Людина-невидимка
The Thousand and One Bottles
"Iwishyouwouldn'tcomeinwithoutknocking,"hesaidinthetoneofabnormalexasperationthatseemedsocharacteristicofhim.
"Iknocked,butseemingly—"
"Perhapsyoudid. Butinmyinvestigations—myreallyveryurgentandnecessaryinvestigations—theslightestdisturbance,thejarofadoor—Imustaskyou—"
"Certainly,sir.Youcanturnthelockifyou'relikethat,youknow.Anytime."
"Averygoodidea,"saidthestranger.
"Thisstror,sir,ifImightmakesoboldastoremark—"
"Don't.Ifthestrawmakestroubleputitdowninthebill." Andhemumbledather—wordssuspiciouslylikecurses.
Hewassoodd,standingthere,soaggressiveandexplosive,bottleinonehandandtest-tubeintheother,thatMrs.Hallwasquitealarmed. Butshewasaresolutewoman. "Inwhichcase,Ishouldliketoknow,sir,whatyouconsider—"
"Ashilling—putdownashilling. Surelyashilling'senough?"
"Sobeit,"saidMrs.Hall,takingupthetable-clothandbeginningtospreaditoverthetable. "Ifyou'resatisfied,ofcourse—"
Heturnedandsatdown,withhiscoat-collartowardher.
Alltheafternoonheworkedwiththedoorlockedand,asMrs.Halltestifies,forthemostpartinsilence.
