It was now March， and Mr Utterson was sitting by thefire after dinner，when he was surprised to receive avisitfrom Doctor Jekyll's servant，Poole．The old man looked paleand frightened．

‘Mr Utterson，he said，‘something is wrong．’

‘Sit down by the fire and tell me all abut it．’

‘The doctor's locked himself up in his study， sir．’

‘That's quite usual， surely，’ said the lawyer． ‘You knowyour master's habits as well as I do．He often shuts himselfaway from the world．’

‘Yes，but this time it's different． It frightens me， sirI've been frightened for more than a week now， and I justcan't go on any longer．

He stopped and stared down at the floor．

‘Try and tell me， Poole，’said Mr Utterson gently． ‘Something terrible is happening to my master．I can't explain． But… please，sir，can you come with me and see foryourself？’

At once Mr Utterson fetched his coat and hat．

‘Thank you， sir，’whispered Poole gratefully．

Together they made their way to Doctor Jekyll's house． Itwas a wild，stormy night．To Mr Utterson the streets seemedstrangely empty and lonely． The square， when they reachedit， was full of wind and flying dust． The thin trees were blowing wildly， and untidy grey clouds were sailing past a pale，sickly moon．

‘Well，sir，’said Poole，‘ here we are， and I hope that nothing is wrong．’He knocked softly at the front door． The doorwas opened just a little and a voice from inside asked，‘Is thatyou，Poole？’

‘Yes-open the door．’

The hall，when they entered，was brightly lit．A good firewas burning．The room was full of people-every servant inthe house was there．They looked like a crowd of frightenedchildren．

‘What's all this？’said the lawyer．‘What are you all doinghere？ Your master would not be pleased．’

‘They're frightened，’said Poole simply．No one elsespoke．A little servant girl began to cry．

‘Quiet！’said Poole sharply，trying to control his own fear．‘Now-fetch me a light and we'll finish this business at once．Mr Utterson， sir， please follow me．’He led the way across theback garden towards the laboratory．

‘Come as quietly as you can， sir．I want you to hear， but Idon't want him to hear you．And sin－if he asks you to go inside-don't go！’

Mr Utterson's heart gave a little jump of fear， but hebravely followed the servant into the laboratory to the bottomof the stairs．

‘Wait here， sir-and listen carefully，whispered Poole． Hehimself，again controlling his fear， climbed the stairs andknocked on the study door．

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