Mrs Hall locked it the night before. At the sight of the front door he stopped; then he went upstairs again. He knocked at the stranger's door. There was no answer. He knocked again; then pushed the door wide open and entered. It was as he expected. The bed, the room too, was empty. And what was still more strange, on the bed and chair were scattered the clothes, the only clothes so far as he knew, and the bandages of their guest. His big hat was hanging on the bedpost. As Mr Hall stood there he heard his wife's voice coming from the kitchen. He turned and hurried down to her. 'Jenny,' he said, 'he's not in his room and the front door is unlocked.' At first Mrs Hall did not understand, but as soon as she did she determined to see the empty room for herself. Hall went first. 'If he's not there, his clothes are. And what is he doing without his clothes?' As they came out of the kitchen they both thought they heard the front door open and shut but, seeing it closed and seeing nothing there, neither said a word to the other about it at the time. Mrs Hall passed her husband in the passage, and ran on first upstairs. Someone on the staircase sneezed. Mr Hall, following six steps behind, thought that he heard her sneeze; she, going first, thought that he was sneezing. She threw open the door and stood looking round the room. 'What a strange thing!' she said. She heard a cough close behind her, as it seemed, and, turning, was surprised to see her husband some distance away on the top stair. But in another moment he was beside her. She put her hand under the bedcovers. 'Cold,' she said. 'He's been up an hour or more.' At that point, a most unexpected thing happened. The bedcovers pulled themselves together into a pile, and then jumped violently off the bed. It was just as if a hand had thrown