The Invisible Man - Summary of Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - A Thousand and One Bottles

Interesting luggage

The visitor’s luggage was brought to Coach and Horses on the second day of his arrival, the first of March, by Fearenside, the carter. It contained a couple of ordinary trunks, a box of books, a dozen or more crates, boxes, and cases full of objects packed in straw. The books were written in some incomprehensible language. Hall observed that many of the crates and boxes contained glass bottles.

Fearenside’s dog attacking the stranger:

The visitor seemed too impatient to receive the luggage. He came out to get the luggage carried to his room. He was wearing a hat, coat, gloves, wrappers as usual. The strange appearance seemed to have provoked Fearenside’s dog. It growled savagely and sprang at the him when he was about lay hands on a crater. Nobody had any time to react. The dog’s teeth slipped the stranger’s hand, but managed to tear his gloves and trousers. Fearenside reacted quickly and whipped the dog before it caused more damage. The visitor took a quick look at his torn gloves and his leg and rushed back to his room. The dog hid itself under the wheels of the wagon.

Hall’s concern for the stranger and the indescribable experience:

He followed the stranger hurriedly. Hall was worried that the stranger might have been bitten badly.  He met Mrs. Hall in the passage and informed her that the carrier’s dog had bitten the stranger.  He went upstairs straight, and pushed the door which was already open partly. He was too worried about the guest to wait for permission to enter the room. The room was dark. Still he could see a handless arm moving in his direction and struck him on the chest with great force. As soon as he was driven out, the door closed and locked on its own. Everything happened so fast that poor Hall had little time to understand what he had seen in the stranger’s room.

The reaction of the gathering in the street:

A couple of minutes later Hall joined the little group that had formed outside Coach and Horses. Fearenside was telling the gathering what had happened. Mrs. Hall was angry with the dog. One Huxter and Sandy Wedgers joined the crowd. Hall was completely confused and too ordinary a person to rationalize his unique experience. Besides he was not good at expressing his impressions. All he said was that the stranger did not need any help. The people gathered there started giving their own remedies for a dog-bite. Suddenly, their chatter was interrupted by the growling of Fearenside’s dog. Obviously, it had seen the stranger returning. The stranger expressed his annoyance at the delay in shifting the luggage to his rooms.  Somebody in the crowd observed that the visitor had changed his trousers and gloves. Fearenside apologized for his dog’s reaction and asked him if he was hurt. The stranger only said that the dog had not cut his skin. He ordered for the shifting of his things immediately.

The stranger’s eagerness to start his work:

The moment the first crater was carried into the parlour, the stranger unpacked it in no time. He was least worried about littering the room and the table with the straw. He took out bottles of all shapes and sizes from the crate. Even the chemist’s shop in Bramblehurst could not boast half so many. He put them neatly and carefully everywhere; on the mantelpiece, on the chiffonier, across the table and on the floor. All six craters were emptied. Some test tubes and a balance were also unpacked carefully. Mrs. Hall’s carpet was littered with straw but the stranger gave no attention to it. He was also least worried about the fire dying out, the box of books and other trunks. Like a man possessed, he began his work with the bottles and the test tubes.

Mrs Hall’s new finding, the straw and the compromise:

Mrs. Hall was upset with the straw scattered about the parlour when she came up to serve him dinner. She cleared the bulk of straw before putting the tray on the table. The stranger took no notice of her till then. He half turned his head and immediately turned it away from her, for he had  realized that he was not wearing his big glasses, which were on the table beside him. Mrs. Hall found  that his eye sockets were extraordinarily hollow. The stranger put on his glasses again, and then turned and faced. Before Mrs. Hall could utter a word, he expressed his annoyance at her entering the room without knocking. Mrs. Hall replied that she had knocked on the door and told  him that he could the lock the room if he wanted. She was about to express her annoyance at the litter but the visitor interrupted her by saying that she could charge for it in the bill. Mrs. Hall was alarmed at the sight of the aggressive stranger with a bottle in one hand a test-tube in the other. She readily accepted his proposal of collecting a shilling for the damages from his bill and left the room.

Mrs. Hall’s growing suspicion and the deal for the damages:

Mrs. Hall, though returned to her room, was growing more and more curious about the happenings in the room above. She was sure that the stranger worked very quietly for the most part. At some time, she heard a concussion and a sound of bottles ringing together as though the table had been hit. She also heard a violent smash of bottles, and a rapid pacing across the room. She grew worried. She went to the door. She heard him talking to himself.  Evidently, something was seriously annoying the stranger. He was heard calling himself a fool. Presently, Mrs. Hall was forced to leave her place at the door as she had heard a noise from the bar. She desperately wanted to hear the stranger’s monologue. The room grew quiet when she returned to the door and the man was back to work evidently.

When she entered the stranger’s room with tea, she saw broken glass in a corner of the room and a golden stain, which was not carefully wiped. When she drew his attention to them, the guest curtly asked her to put all damages down in the bill and not to bother him. He resumed his work.

The  talk at the beer-shop of Iping Hanger:

At the little beer-shop of Iping Hanger some interesting conversation was going on about the stranger. Fearenside said that the stranger was black. He had seen the tear in his trousers and his glove. The skin was not pinky. It was just as black as his hat. He opined that the man was a piebald. His skin must have been patches of black here and white there without mixing. He was a kind of half-breed and was ashamed of it.  Henfrey just said that it was all a rummy case.

Comments:

This chapter shows how eager the stranger was to get his luggage carried to his room and start his work. Interesting things happen as he rushed to the cart. He was lucky enough to escape a bite of Fearenside’s dog. His quick rushing to his rooms was strange enough. Hall sees a handless arm waving at him. Something hit him on the chest and forcibly sent him out. The room was bolted from inside. He had no time to react and rationalize his experience. The mystery around the stranger grows. Hall was not good at describing his experience in the stranger’s room. Probably he was ashamed of making public the ill-treatment he had received in the room. The stranger’s changed new glove and trousers did not fail to attract the attention of somebody in the gathering. Mrs. Hall was obviously growing suspicious about the stranger’s behaviour. She was upset to see the parlour littered with the straw but was satisfied with the stranger allowing her to charge for the damages. The conversation at the beer-shop of Iping Hanger shows that the stranger was slowly becoming the talk of the town. Fearenside’s theory that the man’s skin must have been patches of black and white is interesting and amusing. He was sure of not seeing any pink skin where the dog had torn his clothing open. The stranger at the inn was turning out to be a really mysterious figure.