Story of the Door

Mr. Utterson was a lawyer. He was a serious man with a face that never smiled. He was a cold man and he did not talk much. He was thin and tall and looked very tired. But many people loved Mr. Utterson. When Mr. Utterson was with friends, his eyes looked kind. He did not show his feelings with words. He showed his feelings with his actions. He was very strict with himself. He stayed home and did not go to the theatre (a place where people watch actors). Mr. Utterson was kind to other people. He did not judge them when they did bad things. He often helped people who had problems. He liked to say, "I let people go to the devil in their own way." Because of this, many bad people chose Mr. Utterson as their last good friend. Mr. Utterson had a good friend named Mr. Richard Enfield. Mr. Richard Enfield was a distant relative. He was well-known in the city of London. People did not know why these two men were friends. They were very different from each other. Mr. Utterson and Mr. Richard Enfield went for a walk every Sunday. They walked for a long time and they did not speak. They looked very bored. But they loved these walks. They did not do other fun things because they wanted to walk together. One Sunday, they walked down a small street in a busy part of London. During the week, the street was full of shops and shoppers. The people in the street were successful and happy. The shop fronts were clean and pretty. Even on Sunday, the street looked bright and new. Near the corner of the street, there was an old building. It was two storeys (the different levels of a building) high. It had no windows. It only had one door on the bottom level. The wall was dirty and the paint was old. The door had no bell and no knocker (a metal object on a door for hitting). It looked very broken. Poor people often stood near the door. Children played on the steps. For many years, no one cleaned or fixed the building. Mr. Richard Enfield and Mr. Utterson were on the other side of the street. When they walked past the door, Mr. Richard Enfield pointed with his stick. He asked Mr. Utterson if he noticed that door. Mr. Utterson said yes. Mr. Richard Enfield said the door reminded him of a strange story. Mr. Utterson asked to hear the story. Mr. Richard Enfield began to tell it. He said he was walking home at three o'clock on a cold winter morning. The streets were very dark and empty. Mr. Richard Enfield walked through many streets with many lamps. He did not see any people. He started to feel nervous. He wanted to see a policeman. Suddenly, Mr. Richard Enfield saw two people. One was a small man who walked quickly. The other was a girl who was about eight years old. She ran down a cross street. The man and the girl ran into each other at the corner. Then a horrible thing happened. The man trampled (stepped heavily on) the girl. He walked right over her body. The girl fell down and screamed on the ground. It was terrible to see. The man was not like a human. Mr. Richard Enfield ran after the man. He caught the man by his clothes and brought him back. A small crowd of people stood around the screaming girl. The man was very calm. He did not fight. But he gave Mr. Richard Enfield a very ugly look. The girl’s family arrived. Then a doctor arrived to check the girl. The girl was okay, but she was very frightened. Everyone in the crowd hated the man. Even the doctor wanted to kill him. The crowd told the man they would tell everyone about his bad action. They said his name would be a scandal (a situation that makes people very angry). The man was calm but he was also a little afraid. He looked like the devil. The man asked how much money they wanted. He did not want a scene. The family and the doctor asked for one hundred pounds. The man agreed to pay. He led them to that old building with the dirty door. The man took out a key and went inside. He came back with ten pounds in gold. He also had a cheque (a special piece of paper from a bank to pay money). The paper was signed with a famous name. Mr. Richard Enfield thought the paper was a forgery (a fake copy of a document). The man said he would wait until the banks opened. He said he would get the money himself. The next morning, they all went to the bank. The bank worker looked at the paper. The paper was real. The bank gave them the money. Mr. Utterson was very surprised by the story. Mr. Richard Enfield said it was a bad story. He thought the man was a blackmailer (a person who takes money by threatening to tell a secret). He called the building "Black Mail House." Mr. Richard Enfield did not like to ask questions. He thought questions were like a stone on a hill. If you push one stone, it hits other stones. Then a problem might hit an innocent person. He tried to follow a rule: do not ask questions. Mr. Utterson said that was a good rule. But he wanted to know the name of the man who walked over the child. Mr. Richard Enfield said the man's name was Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson asked what Mr. Hyde looked like. Mr. Richard Enfield said Mr. Hyde was hard to describe. He said there was something wrong with the man's appearance. He looked ugly and mean. Mr. Richard Enfield hated him immediately. He said Mr. Hyde looked deformed (having a body that is not the normal shape). Mr. Utterson was quiet for a long time. He asked if Mr. Richard Enfield was sure about the key. Mr. Richard Enfield said he was sure. He saw Mr. Hyde use the key again last week. Mr. Utterson sighed. He said he knew the name of the other person who signed the money paper. He told Mr. Richard Enfield to be very exact about the story. Mr. Richard Enfield promised the story was true. The two men felt very sad about the story. Mr. Richard Enfield was ashamed that he talked so much. They made a promise. They agreed never to talk about Mr. Hyde or the door again. They shook hands on their promise.

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