“A sailor, I should judge,” said Mr. Bunting.  “Amusing fellows, they are.  Stand clear! indeed.  A nautical term, referring to his getting back out of the room, I suppose.”

“I daresay so,” said Cuss.  “My nerves are all loose to-day.  It quite made me jump—­the door opening like that.”

Mr. Bunting smiled as if he had not jumped.  “And now,” he said with a sigh, “these books.”

Someone sniffed as he did so.

“One thing is indisputable,” said Bunting, drawing up a chair next to that of Cuss.  “There certainly have been very strange things happen in Iping during the last few days—­very strange.  I cannot of course believe in this absurd invisibility story—­”

“It’s incredible,” said Cuss—­“incredible.  But the fact remains that I saw—­I certainly saw right down his sleeve—­”

“But did you—­are you sure?  Suppose a mirror, for instance—­ hallucinations are so easily produced.  I don’t know if you have ever seen a really good conjuror—­”

“I won’t argue again,” said Cuss.  “We’ve thrashed that out, Bunting.  And just now there’s these books—­Ah! here’s some of what I take to be Greek!  Greek letters certainly.”

He pointed to the middle of the page.  Mr. Bunting flushed slightly and brought his face nearer, apparently finding some difficulty with his glasses.  Suddenly he became aware of a strange feeling at the nape of his neck.  He tried to raise his head, and encountered an immovable resistance.  The feeling was a curious pressure, the grip of a heavy, firm hand, and it bore his chin irresistibly to the table.  “Don’t move, little men,” whispered a voice, “or I’ll brain you both!” He looked into the face of Cuss, close to his own, and each saw a horrified reflection of his own sickly astonishment.

“I’m sorry to handle you so roughly,” said the Voice, “but it’s unavoidable.”

“Since when did you learn to pry into an investigator’s private memoranda,” said the Voice; and two chins struck the table simultaneously, and two sets of teeth rattled.

“Since when did you learn to invade the private rooms of a man in misfortune?” and the concussion was repeated.

“Where have they put my clothes?”

“Listen,” said the Voice.  “The windows are fastened and I’ve taken the key out of the door.  I am a fairly strong man, and I have the poker handy—­besides being invisible.  There’s not the slightest doubt that I could kill you both and get away quite easily if I wanted to—­do you understand?  Very well.  If I let you go will you promise not to try any nonsense and do what I tell you?”

The vicar and the doctor looked at one another, and the doctor pulled a face.  “Yes,” said Mr. Bunting, and the doctor repeated it.  Then the pressure on the necks relaxed, and the doctor and the vicar sat up, both very red in the face and wriggling their heads.

“Please keep sitting where you are,” said the Invisible Man.  “Here’s the poker, you see.”