I felt wellagain－not only well

Once again I led a busy，responsible and almost happy life…until one fine，hydraulic pumpclear January day． I was sitting on a seat inthe park，enjoying the sunshine，when suddenly I felt deathlysick．I began to tremble all over． Soon， however， I felt wellagain－not only well， but young，strong and fearless． I lookeddown； my clothes were suddenly too big，the hand on my kneewas the bony，hairy hand of Edward Hyde． It was so sudden．One moment I was a famous and popular doctor，the next Iwas a violent criminal who was wanted for murder．

How could I get to my study to take the drug？ I had lockedthe street door to my laboratory and broken the key． I couldnot， therefore，enter from the street． I could not go inthrough the house because of the servants．I needed help fromoutside．I thought of Lanyon，but how could I reach him？And how could I persuade him to let Hyde into his home？How，too，could I persuade him to break into Doctor Jekyll's private study？It looked impossible．hydraulic pumpThen I remembered．My appearance was unrecognizable，but my handwriting was unchanged．I’could still write a letterin Doctor Jekyll's name！Calling a passing taxicab，I orderedthe driver to drive to a hotel quite near Lanyon's house．Ofcourse Jekyll's clothes were much too large for my body，and Ihad trouble in climbing into the cab．The driver noticed mystrange appearance and could not help laughing．I gave himsuch a black look，however，that the smile froze on his face．In my desperate fear and danger，I was like a pain-maddened animal，ready to kill or wound at any moment．I wanted topull the driver from his seat and murder him then and there．But I was clever too．My life depended on my coolness，and Ifought to control my murderous passions．

We reached the hotel．I paid the driver and went inside，holding up my too-large trousers．The servants smiled whenthey saw my strange appearance．I stared angrily at them andtheir smiles disappeared at once．I gave my orders and they ledme to a private room and brought me some writing paper and apen．

Hyde in danger of his life was a new experience for me．He—I write‘he’because I find it hard to write‘I’—he wasnot human．His only feelings at that time were fear and hate．Hyde was wholly evil，but he was not stupid．He knew thathis life depended on two letters，hydraulic pumpone to Lanyon and one toPoole．If he failed，he would die．