CHAPTER I

THE STRANGE MAN'S ARRIVAL

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 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, 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 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

The Invisible Man