Chapters 1-4 Summary

Chapter 1 opens on a rainy August evening with Mr. Vane, an orphan and recent Oxford graduate, reading in the library. He sees a tall figure select a book and vanish. As this borrowing continues, Vane learns from his butler the legend of Sir Upward and a librarian, Mr. Raven, who becomes the household ghost. Chapter 2 jumps a week to find Vane following this figure to the garret, into a small chamber, and through an old-fashioned mirror into an open heath, where he faces a raven. In Chapter 3, the disoriented Vane asks the quizzical-looking bird to help him interpret his situation. Instead, he hears frustrating riddles about exit doors that get him only further inside, making himself at home, not being concerned that Vane has forgotten his name and arriving prematurely. Considering the chance that he has died, Vane walks in the...