November 8, 2023 • 21 mins
"The Invisible Man" is a classic science fiction novel written by H.G. Wells and first published in 1897. The story revolves around the character of Griffin, a brilliant but eccentric scientist who discovers a way to become invisible. After successfully making himself invisible, Griffin quickly realizes that his newfound power comes with significant challenges and consequences.The novel explores the themes of power, morality, and the consequences of unchecked scientific curiosity. Griffin's invisible state allows him to indulge in his darker impulses, leading him down a path of cruelty and criminality. As he struggles to find a way to reverse his condition, he becomes increasingly isolated and desperate.Griffin's invisibility becomes both a physical and metaphorical representation of his detachment from society and his descent into madness. He becomes a symbol of the dangers of unchecked scientific experimentation and the potential for individuals to abuse their power.Throughout the novel, Griffin's actions create a sense of fear and unease in the townspeople who encounter him. As he becomes more unhinged, he becomes a menace, and the novel explores the efforts of those around him to stop his reign of terror."The Invisible Man" is not only a thrilling and suspenseful tale but also a thought-provoking commentary on the human condition and the consequences of playing with forces beyond one's control. It remains a seminal work in the science fiction genre and continues to be studied and adapted into various forms of media.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This is a LibriVox recording. AllLibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer,please visit LibriVox dot org. To day's
reading by Alex Foster Www dot AlexFoster dot me dot UK. The Invisible
Man by H. G. Wells, Chapter twenty one in Oxford Street.
(00:25):
In going downstairs the first time,I found an unexpected difficulty because I could
not see my feet. Indeed,I stumbled twice, and there was an
unaccustomed clumsiness in gripping the bolt.By not looking down. However, I
managed to walk on the level possiblywell. My mood, I say,
was one of exaltation. I feltas a seeing man might do with padded
(00:46):
feet and noiseless clothes in a cityof the blind. I experienced a wild
impulse to jest, to startle people, to clap men on the back,
fling people's hats astray, and generallyrevel in my extraordinary advantage. But hardly
had I emerged upon Great Portland Street, However, my lodging was close to
the Big Draper's shop there when Iheard a clashing concussion and was hit violently
(01:10):
behind and turning saw a man carryinga basket of soda water siphons, and
looking in amazement at his burden.Although the blow had really hurt me,
I found something so irresistible in hisastonishment that I laughed aloud. The devil's
in the basket, I said,and suddenly twisted it out of his hand.
He let go in continently, andI swung the whole weight into the
(01:30):
air. But a fool of acabman standing outside a public house made a
sudden rush for this, and hisextending fingers took me with excruciating violence under
the ear. I let the holedown with a smash on the cabman,
and then with shouts and the clatterof feet about me, people coming out
of shops, vehicles pulling up.I realized what I had done for myself,
(01:52):
and cursing my folly backed against theshop window and prepared dodge out of
the confusion. In a moment Ishould be wedged into a crowd and inever
to be discovered. I pushed bya butcher boy, who luckily did not
turn to see the nothingness that shovedhim aside, and dodged behind the cab
man's four wheeler. I do notknow how they settled the business. I
(02:12):
hurried straight across the road, whichwas happily clear and hardly heeding, which
when I went in the fright ofdetection the incident had given me plunged into
the afternoon throng of Oxford Street.I tried to get into the stream of
people, but they were too thickfor me, and in a moment my
heels were being trodden upon. Itook to the gutter, the roughness of
which I found painful to my feet, and forthwith the shaft of a crawling
(02:35):
hansom dug me forcibly under the shoulderblade, reminding me that I was already
bruised severely. I staggered out ofthe way of the cab, avoided a
perambulator by a convulsive movement, andfound myself behind the hansom. A happy
thought saved me, and as thisdrove slowly along, I followed in its
immediate wake, trembling and astonished atthe turn of my adventure, and not
(02:58):
only trembling, but shivering. Itwas a bright day in January, and
I was stark naked, and thethin slime of mud that covered the road
was freezing. Foolish, as itseems to me. Now I had not
reckoned that transparent or not, Iwas still amenable to the weather and all
its consequences. Then suddenly a brightidea came into my head. I ran
(03:19):
round and got into the cab,and so shivering, scared and sniffing,
with the first intimations of a cold, and with the bruises in the mall
of my back growing upon my attention, I drove slowly along Oxford Street and
past Tottenham Court Road. My moodwas as different from that in which I
had sallied forth ten minutes ago asit is possible to imagine this invisibility.
Indeed, the one thought that possessedme was how was I to get out
(03:44):
of the scrape I was in.We crawled past Moody's, and there a
tall woman with five or six yellowlabeled books hailed my cab, and I
sprang out just in time to escapeher, shaving a railway van narrowly in
my flight. I made off upthe roadway to bloomsfries Scoad, intending to
strike north past the museum and soget into the quiet district. I was
now cruelly chilled, and the strangenessof my situation so unnerved me that I
(04:09):
whimpered as I ran. At thenorthward corner of the square, a little
white dog ran out of the PharmaceuticalSociety's offices and incontinently made for me nose
down. I had never realized itbefore, But the nose is to the
mind of a dog what the eyeis to the mind of a seeing man.
Dogs perceived the scent of a manmoving as men perceive his vision.
(04:30):
This brute began barking and leaping,showing, as it seemed to me only
too plainly, that he was awareof me. I crossed Great Russell Street,
glancing over my shoulder as I didso, and went somewhere along Montague
Street before I realized what I wasrunning towards. Then I became aware of
a blair of music, and lookingalong the street, saw a number of
people advancing out of Russell Square,red shirts and the banner of the Salvation
(04:54):
Army to the fore. Such acrowd chanting in the roadway and scoffing on
the pavement, I would not hopeto penetrate, and dreading to go back
and further from home again, anddeciding on the spur of the moment,
I ran up the white steps ofa house facing the museum railings, and
stood there until the crowd should havepassed. Happily, the dog stopped at
the noise of the band, too, hesitated, and turned tail, running
(05:16):
back to Bloomsbury Square. Again.On came the band, bawling with unconscious
irony, some hymn about when shallwe see his face? And it seemed
an interminable time to me before thetide of the crowd washed along the pavement.
But by me third, third thudcame the drum with a vibrating resonance,
and for the moment I did notnotice two urchins stopping at the railings
(05:39):
by me. See em said onesee what, said the other? Why
them footmarks? Bear? Look whathe makes in mud? I looked down
and saw the youngsters had stopped andwere gaping at the muddy footmarks I had
left behind me up the newly whitenedsteps. The passing people elbowed and jostled
(05:59):
them, but their confounded intelligence wasarrested. Third thud, thud, When
thud shall we see thud his face? Thud thud? There's a barefoot man
gone up them steps? Or Idon't know, nahing said one, and
he ain't never come down again.An his foot was a bleedin'. The
thick of the crowd had already passed. Look here, ted quoth one of
the younger of the detectives, withthe sharpness of surprise in his voice,
(06:24):
and pointed straight to my feet.I looked down and saw at once the
dim suggestion of their outline sketched insplashes of mud. For a moment I
was paralyzed. Why that's rum,said the elder dashed rum. It's like
the gust of a foot, ain'tit. He hesitated and advanced with outstretched
hand. A man pulled up shortto see what he was catching, and
(06:46):
then a girl. In another moment, he would have touched me. Then
I saw what to do. Imade a step. The boy started back
with an exclamation, and with arapid movement, I swung myself over into
the portico of the next house.But a smaller boy was sharp eyed enough
to follow the movement, and beforeI was well down the steps and upon
the pavement, he had recovered fromhis momentary astonishment and was shouting out that
(07:08):
the feet had gone over the wall. They rushed round and saw my new
footmarks flash into being upon the lowerstep and upon the pavement. What's up,
asked someone? Fate, look,fate running. Everybody in the road
except my three pursuers, was pouringalong after the Salvation Army, and this
blow not only impeded me but them. There was an eddy of surprise and
(07:30):
interrogation at the cost of bowling overone young fellow. I got through,
and in another moment I was rushingheadlong round the circuit of Russell Square,
with six or seven astonished people followingmy footmarks. There was no time for
explanations, or else the whole hostwould have been after me. Twice I
doubled round corners thrice, I crossedthe road and came back upon my tracks.
(07:51):
And then, as my feet grewhot and dry, the damp impressions
began to fade. At last Ihad her breathing space and rubbed my feet
clean with my hands, and sogot away altogether. The last I saw
of the chase was a little groupof a dozen people, perhaps studying with
infinite perplexity, a slowly drying footprintthat had resulted from a puddle in Tavistock
(08:11):
Square, A footprint as isolated andincomprehensible to them, a scrusoe's solitary discovery.
This running warmed me to a certainextent, and I went on with
a better courage through the maze ofless frequented roads that runs hereabouts. My
back had now become very stiff andsore. My tonsils were painful from the
(08:33):
cabman's fingers, and the skin ofmy neck had been scratched by his nails.
My feet hurt exceedingly, and Iwas lame from a little cut on
one foot. I saw in timea blind ban approaching me and fled,
limping, for I feeled his subtleintuitions. Once or twice, accidental collisions
occurred, and I left people amazedwith unaccountable curses ringing in their ears.
(08:54):
And then something silent and quiet againstmy face, and across the square fell
a thin veil of slowly falling flakesof snow. I had caught a cold,
and do as I would, Icould not avoid an occasional sneeze,
and every dog that came in sight, with its pointed nose and curious sniffing,
was a terror to me. Thencame men and boys, running,
first one and then others, andshouting as they ran. It was a
(09:16):
fire. They ran in the directionof my lodging, and looking back down
a street, I saw a massof black smoke streaming up above roofs and
telephone wires. It was my lodging, burning, my clothes, my apparatus,
all my resources, indeed, exceptmy check book and the three volumes
of memoranda that awaited me in GreatPortland Street were there burning. I had
(09:37):
burnt my boats. If ever aman did, the place was blazing.
The invisible man paused and thought,Kemp glanced nervously out of the window.
Yes, he said, go onchapter twenty two in the Emporium. So
(09:58):
last January, with the beginning ofa snow storm in the air about me,
and if it settled on me,it would betray me. Weary,
cold, painful, inexpressibly wretched,and still, but half convinced of my
invisible quality, I began this newlife to which I am committed. I
had no refuge, no appliances,No human being in the world in whom
(10:20):
I could confide to have told mysecret would have given me away, made
a mere show and rarity of me. Nevertheless, I was half minded to
accost some passer by and throw myselfupon his mercy. But I knew too
clearly the terror and brutal cruelty myadvances would evoke. I made no plans
in the street. My sole objectwas to get shelter from the snow,
(10:41):
to get myself covered and warm.Then I might hope to plan, but
even to me an invisible man,the rows of London houses stood latched,
barred, and bolted impregnably. Onlyone thing could I see clearly before me,
the cold, exposure and misery ofthe snowstorm and night. And then
(11:03):
I had a brilliant idea. Iturned down one of the roads leading from
Gower Street to Tottenham Court Road,and found myself outside Omium's, a big
establishment where everything is to be bought, you know the place, meat,
grocery, linen, furniture, clothing, oil, paintings, even a huge,
meandering collection of shops, rather thana shop. I thought I should
find the doors open, but theywere closed. And as I stood in
(11:26):
the wide entrance, a carriage stoppedoutside, and a man in uniform,
you know the kind of personage withOmnium on his cap, flung open the
door. I contrived to enter,and walking down the shop. It was
a department where they were selling ribbonsand gloves and stockings, and that kind
of thing. Came to a morespacious region, diverted to picnic baskets and
wicker furniture. I did not feelsafe there, however, people were going
(11:50):
to and fro, and I prowledrestlessly until I came about a huge section
in an upper floor containing multitudes ofbedsteads, and over these I clambered and
found a resting last among a hugepile of folded flock mattresses. The place
was already lit up and agreeably warm, and I decided to remain where I
was, keeping a cautious eye onthe two or three sets of shopmen and
(12:11):
customers who were meriandering through the placeuntil closing time came. Then I should
be able, I thought, torob the place for food and clothing,
and disguised prowl through it and examineits resources, perhaps sleep on some of
the bedding. That seemed an acceptableplan. My idea was to procure clothing
to make myself a muffled but acceptablefigure, to get money, and then
(12:31):
to recover my books and parcels wherethey awaited me. Take a lodging somewhere
and elaborate plans for the complete realizationof the advantages my invisibility gave me as
I still imagined over my fellow men. Closing time arrived quickly enough. It
could not have been more than anhour after I took up my position on
the mattress before I noticed the blindsof the windows being drawn and customers being
(12:56):
marched doorward. And then a numberof brisk young men began with remarkable alacrity
to tidy up the goods that remaineddisturbed. I left my lair as the
crowds diminished and prowled cautiously out intothe less desolate parts of the shop.
I was really surprised to observe howrapidly the young men and women whipped away
the goods displayed for sale during theday. All the boxes of goods,
(13:16):
the hanging fabrics, the festoons oflace, the boxes of sweets in the
grocery section, the displays of thisand that were being whipped down, folded
up, slapped into tidy receptacles.And everything that could not be taken down
and put away had sheets of somecoarse stuff like sacking flung over them.
Finally, all the chairs were turnedup on the counters, leaving the floor
clear directly each of these young peoplehad done, he or she made promptly
(13:41):
for the door, with such anexpression of animation as I have rarely observed
in a shop assistant before. Thencame a lot of youngsters scattering sawdust and
carrying pails and brooms. I haddodged to get out of the way,
and as it was my ankle gotstung with the sawdust. For some time,
wandering through the swathed and darkened departments, I could hear the brooms at
work, and at last, agood hour or more after the shop had
(14:03):
been closed, came a noise oflocking doors. Silence came upon the place,
and I find myself wandering through thevast and intricate shops, galleries,
showrooms of the place alone. Itwas very still in one place I remember
passing near one of the Tottenham CourtRoad entrances and listening to the tapping of
boot heels of the passers by.My first visit was to the place where
(14:26):
I had seen stockings and gloves forsale. It was dark and I had
the devil of a hunt after matches, which I found at last in the
drawer of the little cash desk.Then I had to get a candle.
I had to tear down wrappings andransack a number of boxes and drawers,
but at last I managed to turnout what I sought. The box label
called them Lamb's wool pants and Lamb'swool vests. Then socks, a thick
(14:48):
comforter. And then I went tothe clothing place and got trousers, a
lounge jacket, an overcoat, anda slouch hat, a clerical sort of
hat with the brim turned down.I began to feel a human being again,
and my next thought was food.Up Stairs was a refreshment department,
and there I got cold meat.There was coffee still in the urn,
and I lit the gas and warmedit up again, and altogether I did
(15:11):
not do badly. Afterwards, prowlingthrough the place in search of blankets,
I had to put up at lastwith a heap of down quilts. I
came upon a grocery section with alot of chocolate and candied fruits more than
was good for me indeed, andsome white burgundy. And near that was
a toy department, and I hada brilliant idea. I found some artificial
noses, dummy noses, you know. And I thought of dark spectacles,
(15:35):
but omniums had no optical department.My nose had been a difficulty. Indeed,
I had thought of paint, butthe discovery set my mind running on
wigs and masks and the like.Finally, I went asleep in a heap
of down quilts, very warm andcomfortable. My last thoughts before sleeping were
the most agreeable I had had sincethe change. I was in a state
of physical serenity, and that wasreflected in my mind. I thought that
(15:58):
I should be able to slip outunobserved in the morning, with my clothes
upon me, muffling my face witha white wrapper I had taken, purchased
with the money I had taken spectaclesand so forth, and so complete my
disguise. I lapsed into disorderly dreamsof all the fantastic things that had happened
during the last few days. Isaw the ugly little jew of a landlord
vciperating in his rooms. I sawhis two sons marveling, and the wrinkled
(16:21):
old woman's gnarled face as she askedfor her cat. I experienced again the
strange sensation of seeing the cloth disappear, And so I came round the windy
hillside and the sniffing old clergyman,mumbling earth to earth, ashes to ashes,
dust to dust. At my father'sopen grave, you also said a
voice, and suddenly I was beingforced towards the grave. I struggled,
(16:42):
shouted, appealed to the mourners,but they continued stonily following the service.
The old clergyman too, never faltering, droning and sniffling to the ritual.
I realized I was invisible and inaudible, that overwhelming forces had their grip on
me. I struggled in vain.I was forced the brink. The coffin
rang hollow as I fell upon it, and the gravel came flying after me
(17:04):
in spadefuls. Nobody heeded me,nobody's aware of me. I made convulsive
struggles and awoke. The pale Londondawn had come. The place was full
of a chilly gray light that filteredaround the edges of the window blinds.
I sat up, and for atime I could not think where this ample
apartment, with its counters, itspiles of rolled stuff, its help of
(17:26):
quilts and cushions, its iron pillarsmight be. Then, as recollection came
back to me, I heard voicesin conversation. Then, far down the
place, in the brighter light ofsome department which had already raised its blinds,
I saw two men approaching. Iscrambled to my feet, looking about
me for some way of escape,And even as I did so, the
sound of my movement made them awareof me. I suppose they saw merely
(17:48):
a figure moving quietly and quickly away. Who's that? Cried one? And
stop there, cried the other.I dashed around a corner and came full
tilt A face's figure, mind you, on a lanky lad of fifteen.
He yelled, and I bowled himover, rushed past him, turned another
corner, and by happy inspiration,threw myself behind a counter. In another
moment, feet went running past,and I heard voices shouting, all hands
(18:11):
to the doors, asking what wasup, and giving on another advice how
to catch me lying on the ground. I felt scared out of my wits,
But odd as it may seem,it did not occur to me at
that moment to take off my clothes, as I should have done. I
had made up my mind. Isuppose to get away in them and that
ruled me. And then down thevista of the counters came a bawling of
(18:32):
here he is. I sprang tomy feet, whipped a chair off the
counter and sent it whirling at thefool who had shouted, turned, came
into another round a corner, senthim spinning and rushed up the stairs.
He kept his footing, gave aview halloo, and came up the staircase
hot after me. Up the staircasewere piled a multitude of those bright colored
pot things. What are they?Art pots, suggested Kemp, that's it
(18:56):
art pots. Well. I turnedat the top step and swung round,
plucked one out of a pile,and smashed it on his silly head.
As he came at me. Thewhole pile of pots went headlong, and
I heard shouting and footsteps running fromall parts. I made a mad rush
for the refreshment place, and therewas a man in white, like a
man cook, who took up thechase. I made one last desperate turn
and found myself among lamps and ironmungery. I went behind the counter of
(19:18):
this and waited for my cook,And as he bolted in at the head
of the chase, I doubled himup with a lamp. Down he went,
and I crouched down behind the counterand began whipping off my clothes as
fast as I could. Coat,jacket, trousers, shoes were all right,
But a lamb's wool vest fits aman like a skin. I heard
more men coming. My cook waslying quiet on the other side of the
counter, stunned or scared speechless,and I had to make another dash for
(19:41):
it, like a rabbit hunted outof a woodpile. This way policeman.
I heard someone shouting, and Ifound myself in my bedsteads storeroom again,
and at the end of a wildernessof wardrobes, I rushed among them,
went flat, got rid of myvest after infinite wriggling, and stood a
free man again, panting and scared. As the policemen and three of the
shopmen came round the corner, theymade a rush for the vest and pants
(20:04):
and collared the trousers. He's droppinghis plunder, said one of the young
men. He must be somewhere here, But they did not find me.
All the same. I stood watchingthem hunt for me for a time and
cursing my ill luck in losing theclothes Then I went into the refreshment room,
drank a little milk I found there, and sat down by the fire
(20:25):
to consider my position. In awhile two assistants came in and began to
talk over the business, very excitedly, and like the fools they were.
I heard a magnified account of mydepredations and other speculations as to my whereabouts.
Then I fell to scheming again.The insurmountable difficulty of the place,
especially now it was alarmed, wasto get any plunder out of it.
(20:48):
I went down into the warehouse tosee if there was any chance of packing
and addressing a parcel, but Icould not understand the system of checking.
About eleven o'clock, the snow havingthawed as it fell, and the day
being finer and a little warmer thanthe previous one, I decided that the
emporium was hopeless and went out again, exasperated my want of success, with
only the vaguest plans of action inmy mind. End of Chapter twenty two,
(21:15):
Recorded in Nottingham, England, onthe ninth of April twenty o six
by Alex Foster www. Dot AlexFoster dot me dot UK.
This is a LibriVox recording. AllLibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer,please visit LibriVox dot org. To day's
reading by Alex Foster Www dot AlexFoster dot me dot UK. The Invisible
Man by H. G. Wells, Chapter twenty one in Oxford Street.
(00:25):
In going downstairs the first time,I found an unexpected difficulty because I could
not see my feet. Indeed,I stumbled twice, and there was an
unaccustomed clumsiness in gripping the bolt.By not looking down. However, I
managed to walk on the level possiblywell. My mood, I say,
was one of exaltation. I feltas a seeing man might do with padded
(00:46):
feet and noiseless clothes in a cityof the blind. I experienced a wild
impulse to jest, to startle people, to clap men on the back,
fling people's hats astray, and generallyrevel in my extraordinary advantage. But hardly
had I emerged upon Great Portland Street, However, my lodging was close to
the Big Draper's shop there when Iheard a clashing concussion and was hit violently
(01:10):
behind and turning saw a man carryinga basket of soda water siphons, and
looking in amazement at his burden.Although the blow had really hurt me,
I found something so irresistible in hisastonishment that I laughed aloud. The devil's
in the basket, I said,and suddenly twisted it out of his hand.
He let go in continently, andI swung the whole weight into the
(01:30):
air. But a fool of acabman standing outside a public house made a
sudden rush for this, and hisextending fingers took me with excruciating violence under
the ear. I let the holedown with a smash on the cabman,
and then with shouts and the clatterof feet about me, people coming out
of shops, vehicles pulling up.I realized what I had done for myself,
(01:52):
and cursing my folly backed against theshop window and prepared dodge out of
the confusion. In a moment Ishould be wedged into a crowd and inever
to be discovered. I pushed bya butcher boy, who luckily did not
turn to see the nothingness that shovedhim aside, and dodged behind the cab
man's four wheeler. I do notknow how they settled the business. I
(02:12):
hurried straight across the road, whichwas happily clear and hardly heeding, which
when I went in the fright ofdetection the incident had given me plunged into
the afternoon throng of Oxford Street.I tried to get into the stream of
people, but they were too thickfor me, and in a moment my
heels were being trodden upon. Itook to the gutter, the roughness of
which I found painful to my feet, and forthwith the shaft of a crawling
(02:35):
hansom dug me forcibly under the shoulderblade, reminding me that I was already
bruised severely. I staggered out ofthe way of the cab, avoided a
perambulator by a convulsive movement, andfound myself behind the hansom. A happy
thought saved me, and as thisdrove slowly along, I followed in its
immediate wake, trembling and astonished atthe turn of my adventure, and not
(02:58):
only trembling, but shivering. Itwas a bright day in January, and
I was stark naked, and thethin slime of mud that covered the road
was freezing. Foolish, as itseems to me. Now I had not
reckoned that transparent or not, Iwas still amenable to the weather and all
its consequences. Then suddenly a brightidea came into my head. I ran
(03:19):
round and got into the cab,and so shivering, scared and sniffing,
with the first intimations of a cold, and with the bruises in the mall
of my back growing upon my attention, I drove slowly along Oxford Street and
past Tottenham Court Road. My moodwas as different from that in which I
had sallied forth ten minutes ago asit is possible to imagine this invisibility.
Indeed, the one thought that possessedme was how was I to get out
(03:44):
of the scrape I was in.We crawled past Moody's, and there a
tall woman with five or six yellowlabeled books hailed my cab, and I
sprang out just in time to escapeher, shaving a railway van narrowly in
my flight. I made off upthe roadway to bloomsfries Scoad, intending to
strike north past the museum and soget into the quiet district. I was
now cruelly chilled, and the strangenessof my situation so unnerved me that I
(04:09):
whimpered as I ran. At thenorthward corner of the square, a little
white dog ran out of the PharmaceuticalSociety's offices and incontinently made for me nose
down. I had never realized itbefore, But the nose is to the
mind of a dog what the eyeis to the mind of a seeing man.
Dogs perceived the scent of a manmoving as men perceive his vision.
(04:30):
This brute began barking and leaping,showing, as it seemed to me only
too plainly, that he was awareof me. I crossed Great Russell Street,
glancing over my shoulder as I didso, and went somewhere along Montague
Street before I realized what I wasrunning towards. Then I became aware of
a blair of music, and lookingalong the street, saw a number of
people advancing out of Russell Square,red shirts and the banner of the Salvation
(04:54):
Army to the fore. Such acrowd chanting in the roadway and scoffing on
the pavement, I would not hopeto penetrate, and dreading to go back
and further from home again, anddeciding on the spur of the moment,
I ran up the white steps ofa house facing the museum railings, and
stood there until the crowd should havepassed. Happily, the dog stopped at
the noise of the band, too, hesitated, and turned tail, running
(05:16):
back to Bloomsbury Square. Again.On came the band, bawling with unconscious
irony, some hymn about when shallwe see his face? And it seemed
an interminable time to me before thetide of the crowd washed along the pavement.
But by me third, third thudcame the drum with a vibrating resonance,
and for the moment I did notnotice two urchins stopping at the railings
(05:39):
by me. See em said onesee what, said the other? Why
them footmarks? Bear? Look whathe makes in mud? I looked down
and saw the youngsters had stopped andwere gaping at the muddy footmarks I had
left behind me up the newly whitenedsteps. The passing people elbowed and jostled
(05:59):
them, but their confounded intelligence wasarrested. Third thud, thud, When
thud shall we see thud his face? Thud thud? There's a barefoot man
gone up them steps? Or Idon't know, nahing said one, and
he ain't never come down again.An his foot was a bleedin'. The
thick of the crowd had already passed. Look here, ted quoth one of
the younger of the detectives, withthe sharpness of surprise in his voice,
(06:24):
and pointed straight to my feet.I looked down and saw at once the
dim suggestion of their outline sketched insplashes of mud. For a moment I
was paralyzed. Why that's rum,said the elder dashed rum. It's like
the gust of a foot, ain'tit. He hesitated and advanced with outstretched
hand. A man pulled up shortto see what he was catching, and
(06:46):
then a girl. In another moment, he would have touched me. Then
I saw what to do. Imade a step. The boy started back
with an exclamation, and with arapid movement, I swung myself over into
the portico of the next house.But a smaller boy was sharp eyed enough
to follow the movement, and beforeI was well down the steps and upon
the pavement, he had recovered fromhis momentary astonishment and was shouting out that
(07:08):
the feet had gone over the wall. They rushed round and saw my new
footmarks flash into being upon the lowerstep and upon the pavement. What's up,
asked someone? Fate, look,fate running. Everybody in the road
except my three pursuers, was pouringalong after the Salvation Army, and this
blow not only impeded me but them. There was an eddy of surprise and
(07:30):
interrogation at the cost of bowling overone young fellow. I got through,
and in another moment I was rushingheadlong round the circuit of Russell Square,
with six or seven astonished people followingmy footmarks. There was no time for
explanations, or else the whole hostwould have been after me. Twice I
doubled round corners thrice, I crossedthe road and came back upon my tracks.
(07:51):
And then, as my feet grewhot and dry, the damp impressions
began to fade. At last Ihad her breathing space and rubbed my feet
clean with my hands, and sogot away altogether. The last I saw
of the chase was a little groupof a dozen people, perhaps studying with
infinite perplexity, a slowly drying footprintthat had resulted from a puddle in Tavistock
(08:11):
Square, A footprint as isolated andincomprehensible to them, a scrusoe's solitary discovery.
This running warmed me to a certainextent, and I went on with
a better courage through the maze ofless frequented roads that runs hereabouts. My
back had now become very stiff andsore. My tonsils were painful from the
(08:33):
cabman's fingers, and the skin ofmy neck had been scratched by his nails.
My feet hurt exceedingly, and Iwas lame from a little cut on
one foot. I saw in timea blind ban approaching me and fled,
limping, for I feeled his subtleintuitions. Once or twice, accidental collisions
occurred, and I left people amazedwith unaccountable curses ringing in their ears.
(08:54):
And then something silent and quiet againstmy face, and across the square fell
a thin veil of slowly falling flakesof snow. I had caught a cold,
and do as I would, Icould not avoid an occasional sneeze,
and every dog that came in sight, with its pointed nose and curious sniffing,
was a terror to me. Thencame men and boys, running,
first one and then others, andshouting as they ran. It was a
(09:16):
fire. They ran in the directionof my lodging, and looking back down
a street, I saw a massof black smoke streaming up above roofs and
telephone wires. It was my lodging, burning, my clothes, my apparatus,
all my resources, indeed, exceptmy check book and the three volumes
of memoranda that awaited me in GreatPortland Street were there burning. I had
(09:37):
burnt my boats. If ever aman did, the place was blazing.
The invisible man paused and thought,Kemp glanced nervously out of the window.
Yes, he said, go onchapter twenty two in the Emporium. So
(09:58):
last January, with the beginning ofa snow storm in the air about me,
and if it settled on me,it would betray me. Weary,
cold, painful, inexpressibly wretched,and still, but half convinced of my
invisible quality, I began this newlife to which I am committed. I
had no refuge, no appliances,No human being in the world in whom
(10:20):
I could confide to have told mysecret would have given me away, made
a mere show and rarity of me. Nevertheless, I was half minded to
accost some passer by and throw myselfupon his mercy. But I knew too
clearly the terror and brutal cruelty myadvances would evoke. I made no plans
in the street. My sole objectwas to get shelter from the snow,
(10:41):
to get myself covered and warm.Then I might hope to plan, but
even to me an invisible man,the rows of London houses stood latched,
barred, and bolted impregnably. Onlyone thing could I see clearly before me,
the cold, exposure and misery ofthe snowstorm and night. And then
(11:03):
I had a brilliant idea. Iturned down one of the roads leading from
Gower Street to Tottenham Court Road,and found myself outside Omium's, a big
establishment where everything is to be bought, you know the place, meat,
grocery, linen, furniture, clothing, oil, paintings, even a huge,
meandering collection of shops, rather thana shop. I thought I should
find the doors open, but theywere closed. And as I stood in
(11:26):
the wide entrance, a carriage stoppedoutside, and a man in uniform,
you know the kind of personage withOmnium on his cap, flung open the
door. I contrived to enter,and walking down the shop. It was
a department where they were selling ribbonsand gloves and stockings, and that kind
of thing. Came to a morespacious region, diverted to picnic baskets and
wicker furniture. I did not feelsafe there, however, people were going
(11:50):
to and fro, and I prowledrestlessly until I came about a huge section
in an upper floor containing multitudes ofbedsteads, and over these I clambered and
found a resting last among a hugepile of folded flock mattresses. The place
was already lit up and agreeably warm, and I decided to remain where I
was, keeping a cautious eye onthe two or three sets of shopmen and
(12:11):
customers who were meriandering through the placeuntil closing time came. Then I should
be able, I thought, torob the place for food and clothing,
and disguised prowl through it and examineits resources, perhaps sleep on some of
the bedding. That seemed an acceptableplan. My idea was to procure clothing
to make myself a muffled but acceptablefigure, to get money, and then
(12:31):
to recover my books and parcels wherethey awaited me. Take a lodging somewhere
and elaborate plans for the complete realizationof the advantages my invisibility gave me as
I still imagined over my fellow men. Closing time arrived quickly enough. It
could not have been more than anhour after I took up my position on
the mattress before I noticed the blindsof the windows being drawn and customers being
(12:56):
marched doorward. And then a numberof brisk young men began with remarkable alacrity
to tidy up the goods that remaineddisturbed. I left my lair as the
crowds diminished and prowled cautiously out intothe less desolate parts of the shop.
I was really surprised to observe howrapidly the young men and women whipped away
the goods displayed for sale during theday. All the boxes of goods,
(13:16):
the hanging fabrics, the festoons oflace, the boxes of sweets in the
grocery section, the displays of thisand that were being whipped down, folded
up, slapped into tidy receptacles.And everything that could not be taken down
and put away had sheets of somecoarse stuff like sacking flung over them.
Finally, all the chairs were turnedup on the counters, leaving the floor
clear directly each of these young peoplehad done, he or she made promptly
(13:41):
for the door, with such anexpression of animation as I have rarely observed
in a shop assistant before. Thencame a lot of youngsters scattering sawdust and
carrying pails and brooms. I haddodged to get out of the way,
and as it was my ankle gotstung with the sawdust. For some time,
wandering through the swathed and darkened departments, I could hear the brooms at
work, and at last, agood hour or more after the shop had
(14:03):
been closed, came a noise oflocking doors. Silence came upon the place,
and I find myself wandering through thevast and intricate shops, galleries,
showrooms of the place alone. Itwas very still in one place I remember
passing near one of the Tottenham CourtRoad entrances and listening to the tapping of
boot heels of the passers by.My first visit was to the place where
(14:26):
I had seen stockings and gloves forsale. It was dark and I had
the devil of a hunt after matches, which I found at last in the
drawer of the little cash desk.Then I had to get a candle.
I had to tear down wrappings andransack a number of boxes and drawers,
but at last I managed to turnout what I sought. The box label
called them Lamb's wool pants and Lamb'swool vests. Then socks, a thick
(14:48):
comforter. And then I went tothe clothing place and got trousers, a
lounge jacket, an overcoat, anda slouch hat, a clerical sort of
hat with the brim turned down.I began to feel a human being again,
and my next thought was food.Up Stairs was a refreshment department,
and there I got cold meat.There was coffee still in the urn,
and I lit the gas and warmedit up again, and altogether I did
(15:11):
not do badly. Afterwards, prowlingthrough the place in search of blankets,
I had to put up at lastwith a heap of down quilts. I
came upon a grocery section with alot of chocolate and candied fruits more than
was good for me indeed, andsome white burgundy. And near that was
a toy department, and I hada brilliant idea. I found some artificial
noses, dummy noses, you know. And I thought of dark spectacles,
(15:35):
but omniums had no optical department.My nose had been a difficulty. Indeed,
I had thought of paint, butthe discovery set my mind running on
wigs and masks and the like.Finally, I went asleep in a heap
of down quilts, very warm andcomfortable. My last thoughts before sleeping were
the most agreeable I had had sincethe change. I was in a state
of physical serenity, and that wasreflected in my mind. I thought that
(15:58):
I should be able to slip outunobserved in the morning, with my clothes
upon me, muffling my face witha white wrapper I had taken, purchased
with the money I had taken spectaclesand so forth, and so complete my
disguise. I lapsed into disorderly dreamsof all the fantastic things that had happened
during the last few days. Isaw the ugly little jew of a landlord
vciperating in his rooms. I sawhis two sons marveling, and the wrinkled
(16:21):
old woman's gnarled face as she askedfor her cat. I experienced again the
strange sensation of seeing the cloth disappear, And so I came round the windy
hillside and the sniffing old clergyman,mumbling earth to earth, ashes to ashes,
dust to dust. At my father'sopen grave, you also said a
voice, and suddenly I was beingforced towards the grave. I struggled,
(16:42):
shouted, appealed to the mourners,but they continued stonily following the service.
The old clergyman too, never faltering, droning and sniffling to the ritual.
I realized I was invisible and inaudible, that overwhelming forces had their grip on
me. I struggled in vain.I was forced the brink. The coffin
rang hollow as I fell upon it, and the gravel came flying after me
(17:04):
in spadefuls. Nobody heeded me,nobody's aware of me. I made convulsive
struggles and awoke. The pale Londondawn had come. The place was full
of a chilly gray light that filteredaround the edges of the window blinds.
I sat up, and for atime I could not think where this ample
apartment, with its counters, itspiles of rolled stuff, its help of
(17:26):
quilts and cushions, its iron pillarsmight be. Then, as recollection came
back to me, I heard voicesin conversation. Then, far down the
place, in the brighter light ofsome department which had already raised its blinds,
I saw two men approaching. Iscrambled to my feet, looking about
me for some way of escape,And even as I did so, the
sound of my movement made them awareof me. I suppose they saw merely
(17:48):
a figure moving quietly and quickly away. Who's that? Cried one? And
stop there, cried the other.I dashed around a corner and came full
tilt A face's figure, mind you, on a lanky lad of fifteen.
He yelled, and I bowled himover, rushed past him, turned another
corner, and by happy inspiration,threw myself behind a counter. In another
moment, feet went running past,and I heard voices shouting, all hands
(18:11):
to the doors, asking what wasup, and giving on another advice how
to catch me lying on the ground. I felt scared out of my wits,
But odd as it may seem,it did not occur to me at
that moment to take off my clothes, as I should have done. I
had made up my mind. Isuppose to get away in them and that
ruled me. And then down thevista of the counters came a bawling of
(18:32):
here he is. I sprang tomy feet, whipped a chair off the
counter and sent it whirling at thefool who had shouted, turned, came
into another round a corner, senthim spinning and rushed up the stairs.
He kept his footing, gave aview halloo, and came up the staircase
hot after me. Up the staircasewere piled a multitude of those bright colored
pot things. What are they?Art pots, suggested Kemp, that's it
(18:56):
art pots. Well. I turnedat the top step and swung round,
plucked one out of a pile,and smashed it on his silly head.
As he came at me. Thewhole pile of pots went headlong, and
I heard shouting and footsteps running fromall parts. I made a mad rush
for the refreshment place, and therewas a man in white, like a
man cook, who took up thechase. I made one last desperate turn
and found myself among lamps and ironmungery. I went behind the counter of
(19:18):
this and waited for my cook,And as he bolted in at the head
of the chase, I doubled himup with a lamp. Down he went,
and I crouched down behind the counterand began whipping off my clothes as
fast as I could. Coat,jacket, trousers, shoes were all right,
But a lamb's wool vest fits aman like a skin. I heard
more men coming. My cook waslying quiet on the other side of the
counter, stunned or scared speechless,and I had to make another dash for
(19:41):
it, like a rabbit hunted outof a woodpile. This way policeman.
I heard someone shouting, and Ifound myself in my bedsteads storeroom again,
and at the end of a wildernessof wardrobes, I rushed among them,
went flat, got rid of myvest after infinite wriggling, and stood a
free man again, panting and scared. As the policemen and three of the
shopmen came round the corner, theymade a rush for the vest and pants
(20:04):
and collared the trousers. He's droppinghis plunder, said one of the young
men. He must be somewhere here, But they did not find me.
All the same. I stood watchingthem hunt for me for a time and
cursing my ill luck in losing theclothes Then I went into the refreshment room,
drank a little milk I found there, and sat down by the fire
(20:25):
to consider my position. In awhile two assistants came in and began to
talk over the business, very excitedly, and like the fools they were.
I heard a magnified account of mydepredations and other speculations as to my whereabouts.
Then I fell to scheming again.The insurmountable difficulty of the place,
especially now it was alarmed, wasto get any plunder out of it.
(20:48):
I went down into the warehouse tosee if there was any chance of packing
and addressing a parcel, but Icould not understand the system of checking.
About eleven o'clock, the snow havingthawed as it fell, and the day
being finer and a little warmer thanthe previous one, I decided that the
emporium was hopeless and went out again, exasperated my want of success, with
only the vaguest plans of action inmy mind. End of Chapter twenty two,
(21:15):
Recorded in Nottingham, England, onthe ninth of April twenty o six
by Alex Foster www. Dot AlexFoster dot me dot UK.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.