Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) The Wonderful Visit * * * * * By the Same Author The Time Machine DAILY CHRONICLE.--"Grips the imagination as it is only gripped by genuinely imaginative work.... A strikingly original performance." SATURDAY REVIEW.--"A book of remarkable power and imagination, and a work of distinct and individual merit." SPECTATOR.--"Mr Wells' fanciful and lively dream is well worth reading." NATIONAL OBSERVER.--"A _tour de force_.... A fine piece of literature, strongly imagined, almost perfectly expressed." GLASGOW HERALD.--"One of the best pieces of work I have read for many a day." * * * * * Macmillan's Colonial Library The Wonderful Visit by H. G. Wells Author of the "Time Machine" London Macmillan and Co. and New York 1895 No. 241 _All rights reserved_ This Edition is intended for circulation only in India and the British Colonies TO THE MEMORY OF MY DEAR FRIEND, WALTER LOW. CONTENTS PAGE THE NIGHT OF THE STRANGE BIRD 1 THE COMING OF THE STRANGE BIRD 4 THE HUNTING OF THE STRANGE BIRD 8 THE VICAR AND THE ANGEL 17 PARENTHESIS ON ANGELS 35 AT THE VICARAGE 38 THE MAN OF SCIENCE 50 THE CURATE 61 AFTER DINNER 76 MORNING 97 THE VIOLIN 101 THE ANGEL EXPLORES THE VILLAGE 106 LADY HAMMERGALLOW'S VIEW 127 FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE ANGEL IN THE VILLAGE 135 MRS JEHORAM'S BREADTH OF VIEW 148 A TRIVIAL INCIDENT 154 THE WARP AND THE WOOF OF THINGS 156 THE ANGEL'S DEBUT 160 THE TROUBLE OF THE BARBED WIRE 186 DELIA 195 DOCTOR CRUMP ACTS 199 SIR JOHN GOTCH ACTS 208 THE SEA CLIFF 213 MRS HINIJER ACTS 217 THE ANGEL IN TROUBLE 221 THE LAST DAY OF THE VISIT 229 THE EPILOGUE 248 THE WONDERFUL VISIT. THE NIGHT OF THE STRANGE BIRD. I.