The invisible man

The stranger arrived on a cold, wintry day in February. He walked from bramble hurst railway station, carrying a little bag in his thickly gloved hand. He was wrapped up from head to toe and there were sprinkles of snow falling onto the bridge of his nose. Quite wearily, he staggered into the coach and horses inn. “Some fire!” he shouted. “I need a room and some fire!” After shaking the snow off him he followed Mrs.Hall the owner of the inn, and settled his payment arrangement for housing at the inn. Mrs. Hall left him and then went to see about a meal for him. She wanted to impress him,so took out her finest silverware and table cloth and spread it in the parlor. Although the fire was burning brightly,she was surprised to see her visitor was still cloaked in his jacket, scarf and hat. She noticed that the snow was melting from his shoulders and wetting her carpet. “May I take your coat and hat, sir?” She asked. “No,” the man replied. Not sure if she had heard him correctly, Mrs. Hall repeated the question. The man 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. He had a bush of side whiskers over his cheeks and face. “As you wish, sir” replied Mrs.Hall. She finished setting the table and saw that he remained where he was, not moving. She went to get the food and placed the dishes a bit forcefully on the table and told him that lunch was ready. As she said that, he thanked her and waited till she left the room before he quickly went to the table. Mrs. Hall had gone to get the mustard and was delayed because she began to scold her maid. She returned and promptly knocked before entering. As she entered, her visiter moved quickly and she got a glimpse of a white object disappearing behind the table. It would seem that he was picking something up from the floor. Then, she noticed that the overcoat and hat had been taken off and put over a chair in front of the fire and a pair of wet boots threatened to rust her steel fender.She in a voice that brooked no denial. “Leave the hat,” he replied. Mrs. Hall looked at him, shocked. He didn’t remove his glasses and he had covered his face and nose with the napkin. Because of his glasses, his nose was the only thing that could be seen. And it was an uncommonly pink nose! His thick, black hair curled down to his collar from beneath his hat. Keeping the napkin on his mouth, he held out a brown gloved hand to stop her.”leave the hat,” he repeated. “ I....l....l’ll just take your jacket to dry than,” stammered Mrs. Hall. Quite unnerved, she quickly walked away after he nodded his thanks. The visiter waited until he couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore. He then looked at the window and when he didn’t see anyone passing, removed the napkin. He kept glancing toward the window, carefully,between mouthfuls. In the kitchen, Mrs. Hall felt sorry for fellow; for she thought he’d had a terrible accident. After a while, she went out to clear the dishes. When she saw him quietly smoking a pipe, she thought that his mouth was probably disfigured, for he had still kept the napkin tied around it. He sat in the corner with his back to the window blind and spoke to her now that he had eaten and was comfortably warmed, with less aggressiveness than before. He asked her how he could send for the rest of his luggage from Bramblehurst station. He was disappointed when she told him that it could only be brought in the next day. Mrs. Hall sensed an opportunity to talk to him and tried to start a conversation. In the midst of it , he interrupted her. “Will you get me some matches? My pipe is out.” Mrs. Hall thought that was rude of him to interrupt her. She remembered the money he had given her and went to get the matches. He thanks her. But his rudeness had irritated her and so, she took out all her irritation on poor Millie, the maid. The stranger remained alone in the parlor until late afternoon...