by H. G. Wells
CHAPTER XI
IN THE "COACH AND HORSES"
Now in order clearly to understand what had happened in the inn, itis necessary to go back to the moment when Mr. Marvel first cameinto view of Mr. Huxter's window.
At that precise moment Mr. Cuss and Mr. Bunting were in the parlour.They were seriously investigating the strange occurrences of themorning, and were, with Mr. Hall's permission, making a thoroughexamination of the Invisible Man's belongings. Jaffers had partiallyrecovered from his fall and had gone home in the charge of hissympathetic friends. The stranger's scattered garments had beenremoved by Mrs. Hall and the room tidied up. And on the table underthe window where the stranger had been wont to work, Cuss had hitalmost at once on three big books in manuscript labelled "Diary."
"Diary!" said Cuss, putting the three books on the table. "Now, atany rate, we shall learn something." The Vicar stood with his handson the table.
"Diary," repeated Cuss, sitting down, putting two volumes tosupport the third, and opening it. "H'm--no name on the fly-leaf.Bother!--cypher. And figures."
The vicar came round to look over his shoulder.
Cuss turned the pages over with a face suddenly disappointed."I'm--dear me! It's all cypher, Bunting."
"There are no diagrams?" asked Mr. Bunting. "No illustrationsthrowing light--"
"See for yourself," said Mr. Cuss. "Some of it's mathematical andsome of it's Russian or some such language (to judge by theletters), and some of it's Greek. Now the Greek I thought _you_--"
"Of course," said Mr. Bunting, taking out and wiping his spectaclesand feeling suddenly very uncomfortable--for he had no Greekleft in his mind worth talking about; "yes--the Greek, of course,may furnish a clue."
"I'll find you a place."
"I'd rather glance through the volumes first," said Mr. Bunting,still wiping. "A general impression first, Cuss, and _then_, youknow, we can go looking for clues."
He coughed, put on his glasses, arranged them fastidiously, coughedagain, and wished something would happen to avert the seeminglyinevitable exposure. Then he took the volume Cuss handed him in aleisurely manner. And then something did happen.
The door opened suddenly.
Both gentlemen started violently, looked round, and were relievedto see a sporadically rosy face beneath a furry silk hat. "Tap?"asked the face, and stood staring.
"No," said both gentlemen at once.
"Over the other side, my man," said Mr. Bunting. And "Please shutthat door," said Mr. Cuss, irritably.
"All right," said the intruder, as it seemed in a low voicecuriously different from the huskiness of its first inquiry. "Rightyou are," said the intruder in the former voice. "Stand clear!" andhe vanished and closed the door.
"A sailor, I should judge," said Mr. Bunting. "Amusing fellows, theyare. Stand clear! indeed. A nautical term, referring to his gettingback out of the room, I suppose."
"I daresay so," said Cuss. "My nerves are all loose to-day. It quitemade me jump--the door opening like that."
Mr. Bunting smiled as if he had not jumped. "And now," he said witha sigh, "these books."
Someone sniffed as he did so.
"One thing is indisputable," said Bunting, drawing up a chair nextto that of Cuss. "There certainly have been very strange thingshappen in Iping during the last few days--very strange. I cannotof course believe in this absurd invisibility story--"
"It's incredible," said Cuss--"incredible. But the fact remainsthat I saw--I certainly saw right down his sleeve--"
"But did you--are you sure? Suppose a mirror, for instance--hallucinations are so easily produced. I don't know if youhave ever seen a really good conjuror--"
"I won't argue again," said Cuss. "We've thrashed that out,Bunting. And just now there's these books--Ah! here's some ofwhat I take to be Greek! Greek letters certainly."
He pointed to the middle of the page. Mr. Bunting flushed slightlyand brought his face nearer, apparently finding some difficultywith his glasses. Suddenly he became aware of a strange feeling atthe nape of his neck. He tried to raise his head, and encounteredan immovable resistance. The feeling was a curious pressure, thegrip of a heavy, firm hand, and it bore his chin irresistibly tothe table. "Don't move, little men," whispered a voice, "or I'llbrain you both!" He looked into the face of Cuss, close to his own,and each saw a horrified reflection of his own sickly astonishment.
"I'm sorry to handle you so roughly," said the Voice, "but it'sunavoidable."
"Since when did you learn to pry into an investigator's privatememoranda," said the Voice; and two chins struck the tablesimultaneously, and two sets of teeth rattled.
"Since when did you learn to invade the private rooms of a man inmisfortune?" and the concussion was repeated.
"Where have they put my clothes?"
"Listen," said the Voice. "The windows are fastened and I've takenthe key out of the door. I am a fairly strong man, and I have thepoker handy--besides being invisible. There's not the slightestdoubt that I could kill you both and get away quite easily if Iwanted to--do you understand? Very well. If I let you go will youpromise not to try any nonsense and do what I tell you?"
The vicar and the doctor looked at one another, and the doctorpulled a face. "Yes," said Mr. Bunting, and the doctor repeated it.Then the pressure on the necks relaxed, and the doctor and thevicar sat up, both very red in the face and wriggling their heads.
"Please keep sitting where you are," said the Invisible Man."Here's the poker, you see."
"When I came into this room," continued the Invisible Man, afterpresenting the poker to the tip of the nose of each of his visitors,"I did not expect to find it occupied, and I expected to find, inaddition to my books of memoranda, an outfit of clothing. Where isit? No--don't rise. I can see it's gone. Now, just at present,though the days are quite warm enough for an invisible man to runabout stark, the evenings are quite chilly. I want clothing--andother accommodation; and I must also have those three books."
