
The stranger came early in February one wintry
day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last
snowfall of the year, over the down, walking as it
seemed from Bramblehurst railway station and carrying
a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved
hand. He was wrapped up from head to foot, and the
brim of his soft felt hat hid every inch of his face but
the shiny tip of his nose; the snow had piled itself
against his shoulders and chest, and added a white
crest to the burden he carried.
He staggered into the
Coach and Horses, more dead than alive as it seemed,
and flung his portmanteau down. "A fire," he cried, "in
the name of human charity! A room and a fire!" He
stamped and shook the snow from off himself in the
bar, and followed Mrs. Hall into her guest parlour to
strike his bargain. And with that much introduction,
that and a ready acquiescence to terms and a couple
of sovereigns flung upon the table, he took up his
quarters in the inn.
Mrs. Hall lit the fire and left him there while she went to prepare him a meal with her own hands. A
guest to stop at Iping in the wintertime was an unheard-
of piece of luck, let alone a guest who was no
"haggler," and she was resolved to show herself worthy
of her good fortune. As soon as the bacon was well
under way, and Millie, her lymphatic aid, had been
brisked up a bit by a few deftly chosen expressions of
contempt, she carried the cloth, plates, and glasses
into the parlour and began to lay them with the utmost
clat.
Although the fire was burning up briskly, she was
surprised to see that her visitor still wore his hat and
coat, standing with his back to her and staring out of
the window at the falling snow in the yard. His gloved
hands were clasped behind him, and he seemed to be
lost in thought. She noticed that the melted snow that
still sprinkled his shoulders dripped upon her carpet.
"Can I take your hat and coat, sir," she said, "and give
them a good dry in the kitchen?"
"No," he said without turning.
She was not sure she had heard him, and was about
to repeat her question. He turned his head and looked
at her over his shoulder. "I prefer to keep them on," he
said with emphasis, and she noticed that he wore big
blue spectacles with sidelights and had a bushy sidewhisker
over his coat-collar that completely hid his
face.
"Very well, sir," she said. "As you like. In a bit the
room will be warmer."
He made no answer and had turned his face away
from her again; and Mrs. Hall, feeling that her conversational
advances were ill-timed, laid the rest of the
table things in a quick staccato and whisked out of the
room. When she returned he was still standing there
like a man of stone, his back hunched, his collar
turned up, his dripping hatbrim turned down, hiding
his face and ears completely. She put down the eggs
and bacon with considerable emphasis, and called
rather than said to him, "Your lunch is served, sir."
There, Margaret, the sun is forever
visible, its broad disk just skirting the horizon
and diffusing a perpetual splendour. There --
for with your leave, my sister, I will put some
trust in preceding navigators -- there snow and
frost are banished; and, sailing over a calm sea,
we may be wafted to a land surpassing in wonders
and in beauty every region hitherto discovered
on the habitable globe. Its productions
and features may be without example, as the
phenomena of the heavenly bodies undoubtedly
are in those undiscovered solitudes. What
may not be expected in a country of eternal
light? I may there discover the wondrous power
which attracts the needle and may regulate a
thousand celestial observations that require
only this voyage to render their seeming eccentricities
consistent forever. I shall satiate my
ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the
world never before visited, and may tread a land
never before imprinted by the foot of man.
These are my enticements, and they are sufficient
to conquer all fear of danger or death and
to induce me to commence this laborious voyage
with the joy a child feels when he embarks
in a little boat, with his holiday mates, on an expedition
of discovery up his native river. But
supposing all these conjectures to be false, you
cannot contest the inestimable benefit which I
shall confer on all mankind, to the last generation,
by discovering a passage near the pole to
those countries, to reach which at present so
many months are requisite; or by ascertaining
the secret of the magnet, which, if at all possible,
can only be effected by an undertaking such as
mine.
These reflections have dispelled the agitation
with which I began my letter, and I feel my heart
glow with an enthusiasm which elevates me to
heaven, for nothing contributes so much to tranquillize
the mind as a steady purpose -- a point
on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.
This expedition has been the favourite dream
of my early years. I have read with ardour the
accounts of the various voyages which have
been made in the prospect of arriving at the
North Pacific Ocean through the seas which surround
the pole. You may remember that a history
of all the voyages made for purposes of discovery
composed the whole of our good Uncle
Thomas' library. My education was neglected,
yet I was passionately fond of reading. These
volumes were my study day and night, and my
familiarity with them increased that regret which
I had felt, as a child, on learning that my father's
dying injunction had forbidden my uncle to allow
me to embark in a seafaring life.
CONTENTS.
Chapter 2 Mr. Teddy Henfrey's First Impressions
Chapter 3 The Thousand and One Bottles
Chapter 4 Mr. Cuss Interviews the Stranger
Chapter 5 The Burglary at the Vicarage
Chapter 6 The Furniture That Went Mad
Chapter 7 The Unveiling of the Stranger
Chapter 8 In Transit
Chapter 9 Mr. Thomas Marvel
Chapter 10 Mr. Marvel's Visit to Iping
Chapter 11 In the Coach and Horses
Chapter 12 The Invisible Man Loses His Temper
Chapter 13 Mr. Marvel Discusses His Resignation
Chapter 14 At Port Stowe
Chapter 15 The Man Who Was Running
Chapter 16 In the Jolly Cricketers
Chapter 17 Doctor Kemp's Visitor
Chapter 18 The Invisible Man Sleeps
Chapter 19 Certain First Principles
Chapter 20 At the House in Great Portland Street
Chapter 21 In Oxford Street
Chapter 22 In the Emporium
Chapter 23 In Drury Lane
Chapter 24 The Plan That Failed
Chapter 25 The Hunting of the Invisible Man
Chapter 26 The Wicksteed Murder
Chapter 27 The Siege of Kemp's House
Chapter 28 The Hunter Hunted
The Epilogue
Softcover, 5¼" x 8¼", 190+ pages
Perfect-Bound