obtain a lodgment behind it. Then the cabman collared something.

I got him," said the cabman. The barman's red hands came clawing

at the unseen. "Here he is!" said the barman.

Mr. Marvel, released, suddenly dropped to the ground and made an

attempt to crawl behind the legs of the fighting men. The struggle

blundered round the edge of the door. The voice of the Invisible

Man was heard for the first time, yelling out sharply, as the

policeman trod on his foot. Then he cried out passionately and

his fists flew round like flails. The cabman suddenly whooped

and doubled up, kicked under the diaphragm. The door into the

bar-parlour from the kitchen slammed and covered Mr. Marvel's

retreat. The men in the kitchen found themselves clutching at and

struggling with empty air.

Where's he gone?" cried the man with the beard. "Out?"

This way," said the policeman, stepping into the yard and

stopping.

A piece of tile whizzed by his head and smashed among the crockery

on the kitchen table.

"I'll show him," shouted the man with the black beard, and suddenly

a steel barrel shone over the policeman's shoulder, and five

bullets had followed one another into the twilight whence the

119

The Invisible Man