The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance Page 17

  CHAPTER XVII

  DR. KEMP'S VISITOR

  Dr. Kemp had continued writing in his study until the shotsaroused him. Crack, crack, crack, they came one after the other.

  "Hullo!" said Dr. Kemp, putting his pen into his mouth again andlistening. "Who's letting off revolvers in Burdock? What are theasses at now?"

  He went to the south window, threw it up, and leaning out stareddown on the network of windows, beaded gas-lamps and shops, with itsblack interstices of roof and yard that made up the town at night."Looks like a crowd down the hill," he said, "by 'The Cricketers,'"and remained watching. Thence his eyes wandered over the town to faraway where the ships' lights shone, and the pier glowed--a littleilluminated, facetted pavilion like a gem of yellow light. The moonin its first quarter hung over the westward hill, and the stars wereclear and almost tropically bright.

  After five minutes, during which his mind had travelled into aremote speculation of social conditions of the future, and lostitself at last over the time dimension, Dr. Kemp roused himselfwith a sigh, pulled down the window again, and returned to hiswriting desk.

  It must have been about an hour after this that the front-door bellrang. He had been writing slackly, and with intervals ofabstraction, since the shots. He sat listening. He heard the servantanswer the door, and waited for her feet on the staircase, but shedid not come. "Wonder what that was," said Dr. Kemp.

  He tried to resume his work, failed, got up, went downstairs fromhis study to the landing, rang, and called over the balustrade tothe housemaid as she appeared in the hall below. "Was that aletter?" he asked.

  "Only a runaway ring, sir," she answered.

  "I'm restless to-night," he said to himself. He went back to hisstudy, and this time attacked his work resolutely. In a littlewhile he was hard at work again, and the only sounds in the roomwere the ticking of the clock and the subdued shrillness of hisquill, hurrying in the very centre of the circle of light hislampshade threw on his table.

  It was two o'clock before Dr. Kemp had finished his work for thenight. He rose, yawned, and went downstairs to bed. He had alreadyremoved his coat and vest, when he noticed that he was thirsty. Hetook a candle and went down to the dining-room in search of asyphon and whiskey.

  Dr. Kemp's scientific pursuits have made him a very observantman, and as he recrossed the hall, he noticed a dark spot on thelinoleum near the mat at the foot of the stairs. He went onupstairs, and then it suddenly occurred to him to ask himself whatthe spot on the linoleum might be. Apparently some subconsciouselement was at work. At any rate, he turned with his burden, wentback to the hall, put down the syphon and whiskey, and bendingdown, touched the spot. Without any great surprise he found it hadthe stickiness and colour of drying blood.

  He took up his burden again, and returned upstairs, looking abouthim and trying to account for the blood-spot. On the landing he sawsomething and stopped astonished. The door-handle of his own roomwas blood-stained.

  He looked at his own hand. It was quite clean, and then heremembered that the door of his room had been open when he came downfrom his study, and that consequently he had not touched the handleat all. He went straight into his room, his face quite calm--perhapsa trifle more resolute than usual. His glance, wanderinginquisitively, fell on the bed. On the counterpane was a mess ofblood, and the sheet had been torn. He had not noticed this beforebecause he had walked straight to the dressing-table. On the furtherside the bedclothes were depressed as if someone had been recentlysitting there.

  Then he had an odd impression that he had heard a low voice say,"Good Heavens!--Kemp!" But Dr. Kemp was no believer in voices.

  He stood staring at the tumbled sheets. Was that really a voice? Helooked about again, but noticed nothing further than the disorderedand blood-stained bed. Then he distinctly heard a movement acrossthe room, near the wash-hand stand. All men, however highlyeducated, retain some superstitious inklings. The feeling that iscalled "eerie" came upon him. He closed the door of the room, cameforward to the dressing-table, and put down his burdens. Suddenly,with a start, he perceived a coiled and blood-stained bandage oflinen rag hanging in mid-air, between him and the wash-hand stand.

  He stared at this in amazement. It was an empty bandage, a bandageproperly tied but quite empty. He would have advanced to grasp it,but a touch arrested him, and a voice speaking quite close to him.

  "Kemp!" said the Voice.

  "Eh?" said Kemp, with his mouth open.

  "Keep your nerve," said the Voice. "I'm an Invisible Man."

  Kemp made no answer for a space, simply stared at the bandage."Invisible Man," he said.

  "I am an Invisible Man," repeated the Voice.

  The story he had been active to ridicule only that morning rushedthrough Kemp's brain. He does not appear to have been either verymuch frightened or very greatly surprised at the moment.Realisation came later.

  "I thought it was all a lie," he said. The thought uppermost in hismind was the reiterated arguments of the morning. "Have you abandage on?" he asked.

  "Yes," said the Invisible Man.

  "Oh!" said Kemp, and then roused himself. "I say!" he said. "Butthis is nonsense. It's some trick." He stepped forward suddenly,and his hand, extended towards the bandage, met invisible fingers.

  He recoiled at the touch and his colour changed.

  "Keep steady, Kemp, for God's sake! I want help badly. Stop!"

  The hand gripped his arm. He struck at it.

  "Kemp!" cried the Voice. "Kemp! Keep steady!" and the griptightened.

  A frantic desire to free himself took possession of Kemp. The handof the bandaged arm gripped his shoulder, and he was suddenlytripped and flung backwards upon the bed. He opened his mouth toshout, and the corner of the sheet was thrust between his teeth.The Invisible Man had him down grimly, but his arms were free andhe struck and tried to kick savagely.

  "Listen to reason, will you?" said the Invisible Man, sticking tohim in spite of a pounding in the ribs. "By Heaven! you'll maddenme in a minute!

  "Lie still, you fool!" bawled the Invisible Man in Kemp's ear.

  Kemp struggled for another moment and then lay still.

  "If you shout, I'll smash your face," said the Invisible Man,relieving his mouth.

  "I'm an Invisible Man. It's no foolishness, and no magic. I reallyam an Invisible Man. And I want your help. I don't want to hurtyou, but if you behave like a frantic rustic, I must. Don't youremember me, Kemp? Griffin, of University College?"

  "Let me get up," said Kemp. "I'll stop where I am. And let me sitquiet for a minute."

  He sat up and felt his neck.

  "I am Griffin, of University College, and I have made myselfinvisible. I am just an ordinary man--a man you have known--madeinvisible."

  "Griffin?" said Kemp.

  "Griffin," answered the Voice. A younger student than you were,almost an albino, six feet high, and broad, with a pink and whiteface and red eyes, who won the medal for chemistry."

  "I am confused," said Kemp. "My brain is rioting. What has this todo with Griffin?"

  "I _am_ Griffin."

  Kemp thought. "It's horrible," he said. "But what devilry musthappen to make a man invisible?"

  "It's no devilry. It's a process, sane and intelligible enough--"

  "It's horrible!" said Kemp. "How on earth--?"

  "It's horrible enough. But I'm wounded and in pain, and tired ...Great God! Kemp, you are a man. Take it steady. Give me some foodand drink, and let me sit down here."

  Kemp stared at the bandage as it moved across the room, then saw abasket chair dragged across the floor and come to rest near the bed.It creaked, and the seat was depressed the quarter of an inch or so.He rubbed his eyes and felt his neck again. "This beats ghosts," hesaid, and laughed stupidly.

  "That's better. Thank Heaven, you're getting sensible!"

  "Or silly," said Kemp, and knuckled his eyes.

  "Give me some whiskey. I'm near dead."

  "It didn't feel so. Where are you? If I get
up shall I run into you?_There_! all right. Whiskey? Here. Where shall I give it to you?"

  The chair creaked and Kemp felt the glass drawn away from him. Helet go by an effort; his instinct was all against it. It came torest poised twenty inches above the front edge of the seat of thechair. He stared at it in infinite perplexity. "This is--thismust be--hypnotism. You have suggested you are invisible."

  "Nonsense," said the Voice.

  "It's frantic."

  "Listen to me."

  "I demonstrated conclusively this morning," began Kemp, "thatinvisibility--"

  "Never mind what you've demonstrated!--I'm starving," said theVoice, "and the night is chilly to a man without clothes."

  "Food?" said Kemp.

  The tumbler of whiskey tilted itself. "Yes," said the Invisible Manrapping it down. "Have you a dressing-gown?"

  Kemp made some exclamation in an undertone. He walked to a wardrobeand produced a robe of dingy scarlet. "This do?" he asked. It wastaken from him. It hung limp for a moment in mid-air, flutteredweirdly, stood full and decorous buttoning itself, and sat down inhis chair. "Drawers, socks, slippers would be a comfort," said theUnseen, curtly. "And food."

  "Anything. But this is the insanest thing I ever was in, in mylife!"

  He turned out his drawers for the articles, and then went downstairsto ransack his larder. He came back with some cold cutlets andbread, pulled up a light table, and placed them before his guest."Never mind knives," said his visitor, and a cutlet hung in mid-air,with a sound of gnawing.

  "Invisible!" said Kemp, and sat down on a bedroom chair.

  "I always like to get something about me before I eat," said theInvisible Man, with a full mouth, eating greedily. "Queer fancy!"

  "I suppose that wrist is all right," said Kemp.

  "Trust me," said the Invisible Man.

  "Of all the strange and wonderful--"

  "Exactly. But it's odd I should blunder into _your_ house to get mybandaging. My first stroke of luck! Anyhow I meant to sleep in thishouse to-night. You must stand that! It's a filthy nuisance, myblood showing, isn't it? Quite a clot over there. Gets visible asit coagulates, I see. It's only the living tissue I've changed, andonly for as long as I'm alive.... I've been in the house three hours."

  "But how's it done?" began Kemp, in a tone of exasperation."Confound it! The whole business--it's unreasonable frombeginning to end."

  "Quite reasonable," said the Invisible Man. "Perfectly reasonable."

  He reached over and secured the whiskey bottle. Kemp stared at thedevouring dressing gown. A ray of candle-light penetrating a tornpatch in the right shoulder, made a triangle of light under theleft ribs. "What were the shots?" he asked. "How did the shootingbegin?"

  "There was a real fool of a man--a sort of confederate ofmine--curse him!--who tried to steal my money. _Has_ done so."

  "Is _he_ invisible too?"

  "No."

  "Well?"

  "Can't I have some more to eat before I tell you all that? I'mhungry--in pain. And you want me to tell stories!"

  Kemp got up. "_You_ didn't do any shooting?" he asked.

  "Not me," said his visitor. "Some fool I'd never seen fired atrandom. A lot of them got scared. They all got scared at me. Cursethem!--I say--I want more to eat than this, Kemp."

  "I'll see what there is to eat downstairs," said Kemp. "Not much,I'm afraid."

  After he had done eating, and he made a heavy meal, the InvisibleMan demanded a cigar. He bit the end savagely before Kemp couldfind a knife, and cursed when the outer leaf loosened. It wasstrange to see him smoking; his mouth, and throat, pharynx andnares, became visible as a sort of whirling smoke cast.

  "This blessed gift of smoking!" he said, and puffed vigorously."I'm lucky to have fallen upon you, Kemp. You must help me. Fancytumbling on you just now! I'm in a devilish scrape--I've been mad,I think. The things I have been through! But we will do things yet.Let me tell you--"

  He helped himself to more whiskey and soda. Kemp got up, lookedabout him, and fetched a glass from his spare room. "It's wild--butI suppose I may drink."

  "You haven't changed much, Kemp, these dozen years. You fair mendon't. Cool and methodical--after the first collapse. I must tellyou. We will work together!"

  "But how was it all done?" said Kemp, "and how did you get likethis?"

  "For God's sake, let me smoke in peace for a little while! And thenI will begin to tell you."

  But the story was not told that night. The Invisible Man's wristwas growing painful; he was feverish, exhausted, and his mind cameround to brood upon his chase down the hill and the struggle aboutthe inn. He spoke in fragments of Marvel, he smoked faster, hisvoice grew angry. Kemp tried to gather what he could.

  "He was afraid of me, I could see that he was afraid of me," saidthe Invisible Man many times over. "He meant to give me the slip--hewas always casting about! What a fool I was!

  "The cur!

  "I should have killed him!"

  "Where did you get the money?" asked Kemp, abruptly.

  The Invisible Man was silent for a space. "I can't tell youto-night," he said.

  He groaned suddenly and leant forward, supporting his invisiblehead on invisible hands. "Kemp," he said, "I've had no sleep fornear three days, except a couple of dozes of an hour or so. Imust sleep soon."

  "Well, have my room--have this room."

  "But how can I sleep? If I sleep--he will get away. Ugh! Whatdoes it matter?"

  "What's the shot wound?" asked Kemp, abruptly.

  "Nothing--scratch and blood. Oh, God! How I want sleep!"

  "Why not?"

  The Invisible Man appeared to be regarding Kemp. "Because I've aparticular objection to being caught by my fellow-men," he saidslowly.

  Kemp started.

  "Fool that I am!" said the Invisible Man, striking the tablesmartly. "I've put the idea into your head."