The Strange Man's Arrival
It
was a wintry day, in February, with biting wind and driving snow. He was wrapped
from head to toe, his hands were thickly gloved and his face was completely hidden. Only the tip of his
nose was visible. He reached ‘Coach and Horses’ – a local inn - and as he was feeling
terribly cold he wanted a warm room. He threw a couple of sovereigns (gold coin of the
United Kingdom used in the past) and settled in his room.
Mrs
Hall, the innkeeper, prepared a meal for him. She felt happy and satisfied
because
1. A
guest in Iping (the name of the place) in wintertime was a piece of luck.
2. A
guest who did not argue or bargain, who immediately gave the money demanded by
her (couple of sovereigns).
When
she entered his room with the meal, the fire was burning and the room was quite
warm. Mrs. Hall was surprised that the visitor had not removed
his
hat and coat. He was standing with his back to her. He refused her offer of
taking his hat and coat for drying. Her attempts at a conversation were cut
short by the strange visitor. She served
him lunch and left.
Only
the sound of his scraping the plates could be heard by her from the kitchen.
Then she noticed that the mustard
was not served. She scolded her help Millie about this, took the mustard to
him. (mustard – is a condiment made from the seeds of mustard plant. The whole,
ground, cracked or bruised mustard seeds are mixed with water, salt, lemon
juice and other flavourings to create a paste or sauce).
As
she entered his room with the mustard, she saw he had removed his overcoat and
hat. She was about to take them for drying when she heard his muffled voice
asking her not to take the hat.
When
she looked at him, she was too surprised to speak. He was holding a serviette
over the lower part of his face and was speaking through it. This had muffled
his voice. But it was the face which startled Mrs Hall. All his forehead above the blue glasses was covered
by a white bandage, and another covered his ears. Not a scrap of his face was exposed excepting the pink bright and shiny tip of his nose.
The collar of his brown jacket was turned up about his neck.
Still
holding the serviette (napkin or face towel), he told her again to leave his
hat. She tried to converse with him and tried to find out the reason for his
strange appearance. She assumed that he had met with an accident. As she left
baffled and bewildered he pulled the blind down and the room was left in with a
dim and dull light.
When
she went to clear his lunch, she observed that he was smoking his pipe. He had
a silk muffler wrapped around the lower part of his face, and without removing
it, he put the pipe’s mouthpiece to his lips.
He
enquired Mrs Hall about his luggage. He wanted them brought from Bramblehurst
station where he had left them. Mrs Hall replied that it would be possible to
arrange for the luggage to be brought only the next day, but the visitor wanted
them earlier.
Mrs
Hall guided the conversation towards accidents and operations in the hope that
the visitor would disclose the truth about his appearance and what exactly had
happened to him. But her attempts were cut short rudely by him. She wanted to
reply him but the two sovereigns shut her up. Everything was quiet till four o’
clock in the evening except for the occasional sound of the visitor pacing the
room and the creaking of the armchair as he sat down.
