# Mr. Cave — Short Fiction character guide

> Mr. Cave in Short Fiction by H. G. Wells.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Cave, hard driven, But Mr. Cave

**First appearance:** 0038-the-crystal-egg

## Snapshot

A timid shopkeeper in a failing curiosity shop who stumbles on a crystal egg that shows him something impossible, and cannot bring himself to sell it.

## Who they are

Mr. Cave is a small, henpecked man whose stepdaughter, stepson, and formidable wife all treat his business judgment with open contempt. When a customer offers five pounds for the crystal egg in his window, Cave refuses with a desperation that bewilders everyone — because the egg has shown him something he cannot explain or share. His secret obsession with the crystal sets him against his family and draws him toward a discovery far stranger than any of them suspect.

## In the story

### [The Diamond Maker](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/the-diamond-maker)

The narrator, a science graduate, who meets the diamond maker on the Embankment and considers buying the diamond.

### [The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/the-story-of-the-late-mr-elvesham)

Mentioned in the context of the story's title, but not directly appearing in this chapter.

### [The Crystal Egg](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/the-crystal-egg)

The protagonist, a taxidermist and shopkeeper who discovers the crystal egg's visionary properties and becomes obsessed with it, hiding his observations from his family.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/chapters/v)

Not present in this chapter; no characters from the canonical list appear.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/characters/mr-cave
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_25_se/characters