Detailed Summary of
the Chapter 7 & 8
Dear students, in the previous chapter 6 of this novel,
you’ve come to know that Mrs. Hall got fainted when she found the furniture of
the room moving of its own and the bed clothes suddenly gathered into a heap
that leapt to one side and the chair started moving towards her. She thought
that it was all done because her mother’s spirit was annoyed at the way the
stranger was living in her inn. He was an irreligious, who never visited the
church regularly. Thus she was very much panicked at the incidents that took
place in the chapter 6.
Now, let’s see what is there in the chapter 7.
The stranger had come into the little parlour of the inn at
about half past five in the morning and remained there up to nearly mid-day. The
blinds were down, the door was shut and he was alone. He rang the bell thrice
to get breakfast. For the third time, he rang the bell rather vigorously and
continuously, but he received no response.
In the meantime, the news about a burglary spread at the
vicarage and the people started assembling there in twos. Mr. Hall, assisted by
Wadgers, went off to find Mr. Shuckleforth, the magistrate to take his advice.
No one dared to go upstairs to know what the stranger was doing at that time.
The stranger was striding up and down violently every now
and then and twice came an outburst of curses, a tearing of paper, and a
violent sound produced by the smashing of bottles also came.
As the time passed a little group of scared but curious
people grew. Among these people was Mrs. Huxter, some gay young persons wearing
brightly shining ready-made jackets and ties made-up of stiff type of cloth
because it was Whit Monday, the day meant for celebrations. They were all
curious to know about the matter there. Young Archie Harker tried to peep under the window blinds while standing
outside to see what the stranger was doing inside his room. He could see
nothing, yet other young boys of the village Iping also did the same. It has
been mentioned earlier that the people of Iping celebrated the Whit Mondays
with full enthusiasm. But it was the finest of all the Mondays. There was a row
of nearly a dozen booths, a shooting gallery and also there were three yellow
and chocolate wagons.
The gentlemen wore blue jerseys, the ladies white aprons and
quite fashionable hats with heavy plume (/plyume/).
Inside the parlour, there was darkness as the window blinds
were down and the stranger was there, maybe fearfully. He was occasionally
heard swearing at the boys who were standing outside the windows. During this
time, the stranger had smashed half a dozen bottles and a pungent smell was
also spread in the atmosphere.
Then he uttered loudly “Mrs. Hall,” and at this, somebody
went in a fearful manner to call her. Mrs. Hall appeared after some time. She
was a little short of breath, but somewhat fierce in her behavior. She was
holding a tray in her hands, in which she produced a bill to the stranger, but
he complained of the delay in sending breakfast to him. He also complained as
to why she had not prepared his meals and also not responded to the bell he
rang several times.
At this, she asked him why her bill was not paid by him. He
replied that he had told her already that three days back that he was waiting
for his money. She continued saying that he could not grumble for the delay in
breakfast if her bill was not paid on time. She also added that he should keep
his swearing to himself.
The stranger looked angrier than before. And the
conversation continued in bad temper. Mrs. Hall also indirectly mentioned to
him about the coins he had found. It made him more annoyed and he stamped his
foot to vent out his anger.
She also wished to know from him as to what he had been
doing in her chair upstairs and how he could appear in an empty room without
using the door.
Then suddenly he raised his gloved hands clenched, stamped
his feet and said, “Stop!” He said all that with such a violence that everyone
present there silenced immediately.
He also threatened them by saying that they did not know who
and what he was. After that he swore that he would show them what he was.
First
of all, he removed the false nose and there opened a black cavity. He
stepped forward and handed Mrs. Hall that false nose which she took in her hand
fearfully. The moment she saw it, she screamed loudly, dropped and staggered
back. The nose which was a pink and shining piece rolled on the floor.
Then he removed his spectacles and the people present in the
bar were stunned to see all that. He also took off his hat and with a violent
gesture tore at the whiskers and bandages. For a few seconds, they resisted
him. But feeling horrified, they came out.
Mrs. Hall stood there gaping in surprise and shock and
shrieked at what she had seen. She also stepped quickly towards the door to go out.
The bandages and false hair flew in air across the passage
into the bar giving an awkward look. The people started tumbling on one another
in panic. The stranger stood there shouting some incoherent words.
The people in the village heard shouts and shrieks and they
also saw in the street a group of people coming out of ‘Coach and Horses’.
They also saw Mrs. Hall fall down and Mr. Teddy Henfrey jumped to avoid tumbling over her. After that,
they heard MIllie screaming because she happened to see the headless stranger
from behind when she was coming out of the kitchen to see what had happened
there.
As soon as the news of the unusual incident spread, the
villagers including sweet-seller, vendors, little boys and girls, rustic
dandies (…who care a lot for their clothes and appearance), smart wenches
(young women), smocked (wearing long garments) elders and aproned एप्रण्ड gypsies (…who travel from one place to the
other for livelihood and live in groups) began running towards them. Within
short time, a crowd of approximately forty people assembled there. Everyone was
so excited to know the facts that they continued speaking together creating a
babble (talking in a silly and confused manner, especially when many people
speak together). Mrs. Hall was picked up almost in a state of swoon.
Whenever any unusual incident occurs, people stand making
small groups and in each group, you will find a person narrating the incident
in his own way.
This thing also happened in front of the ‘Coach and Horses’.
After some time, a procession was seen marching forward resolutely towards the
inn. Firstly, Mr. Hall appeared, who seemed very red in anger and determined by
the way he was walking. Then Mr. Bobby
Jaffers, the village constable, appeared. Mr. Wadgers followed after them
and Mr. Jaffers had a warrant to
arrest the stranger.
Mr. Hall led the constable to the parlour and flung open its
door saying, “Constable, do your duty!”
Jaffers was the first
to enter and he was followed by Mr. Hall and then Wadgers entered. They saw the
headless figure in front of them in the darkness. He was having a half eaten
piece of bread in one gloved hand and a piece of cheese in the other.
Mr. Hall uttered indicating towards the stranger, “That’s
him!”
The stranger warned the constable to keep away from him.
Suddenly, he threw down the bread and cheese aside and Mr.
Hall also grasped the knife that was lying on the table to save himself. Then
the stranger threw his glove at Jaffers’ face and he also reacted quickly and
gripped the stranger’s handless wrist and also caught his invisible throat.
During his attempt to overpower the stranger, Jaffers received a powerful kick
on the shin (the front part of the leg below the knee). It made Jaffers shout
loudly but he did not loosen the tight grip on him. Mr. Hall threw the knife
towards Wadgers, who seemed to act like a goal-keeper. He stepped forward as
Jaffers and the stranger swayed and staggered towards him. They were clutching
and hitting each other. Then they fell on a chair that came in their way and it
was crashed.
After that, Jaffers instructed Mr. Hall to catch the
stranger’s feet so that he may fall down. But before he could do so, he
received a forceful kick in his ribs. It kept Mr. Hall away for some time.
Seeing the decapitated (headless) stranger, who had rolled over and got the upper
side of Jaffers, Mr. Hall retreated towards the door, keeping the knife in his
hand, collided with Mr. Huxter and the
Sidderbridge, who were coming to rescue Jaffers, the saviour of law and order. At
the same time, three or four bottles fell down from the cupboard and a very
pungent smell spread in the room.
Then the stranger cried all of a sudden saying, “I’ll
surrender” although he was successful in keeping Jaffers down. Leaving him
down, he stood up abruptly panting. He was looking a strange figure, headless
and handless as he had pulled off the right as well as his left glove.
The onlookers must have been felt most surprised to hear the
words coming out from the empty space above a headless and handless figure.
In the meantime, Jaffers also stood up and produced a pair
of handcuffs, but the stranger started undoing buttons of his waistcoat and
soon his clothes seemed to be hanging in the air showing empty space in them.
In a way, he was under the process of becoming completely invisible.
Some more men folk had then entered the room and it became a
closely crowded place. Huxter was surprised to see all that. Ignoring the
stranger’s abuses, he exclaimed that no one had ever heard of such a scene.
The stranger was complaining that his activities could not
be associated with crime and he wonders why the policeman had assaulted him in
that way.
At this Jaffers explained to him that he had committed a
burglary and stolen money from a house and, therefore, he had got warrant to
arrest him.
The stranger pleaded to Jaffers that he was ready to surrender
and he should not handcuff him. But the constable did not accede to his
request.
At this, the half invisible stranger sat down and, before
anyone could understand his next activities, he started making himself fully
invisible. He removed the slippers, socks and trousers one by one and kicked
them off under the table. After that, he sprang up again and flung off his
coat. Suddenly realizing what was happening, Jaffers said, “Here stop that” and
gripped at the waist coat, and struggled to keep a tight hold on him, but the
shirt slipped out of his hold.
Then he instructed others to hold him and told them that if
he was able to remove his clothes, he would become invisible. Everyone present
there was crying ‘Hold him!’ Only a fluttering white shirt in the air was
visible to the crowd.
Then the shirt sleeve planted a blow in Mr. Hall’s face and
stopped him from stepping forward.
Within the next moments, the stranger was completely
invisible and the people present there were crying “Hold him! Shut the door!
Don’t let him loose! I got something! Here it is!” It seemed that everybody was
being hit by the invisible man at that time.
Then Sandy Wedgers
might have thought to save the people from being hit by an invisible figure, so
he opened the door. People started rushing out of the room making a jam-like
situation at the door.
The hitting continued and Phipps’ front tooth was broken.
Henfrey was injured in the cartilage of his ear, Jaffers felt as if he had
caught something that came between him and Huxter.
Jaffers shouted ‘I got him!’ and kept struggling and
wrestling with his face that turned purple because of the swelling caused by
the blows he received by the invisible man.
The extraordinary conflict reached the house door and also
went down the steps of the inn. Jaffers cried in a voice as if his throat was
strangled, but he kept his hold on the invisible man very tight. He also kept
his knees playing so as to hit the person in his grip, but at last fell down on
the gravel with his head downward. Then his fingers relaxed and the tight on
the invisible person was loosened.
There were excited cries of ‘Hold!’ and then suddenly a
stranger came at once rushing in and caught hold of something and missed it and
fell over the constable’s prostrate body.
Next a scream that came halfway across the road was heard.
It was a woman who had been hit by somebody while she was crossing the road.
Then a dog was kicked and it yelped and then ran growling into Huxter’s yard
and with that the transit of the invisible man was completed.
For some time the people stood there amazed and kept
gesticulating. After that they scattered away as a gust scatters the dead
leaves.
But Jaffers lay there on the gravel quite motionless with
face upward and knees bent.
Chapter 8
In Trnasit
This chapter introduces us to another character, named Gibbons, who is an amateur naturalist
of the district. He was lying in the open space at the hill-slope, quite lost
in his thoughts. He was almost in a dozing state, and suddenly he heard some
sound as that of a man who was coughing, sneezing and then swearing in a wild
manner. Gibbons looked here and there to confirm as to who was there, but found
none. But still, he was able to hear very attentively swearing by a man. The
pitch of voice was growing to a height, decreased to a lower level and then
suddenly died down at a distance. It seemed to him that the sound was going in
a direction of Adderdean. Then it was raised up due to a sneeze and ended.
Gibbons’ peace of mind was disturbed by that unusual
occurrence that he experienced. He was in a philosophical and tranquil state of
mind and it disappeared at the voice he had heard around him. He stood up at
once and quickly moved towards the steepness of the hill that led him to the
village. He did so as fast he could.
