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07 - The Invisible Man - H G Wells · Classic Science Fiction Books

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Speaker 1: Chapter fifteen, The Man who was running. In the early
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Speaker 1: evening time, Doctor Kemp was sitting in his study in
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Speaker 1: the Belvidere on the hill overlooking Burdock. It was a
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Speaker 1: pleasant little room with three windows north west and south,
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Speaker 1: and book shelves covered with books and scientific publications, and
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Speaker 1: a broad writing table, and underneath the north window a microscope,
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Speaker 1: glass lips, minute instruments, some cultures, and scattered bottles of reagents.
0:31
Speaker 1: Doctor Kemp's solar lamp was lit, albeit the sky was
0:34
Speaker 1: still bright with the sunset light, and his blinds were
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Speaker 1: up because there was no offense of peering outsiders to
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Speaker 1: require them pulled down. Doctor Kemp was a tall and
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Speaker 1: slender young man, with flaxen hair and a mustache almost white,
0:48
Speaker 1: and the work he was upon would earn him. He
0:51
Speaker 1: hoped the fellowship of the Royal Society, so highly did
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Speaker 1: he think of it. And his eye, presently wandering from
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Speaker 1: his work, caught the sunset blazing at the back of
1:02
Speaker 1: the hill that is over against his own. For a minute,
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Speaker 1: perhaps he sat pen in mouth, admiring the rich golden
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Speaker 1: color above the crest, and then his attention was attracted
1:12
Speaker 1: by the little figure of a man inky black running
1:15
Speaker 1: over the hill brow towards him. He was a shortish
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Speaker 1: little man, and he wore a high hat, and he
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Speaker 1: was running so fast that his legs verily twinkled. Another
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Speaker 1: of those fools, said doctor Kemp, like that ass who
1:30
Speaker 1: ran into me this morning around a corner with visible
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Speaker 1: man a coming, Sir, I can't imagine what possesses people.
1:37
Speaker 1: One might think we were in the thirteenth century. He
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Speaker 1: got up, went to the window and stared at the
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Speaker 1: dusky hillside and the dark little figure tearing down it.
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Speaker 1: He seems in a confounded hurry, said doctor Kemp. But
1:51
Speaker 1: he doesn't seem to be getting on. If his pockets
1:53
Speaker 1: were full of lead, he couldn't run heavier spurted, sir,
1:57
Speaker 1: said doctor Kemp. In another moment, the higher of the
2:01
Speaker 1: villas that had clambered up the hill from Burdock had
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Speaker 1: eccluded the running figure. He was visible again for a moment,
2:07
Speaker 1: and again, and then again three times. Between the three
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Speaker 1: detached houses that came next, and then the terrace hid him. Asses,
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Speaker 1: said doctor Kemp, swinging around on his heel and walking
2:18
Speaker 1: back to his writing table. But those who saw the
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Speaker 1: fugitive nearer and perceived the abject terror on his perspiring face.
2:26
Speaker 1: Being themselves in the open roadway, did not share in
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Speaker 1: the doctor's contempt. The man pounded, and as he ran
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Speaker 1: he chinked, like a well filled purse that is tossed
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Speaker 1: to and fro. He looked neither to the right nor
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Speaker 1: the left, but his dilated eyes stared straight down hill,
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Speaker 1: to where the lamps were being lit, and the people
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Speaker 1: were crowded in the street, And his ill shaped mouth
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Speaker 1: fell apart, and a glary foam lay on his lips,
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Speaker 1: and his breath came hoarse and noisy. All he passed
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Speaker 1: stopped and began staring up the road and down and
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Speaker 1: interrogating one another with an inkling of discomfort for the
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Speaker 1: reason of his haste. And then, presently far up the hill,
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Speaker 1: a dog playing in the road yelped and ran under
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Speaker 1: a gate. And as they still wandered, something a wind,
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Speaker 1: a pad pad pad, a sound like a panting breathing
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Speaker 1: rushed by. People screamed, people sprang off the pavement. It
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Speaker 1: passed in shouts, It passed by instinct down the hill.
3:25
Speaker 1: They were shouting in the street before Marvel was halfway there.
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Speaker 1: They were bolting into houses and slamming the doors behind them,
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Speaker 1: and with the news he heard it and made one
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Speaker 1: last desperate spurt. Fear came striding by, rushed ahead of him,
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Speaker 1: and in a moment had seized the town. The Invisible
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Speaker 1: Man is coming, The Invisible Man, Chapter sixteen in The
3:50
Speaker 1: Jolly Cricketers, The Jolly Cricketers is just at the bottom
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Speaker 1: of the hill where the tram lines begin. The barman
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Speaker 1: lent his fat red arm on the counter and talked
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Speaker 1: of horses with an anemic cabman, while a black bearded
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Speaker 1: man in a gray snapped up biscuit and cheese, drank burton,
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Speaker 1: and conversed in American with a policeman off duty. What's
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Speaker 1: the shouting about, said the anemic cabman, going off at
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Speaker 1: a tangent, trying to see up the hill over the
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Speaker 1: dirty yellow blind in the low window of the inn.
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Speaker 1: Somebody ran by outside fire perhaps, said the barman. Footsteps approached,
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Speaker 1: running heavily. The door was pushed open violently, and Marvel,
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Speaker 1: weeping and disheveled, his hat gone, the neck of his
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Speaker 1: coat torn open, rushed in, made a convulsive turn and
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Speaker 1: attempted to shut the door. It was half held open
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Speaker 1: by a strap coming. He bawled, his voice shrieking with
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Speaker 1: ter ease, coming the visible man after me. For God's sake,
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Speaker 1: help help, help shut the doors, said the policeman, who's coming.
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Speaker 1: What's the row? He went to the door, released the
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Speaker 1: strap and it slammed. The American closed the other door.
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Speaker 1: Let me go inside, said Marvel, staggering and weeping, but
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Speaker 1: still clutching the books. Let me go inside. Lock me
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Speaker 1: in somewhere. I tell you he's after me. I gave
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Speaker 1: him the slip. He said he'd kill me, and you will.
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Speaker 1: You're safe, said the man with the black beard. The
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Speaker 1: doors shut. What's it all about? Let me go inside,
5:26
Speaker 1: said Marvel, and shrieked aloud as a blow suddenly made
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Speaker 1: the fastened door shiver and was followed by a hurried
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Speaker 1: rapping and a shouting outside. Hullo, cried the policeman, who's there.
5:38
Speaker 1: Mister Marvel began to make frantic dives at panels that
5:40
Speaker 1: looked like doors. He'll kill me. He's got a knife
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Speaker 1: or something. For God's sake, here you are, said the barman.
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Speaker 1: Come in here, and he held up the flap of
5:49
Speaker 1: the bar. Mister Marvel rushed behind the bar as the
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Speaker 1: summon's outside was repeated. Don't open the door, he screamed, please,
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Speaker 1: don't open the door. Where eyed this? This invisible man
6:04
Speaker 1: then asked the man with the black beard, with one
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Speaker 1: hand behind him, Oh, yes, it's about time we saw him.
6:11
Speaker 1: The window of the inn was suddenly smashed in, and
6:14
Speaker 1: there was a screaming and running to and fro in
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Speaker 1: the street. The policeman had been standing on the settee
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Speaker 1: staring out, craning to see who was at the door.
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Speaker 1: He got down with raised eyebrows. It's that, he said.
6:27
Speaker 1: The barman stood in front of the bar parlor, which
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Speaker 1: was now locked on. Mister Marvel stared at the smashed
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Speaker 1: window and came round to the other two men. Everything
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Speaker 1: was suddenly quiet. I wish I had my truncheon, said
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Speaker 1: the policeman, going irresolutely to the door. Once we open
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Speaker 1: and he comes, there's no stop in him. Don't you
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Speaker 1: be in too much hurry about that door, said the
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Speaker 1: anemic cabman. Actionously, draw the bolts, said the man with
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Speaker 1: a black beard, And if he comes, he showed a
7:00
Speaker 1: revolver in his hand. That won't do, said the policeman.
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Speaker 1: That's murder, I know. What country I'm in, said the
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Speaker 1: man with the beard. I'm going to let off at
7:10
Speaker 1: his legs draw the bolts. Not with that blinking fingering
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Speaker 1: off behind me, said the barman, craning over the blind
7:18
Speaker 1: Very well, said the man with the black beard, and
7:20
Speaker 1: stooping down revolver already drew himself. Barman, cabman and policeman
7:25
Speaker 1: faced about. Come in, said the bearded man in an undertone,
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Speaker 1: standing back and facing the unbolted doors with his pistol
7:32
Speaker 1: behind him. No one came in. The door remained closed
7:38
Speaker 1: five minutes afterwards, when a second cabman pushed his head
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Speaker 1: in cautiously. They were still waiting, and an anxious face
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Speaker 1: peered out of the bar parlor and supplied information. Are
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Speaker 1: all the doors of the house shut? Asked Marvel. He's
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Speaker 1: going round, prowling round. He's as artful as the devil.
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Speaker 1: Good lord, said the burly barman. There's the back. Just
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Speaker 1: watch them door as I say. He looked about him helplessly.
8:04
Speaker 1: The bar parlor door slammed, and they heard the key turn.
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Speaker 1: There's the yard door and the private door. The yard door.
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Speaker 1: He rushed out of the bar. In a minute, he
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Speaker 1: reappeared with a carving knife in his hand. The yard
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Speaker 1: door was open, he said, and his fat under lip dropped.
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Speaker 1: He may be in the ouse now, said the first cabman.
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Speaker 1: He's not in the kitchen, said the barman. There's two
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Speaker 1: women there, and I've stabbed every inch of it with
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Speaker 1: his little beef slicer, and they don't think he's come in.
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Speaker 1: They haven't noticed. Have you fastened it, asked the first cabman.
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Speaker 1: I'm out of frocks, said the barman. The man with
8:42
Speaker 1: the beard replaced his revolver, and even as he did so,
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Speaker 1: the flap of the bar was shut down and the
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Speaker 1: bolt clicked, and then with a tremendous thud, the catch
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Speaker 1: of the door snapped and the bar parlor door pursed open.
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Speaker 1: The heard Marvel squeal like a caught leverage, and forthwith
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Speaker 1: they were clambering over the bar to his rescue. The
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Speaker 1: bearded man's revolver cracked, and the looking glass at the
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Speaker 1: back of the parlor starred and came smashing and tinkling down.
9:07
Speaker 1: As the barman entered the room, he saw Marvel curiously
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Speaker 1: crumpled up and struggling against the door that led to
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Speaker 1: the yard and kitchen. The door flew open while the
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Speaker 1: barman hesitated, and Marvel was dragged into the kitchen. There
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Speaker 1: was a scream and a clatter of hands. Marvel, head
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Speaker 1: down and lugging back obstinately, was forced to the kitchen door,
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Speaker 1: and the bolts were drawn. Then the policeman, who had
9:30
Speaker 1: been trying to pass the barman, rushed in, followed by
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Speaker 1: one of the cabin grabbed the wrist of the invisible
9:36
Speaker 1: hand that collared. Marvel was hit in the face and
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Speaker 1: went reeling back. The door opened and Marvel made a
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Speaker 1: frantic effort to obtain a lodgment behind it. Then the
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Speaker 1: cabman collared something. I got him, said the cabman. The
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Speaker 1: barman's red hands came clawing at the unseen here he is,
9:54
Speaker 1: said the barman. Mister Marvel, released suddenly dropped to the
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Speaker 1: ground and made an attempt crawl behind the legs of
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Speaker 1: the fighting men. The struggle blundered around the edge of
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Speaker 1: the door. The voice of the invisible man was heard
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Speaker 1: for the first time, yelling out sharply as the policeman
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Speaker 1: trod on his foot. Then he cried out passionately, and
10:13
Speaker 1: his fists flew round like flails. The cabman suddenly whooped
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Speaker 1: and doubled up, kicked under the diaphragm. The door into
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Speaker 1: the bar parlor from the kitchen slammed and covered mister
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Speaker 1: Marvell's retreat. The men in the kitchen found themselves clutching
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Speaker 1: at and struggling with empty air. Where is he gone,
10:32
Speaker 1: cried the man with the beard. Out this way, said
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Speaker 1: the policeman, stepping into the yard and stopping. A piece
10:38
Speaker 1: of tile whizzed by his head and smashed among the
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Speaker 1: crockery on the kitchen table. I'll show him, shouted the
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Speaker 1: man with the black beard. And suddenly a steel barrel
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Speaker 1: shone over the policeman's shoulder, and five bullets had followed
10:50
Speaker 1: one another into the twilight. Whence the missile had come.
10:53
Speaker 1: As he fired, the man with the beard moved his
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Speaker 1: hand in a horizontal curve, so that his shots radiated
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Speaker 1: out into the arrow yard like spokes from a wheel.
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Speaker 1: A silence followed, five cartridges, said the man with a
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Speaker 1: black beard. That's the best of all four aces, and
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Speaker 1: a joker. Get a lantern, someone uncomme and feel about
11:13
Speaker 1: for his body. Chapter seventeen, Doctor Kemp's Visitor. Doctor Kemp
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Speaker 1: had continued writing in his study until the shots aroused him. Crack, crack, crack,
11:29
Speaker 1: they came, one after another. Hello, said doctor Kemp, putting
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Speaker 1: his pen into his mouth again and listening. Who's letting
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Speaker 1: revolvers off in Burdock? What are the asses at now?
11:41
Speaker 1: He went to the south window, threw it up, and
11:44
Speaker 1: leaning out, stared down on the network of windows, beaded
11:46
Speaker 1: gas lamps and shops with his black interstices of roof
11:49
Speaker 1: and yard that made up the town at night. Looks
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Speaker 1: like a crowd down the hill, he said, by the cricketers,
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Speaker 1: and remained watching. Thence his eyes wandered over the town
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Speaker 1: to far away, where the ship's lights shone and the
12:03
Speaker 1: pier glowed a little illuminated faceted pavilion like a gem
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Speaker 1: of yellow light. The moon in his first quarter hung
12:11
Speaker 1: over the westward hill, and the stars were clear and
12:13
Speaker 1: almost tropically bright. After five minutes, during which his mind
12:18
Speaker 1: had traveled into a remote speculation of social conditions of
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Speaker 1: the future, and lost itself at last over the time dimension,
12:25
Speaker 1: Doctor Kemp roused himself with a sigh, pulled down the
12:28
Speaker 1: window again, and returned to his writing desk. It must
12:32
Speaker 1: have been about an hour after this that the front
12:34
Speaker 1: door bell rang. He had been writing slightly and with
12:38
Speaker 1: intervals of abstraction since the shots. He sat listening. He
12:42
Speaker 1: heard the servant answer the door, and waited for her
12:45
Speaker 1: feet on the staircase, but she did not come. Wonder
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Speaker 1: what that was, said doctor Kemp. He tried to resume
12:53
Speaker 1: his work, failed, got up, went downstairs from his study
12:57
Speaker 1: to the landing rang and called over the balush strayed
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Speaker 1: to the housemaid as she appeared in the hall below.
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Speaker 1: Was that a letter? He asked, Only a runaway ring, Sir,
13:07
Speaker 1: she answered, I'm restless to night, he has said to himself.
13:12
Speaker 1: He went back to his study and this time attacked
13:14
Speaker 1: his work resolutely. In a little while he was hard
13:17
Speaker 1: at work again, and the only sounds in the room
13:20
Speaker 1: were the ticking of the clock and the subdued shrillness
13:22
Speaker 1: of his quill hurrying in the very center of the
13:24
Speaker 1: circle of light. His lamp shade threw on his table.
13:29
Speaker 1: It was two o'clock before doctor Kemp had finished his
13:31
Speaker 1: work for the night. He rose, yawned, and went downstairs
13:35
Speaker 1: to bed. He had already removed his coat and vest.
13:38
Speaker 1: When he noticed that he was thirsty. He took a
13:41
Speaker 1: candle and went down to the dining room in search
13:43
Speaker 1: of a siphon and whiskey. Doctor Kemp's scientific pursuits have
13:48
Speaker 1: made him a very observant man, and as he recrossed
13:51
Speaker 1: the hall he noticed a dark spot on the linoleum
13:54
Speaker 1: near the mat at the foot of the stairs. He
13:57
Speaker 1: went on upstairs, and then it suddenly ocurred to him
14:00
Speaker 1: to ask himself what the spot on the linonium might be.
14:03
Speaker 1: Apparently some subconscious element was at work. At any rate,
14:07
Speaker 1: he turned with his burden, went back to the hall,
14:10
Speaker 1: put down the siphon and whiskey, and bending down, touched
14:13
Speaker 1: the spot. Without any great surprise, he found it had
14:18
Speaker 1: the stickiness and color of drying blood. He took up
14:22
Speaker 1: his burden again and returned upstairs. Looking about him and
14:25
Speaker 1: trying to account for the blood spot on the landing,
14:28
Speaker 1: he saw something and stopped, astonished. The door handle of
14:32
Speaker 1: his own room was blood stained. He looked at his
14:35
Speaker 1: own hand, it was quite clean, and then he remembered
14:39
Speaker 1: the door of his room had been open when he
14:41
Speaker 1: came down from his study, and that consequently he had
14:43
Speaker 1: not touched the handle at all. He went straight into
14:46
Speaker 1: his room. His face quite calm, perhaps a trifle more
14:49
Speaker 1: resolute than usual. His glance wandering inquisitively fell on the bed.
14:55
Speaker 1: On the counterpane was a mess of blood, and the
14:57
Speaker 1: sheet had been torn. He had not noticed this before
15:01
Speaker 1: because he had walked straight to the dressing table on
15:04
Speaker 1: the further side. The bedclothes were depressed, as if some
15:06
Speaker 1: one had recently been sitting there. Then he had an
15:11
Speaker 1: odd impression that he heard a low voice say, good
15:13
Speaker 1: heavens Kemp. But doctor Kemp was no believer in voices.
15:19
Speaker 1: He stood staring at the tumbled sheets. Was that really
15:22
Speaker 1: a voice? He looked about again, but noticed nothing further
15:26
Speaker 1: than the disordered and blood stained bed. Then he distinctly
15:30
Speaker 1: heard a movement across the room near the wash hand stand.
15:35
Speaker 1: All men, however highly educated, retained some superstitious inklings. The
15:40
Speaker 1: feeling that is called eerie came upon him. He closed
15:44
Speaker 1: the door of the room, came forward to the dressing table,
15:46
Speaker 1: and put down his burdens. Suddenly, with a start, he
15:50
Speaker 1: perceived a coiled and blood stained bandage of linen rag
15:53
Speaker 1: hanging in mid air between him and the wash hand stand.
15:58
Speaker 1: He stared at this in amazement. It was an empty bandage,
16:02
Speaker 1: A bandage properly tied, but quite empty. He would have
16:06
Speaker 1: advanced to grasp it, but a touch arrested him, and
16:09
Speaker 1: a voice speaking quite close to him. Kemp said the voice, Eh,
16:15
Speaker 1: said Kemp, with his mouth open. Keep your nerve, said
16:18
Speaker 1: the voice, I am an invisible man. Kemp made no
16:22
Speaker 1: answer for a space, simply stared at the bandage. Invisible man,
16:27
Speaker 1: he said, I am an invisible man, repeated the voice.
16:33
Speaker 1: The story he had been active to ridicule only that
16:36
Speaker 1: morning rushed through Kemp's brain. He does not appear to
16:40
Speaker 1: have been either very much frightened or very greatly surprised
16:43
Speaker 1: at the moment. Realization came later. I thought it was
16:48
Speaker 1: all a lie, he said. The thought uppermost in his
16:52
Speaker 1: mind was the reiterated arguments of the morning. Have you
16:55
Speaker 1: a Bandagejohn, he asked, Yes, said the invisible man. Oh,
17:01
Speaker 1: said Kemp, and then roused himself. I say, he said,
17:05
Speaker 1: but this is nonsense. It's some trick. He stepped forward. Suddenly,
17:09
Speaker 1: in his hand extended towards the bandage, met invisible fingers.
17:14
Speaker 1: He recoiled at the touch, and his color changed. Keep steady, Kemp,
17:18
Speaker 1: for God's sake, I want help badly. Stop. The hand
17:22
Speaker 1: gripped his arm. He struck at it. Kemp cried the voice, Kemp,
17:26
Speaker 1: keep steady, and the grip tightened. A frantic desire to
17:30
Speaker 1: free himself took possession of Kemp. The hand of the
17:33
Speaker 1: bandaged arm gripped his shoulder, and he was suddenly tripped
17:36
Speaker 1: and flung backwards upon the bed. He opened his mouth
17:39
Speaker 1: to shout, and the corner of the sheet was thrust
17:41
Speaker 1: between his teeth. The invisible man had him down grimly,
17:46
Speaker 1: but his arms were free, and he struck and tried
17:48
Speaker 1: to kick savagely. Listen to reason, will you, said the
17:51
Speaker 1: invisible man, sticking to him, in spite of a pounding
17:54
Speaker 1: in the ribs. By Heaven, you'll madden me in a minute.
17:57
Speaker 1: Lie still, you fool, bawled the invisible man in Kemp's ear.
18:02
Speaker 1: Kemp struggled for another moment and then lay still. If
18:05
Speaker 1: you shout, I'll smash your face, said the invisible man,
18:08
Speaker 1: relieving his mouth. I'm an invisible man. It's no foolish
18:14
Speaker 1: and no magic. I really am an invisible man, and
18:17
Speaker 1: I want your help. I don't want to hurt you,
18:20
Speaker 1: but if you behave like a frantic, rustic, I must
18:23
Speaker 1: don't you remember me, Kemp? Gryffin of University College. Let
18:28
Speaker 1: me get up, said Kemp. I'll stop where I am
18:30
Speaker 1: and let me sit quiet for a minute. He sat
18:34
Speaker 1: up and felt his neck. I am Gryffin of University College,
18:37
Speaker 1: and I have made myself invisible. I am just an
18:41
Speaker 1: ordinary man, a man you have known, made invisible, Gryffin,
18:46
Speaker 1: said Kemp. Gryffin answered the voice, A younger student than
18:51
Speaker 1: you were, almost an albino, six feet high and broad,
18:54
Speaker 1: with a pink and white face and red eyes, who
18:56
Speaker 1: won the medal for chemistry. I am confused, said Kemp.
19:01
Speaker 1: My brain is rioting. What has this to do with Griffin?
19:05
Speaker 1: I am Griffin? Kemp thought. It's horrible, he said, But
19:12
Speaker 1: what devilry must happen to make a man invisible? It's
19:15
Speaker 1: no devilry. It's a process, sane and intelligible enough. It's horrible,
19:20
Speaker 1: said Kemp. How on earth it's horrible enough. But I
19:24
Speaker 1: am wounded and in pain and tired. Great God, Kemp,
19:28
Speaker 1: you are a man. Take it steady, Give me some
19:31
Speaker 1: food and drink, and let me sit down here. Kemp
19:36
Speaker 1: stared at the bandage, as it moved across the room.
19:38
Speaker 1: Then saw a basket chair dragged across the floor and
19:40
Speaker 1: come to rest near the bed. It creaked and the
19:44
Speaker 1: seat was depressed by the quarter of an inch or so.
19:48
Speaker 1: He rubbed his eyes and felt his neck again. This
19:52
Speaker 1: beats ghosts, he said, and laughed stupidly. That's better, Thank Heaven.
19:57
Speaker 1: You're getting sensible or silly, said Kemp, and knuckled his eyes.
20:02
Speaker 1: Give me some whisky. I'm near dead, it didn't feel so.
20:06
Speaker 1: Where are you? If I get up, I run into you? There?
20:09
Speaker 1: All right? Whisky here? Where shall I give it to you?
20:14
Speaker 1: The chair creaked and Kemp felt the glass drawn away
20:16
Speaker 1: from him. He let go by an effort. His instinct
20:20
Speaker 1: was all against it. It came to rest poised twenty
20:23
Speaker 1: inches above the front edge of the seat of the chair.
20:26
Speaker 1: He stared at it in infinite perplexity. This is this
20:31
Speaker 1: must be hypnotism. You have suggested you are invisible. Nonsense,
20:37
Speaker 1: said the voice. It's frantic. Listen to me, I demonstrated
20:41
Speaker 1: conclusively this morning, began Kemp, that invisibility. Never mind what
20:45
Speaker 1: you've demonstrated. I'm starving, said the voice, And the night
20:49
Speaker 1: is chilly to a man without clothes, Food, said Kemp.
20:54
Speaker 1: The tumble of whisky tilted itself, Yes, said the invisible man,
20:57
Speaker 1: wrapping it down. Have you a dressing gown? Kemp made
21:01
Speaker 1: some exclamation in an undertone. He walked to a wardrobe
21:05
Speaker 1: and produced a robe of dingy'scrlet. This do, he asked?
21:08
Speaker 1: It was taken from him. It hung limp for a
21:11
Speaker 1: moment in mid air, fluttered weirdly, stood full and decorously,
21:15
Speaker 1: buttoning itself, and sat down in his chair. Drawers, socks,
21:19
Speaker 1: slippers would be a comfort, said the unseen curtly, and
21:22
Speaker 1: food anything, But this is the insanest thing I was
21:26
Speaker 1: ever in in my life. He turned out his drawers
21:30
Speaker 1: for the articles, and then went downstairs to ransack his larder.
21:34
Speaker 1: He came back with some cold cutlets and bread, pulled
21:36
Speaker 1: up a light table, and placed them before his guest.
21:40
Speaker 1: Never mind knives, said his visitor, and a cutlet hung
21:43
Speaker 1: in mid air with a sound of gnawing. Invisible, said Kemp,
21:47
Speaker 1: and sat down on a bedroom chair. I always like
21:50
Speaker 1: to get something about me before I eat, said the
21:52
Speaker 1: invicible man, with a full mouth, eating greedily. Queer fancy,
21:57
Speaker 1: I suppose that wrist is all right, said Kemp. Trust me,
22:00
Speaker 1: said the invisible man. I've all the strange and wonderful exactly.
22:06
Speaker 1: But it's odd I should blunder into your house to
22:08
Speaker 1: get my bandaging, my first stroke of luck. Anyhow, I
22:11
Speaker 1: meant to sleep in this house to night. You must
22:13
Speaker 1: stand that it's a filthy nuisance. My blood showing, Isn't
22:16
Speaker 1: it quite a clot? Over there? Gets visible as it coagulates.
22:20
Speaker 1: You see, it's the only living tissue I've changed, and
22:23
Speaker 1: only for as long as I'm alive. I've been in
22:26
Speaker 1: the house three hours. But how's it done? Began Kemp
22:30
Speaker 1: in a tone of exasperation. Confound it the whole business.
22:33
Speaker 1: It's unreasonable, from beginning to end. Quite reasonable, said the
22:37
Speaker 1: invisible man, perfectly reasonable. He reached over and secured the
22:41
Speaker 1: whiskey bottle. Kemp stared at the devouring dressing gown. A
22:45
Speaker 1: ray of candle light penetrating a torn patch in the
22:47
Speaker 1: right shoulder made a triangle of light under the left ribs.
22:51
Speaker 1: Where are the shots? He asked? How did the shooting begin?
22:55
Speaker 1: There was a real fool of a man, a sort
22:57
Speaker 1: of confederate of mine. Curse him who tried to steal
23:00
Speaker 1: my money has done so? Is he invisible too? No? Well,
23:06
Speaker 1: can't I have some more to eat before I tell
23:08
Speaker 1: you all that I'm hungry in pain, and you want
23:10
Speaker 1: me to tell stories? Kemp got up. You didn't do
23:14
Speaker 1: any shooting, he asked, Not me, said his visitor. Some
23:19
Speaker 1: fool i'd never seen fired at random. A lot of
23:21
Speaker 1: em got scared. They all got scared at me. Curse them.
23:24
Speaker 1: I say, I want more to eat than this, Kemp.
23:28
Speaker 1: I'll see what there is to eat downstairs, said Kemp,
23:30
Speaker 1: Not much, I'm afraid. After he had done eating, and
23:34
Speaker 1: he had made a heavy meal, the invisible man demanded
23:37
Speaker 1: a cigar. He bit the end savagely before Kemp could
23:40
Speaker 1: find a knife, and cursed. When the outer leaf loosened,
23:43
Speaker 1: it was strange to see him smoking. His mouth and
23:46
Speaker 1: throat phananx and narrows became visible as a sort of
23:49
Speaker 1: whirling smoke cast this blessed gift of smoking, he said,
23:53
Speaker 1: and puffed vigorously. I am lucky to have fallen upon you, Kemp.
23:57
Speaker 1: You must help me fancy tumbling on you just now.
24:00
Speaker 1: I'm in a devilish scrape. I've been mad. I think
24:02
Speaker 1: the things I've been through, but we will do things yet.
24:05
Speaker 1: Let me tell you. He helped himself to more whiskey
24:08
Speaker 1: and soda. Kemp got up, looked about him, and fetched
24:11
Speaker 1: a glass from his spare room. It's wild, but I
24:14
Speaker 1: suppose I may drink. You haven't changed much, Kemp, these
24:17
Speaker 1: dozen years. You fair men, don't cool and methodical. After
24:21
Speaker 1: the first collapse, I must tell you. We will work together.
24:25
Speaker 1: But how was it all done? Said Kemp? And how
24:27
Speaker 1: did you get like this? For God's sake, let me
24:30
Speaker 1: smoke in peace for a little while, and then I
24:31
Speaker 1: will begin to tell you. But the story was not
24:35
Speaker 1: told that night. The Invisible Man's wrist was growing painful.
24:39
Speaker 1: He was feverish, exhausted, and his mind came round to
24:41
Speaker 1: brood upon his chase down the hill and the struggle
24:43
Speaker 1: about the inn. He spoke in fragments of marvel. He
24:47
Speaker 1: smoked faster, his voice grew angry. Kemp tried to gather
24:51
Speaker 1: what he could. He was afraid of me. I could
24:54
Speaker 1: see that he was afraid of me, said the invisible man.
24:56
Speaker 1: Many times over. He meant to give me the slip.
24:59
Speaker 1: He was always casting about. What a fool I was?
25:02
Speaker 1: The cur I should have killed him. Where did you
25:06
Speaker 1: get the money, asked Kemp abruptly. The invisible man was
25:09
Speaker 1: silent for a space. I can't tell you to night,
25:12
Speaker 1: he said. He groaned suddenly and leant forward, supporting his
25:17
Speaker 1: invisible head on invisible hands. Kemp. He said, I've had
25:20
Speaker 1: no sleep for near three days, except a couple of
25:23
Speaker 1: dozes an hour. I must sleep soon. Well, have my room?
25:26
Speaker 1: Have this room? But how can I sleep? If I sleep,
25:29
Speaker 1: he will get away? Oh what does it matter? What's
25:33
Speaker 1: the shot wound? Asked Kemp abruptly, Nothing scratched and blood.
25:38
Speaker 1: Oh God, how I want sleep? Why not? The invisible
25:42
Speaker 1: man appeared to be regarding Kemp. Because I've a particular
25:45
Speaker 1: objection to being caught by my fellow men, he said slowly.
25:49
Speaker 1: Kemp started fool that I am, said the invisible man,
25:53
Speaker 1: striking the table smartly. I've put the idea into your head.
26:00
Speaker 1: End of Chapter seventeen