― Arthur Conan Doyle
“It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle
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Griffin continues to relate his strange tale to his old schoolmate Kemp. After he sets fire to his rooms, the Invisible Man takes to the streets but finds it much harder to travel on them than he anticipated. Unable to see him, people on the crowded streets bump into him, tread on his heels, and hit him with objects they are carrying. He's also freezing because he's naked. Miserable and cold and chased down a muddy street by a dog who can smell him, Griffin is dismayed to find that the outline of his feet, mud-covered, are becoming visible. Others notice as well and he flees, hearing people behind him yelling about ghosts and running feet. Still freezing, his bare feet now bruised and cut, Griffin needs to find shelter. He slips into a department store and waits quietly until it's closed and everyone's gone. His intention is to steal clothes and money which he can use to redeem his books and notes and rent lodgings where he can continue his work. After pilfering some clothes, he breaks into the store's cafeteria and steals food to eat. While eating, he is struck by an idea and goes to the toy department where he finds a fake nose to augment his disguise. He also contemplates finding a wig to use. Clothed and warm, Griffin falls asleep only to be awakened by the arrival of the store employees in the morning. Since he is wearing clothes, he is visible to the workers who, seeing an intruder, give chase. The Invisible Man is forced to remove the clothes to escape from the store so is left with nothing once more. Griffin next burgles a costume shop, finding the nose, wig, and other supplies he needs to craft a disguise. Unfortunately, he is interrupted by the shop owner, who he knocks out and ties up. Having stolen food, clothes and money and able to pose as a normal- sort of- person, he gets his books back and hires the rooms in Iping where we first encounter him. He rages about how his plans have been stymied by the nosy people at the Inn, and now by Mr. Marvel (who has been locked in a cell at the police station at his own request). He also complains about how hard his life is on the run- he can't wear clothes or eat in public without being discovered, and is cold, hungry and miserable. He begins to talk wildly about getting what he needs, even if he has to kill those in his way. Kemp manages to conceal his alarm at Griffin's unbalanced behaviour and strives to keep him talking, especially as he glimpses three men coming towards his house. Since he's completely self-absorbed, T.I.M. obliges, saying that he'd been planning to go somewhere warm- like South America- where he wouldn't have to wear clothes, but now that he's found Kemp his plans have changed. He proposes to use Kemp's house as a base of operations- somewhere to eat, sleep, and work uninterrupted. His eventual plan is to rule the town they're in, and then perhaps the country, through a modern Reign of Terror. His plan is to terrify the citizens into obedience by using of his invisibility to intimidate and carry out judicious killing of dissidents when necessary. Hearing the men enter the house downstairs, Kemp begins talking loudly to cover the sounds they're making. He tells Griffin that he doesn't agree with his plans and urges him to publish his results and share his discoveries with the world. Unfortunately, he's not loud enough and Griffin hears the men coming up the stairs. He shouts that Kemp is a traitor and starts to fling off the clothes he's wearing. Kemp breaks for the door, hoping to lock Griffin in but isn't fast enough, and is attacked by T.I.M. who knocks him down and attempts to strangle him. The men coming up the stairs- led by Colonel Adye, to whom Kemp had written while Griffin was asleep- are startled by the sight of Kemp apparently wrestling with thin air. Then, however, they are hit by an invisible force which roughs them up and then pushes past them. Kemp swiftly explains to a dazed Adye what's been going on, warning him that Griffin is dangerously insane. Fortunately Kemp, thanks to Griffin's long tale of self-pity, knows what his weaknesses are. He tells Adye that they must wear T.I.M. down by not giving him opportunity to eat or sleep. Also, he knows that dogs can scent Griffin and, knowing that the man is barefoot, suggests putting powdered glass on the road to cut him and make him easier to trail. Adye objects that this is "unsportsmanlike" but Kemp says that Griffin has cut himself off from his own kind and become inhuman: "His blood be upon his own head."
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