“Am I drunk?” said Mr. Marvel. “Have I had visions? Was I talking to myself? What the — ”

“Don’t be alarmed,” said a Voice.

“None of your ventriloquising me,” said Mr. Thomas Marvel, rising sharply to his feet. “Where are yer? Alarmed, indeed!”

“Don’t be alarmed,” repeated the Voice.

“You’ll be alarmed in a minute, you silly fool,” said Mr. Thomas Marvel. “Where are yer? Lemme get my mark on yer...

“Are yer buried?” said Mr. Thomas Marvel, after an interval.

There was no answer. Mr. Thomas Marvel stood bootless and amazed, his jacket nearly thrown off.

“Peewit,” said a peewit, very remote.

“Peewit, indeed!” said Mr. Thomas Marvel. “This ain’t no time for foolery.” The down was desolate, east and west, north and south; the road with its shallow ditches and white bordering stakes, ran smooth and empty north and south, and, save for that peewit, the blue sky was empty too. “So help me,” said Mr. Thomas Marvel, shuffling his coat on to his shoulders again. “It’s the drink! I might ha’ known.”

“It’s not the drink,” said the Voice. “You keep your nerves steady.”

“Ow!” said Mr. Marvel, and his face grew white amidst its patches. “It’s the drink!” his lips repeated noiselessly. He remained staring about him, rotating slowly backwards. “I could have swore I heard a voice,” he whispered.

“Of course you did.”

“It’s there again,” said Mr. Marvel, closing his eyes and clasping his hand on his brow with a tragic gesture. He was suddenly taken by the collar and shaken violently, and left more dazed than ever. “Don’t be a fool,” said the Voice.

“I’m — off — my — blooming — chump,” said Mr. Marvel. “It’s no good. It’s fretting about them blarsted boots. I’m off my blessed blooming chump. Or it’s spirits.”

“Neither one thing nor the other,” said the Voice. “Listen!”

“Chump,” said Mr. Marvel.

“One minute,” said the Voice, penetratingly, tremulous with self-control.

“Well?” said Mr. Thomas Marvel, with a strange feeling of having been dug in the chest by a finger.

“You think I’m just imagination? Just imagination?”

“What else can you be?” said Mr. Thomas Marvel, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Very well,” said the Voice, in a tone of relief. “Then I’m going to throw flints at you till you think differently.”

“But where are yer?”

The Voice made no answer. Whizz came a flint, apparently out of the air, and missed Mr. Marvel’s shoulder by a hair’s-breadth. Mr. Marvel, turning, saw a flint jerk up into the air, trace a complicated path, hang for a moment, and then fling at his feet with almost invisible rapidity. He was too amazed to dodge. Whizz it came, and ricochetted from a bare toe into the ditch. Mr. Thomas Marvel jumped a foot and howled aloud. Then he started to run, tripped over an unseen obstacle, and came head over heels into a sitting position.

Main IndexPage 000000
Page 000001
Page 000002
Page 000003
Page 000004
Page 000005
Page 000006
Page 000007
Page 000008
Page 000009
Page 000010
Page 000011
Page 000012
Page 000013
Page 000014
Page 000015
Page 000016
Page 000017
Page 000018
Page 000019
Page 000020
Page 000021
Page 000022
Page 000023
Page 000024
Page 000025
Page 000026
Page 000027
Page 000028
Page 000029
Page 000030
Page 000031
Page 000032
Page 000033
Page 000034
Page 000035
Page 000036
Page 000037
Page 000038
Page 000039
Page 000040
Page 000041
Page 000042
Page 000043
Page 000044
Page 000045
Page 000046
Page 000047
Page 000048
Page 000049
Page 000050
Page 000051
Page 000052
Page 000053
Page 000054
Page 000055
Page 000056
Page 000057
Page 000058
Page 000059
Page 000060
Page 000061
Page 000062
Page 000063
Page 000064
Page 000065
Page 000066
Page 000067
Page 000068
Page 000069
Page 000070
Page 000071
Page 000072
Page 000073
Page 000074
Page 000075
Page 000076
Page 000077
Page 000078
Page 000079
Page 000080
Page 000081
Page 000082
Page 000083
Page 000084
Page 000085
Page 000086
Page 000087
Page 000088
Page 000089
Page 000090

List of other EBooks available for download

The Crystal Stopper
Aaron's Rod
Lady Chatterley's Lover
Woman In Love
Frankenstein
Dracula
Lair Of The White Worm
Pride And Prejudice
Rob Roy
Mrs Dalloway
Kidnapped
The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde
Treasure Island
Around The World In 80 Days
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea
Moby Dick
The Invisible Man
The Island Of Doctor Moreau
The Time Machine
The War Of The Worlds
Animal Farm
Robinson Crusoe
A Tale Of Two Cities
Great Expectations
Oliver Twist
His Last Bow
The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes
The Case Book Of Sherlock Holmes
The Hound Of The Baskervilles
The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes
The Return Of Sherlock Holmes
The Sign Of Four
The Valley Of Fear
The Black Tulip
The Count Of Monte Cristo
The Three Musketeers