# Bailey — Short Fiction character guide

> Bailey in Short Fiction by H. G. Wells.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0002-the-stolen-bacillus

## Snapshot

A housebound observer at his window who turns the river's passing boats into theatre, until one morning the show becomes a man running for his life.

## Who they are

Bailey sits alone in his house, housekeeper and servant away, watching the river traffic drift past as though it were staged for his amusement. His pleasure in distant lives is edged with a certain cool detachment, and he narrates strangers' small dramas with the relish of a man who has nothing else to do. When a white figure sprints through the corn and shots ring out, his idle spectatorship becomes the reader's entry into the story's mounting alarm.

## In the story

### [Through a Window](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/through-a-window)

The protagonist, an invalid with broken legs, who spends his days watching the river from his window.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/characters/bailey
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- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/characters