Laughter (Part II)

Every day Raymond walked in the street near his home. He touched fences and walls with a stick. Sometimes men and women at the windows called him and then he talked to them and laughed together with them.

In the evening, when Big Lannie was at home, he always told her about the street, about the people he met and how they laughed. Raymond loved laughter.

Winter came. That winter was a very bad one for the Negroes

A Negro in some other town had done something bad, the Negroes in Raymond's town did not know what it was. They only knew that 'the white people were very angry with them. They beat them in the streets, and they did not give them work.

It was a bad winter for Big Lannie, too. She had very little work. She could not buy new clothes for Raymond, and his old clothes were too small for him.

All winter Raymond stayed in the house. He sat in his corner dressed in Lannie's old skirt, and made his mats.

Spring came at last. One day, Big Lannie opened the window, and the warm air came into the room. Raymond was happy, now he could go into the street again. But Big Lannie had to tell him that he could not go out. He had no shoes, and he could not walk in the street in her skirt. Raymond did not say anything, he went back to his corner.

Then Big Lannie did something she had never done before: she asked the white lady for whom she worked to give her some old clothes for Raymond. The white lady was angry. "Why do you Negroes always ask for things?" she said. "Why don't you work more and then you can buy all the things you need."

Lannie did not answer. She stood with her eyes on the floor.

At last, the lady said, "All right, I'll give you some of my hus­band's old clothes, but you must work for them."

So Big Lannie made a shirt and trousers for Raymond out of a man's old clothes. Raymond danced and sang. Now he could go out into the street again; he could hear people's laughter; he could talk and laugh with them.

Next day, Big Lannie had to go early to work.

The people in the house helped Raymond to dress, and he went into the yard. How happy he was! How fresh the air was! How warm the sun was!

He went out of the yard into the street. He touched the fence with his stick and began to sing to himself.

Suddenly he heard laughter. He stopped. It was a strange laughter. It was not the laughter of friends. There was something cruel in it. Then somebody pushed him. Somebody struck him, again and again. He tried to run away but he could not. He fell down. When he tried to get up, somebody struck him again. He lay there crying in blood and dust and darkness and over him there was laughter, cruel laugh­ter.

The invisible man

The hero of the novel is Griffin, a gifted young scientist. He invents a substance that makes a person invisible and tries it on himself. Wishing to continue his experiments, Griffin comes to the quiet provincial town of Iping and stops at a local inn. His way of life and strange occupation arouse the suspicion of the narrow-minded Mr and Mrs Hall — keepers of the inn. They begin spying on Griffin. Finally things come to an open quarrel. The stranger returned to his room about half past five in the morning and there he remained until near midday, the blinds down and the door shut. All that time he must have been hungry. Thrice he rang his bell, but Mrs Hall would not answer it, as she was angry with him for his rudeness. She did not know what the stranger was doing. He must have occupied himself with some experiments at his table. Several times his cursing, the tearing of paper and violent smashing of bottles were heard. About noon he suddenly opened the door and stood staring at the people in the bar.

"Mrs Halt, he called. Mrs Hall came forward holding in her hand an unsettled bill "Is it your bill you want, sir?" she asked.

"Why wasn't my breakfast served? Why haven't you answered my bell? You must have thought I can live without eating. What!"

"You should have paid my bill, sir", said Mrs Half

"I told you three days ago I was expecting a remittance —"

"I am not going to wait for any remittances".

"Look here, my good woman" — he began in a pleading tone.

"Don't call me good woman", Mrs Hall said, "and before I get any breakfast, you've got to tell me one or two things I don't understand. Your room was empty but how did you get in again? You must have climbed in through the window. I suppose you know that people who stop in this house come in by the doors — that's the rule".

"You might have been more polite, at least", the stranger _k interrupted her in an angry voice stamping his foot "You don't understand who I am. I’ll show you!" He took off his spectacles and everyone in the bar gasped: there was — nothing behind them! He began to remove the bandages that covered the rest of his face. Mrs Hall shrieked and fell down unconscious as she saw that the stranger had no head. The people in the bar made for the door. The news of the headless man spread all the way down the street in no time and soon a crowd of perhaps forty people gathered round the door of the little inn. A little procession pushed its way through the crowd: first Mr Hall, then Mr Bobby Jaffers, the village constable, and then the blacksmith who lived across the street. Mr Hall must have been to the police to bring help. They all marched up the steps and entered the stranger's room at once. They saw the headless figure sitting at the tabl