as if a hand had clutched them in the
8:10
Speaker 1: center and flung them aside. Immediately after, the Stranger's hat
8:13
Speaker 1: hopped off the bedpost described a whirling flight in the
8:16
Speaker 1: air through the better part of a circle, and then
8:18
Speaker 1: dashed straight at missus Hall's face. Then as swiftly came
8:23
Speaker 1: the sponge from the washstand, and then the chair, flinging
8:25
Speaker 1: the Stranger's coat and trousers carelessly aside, and laughing dryly
8:29
Speaker 1: in a voice singularly like the Strangers turned itself up
8:32
Speaker 1: with its four legs at Missus Hall seemed to take
8:35
Speaker 1: aim at her for a moment, and then charged at her.
8:39
Speaker 1: She screamed and turned, and then the chair legs came
8:42
Speaker 1: gently but firmly against her back and impelled her and
8:45
Speaker 1: haul out of the room. The door slammed violently and
8:49
Speaker 1: was locked. The chair and bed seemed to be executing
8:52
Speaker 1: a dance of triumph for a moment, then abruptly everything
8:55
Speaker 1: was still. Missus Hall was left almost in a fainting
9:00
Speaker 1: condition in mister Hall's arms on the landings. It was
9:03
Speaker 1: with the greatest difficulty that mister Hall and Milly, who
9:06
Speaker 1: had been roused by her scream of alarm, succeeded in
9:09
Speaker 1: getting her downstairs and applying the rectitives customary in such cases.
9:15
Speaker 1: Tis spirits, said missus Hall. I notice spirits. I read
9:18
Speaker 1: in papers and tables and chairs leaping and dancing. Take
9:23
Speaker 1: a drop more, Jenny, said Hall. Twill steady lock him out,
9:27
Speaker 1: said missus Hall. Don't let him come in again. I
9:30
Speaker 1: half guessed I might have known, with them goggling eyes
9:32
Speaker 1: and bandaged head, and never going to church of a
9:34
Speaker 1: Sunday and all day bottles morn. It's right for any
9:37
Speaker 1: one to have he's put the spirits into the furniture,
9:40
Speaker 1: my good old furniture. Twas in that chair my very
9:43
Speaker 1: dear poor mother used to sit when I was a
9:45
Speaker 1: little girl, to think it should rise up against me.
9:48
Speaker 1: Now just a drop more, Janny said, Hall, your nerves
9:53
Speaker 1: is all upset. They sent Milly across the street through
9:58
Speaker 1: the golden five o'clock sunshine to rouse up mister Sandy Wadgers,
10:01
Speaker 1: the blacksmith mister Hall's compliments, and the furniture upstairs was
10:05
Speaker 1: behaving most extraordinary. Would mister Wadgers come round? He was
10:09
Speaker 1: a knowing man, was mister Watchers, and very resourceful. He
10:13
Speaker 1: took quite a grave view of the case, and am
10:15
Speaker 1: damned if that in witchcraft was the view of mister
10:18
Speaker 1: Sandy Wadgers. You want oars shoes for such gentry as he.
10:24
Speaker 1: He came round greatly concerned. They wanted him to lead
10:28
Speaker 1: the way upstairs to the room, but he didn't seem
10:30
Speaker 1: to be in any hurry. He preferred to talk in
10:32
Speaker 1: the passage over the way. Huckster's apprentice came out and
10:37
Speaker 1: began taking down the shutters of the tobacco window. He
10:40
Speaker 1: was called over to join the discussion mister Huxton naturally
10:44
Speaker 1: followed over. In the course of a few minutes, the
10:47
Speaker 1: Anglo Saxon genius for parliamentary Government asserted itself. There was
10:51
Speaker 1: a great deal of talk and no decisive action. Let's
10:54
Speaker 1: have the facts first, insisted mister Sandy Wadgers. Let's be
10:58
Speaker 1: sure we be acting perfectly right in busting that their
11:01
Speaker 1: door open. A door on bust is always open to busting,
11:04
Speaker 1: but you can't onbust the door once you've busted in.
11:08
Speaker 1: And suddenly, and most wonderfully, the door of the room
11:11
Speaker 1: upstairs opened of its own accord, And as they looked
11:13
Speaker 1: up in amazement, they saw descending the stairs the muffled
11:16
Speaker 1: figure of the stranger, staring more blankly and blankly than
11:20
Speaker 1: ever before, with those unreasonably large blue glass eyes of his.
11:24
Speaker 1: He came down, stiffly and slowly, staring all the time.
11:28
Speaker 1: He walked across the passage, staring, and then stopped. Look there,
11:33
Speaker 1: he said, And their eyes followed the direction of his
11:35
Speaker 1: gloved finger, and saw a bottle of sasparilla hard by
11:38
Speaker 1: the cellar door. Then he entered the parlor and suddenly, swiftly,
11:42
Speaker 1: viciously slammed the door in their faces. Not a word
11:48
Speaker 1: was spoken until the last echoes of the slam had
11:50
Speaker 1: died away. They stared at one another. Well, if that
11:55
Speaker 1: don't lick everything, said mister Wadgers, and left the alternative unsaid.
12:01
Speaker 1: I'd go in and ask about it, said Rodgers to
12:03
Speaker 1: mister Hall, I'd demand an explanation. It took some time
12:09
Speaker 1: to bring the landlady's husband up to that pitch. At
12:12
Speaker 1: last he rapped, opened the door and got as far
12:15
Speaker 1: as excuse me, go to the devil, said the stranger,
12:19
Speaker 1: in a tremendous voice, and shut that door after you.
12:23
Speaker 1: Or so. That brief interview terminated Chapter seven, The Unveiling
12:31
Speaker 1: of the Stranger. The Stranger went into the little parlor
12:35
Speaker 1: of the Coach and Horses about half past five in
12:37
Speaker 1: the morning, and there he remained until near mid day,
12:41
Speaker 1: the blinds down, the door shut, and none after Hal's
12:45
Speaker 1: repulse venturing near him all that time. He must have
12:49
Speaker 1: fasted thrice. He rang his bell the third time furiously
12:53
Speaker 1: and continuously, but no one answered him. Em AND's go
12:57
Speaker 1: to the devil, Indeed, said missus Hall. Presently came an
13:01
Speaker 1: imperfect rumor of the burglary at the vicarage, and two
13:04
Speaker 1: and two were put together. Hall, assisted by wadgers, went
13:08
Speaker 1: off to find mister Shuckleforth, the magistrate, and take his advice.
13:12
Speaker 1: No one ventured upstairs. How the stranger occupied himself is
13:16
Speaker 1: unknown now. And then he would stride violently up and down,
13:20
Speaker 1: and twice came an outburst of curses, a tearing of paper,
13:23
Speaker 1: and a violent smashing of bottles. The little group of
13:27
Speaker 1: scared but curious people increased. Missus Huckster came over some
13:31
Speaker 1: gay young fellow's respondent in black, ready made jackets and
13:34
Speaker 1: p K paper ties. For it was whit Monday joined
13:37
Speaker 1: the group with confused interrogations. Young Archie Harker distinguished himself
13:42
Speaker 1: by going up the yard and trying to peep under
13:44
Speaker 1: the window blinds. He could see nothing, but gave reason
13:47
Speaker 1: for supposing that he did, and others of the iping
13:50
Speaker 1: youth presently joined him. It was the finest of all
13:55
Speaker 1: possible whit mondays. And down the village street stood a
13:58
Speaker 1: row of nearly a dozen booths, a shooting gallery, and
14:01
Speaker 1: on the grass by the forge were three yellow and
14:03
Speaker 1: chocolate wagons, and some picturesque strangers of both sexes putting
14:07
Speaker 1: up a cocoanut Sye. The gentleman wore blue jerseys, the
14:12
Speaker 1: ladies white aprons and quite fashionable hats with heavy plumes.
14:16
Speaker 1: Wadger of the Purple Fawn, and Mister Jaggers, the cobbler,
14:20
Speaker 1: who also sold old second hand ordinary bicycles, were stretching
14:24
Speaker 1: a string of Union jacks and Royal ensigns which had
14:26
Speaker 1: originally celebrated the First Victorian Jubilee across the road and inside,
14:32
Speaker 1: in the artificial darkness of the parlor, into which only
14:35
Speaker 1: one thin jet of sunlight penetrated, the stranger, hungry, we
14:39
Speaker 1: must suppose, and fearful, hidden in his uncomfortable hot trappings,
14:44
Speaker 1: poured through his dark glasses upon his paper, or chinked
14:46
Speaker 1: his dirty little bottles, and occasionally swore savagely at the boys. Audible,
14:51
Speaker 1: if invisible outside the windows. In the corner by the
14:54
Speaker 1: fireplace lay the fragments of half a dozen smashed bottles,
14:58
Speaker 1: and a pungent twang of chlorine tail the air. So
15:01
Speaker 1: much we know from what was heard at the time
15:03
Speaker 1: and from what was subsequently seen in the room. At noon,
15:08
Speaker 1: he suddenly opened his parlor door and stood glaring fixedly
15:11
Speaker 1: at the three or four people in the bar Missus Hall,
15:15
Speaker 1: he said. Somebody went sheepishly and called for Missus Hall.
15:21
Speaker 1: Missus Hall appeared after an interval, a little short of breath,
15:24
Speaker 1: but all the fiercer for that Hall was still out.
15:27
Speaker 1: She had deliberated over this scene, and she came holding
15:30
Speaker 1: a little tray with an unsettled bill upon it. Is
15:33
Speaker 1: it your bill you're wanting, sir? She said? Why wasn't
15:37
Speaker 1: my breakfast laid? Why haven't you prepared my meals? And
15:40
Speaker 1: answered my bell? Do you think I live without eating?
15:43
Speaker 1: Why isn't my bill paid? Said Missus Hall. That's what
15:46
Speaker 1: I want to know. I told you three days ago
15:49
Speaker 1: I was awaiting a remittance. I told you three days
15:52
Speaker 1: ago I wasn't going to await no remittances. You can't
15:56
Speaker 1: grumble if your breakfast waits a bit, if my bill's
15:58
Speaker 1: been waiting these five days, can you? The stranger swore
16:03
Speaker 1: briefly but vividly nar nar from the bar, and I'd
16:09
Speaker 1: thank you kindly, sir, if you'd keep your swearing to yourself, sir,
16:12
Speaker 1: said Missus Hall. The stranger stood, looking more like an
16:16
Speaker 1: angry diving helmet than ever. It was universally felt in
16:20
Speaker 1: the bar that Missus Hall had the better of him.
16:23
Speaker 1: His next words showed as much. Look here, my good woman,
16:27
Speaker 1: he began. Don't good woman me, said missus Hall. I've
16:31
Speaker 1: told you my remittance hasn't come. Remittance indeed, said missus Hall. Still,
16:37
Speaker 1: I daresay in my pocket you told me three days
16:40
Speaker 1: ago that you hadn't anything but a sovereign's worth of
16:42
Speaker 1: silver upon you. Well, I've found some more ull from
16:48
Speaker 1: the bar. I wonder where you found it, said Missus Hall.
16:53
Speaker 1: That seemed to annoy the stranger very much. He stamped
16:56
Speaker 1: his foot. What do you mean, he said that. I
16:59
Speaker 1: want wonder where you found it, said missus Hall. And
17:02
Speaker 1: before I take any bills, or get any breakfast, or
17:05
Speaker 1: do any such things whatsoever, you've got to tell me
17:07
Speaker 1: two things I don't understand, and what nobody don't understand,
17:10
Speaker 1: and what everybody is very anxious to understand. I want
17:13
Speaker 1: to know what you've been doing to my chair upstairs.
17:16
Speaker 1: And I want to know how tis your room was empty,
17:18
Speaker 1: and how you got in again. Them as stops in
17:20
Speaker 1: this house comes in by the doors, that's the roll
17:22
Speaker 1: of the house, and that you didn't do. And what
17:25
Speaker 1: I want to know is how you did come in
17:26
Speaker 1: and I want to know. Suddenly the stranger raised his
17:30
Speaker 1: gloved hands, clenched, stamped his foot, and said stop, with
17:35
Speaker 1: such extraordinary violence that he silenced her instantly. You don't understand,
17:40
Speaker 1: he said, who I am or what I am? I'll
17:43
Speaker 1: show you. By Heaven, I'll show you. Then he put
17:46
Speaker 1: his open palm over his face and withdrew it. The
17:50
Speaker 1: center of his face became a black cavity. Here, he said.
17:54
Speaker 1: He stepped forward and handed missus Hall something, which she
17:57
Speaker 1: staring at his metamorphosed face, except automatically. Then when she
18:03
Speaker 1: saw what it was, she screamed loudly, dropped it and
18:06
Speaker 1: staggered back the nose. It was the Stranger's nose, pink
18:11
Speaker 1: and shining, rolled on the floor. Then he removed his spectacles,
18:17
Speaker 1: and everyone in the bar gasped. He took off his
18:20
Speaker 1: hat and with a violent gesture, tore at his whiskers
18:22
Speaker 1: and bandages. For a moment, they resisted him. A flash
18:26
Speaker 1: of horrible anticipation passed through the bar. Oh my god,
18:32
Speaker 1: said some one. Then off they came. It was worse
18:37
Speaker 1: than anything. Missus Hall, standing open mouthed and horror struck,
18:41
Speaker 1: shrieked at what she saw and made for the door
18:44
Speaker 1: of the house. Everyone began to move. They were prepared
18:48
Speaker 1: for scars, disfigurements, tangible horrors, but nothing. The bandages and
18:54
Speaker 1: false hair flew across the passage into their bar, making
18:57
Speaker 1: a hobbledehoy jump to avoid them. Everyone tumbled on every
19:01
Speaker 1: one else down the steps. For the man who stood there,
19:04
Speaker 1: shouting some incoherent explanation, was a solid, gesticulating figure up
19:09
Speaker 1: to the coat collar of him, and then nothingness, no
19:13
Speaker 1: visible thing at all. People down the village heard shouts
19:18
Speaker 1: and shrieks, and looking up the street, saw the coach
19:21
Speaker 1: and horses violently firing out its humanity. Then they saw
19:25
Speaker 1: missus Hall fall down and mister Teddy Henfrey jump to
19:28
Speaker 1: avoid tumbling over her. And then they heard the frightful
19:31
Speaker 1: screams of Milly, who emerging suddenly from the kitchen at
19:34
Speaker 1: the noise of the tumult, had come across the headless
19:36
Speaker 1: stranger from behind. These increased suddenly forthwith everyone all down
19:44
Speaker 1: the street. The sweet stuff seller, cocoanut shy proprietor and
19:47
Speaker 1: his assistant, the swingman, little boys and girls, rustic dandies,
19:51
Speaker 1: smart wrenches, smocked elders, and apron gypsies began running towards
19:56
Speaker 1: the inn, and in a miraculously short space of time,
19:59
Speaker 1: a of perhaps forty people and rapidly increasing swayed and
20:04
Speaker 1: hooted and inquired and exclaimed and suggested. In front of
20:07
Speaker 1: Missus Hall's establishment. Everyone seemed eager to talk at once,
20:11
Speaker 1: and the result was babel. A small group supported Missus Hall,
20:16
Speaker 1: who was picked up in a state of collapse. There
20:18
Speaker 1: was a conference and the incredible evidence of a vociferous eyewitness.
20:23
Speaker 1: Oh bogey, what's he been doing? Then? Ain't hurt the
20:26
Speaker 1: girl as he run at an' with a knife. I
20:29
Speaker 1: believe no head, I tell ye. It didn't mean no
20:31
Speaker 1: manner speaking. I meant man without a head. Nonsense, there's
20:36
Speaker 1: some gunjuring trick fetched off his rapin he did. In
20:41
Speaker 1: its struggles to see in through the open door. The
20:44
Speaker 1: crowd formed itself into a straggling wedge, with the more
20:47
Speaker 1: venturous apex nearest the inn. He stood for a moment.
20:51
Speaker 1: I heard the girl scream, and he turned. I saw
20:54
Speaker 1: her skirts whisk and he went after. Didn't take ten
20:57
Speaker 1: seconds back. He comes with a knife in his hand
20:59
Speaker 1: and a loaf, just as if he were staring not
21:01
Speaker 1: a moment ago when in that there door, I tell
21:04
Speaker 1: ye ain't got no head at all. You just missed
21:07
Speaker 1: an There was a disturbance behind, and the speaker stopped
21:13
Speaker 1: to step aside for a little procession that was marching
21:15
Speaker 1: very resolutely towards the house. First mister Hall, very red
21:20
Speaker 1: and determined. Then mister Bobby Jaffers, the village constable. Then
21:24
Speaker 1: the wary mister Wadgers. They had come, now armed with
21:28
Speaker 1: a warrant. People shouted conflicting information of the recent circumstances.
21:35
Speaker 1: Ed or no, ed, said Jaffers. I got a restin,
21:38
Speaker 1: and restin I will. Mister Hall marched up the steps,
21:42
Speaker 1: marched straight to the door of the parlor and flung
21:44
Speaker 1: it open. Constable, he said, do your duty. Jaffers marched
21:51
Speaker 1: in Hall, next, Wadgers. Last. They saw in the dim light,
21:55
Speaker 1: the headless figure facing them, with a gnawed crust of
21:57
Speaker 1: bed in one gloved hand and a chunk of cheese
21:59
Speaker 1: in the other. That's him, said Hall, what's the devil's
22:04
Speaker 1: This came in a tone of angry expostulation from above
22:07
Speaker 1: the collar of the figure. You're a damned rum customer, mister,
22:11
Speaker 1: said mister Jaffers, but ed or no ed the warrants
22:15
Speaker 1: his body and duty's duty keep off, said the figure,
22:18
Speaker 1: starting back abruptly, he whipped down the bread and cheese,
22:22
Speaker 1: and mister Hall just grasped the knife on the table
22:24
Speaker 1: in time to save it. Off came the stranger's left
22:27
Speaker 1: glove and was slapped in Jaffers's face. In another moment, Jaffers,
22:31
Speaker 1: cutting short some statement concerning a warrant, had gripped him
22:34
Speaker 1: by the handless wrist and caught his invisible throat. He
22:38
Speaker 1: got a sounding kick on the shin that made him shout,
22:40
Speaker 1: but kept his grip. Hall sent the knife sliding along
22:43
Speaker 1: the table to Wadgers, who acted as goalkeeper for the offensive,
22:46
Speaker 1: so to speak, and then stepped forward as Jaffers and
22:49
Speaker 1: the stranger swayed and staggered towards him, clutching and hitting
22:52
Speaker 1: in a chair, stood in the way and went aside
22:55
Speaker 1: with a crash as they came down together. Get the feet,
22:59
Speaker 1: said Jaffers, between in his teeth. Mister Hall, endeavoring to
23:03
Speaker 1: act on instructions, received a sounding kick in the ribs
23:06
Speaker 1: that disposed of him for a moment, and mister Wadgers,
23:10
Speaker 1: seeing the decapitated stranger had rolled over and got the
23:13
Speaker 1: upper side of Jaffers. Retreated towards the door, knife in hand,
23:16
Speaker 1: and so collided with mister Huckster and the ciderbridge carter
23:19
Speaker 1: coming to the rescue of law and order. At the
23:22
Speaker 1: same moment, down came three or four bottles from the
23:25
Speaker 1: chiffonnier and shot a web of pungency into the air
23:28
Speaker 1: of the room. I'll surrender, cried the stranger, though he
23:32
Speaker 1: had Jaffers down, and in another moment he stood up,
23:34
Speaker 1: panting a strange figure, headless and handless, for he had
23:38
Speaker 1: pulled off his right glove now as well as his left.
23:41
Speaker 1: It's no good, he said, as if sobbing for breath.
23:45
Speaker 1: It was the strangest thing in the world to hear
23:47
Speaker 1: that voice, coming as if out of empty space. But
23:50
Speaker 1: the Sussex peasants are perhaps the most matter of fact
23:52
Speaker 1: people under the sun. Jaffers got up also and produced
23:55
Speaker 1: a pair of handcuffs. Then he stared, I say, said Jaffers,
24:02
Speaker 1: brought up short by a dim realization of the incongruity
24:04
Speaker 1: of the whole business. Darn it can't use him, as
24:08
Speaker 1: I can see. The stranger ran his arm down his waistcoat,
24:12
Speaker 1: and as if by a miracle, the buttons to which
24:14
Speaker 1: his empty sleeve pointed became undone. Then he said something
24:18
Speaker 1: about his shin and stooped down. He seemed to be
24:21
Speaker 1: fumbling with his shoes and socks. Why, said Huxter, Suddenly,
24:26
Speaker 1: that's not a man at all, it's just empty clothes. Look,
24:30
Speaker 1: you can see down his collar, in the linings of
24:32
Speaker 1: his clothes. I could put my arm. He extended his hand.
24:36
Speaker 1: It seemed to meet something in mid air, and he
24:38
Speaker 1: drew it back with a sharp exclamation. I wish you'd
24:42
Speaker 1: keep your fingers out of my eye, said the aerial voice,
24:45
Speaker 1: in a tone of savage expostulation. The fact is I
24:48
Speaker 1: am all here, head, hands, legs, and all the rest.
24:52
Speaker 1: But it happens I'm invisible. It's a confounded nuisance. But
24:55
Speaker 1: I am. There's no reason why I should be poked
24:58
Speaker 1: to pieces by every stupid bumpkin in iping? Is it?
25:03
Speaker 1: The suit of clothes, now all unbuttoned and hanging loosely
25:06
Speaker 1: upon its unseen supports stood up arms akimbo. Several other
25:12
Speaker 1: of the men folks now entered the room, so that
25:13
Speaker 1: it was closely crowded invisible eh, said Huckster, ignoring the
25:19
Speaker 1: stranger's abuse. Who ever heard the likes of that? It's
25:23
Speaker 1: strange perhaps, but it's not a crime. Why am I
25:26
Speaker 1: assaulted by a policeman in this fashion? Ah, that's a
25:29
Speaker 1: different matter, said Jadavas. No doubt, you're a bit difficult
25:33
Speaker 1: to see in this light, but I got a warrant
25:35
Speaker 1: an it's all correct. What I'm after ain't no invisibility.
25:39
Speaker 1: Is burglary as a house being broken into and money
25:41
Speaker 1: took well, and circumstances certainly point stuff and nonsense, said
25:48
Speaker 1: the invisible man. I hope so, sir, But I've got
25:51
Speaker 1: my instructions. Well, said the stranger. I'll come, I'll come,
25:56
Speaker 1: But no handcuffs. It's the regular thing, said Chaffers. No handcuffs,
26:01
Speaker 1: stipulated the stranger. Pardon me, said Chaffers. Abruptly. The figure
26:07
Speaker 1: sat down, and before anyone could realize what was being done,
26:10
Speaker 1: the slippers, socks and trousers being kicked off under the table.
26:14
Speaker 1: Then he sprang up again and flung off his coat.
26:16
Speaker 1: Ere stop that, said Jaffers. Suddenly realizing what was happening,
26:20
Speaker 1: he gripped at the waistcoat. It struggled, and the shirt
26:22
Speaker 1: slipped out off it and left it limply and empty
26:25
Speaker 1: in his hand. Hold him, said Jaffers loudly. Whence he
26:28
Speaker 1: gets the things off? Hold him, cried every one, and
26:32
Speaker 1: there was a rush at the fluttering white shirt, which
26:34
Speaker 1: was now all that was visible of the stranger. The
26:37
Speaker 1: shirt sleeves planted a shrewd blow in Hall's face that
26:39
Speaker 1: stopped his open armed advance and sent him backward into
26:42
Speaker 1: old tutsum the sexton, and in another moment the garment
26:45
Speaker 1: was lifted up became convulsed and vacantly flapping about the arms,
26:49
Speaker 1: even as a shirt that is being thrust over a
26:51
Speaker 1: man's head. Jaffers clutched at it and only helped to
26:54
Speaker 1: pull it off. He was struck in the mouth, out
26:56
Speaker 1: of the air, and incontinently threw his truncheon and smote
26:59
Speaker 1: head Henfrey savagely upon the crown of his head. Look Out,
27:03
Speaker 1: said everybody, fencing at random and hitting at nothing. Hold him,
27:07
Speaker 1: shut the door, don't let him loose. I got something here.
27:10
Speaker 1: He is a perfect babel of noises they made. Everybody,
27:14
Speaker 1: it seemed, was being hit all at once, and Sandy Wadgers,
27:17
Speaker 1: knowing as ever, and his wits, sharpened by a frightful
27:20
Speaker 1: blow in the nose, reopened the door and led the rout.
27:24
Speaker 1: The others following incontinently were jammed for a moment in
27:27
Speaker 1: the corner by the doorway. The hitting continued. Phipps the
27:31
Speaker 1: Unitarian had a front tooth broken, and Henfrey was injured
27:34
Speaker 1: in the cartilage of his ear. Jaffers was struck under
27:38
Speaker 1: the jaw, and turning caught at something that intervened between
27:40
Speaker 1: him and Huckster in the melee and prevented their coming together.
27:44
Speaker 1: He felt a muscular chest, and in another moment the
27:47
Speaker 1: whole mass of struggling, excited men shot out into the
27:49
Speaker 1: crowded hall. I got him, shouted Jaffers, choking and reeling
27:54
Speaker 1: through them all and wrestling with purple face and swelling
27:57
Speaker 1: veins against his unseen enemy. Men staggered right and left,
28:01
Speaker 1: as the extraordinary conflict swayed swiftly towards the house door
28:05
Speaker 1: and went spinning down the half dozen steps of the inn.
28:08
Speaker 1: Jaffers cried in a strangled voice, holding tight nevertheless and
28:11
Speaker 1: making play with his knee, spun around and fell heavily
28:15
Speaker 1: undermost with his head on the gravel. Only then did
28:18
Speaker 1: his fingers relax. There were excited cries of hold him invisible,
28:23
Speaker 1: and so forth, and a young fellow, a stranger in
28:25
Speaker 1: the place whose name did not come to light, rushed
28:28
Speaker 1: in at once, caught something, missed his hold, and fell
28:31
Speaker 1: over the constable's prostrate body. Half Way across the road,
28:35
Speaker 1: a woman screamed as something pushed by her. A dog
28:38
Speaker 1: kicked apparently yelped, and ran howling into Huckster's yard. And
28:42
Speaker 1: with that the transit of the invisible man was accomplished.
28:45
Speaker 1: For a space people stood amazed and gesticulating, and then
28:49
Speaker 1: came panic and scattered them abroad through the village as
28:51
Speaker 1: a gust scatters dead leaves, but chaffers lay quite still,
28:57
Speaker 1: face upward and knees bent at the foot of the
29:00
Speaker 1: steps of the inn. End of chapter seven. Read in Nottingham, England,
29:07
Speaker 1: on the thirteenth of March twenty o six by Alex
29:09
Speaker 1: Foster www dot Alex Foster dot me dot UK.