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late.  God's will be done!"

With his usual recuperative energy, he went on, "Come.  If there be no
way open to get in, we must make one.  Time is all in all to us now."

We went round to the back of the house, where there was a kitchen
window.  The Professor took a small surgical saw from his case, and
handing it to me, pointed to the iron bars which guarded the window.
I attacked them at once and had very soon cut through three of them.
Then with a long, thin knife we pushed back the fastening of the
sashes and opened the window.  I helped the Professor in, and followed
him.  There was no one in the kitchen or in the servants' rooms, which
were close at hand.  We tried all the rooms as we went along, and in
the dining room, dimly lit by rays of light through the shutters,
found four servant women lying on the floor.  There was no need to
think them dead, for their stertorous breathing and the acrid smell of
laudanum in the room left no doubt as to their condition.

Van Helsing and I looked at each other, and as we moved away he said,
"We can attend to them later."  Then we ascended to Lucy's room.  For an
instant or two we paused at the door to listen, but there was no sound
that we could hear.  With white faces and trembling hands, we opened
the door gently, and entered the room.

How shall I describe what we saw?  On the bed lay two women, Lucy and
her mother.  The latter lay farthest in, and she was covered with a
white sheet, the edge of which had been blown back by the drought
through the broken window, showing the drawn, white, face, with a look
of terror fixed upon it.  By her side lay Lucy, with face white and
still more drawn.  The flowers which had been round her neck we found
upon her mother's bosom, and her throat was bare, showing the two
little wounds which we had noticed before, but looking horribly white
and mangled.  Without a word the Professor bent over the bed, his head
almost touching poor Lucy's breast.  Then he gave a quick turn of his
head, as of one who listens, and leaping to his feet, he cried out to
me, "It is not yet too late!  Quick!  Quick!  Bring the brandy!"

I flew downstairs and returned with it, taking care to smell and taste
it, lest it, too, were drugged like the decanter of sherry which I
found on the table.  The maids were still breathing, but more
restlessly, and I fancied that the narcotic was wearing off.  I did
not stay to make sure, but returned to Van Helsing.  He rubbed the
brandy, as on another occasion, on her lips and gums and on her wrists
and the palms of her hands.  He said to me, "I can do this, all that
can be at the present.  You go wake those maids.  Flick them in the
face with a wet towel, and flick them hard.  Make them get heat and
fire and a warm bath.  This poor soul is nearly as cold as that beside
her.  She will need be heated before we can do anything more."

I went at once, and found little difficulty in waking three of the
women.  The fourth was only a young girl, and the drug had evidently
affected her more strongly so I lifted her on the sofa and let her
sleep.

The others were dazed at first, but as remembrance came back to them
they cried and sobbed in a hysterical manner.  I was stern with them,
however, and would not let them talk.  I told them that one life was
bad enough to lose, and if they delayed they would sacrifice Miss
Lucy.  So, sobbing and crying they went about their way, half clad as
they were, and prepared fire and water.  Fortunately, the kitchen and
boiler fires were still alive, and there was no lack of hot water.  We
got a bath and carried Lucy out as she was and placed her in it.
Whilst we were busy chafing her limbs there was a knock at the hall
door.  One of the maids ran off, hurried on some more clothes, and
opened it.  Then she returned and whispered to us that there was a
gentleman who had come with a message from Mr. Holmwood.  I bade her
simply tell him that he must wait, for we could see no one now.  She
went away with the message, and, engrossed with our work, I clean
forgot all about him.

I never saw in all my experience the Professor work in such deadly
earnest.  I knew, as he knew, that it was a stand-up fight with death,
and in a pause told him so.  He answered me in a way that I did not
understand, but with the sternest look that his face could wear.

"If that were all, I would stop here where we are now, and let her
fade away into peace, for I see no light in life over her horizon."  He
went on with his work with, if possible, renewed and more frenzied
vigour.

Presently we both began to be conscious that the heat was beginning to
be of some effect.  Lucy's heart beat a trifle more audibly to the
stethoscope, and her lungs had a perceptible movement.  Van Helsing's
face almost beamed, and as we lifted her from the bath and rolled her
in a hot sheet to dry her he said to me, "The first gain is ours!
Check to the King!"

We took Lucy into another room, which had by now been prepared, and
laid her in bed and forced a few drops of brandy down her throat.  I
noticed that Van Helsing tied a soft silk handkerchief round her
throat.  She was still unconscious, and was quite as bad as, if not
worse than, we had ever seen her.

Van Helsing called in one of the women, and told her to stay with her
and not to take her eyes off her till we returned, and then beckoned
me out of the room.

"We must consult as to what is to be done," he said as we descended
the stairs.  In the hall he opened the dining room door, and we passed
in, he closing the door carefully behind him.  The shutters had been
opened, but the blinds were already down, with that obedience to the
etiquette of death which the British woman of the lower classes always
rigidly observes.  The room was, therefore, dimly dark.  It was,
however, light enough for our purposes.  Van Helsing's sternness was
somewhat relieved by a look of perplexity.  He was evidently torturing
his mind about something, so I waited for an instant, and he spoke.

"What are we to do now?  Where are we to turn for help?  We must have
another transfusion of blood, and that soon, or that poor girl's life
won't be worth an hour's purchase.  You are exhausted already.  I am
exhausted too.  I fear to trust those women, even if they would have
courage to submit.  What are we to do for some one who will open his
veins for her?"

"What's the matter with me, anyhow?"

The voice came from the sofa across the room, and its tones brought
relief and joy to my heart, for they were those of Quincey Morris.

Van Helsing started angrily at the first sound, but his face softened
and a glad look came into his eyes as I cried out, "Quincey Morris!"

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ourselves?"  I nodded in reply and went out.  I found no difficulty
about the registration, and arranged with the local undertaker to come
up in the evening to measure for the coffin and to make arrangements.

When I got back Quincey was waiting for me.  I told him I would see
him as soon as I knew about Lucy, and went up to her room.  She was
still sleeping, and the Professor seemingly had not moved from his
seat at her side.  From his putting his finger to his lips, I gathered
that he expected her to wake before long and was afraid of
fore-stalling nature.  So I went down to Quincey and took him into the
breakfast room, where the blinds were not drawn down, and which was a
little more cheerful, or rather less cheerless, than the other rooms.

When we were alone, he said to me, "Jack Seward, I don't want to shove
myself in anywhere where I've no right to be, but this is no ordinary
case.  You know I loved that girl and wanted to marry her, but
although that's all past and gone, I can't help feeling anxious about
her all the same.  What is it that's wrong with her?  The Dutchman,
and a fine old fellow he is, I can see that, said that time you two
came into the room, that you must have another transfusion of blood,
and that both you and he were exhausted.  Now I know well that you
medical men speak in camera, and that a man must not expect to know
what they consult about in private.  But this is no common matter, and
whatever it is, I have done my part.  Is not that so?"

"That's so," I said, and he went on.

"I take it that both you and Van Helsing had done already what I did
today.  Is not that so?"

"That's so."

"And I guess Art was in it too.  When I saw him four days ago down at
his own place he looked queer.  I have not seen anything pulled down
so quick since I was on the Pampas and had a mare that I was fond of
go to grass all in a night.  One of those big bats that they call
vampires had got at her in the night, and what with his gorge and the
vein left open, there wasn't enough blood in her to let her stand up,
and I had to put a bullet through her as she lay.  Jack, if you may
tell me without betraying confidence, Arthur was the first, is not
that so?"

As he spoke the poor fellow looked terribly anxious.  He was in a
torture of suspense regarding the woman he loved, and his utter
ignorance of the terrible mystery which seemed to surround her
intensified his pain.  His very heart was bleeding, and it took all
the manhood of him, and there was a royal lot of it, too, to keep him
from breaking down.  I paused before answering, for I felt that I must
not betray anything which the Professor wished kept secret, but
already he knew so much, and guessed so much, that there could be no
reason for not answering, so I answered in the same phrase.

"That's so."

"And how long has this been going on?"

"About ten days."

"Ten days!  Then I guess, Jack Seward, that that poor pretty creature
that we all love has had put into her veins within that time the blood
of four strong men.  Man alive, her whole body wouldn't hold it."  Then
coming close to me, he spoke in a fierce half-whisper.  "What took it
out?"

I shook my head.  "That," I said, "is the crux.  Van Helsing is simply
frantic about it, and I am at my wits' end.  I can't even hazard a
guess.  There has been a series of little circumstances which have
thrown out all our calculations as to Lucy being properly watched.
But these shall not occur again.  Here we stay until all be well, or
ill."

Quincey held out his hand.  "Count me in," he said.  "You and the
Dutchman will tell me what to do, and I'll do it."

When she woke late in the afternoon, Lucy's first movement was to feel
in her breast, and to my surprise, produced the paper which Van
Helsing had given me to read.  The careful Professor had replaced it
where it had come from, lest on waking she should be alarmed.  Her
eyes then lit on Van Helsing and on me too, and gladdened.  Then she
looked round the room, and seeing where she was, shuddered.  She gave
a loud cry, and put her poor thin hands before her pale face.

We both understood what was meant, that she had realized to the full
her mother's death.  So we tried what we could to comfort her.
Doubtless sympathy eased her somewhat, but she was very low in thought
and spirit, and wept silently and weakly for a long time.  We told her
that either or both of us would now remain with her all the time, and
that seemed to comfort her.  Towards dusk she fell into a doze.  Here
a very odd thing occurred.  Whilst still asleep she took the paper
from her breast and tore it in two.  Van Helsing stepped over and took
the pieces from her.  All the same, however, she went on with the
action of tearing, as though the material were still in her hands.
Finally she lifted her hands and opened them as though scattering the
fragments.  Van Helsing seemed surprised, and his brows gathered as if
in thought, but he said nothing.


19 September.--All last night she slept fitfully, being always afraid
to sleep, and something weaker when she woke from it.  The Professor
and I took in turns to watch, and we never left her for a moment
unattended.  Quincey Morris said nothing about his intention, but I
knew that all night long he patrolled round and round the house.

When the day came, its searching light showed the ravages in poor
Lucy's strength.  She was hardly able to turn her head, and the little
nourishment which she could take seemed to do her no good.  At times
she slept, and both Van Helsing and I noticed the difference in her,
between sleeping and waking.  Whilst asleep she looked stronger,
although more haggard, and her breathing was softer.  Her open mouth
showed the pale gums drawn back from the teeth, which looked
positively longer and sharper than usual.  When she woke the softness
of her eyes evidently changed the expression, for she looked her own
self, although a dying one.  In the afternoon she asked for Arthur,
and we telegraphed for him.  Quincey went off to meet him at the
station.

When he arrived it was nearly six o'clock, and the sun was setting
full and warm, and the red light streamed in through the window and
gave more colour to the pale cheeks.  When he saw her, Arthur was
simply choking with emotion, and none of us could speak.  In the hours
that had passed, the fits of sleep, or the comatose condition that

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he come just the same.  Keep it always with you that laughter who
knock at your door and say, 'May I come in?' is not true laughter.
No!  He is a king, and he come when and how he like.  He ask no
person, he choose no time of suitability.  He say, 'I am here.'
Behold, in example I grieve my heart out for that so sweet young
girl.  I give my blood for her, though I am old and worn.  I give my
time, my skill, my sleep.  I let my other sufferers want that she may
have all.  And yet I can laugh at her very grave, laugh when the clay
from the spade of the sexton drop upon her coffin and say 'Thud,
thud!' to my heart, till it send back the blood from my cheek.  My
heart bleed for that poor boy, that dear boy, so of the age of mine
own boy had I been so blessed that he live, and with his hair and eyes
the same.

"There, you know now why I love him so.  And yet when he say things
that touch my husband-heart to the quick, and make my father-heart
yearn to him as to no other man, not even you, friend John, for we are
more level in experiences than father and son, yet even at such a
moment King Laugh he come to me and shout and bellow in my ear, 'Here I
am!  Here I am!' till the blood come dance back and bring some of the
sunshine that he carry with him to my cheek.  Oh, friend John, it is a
strange world, a sad world, a world full of miseries, and woes, and
troubles.  And yet when King Laugh come, he make them all dance to the
tune he play.  Bleeding hearts, and dry bones of the churchyard, and
tears that burn as they fall, all dance together to the music that he
make with that smileless mouth of him.  And believe me, friend John,
that he is good to come, and kind.  Ah, we men and women are like
ropes drawn tight with strain that pull us different ways.  Then tears
come, and like the rain on the ropes, they brace us up, until perhaps
the strain become too great, and we break.  But King Laugh he come
like the sunshine, and he ease off the strain again, and we bear to go
on with our labor, what it may be."

I did not like to wound him by pretending not to see his idea, but as
I did not yet understand the cause of his laughter, I asked him.  As
he answered me his face grew stern, and he said in quite a different
tone,

"Oh, it was the grim irony of it all, this so lovely lady garlanded
with flowers, that looked so fair as life, till one by one we wondered
if she were truly dead, she laid in that so fine marble house in that
lonely churchyard, where rest so many of her kin, laid there with the
mother who loved her, and whom she loved, and that sacred bell going
'Toll!  Toll!  Toll!' so sad and slow, and those holy men, with the
white garments of the angel, pretending to read books, and yet all the
time their eyes never on the page, and all of us with the bowed head.
And all for what?  She is dead, so!  Is it not?"

"Well, for the life of me, Professor," I said, "I can't see anything
to laugh at in all that.  Why, your expression makes it a harder
puzzle than before.  But even if the burial service was comic, what
about poor Art and his trouble?  Why his heart was simply breaking."

"Just so.  Said he not that the transfusion of his blood to her veins
had made her truly his bride?"

"Yes, and it was a sweet and comforting idea for him."

"Quite so.  But there was a difficulty, friend John.  If so that, then
what about the others?  Ho, ho!  Then this so sweet maid is a
polyandrist, and me, with my poor wife dead to me, but alive by
Church's law, though no wits, all gone, even I, who am faithful
husband to this now-no-wife, am bigamist."

"I don't see where the joke comes in there either!" I said, and I did
not feel particularly pleased with him for saying such things.  He
laid his hand on my arm, and said,

"Friend John, forgive me if I pain.  I showed not my feeling to others
when it would wound, but only to you, my old friend, whom I can trust.
If you could have looked into my heart then when I want to laugh, if
you could have done so when the laugh arrived, if you could do so now,
when King Laugh have pack up his crown, and all that is to him, for he
go far, far away from me, and for a long, long time, maybe you would
perhaps pity me the most of all."

I was touched by the tenderness of his tone, and asked why.

"Because I know!"

And now we are all scattered, and for many a long day loneliness will
sit over our roofs with brooding wings.  Lucy lies in the tomb of her
kin, a lordly death house in a lonely churchyard, away from teeming
London, where the air is fresh, and the sun rises over Hampstead Hill,
and where wild flowers grow of their own accord.

So I can finish this diary, and God only knows if I shall ever begin
another.  If I do, or if I even open this again, it will be to deal
with different people and different themes, for here at the end, where
the romance of my life is told, ere I go back to take up the thread of
my life-work, I say sadly and without hope, "FINIS".




THE WESTMINSTER GAZETTE, 25 SEPTEMBER A HAMPSTEAD MYSTERY

The neighborhood of Hampstead is just at present exercised
with a series of events which seem to run on lines parallel
to those of what was known to the writers of headlines as
"The Kensington Horror," or "The Stabbing Woman," or "The
Woman in Black."  During the past two or three days several
cases have occurred of young children straying from home or
neglecting to return from their playing on the Heath.  In
all these cases the children were too young to give any
properly intelligible account of themselves, but the
consensus of their excuses is that they had been with a
"bloofer lady."  It has always been late in the evening when
they have been missed, and on two occasions the children
have not been found until early in the following morning.
It is generally supposed in the neighborhood that, as the
first child missed gave as his reason for being away that a
"bloofer lady" had asked him to come for a walk, the others
had picked up the phrase and used it as occasion served.  This
is the more natural as the favourite game of the little ones
at present is luring each other away by wiles.  A correspondent
writes us that to see some of the tiny tots pretending to be the
"bloofer lady" is supremely funny.  Some of our caricaturists
might, he says, take a lesson in the irony of grotesque by
comparing the reality and the picture.  It is only in accordance
with general principles of human nature that the "bloofer lady"

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I had no answer for this, so was silent.  Van Helsing did not seem to
notice my silence.  At any rate, he showed neither chagrin nor
triumph.  He was looking intently at the face of the dead woman,
raising the eyelids and looking at the eyes, and once more opening the
lips and examining the teeth.  Then he turned to me and said,

"Here, there is one thing which is different from all recorded.  Here
is some dual life that is not as the common.  She was bitten by the
vampire when she was in a trance, sleep-walking, oh, you start.  You
do not know that, friend John, but you shall know it later, and in
trance could he best come to take more blood.  In trance she dies, and
in trance she is UnDead, too.  So it is that she differ from all
other.  Usually when the UnDead sleep at home," as he spoke he made a
comprehensive sweep of his arm to designate what to a vampire was
'home', "their face show what they are, but this so sweet that was
when she not UnDead she go back to the nothings of the common dead.
There is no malign there, see, and so it make hard that I must kill
her in her sleep."

This turned my blood cold, and it began to dawn upon me that I was
accepting Van Helsing's theories.  But if she were really dead, what
was there of terror in the idea of killing her?

He looked up at me, and evidently saw the change in my face, for he
said almost joyously, "Ah, you believe now?"

I answered, "Do not press me too hard all at once.  I am willing to
accept.  How will you do this bloody work?"

"I shall cut off her head and fill her mouth with garlic, and I shall
drive a stake through her body."

It made me shudder to think of so mutilating the body of the woman
whom I had loved.  And yet the feeling was not so strong as I had
expected.  I was, in fact, beginning to shudder at the presence of
this being, this UnDead, as Van Helsing called it, and to loathe it.
Is it possible that love is all subjective, or all objective?

I waited a considerable time for Van Helsing to begin, but he stood as
if wrapped in thought.  Presently he closed the catch of his bag with
a snap, and said,

"I have been thinking, and have made up my mind as to what is best.
If I did simply follow my inclining I would do now, at this moment,
what is to be done.  But there are other things to follow, and things
that are thousand times more difficult in that them we do not know.
This is simple.  She have yet no life taken, though that is of time,
and to act now would be to take danger from her forever.  But then we
may have to want Arthur, and how shall we tell him of this?  If you,
who saw the wounds on Lucy's throat, and saw the wounds so similar on
the child's at the hospital, if you, who saw the coffin empty last
night and full today with a woman who have not change only to be more
rose and more beautiful in a whole week, after she die, if you know of
this and know of the white figure last night that brought the child to
the churchyard, and yet of your own senses you did not believe, how
then, can I expect Arthur, who know none of those things, to believe?

"He doubted me when I took him from her kiss when she was dying.  I
know he has forgiven me because in some mistaken idea I have done
things that prevent him say goodbye as he ought, and he may think that
in some more mistaken idea this woman was buried alive, and that in
most mistake of all we have killed her.  He will then argue back that
it is we, mistaken ones, that have killed her by our ideas, and so he
will be much unhappy always.  Yet he never can be sure, and that is
the worst of all.  And he will sometimes think that she he loved was
buried alive, and that will paint his dreams with horrors of what she
must have suffered, and again, he will think that we may be right, and
that his so beloved was, after all, an UnDead.  No!  I told him once,
and since then I learn much.  Now, since I know it is all true, a
hundred thousand times more do I know that he must pass through the
bitter waters to reach the sweet.  He, poor fellow, must have one hour
that will make the very face of heaven grow black to him, then we can
act for good all round and send him peace.  My mind is made up.  Let
us go.  You return home for tonight to your asylum, and see that all
be well.  As for me, I shall spend the night here in this churchyard
in my own way.  Tomorrow night you will come to me to the Berkeley
Hotel at ten of the clock.  I shall send for Arthur to come too, and
also that so fine young man of America that gave his blood.  Later we
shall all have work to do.  I come with you so far as Piccadilly and
there dine, for I must be back here before the sun set."

So we locked the tomb and came away, and got over the wall of the
churchyard, which was not much of a task, and drove back to
Piccadilly.




NOTE LEFT BY VAN HELSING IN HIS PORTMANTEAU, BERKELEY HOTEL DIRECTED TO
JOHN SEWARD, M. D. (Not Delivered)

27 September

"Friend John,

"I write this in case anything should happen.  I go alone to
watch in that churchyard.  It pleases me that the UnDead,
Miss Lucy, shall not leave tonight, that so on the morrow
night she may be more eager.  Therefore I shall fix some
things she like not, garlic and a crucifix, and so seal up
the door of the tomb.  She is young as UnDead, and will
heed.  Moreover, these are only to prevent her coming out.
They may not prevail on her wanting to get in, for then the
UnDead is desperate, and must find the line of least resistance,
whatsoever it may be.  I shall be at hand all the night from
sunset till after sunrise, and if there be aught that may be
learned I shall learn it.  For Miss Lucy or from her, I have no
fear, but that other to whom is there that she is UnDead, he have
not the power to seek her tomb and find shelter.  He is cunning,
as I know from Mr. Jonathan and from the way that all along he
have fooled us when he played with us for Miss Lucy's life, and
we lost, and in many ways the UnDead are strong.  He have always
the strength in his hand of twenty men, even we four who gave our
strength to Miss Lucy it also is all to him.  Besides, he can
summon his wolf and I know not what.  So if it be that he came
thither on this night he shall find me.  But none other shall,
until it be too late.  But it may be that he will not attempt the
place.  There is no reason why he should.  His hunting ground is
more full of game than the churchyard where the UnDead woman
sleeps, and the one old man watch.

"Therefore I write this in case . . . Take the papers that
are with this, the diaries of Harker and the rest, and read
them, and then find this great UnDead, and cut off his head
and burn his heart or drive a stake through it, so that the
world may rest from him.

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pig in a poke', as they say in Scotland, and if it be anything in
which my honour as a gentleman or my faith as a Christian is
concerned, I cannot make such a promise.  If you can assure me that
what you intend does not violate either of these two, then I give my
consent at once, though for the life of me, I cannot understand what
you are driving at."

"I accept your limitation," said Van Helsing, "and all I ask of you is
that if you feel it necessary to condemn any act of mine, you will
first consider it well and be satisfied that it does not violate your
reservations."

"Agreed!" said Arthur.  "That is only fair.  And now that the
pourparlers are over, may I ask what it is we are to do?"

"I want you to come with me, and to come in secret, to the churchyard
at Kingstead."

Arthur's face fell as he said in an amazed sort of way,

"Where poor Lucy is buried?"

The Professor bowed.

Arthur went on, "And when there?"

"To enter the tomb!"

Arthur stood up.  "Professor, are you in earnest, or is it some
monstrous joke?  Pardon me, I see that you are in earnest."  He sat
down again, but I could see that he sat firmly and proudly, as one who
is on his dignity.  There was silence until he asked again, "And when
in the tomb?"

"To open the coffin."

"This is too much!" he said, angrily rising again.  "I am willing to
be patient in all things that are reasonable, but in this, this
desecration of the grave, of one who . . ."  He fairly choked with
indignation.

The Professor looked pityingly at him.  "If I could spare you one pang,
my poor friend," he said, "God knows I would.  But this night our feet
must tread in thorny paths, or later, and for ever, the feet you love
must walk in paths of flame!"

Arthur looked up with set white face and said, "Take care, sir, take
care!"

"Would it not be well to hear what I have to say?" said Van Helsing.
"And then you will at least know the limit of my purpose.  Shall I go
on?"

"That's fair enough," broke in Morris.

After a pause Van Helsing went on, evidently with an effort, "Miss
Lucy is dead, is it not so?  Yes!  Then there can be no wrong to her.
But if she be not dead . . ."

Arthur jumped to his feet, "Good God!" he cried.  "What do you mean?
Has there been any mistake, has she been buried alive?"  He groaned in
anguish that not even hope could soften.

"I did not say she was alive, my child.  I did not think it.  I go no
further than to say that she might be UnDead."

"UnDead!  Not alive!  What do you mean?  Is this all a nightmare, or
what is it?"

"There are mysteries which men can only guess at, which age by age
they may solve only in part.  Believe me, we are now on the verge of
one.  But I have not done.  May I cut off the head of dead Miss Lucy?"

"Heavens and earth, no!" cried Arthur in a storm of passion.  "Not for
the wide world will I consent to any mutilation of her dead body.  Dr.
Van Helsing, you try me too far.  What have I done to you that you
should torture me so?  What did that poor, sweet girl do that you
should want to cast such dishonour on her grave?  Are you mad, that you
speak of such things, or am I mad to listen to them?  Don't dare think
more of such a desecration.  I shall not give my consent to anything
you do.  I have a duty to do in protecting her grave from outrage, and
by God, I shall do it!"

Van Helsing rose up from where he had all the time been seated, and
said, gravely and sternly, "My Lord Godalming, I too, have a duty to
do, a duty to others, a duty to you, a duty to the dead, and by God, I
shall do it!  All I ask you now is that you come with me, that you
look and listen, and if when later I make the same request you do not
be more eager for its fulfillment even than I am, then, I shall do my
duty, whatever it may seem to me.  And then, to follow your Lordship's
wishes I shall hold myself at your disposal to render an account to
you, when and where you will."  His voice broke a little, and he went
on with a voice full of pity.

"But I beseech you, do not go forth in anger with me.  In a long life
of acts which were often not pleasant to do, and which sometimes did
wring my heart, I have never had so heavy a task as now.  Believe me
that if the time comes for you to change your mind towards me, one
look from you will wipe away all this so sad hour, for I would do what
a man can to save you from sorrow.  Just think.  For why should I give
myself so much labor and so much of sorrow?  I have come here from my
own land to do what I can of good, at the first to please my friend
John, and then to help a sweet young lady, whom too, I come to love.
For her, I am ashamed to say so much, but I say it in kindness, I gave
what you gave, the blood of my veins.  I gave it, I who was not, like
you, her lover, but only her physician and her friend.  I gave her my
nights and days, before death, after death, and if my death can do her
good even now, when she is the dead UnDead, she shall have it freely."
He said this with a very grave, sweet pride, and Arthur was much
affected by it.

He took the old man's hand and said in a broken voice, "Oh, it is hard
to think of it, and I cannot understand, but at least I shall go with
you and wait."




CHAPTER 16


DR SEWARD'S DIARY-cont.

It was just a quarter before twelve o'clock when we got into the
churchyard over the low wall.  The night was dark with occasional
gleams of moonlight between the dents of the heavy clouds that scudded
across the sky.  We all kept somehow close together, with Van Helsing

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copied maps of it, and you know it at least more than we do.  Which is
the way to the chapel?"

I had an idea of its direction, though on my former visit I had not
been able to get admission to it, so I led the way, and after a few
wrong turnings found myself opposite a low, arched oaken door, ribbed
with iron bands.

"This is the spot," said the Professor as he turned his lamp on a
small map of the house, copied from the file of my original
correspondence regarding the purchase.  With a little trouble we found
the key on the bunch and opened the door.  We were prepared for some
unpleasantness, for as we were opening the door a faint, malodorous
air seemed to exhale through the gaps, but none of us ever expected
such an odour as we encountered.  None of the others had met the Count
at all at close quarters, and when I had seen him he was either in the
fasting stage of his existence in his rooms or, when he was bloated
with fresh blood, in a ruined building open to the air, but here the
place was small and close, and the long disuse had made the air
stagnant and foul.  There was an earthy smell, as of some dry miasma,
which came through the fouler air.  But as to the odour itself, how
shall I describe it?  It was not alone that it was composed of all the
ills of mortality and with the pungent, acrid smell of blood, but it
seemed as though corruption had become itself corrupt.  Faugh!  It
sickens me to think of it.  Every breath exhaled by that monster
seemed to have clung to the place and intensified its loathsomeness.

Under ordinary circumstances such a stench would have brought our
enterprise to an end, but this was no ordinary case, and the high and
terrible purpose in which we were involved gave us a strength which
rose above merely physical considerations.  After the involuntary
shrinking consequent on the first nauseous whiff, we one and all set
about our work as though that loathsome place were a garden of roses.

We made an accurate examination of the place, the Professor saying as
we began, "The first thing is to see how many of the boxes are left,
we must then examine every hole and corner and cranny and see if we
cannot get some clue as to what has become of the rest."

A glance was sufficient to show how many remained, for the great earth
chests were bulky, and there was no mistaking them.

There were only twenty-nine left out of the fifty!  Once I got a
fright, for, seeing Lord Godalming suddenly turn and look out of the
vaulted door into the dark passage beyond, I looked too, and for an
instant my heart stood still.  Somewhere, looking out from the shadow,
I seemed to see the high lights of the Count's evil face, the ridge of
the nose, the red eyes, the red lips, the awful pallor.  It was only
for a moment, for, as Lord Godalming said, "I thought I saw a face,
but it was only the shadows," and resumed his inquiry, I turned my
lamp in the direction, and stepped into the passage.  There was no
sign of anyone, and as there were no corners, no doors, no aperture of
any kind, but only the solid walls of the passage, there could be no
hiding place even for him.  I took it that fear had helped
imagination, and said nothing.

A few minutes later I saw Morris step suddenly back from a corner,
which he was examining.  We all followed his movements with our eyes,
for undoubtedly some nervousness was growing on us, and we saw a whole
mass of phosphorescence, which twinkled like stars.  We all
instinctively drew back.  The whole place was becoming alive with
rats.

For a moment or two we stood appalled, all save Lord Godalming, who
was seemingly prepared for such an emergency.  Rushing over to the
great iron-bound oaken door, which Dr. Seward had described from the
outside, and which I had seen myself, he turned the key in the lock,
drew the huge bolts, and swung the door open.  Then, taking his little
silver whistle from his pocket, he blew a low, shrill call.  It was
answered from behind Dr. Seward's house by the yelping of dogs, and
after about a minute three terriers came dashing round the corner of
the house.  Unconsciously we had all moved towards the door, and as we
moved I noticed that the dust had been much disturbed.  The boxes
which had been taken out had been brought this way.  But even in the
minute that had elapsed the number of the rats had vastly increased.
They seemed to swarm over the place all at once, till the lamplight,
shining on their moving dark bodies and glittering, baleful eyes, made
the place look like a bank of earth set with fireflies.  The dogs
dashed on, but at the threshold suddenly stopped and snarled, and
then, simultaneously lifting their noses, began to howl in most
lugubrious fashion.  The rats were multiplying in thousands, and we
moved out.

Lord Godalming lifted one of the dogs, and carrying him in, placed him
on the floor.  The instant his feet touched the ground he seemed to
recover his courage, and rushed at his natural enemies.  They fled
before him so fast that before he had shaken the life out of a score,
the other dogs, who had by now been lifted in the same manner, had but
small prey ere the whole mass had vanished.

With their going it seemed as if some evil presence had departed, for
the dogs frisked about and barked merrily as they made sudden darts at
their prostrate foes, and turned them over and over and tossed them in
the air with vicious shakes.  We all seemed to find our spirits rise.
Whether it was the purifying of the deadly atmosphere by the opening
of the chapel door, or the relief which we experienced by finding
ourselves in the open I know not, but most certainly the shadow of
dread seemed to slip from us like a robe, and the occasion of our
coming lost something of its grim significance, though we did not
slacken a whit in our resolution.  We closed the outer door and barred
and locked it, and bringing the dogs with us, began our search of the
house.  We found nothing throughout except dust in extraordinary
proportions, and all untouched save for my own footsteps when I had
made my first visit.  Never once did the dogs exhibit any symptom of
uneasiness, and even when we returned to the chapel they frisked about
as though they had been rabbit hunting in a summer wood.

The morning was quickening in the east when we emerged from the front.
Dr. Van Helsing had taken the key of the hall door from the bunch, and
locked the door in orthodox fashion, putting the key into his pocket
when he had done.

"So far," he said, "our night has been eminently successful.  No harm
has come to us such as I feared might be and yet we have ascertained
how many boxes are missing.  More than all do I rejoice that this, our
first, and perhaps our most difficult and dangerous, step has been
accomplished without the bringing thereinto our most sweet Madam Mina
or troubling her waking or sleeping thoughts with sights and sounds
and smells of horror which she might never forget.  One lesson, too,
we have learned, if it be allowable to argue a particulari, that the
brute beasts which are to the Count's command are yet themselves not

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warning hand over my mouth, and now she whispered in my ear, "Hush!
There is someone in the corridor!"  I got up softly, and crossing the
room, gently opened the door.

Just outside, stretched on a mattress, lay Mr. Morris, wide awake.  He
raised a warning hand for silence as he whispered to me, "Hush!  Go
back to bed.  It is all right.  One of us will be here all night.  We
don't mean to take any chances!"

His look and gesture forbade discussion, so I came back and told Mina.
She sighed and positively a shadow of a smile stole over her poor,
pale face as she put her arms round me and said softly, "Oh, thank God
for good brave men!"  With a sigh she sank back again to sleep.  I
write this now as I am not sleepy, though I must try again.


4 October, morning.--Once again during the night I was wakened by
Mina.  This time we had all had a good sleep, for the grey of the
coming dawn was making the windows into sharp oblongs, and the gas
flame was like a speck rather than a disc of light.

She said to me hurriedly, "Go, call the Professor.  I want to see him
at once."

"Why?" I asked.

"I have an idea.  I suppose it must have come in the night, and
matured without my knowing it.  He must hypnotize me before the dawn,
and then I shall be able to speak.  Go quick, dearest, the time is
getting close."

I went to the door.  Dr. Seward was resting on the mattress, and
seeing me, he sprang to his feet.

"Is anything wrong?" he asked, in alarm.

"No," I replied.  "But Mina wants to see Dr. Van Helsing at once."

"I will go," he said, and hurried into the Professor's room.

Two or three minutes later Van Helsing was in the room in his dressing
gown, and Mr. Morris and Lord Godalming were with Dr. Seward at the
door asking questions.  When the Professor saw Mina a smile, a
positive smile ousted the anxiety of his face.

He rubbed his hands as he said, "Oh, my dear Madam Mina, this is
indeed a change.  See!  Friend Jonathan, we have got our dear Madam
Mina, as of old, back to us today!"  Then turning to her, he said
cheerfully, "And what am I to do for you?  For at this hour you do not
want me for nothing."

"I want you to hypnotize me!" she said.  "Do it before the dawn, for I
feel that then I can speak, and speak freely.  Be quick, for the time
is short!"  Without a word he motioned her to sit up in bed.

Looking fixedly at her, he commenced to make passes in front of her,
from over the top of her head downward, with each hand in turn.  Mina
gazed at him fixedly for a few minutes, during which my own heart beat
like a trip hammer, for I felt that some crisis was at hand.
Gradually her eyes closed, and she sat, stock still.  Only by the
gentle heaving of her bosom could one know that she was alive.  The
Professor made a few more passes and then stopped, and I could see
that his forehead was covered with great beads of perspiration.  Mina
opened her eyes, but she did not seem the same woman.  There was a
far-away look in her eyes, and her voice had a sad dreaminess which
was new to me.  Raising his hand to impose silence, the Professor
motioned to me to bring the others in.  They came on tiptoe, closing
the door behind them, and stood at the foot of the bed, looking on.
Mina appeared not to see them.  The stillness was broken by Van
Helsing's voice speaking in a low level tone which would not break the
current of her thoughts.

"Where are you?"  The answer came in a neutral way.

"I do not know.  Sleep has no place it can call its own."  For several
minutes there was silence.  Mina sat rigid, and the Professor stood
staring at her fixedly.

The rest of us hardly dared to breathe.  The room was growing lighter.
Without taking his eyes from Mina's face, Dr. Van Helsing motioned me
to pull up the blind.  I did so, and the day seemed just upon us.  A
red streak shot up, and a rosy light seemed to diffuse itself through
the room.  On the instant the Professor spoke again.

"Where are you now?"

The answer came dreamily, but with intention.  It were as though she
were interpreting something.  I have heard her use the same tone when
reading her shorthand notes.

"I do not know.  It is all strange to me!"

"What do you see?"

"I can see nothing.  It is all dark."

"What do you hear?"  I could detect the strain in the Professor's
patient voice.

"The lapping of water.  It is gurgling by, and little waves leap.  I
can hear them on the outside."

"Then you are on a ship?'"

We all looked at each other, trying to glean something each from the
other.  We were afraid to think.

The answer came quick, "Oh, yes!"

"What else do you hear?"

"The sound of men stamping overhead as they run about.  There is the
creaking of a chain, and the loud tinkle as the check of the capstan
falls into the ratchet."

"What are you doing?"

"I am still, oh so still.  It is like death!"  The voice faded away
into a deep breath as of one sleeping, and the open eyes closed again.

By this time the sun had risen, and we were all in the full light of

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in no friendly mood, when just at full tide, the thin man came up the
gangplank again and asked to see where his box had been stowed.  Then
the captain replied that he wished that he and his box, old and with
much bloom and blood, were in hell.  But the thin man did not be
offend, and went down with the mate and saw where it was place, and
came up and stood awhile on deck in fog.  He must have come off by
himself, for none notice him.  Indeed they thought not of him, for
soon the fog begin to melt away, and all was clear again.  My friends
of the thirst and the language that was of bloom and blood laughed, as
they told how the captain's swears exceeded even his usual polyglot,
and was more than ever full of picturesque, when on questioning other
mariners who were on movement up and down the river that hour, he
found that few of them had seen any of fog at all, except where it lay
round the wharf.  However, the ship went out on the ebb tide, and was
doubtless by morning far down the river mouth.  She was then, when
they told us, well out to sea.

"And so, my dear Madam Mina, it is that we have to rest for a time,
for our enemy is on the sea, with the fog at his command, on his way
to the Danube mouth.  To sail a ship takes time, go she never so
quick.  And when we start to go on land more quick, and we meet him
there.  Our best hope is to come on him when in the box between
sunrise and sunset.  For then he can make no struggle, and we may deal
with him as we should.  There are days for us, in which we can make
ready our plan.  We know all about where he go.  For we have seen the
owner of the ship, who have shown us invoices and all papers that can
be.  The box we seek is to be landed in Varna, and to be given to an
agent, one Ristics who will there present his credentials.  And so our
merchant friend will have done his part.  When he ask if there be any
wrong, for that so, he can telegraph and have inquiry made at Varna,
we say 'no,' for what is to be done is not for police or of the
customs.  It must be done by us alone and in our own way."

When Dr. Van Helsing had done speaking, I asked him if he were certain
that the Count had remained on board the ship.  He replied, "We have
the best proof of that, your own evidence, when in the hypnotic trance
this morning."

I asked him again if it were really necessary that they should pursue
the Count, for oh!  I dread Jonathan leaving me, and I know that he
would surely go if the others went.  He answered in growing passion,
at first quietly.  As he went on, however, he grew more angry and more
forceful, till in the end we could not but see wherein was at least
some of that personal dominance which made him so long a master
amongst men.

"Yes, it is necessary, necessary, necessary!  For your sake in the
first, and then for the sake of humanity.  This monster has done much
harm already, in the narrow scope where he find himself, and in the
short time when as yet he was only as a body groping his so small
measure in darkness and not knowing.  All this have I told these
others.  You, my dear Madam Mina, will learn it in the phonograph of
my friend John, or in that of your husband.  I have told them how the
measure of leaving his own barren land, barren of peoples, and coming
to a new land where life of man teems till they are like the multitude
of standing corn, was the work of centuries.  Were another of the
Undead, like him, to try to do what he has done, perhaps not all the
centuries of the world that have been, or that will be, could aid him.
With this one, all the forces of nature that are occult and deep and
strong must have worked together in some wonderous way.  The very
place, where he have been alive, Undead for all these centuries, is
full of strangeness of the geologic and chemical world.  There are
deep caverns and fissures that reach none know whither.  There have
been volcanoes, some of whose openings still send out waters of
strange properties, and gases that kill or make to vivify.  Doubtless,
there is something magnetic or electric in some of these combinations
of occult forces which work for physical life in strange way, and in
himself were from the first some great qualities.  In a hard and
warlike time he was celebrate that he have more iron nerve, more
subtle brain, more braver heart, than any man.  In him some vital
principle have in strange way found their utmost.  And as his body
keep strong and grow and thrive, so his brain grow too.  All this
without that diabolic aid which is surely to him.  For it have to
yield to the powers that come from, and are, symbolic of good.  And
now this is what he is to us.  He have infect you, oh forgive me, my
dear, that I must say such, but it is for good of you that I speak.  He
infect you in such wise, that even if he do no more, you have only to
live, to live in your own old, sweet way, and so in time, death, which
is of man's common lot and with God's sanction, shall make you like to
him.  This must not be!  We have sworn together that it must not.
Thus are we ministers of God's own wish.  That the world, and men for
whom His Son die, will not be given over to monsters, whose very
existence would defame Him.  He have allowed us to redeem one soul
already, and we go out as the old knights of the Cross to redeem
more.  Like them we shall travel towards the sunrise.  And like them,
if we fall, we fall in good cause."

He paused and I said, "But will not the Count take his rebuff wisely?
Since he has been driven from England, will he not avoid it, as a
tiger does the village from which he has been hunted?"

"Aha!" he said, "your simile of the tiger good, for me, and I shall
adopt him.  Your maneater, as they of India call the tiger who has
once tasted blood of the human, care no more for the other prey, but
prowl unceasing till he get him.  This that we hunt from our village
is a tiger, too, a maneater, and he never cease to prowl.  Nay, in
himself he is not one to retire and stay afar.  In his life, his
living life, he go over the Turkey frontier and attack his enemy on
his own ground.  He be beaten back, but did he stay?  No!  He come
again, and again, and again.  Look at his persistence and endurance.
With the child-brain that was to him he have long since conceive the
idea of coming to a great city.  What does he do?  He find out the
place of all the world most of promise for him.  Then he deliberately
set himself down to prepare for the task.  He find in patience just
how is his strength, and what are his powers.  He study new tongues.
He learn new social life, new environment of old ways, the politics,
the law, the finance, the science, the habit of a new land and a new
people who have come to be since he was.  His glimpse that he have
had, whet his appetite only and enkeen his desire.  Nay, it help him
to grow as to his brain.  For it all prove to him how right he was at
the first in his surmises.  He have done this alone, all alone!  From
a ruin tomb in a forgotten land.  What more may he not do when the
greater world of thought is open to him.  He that can smile at death,
as we know him.  Who can flourish in the midst of diseases that kill
off whole peoples.  Oh!  If such an one was to come from God, and not
the Devil, what a force for good might he not be in this old world of
ours.  But we are pledged to set the world free.  Our toil must be in
silence, and our efforts all in secret.  For in this enlightened age,
when men believe not even what they see, the doubting of wise men
would be his greatest strength.  It would be at once his sheath and
his armor, and his weapons to destroy us, his enemies, who are willing

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"And I, horses to follow on the bank lest by chance he land," said Mr.
Morris.

"Good!" said the Professor, "both good.  But neither must go alone.
There must be force to overcome force if need be.  The Slovak is
strong and rough, and he carries rude arms."  All the men smiled, for
amongst them they carried a small arsenal.

Said Mr. Morris, "I have brought some Winchesters.  They are pretty
handy in a crowd, and there may be wolves.  The Count, if you
remember, took some other precautions.  He made some requisitions on
others that Mrs. Harker could not quite hear or understand.  We must
be ready at all points."

Dr. Seward said, "I think I had better go with Quincey.  We have been
accustomed to hunt together, and we two, well armed, will be a match
for whatever may come along.  You must not be alone, Art.  It may be
necessary to fight the Slovaks, and a chance thrust, for I don't
suppose these fellows carry guns, would undo all our plans.  There
must be no chances, this time.  We shall not rest until the Count's
head and body have been separated, and we are sure that he cannot
reincarnate."

He looked at Jonathan as he spoke, and Jonathan looked at me.  I could
see that the poor dear was torn about in his mind.  Of course he
wanted to be with me.  But then the boat service would, most likely,
be the one which would destroy the . . . the . . . Vampire.  (Why did
I hesitate to write the word?)

He was silent awhile, and during his silence Dr. Van Helsing spoke,
"Friend Jonathan, this is to you for twice reasons.  First, because
you are young and brave and can fight, and all energies may be needed
at the last.  And again that it is your right to destroy him.  That,
which has wrought such woe to you and yours.  Be not afraid for Madam
Mina.  She will be my care, if I may.  I am old.  My legs are not so
quick to run as once.  And I am not used to ride so long or to pursue
as need be, or to fight with lethal weapons.  But I can be of other
service.  I can fight in other way.  And I can die, if need be, as
well as younger men.  Now let me say that what I would is this.  While
you, my Lord Godalming and friend Jonathan go in your so swift little
steamboat up the river, and whilst John and Quincey guard the bank
where perchance he might be landed, I will take Madam Mina right into
the heart of the enemy's country.  Whilst the old fox is tied in his
box, floating on the running stream whence he cannot escape to land,
where he dares not raise the lid of his coffin box lest his Slovak
carriers should in fear leave him to perish, we shall go in the track
where Jonathan went, from Bistritz over the Borgo, and find our way to
the Castle of Dracula.  Here, Madam Mina's hypnotic power will surely
help, and we shall find our way, all dark and unknown otherwise, after
the first sunrise when we are near that fateful place.  There is much
to be done, and other places to be made sanctify, so that that nest of
vipers be obliterated."

Here Jonathan interrupted him hotly, "Do you mean to say, Professor
Van Helsing, that you would bring Mina, in her sad case and tainted as
she is with that devil's illness, right into the jaws of his
deathtrap?  Not for the world!  Not for Heaven or Hell!"

He became almost speechless for a minute, and then went on, "Do you
know what the place is?  Have you seen that awful den of hellish
infamy, with the very moonlight alive with grisly shapes, and every
speck of dust that whirls in the wind a devouring monster in embryo?
Have you felt the Vampire's lips upon your throat?"

Here he turned to me, and as his eyes lit on my forehead he threw up
his arms with a cry, "Oh, my God, what have we done to have this
terror upon us?" and he sank down on the sofa in a collapse of misery.

The Professor's voice, as he spoke in clear, sweet tones, which seemed
to vibrate in the air, calmed us all.

"Oh, my friend, it is because I would save Madam Mina from that awful
place that I would go.  God forbid that I should take her into that
place.  There is work, wild work, to be done before that place can be
purify.  Remember that we are in terrible straits.  If the Count
escape us this time, and he is strong and subtle and cunning, he may
choose to sleep him for a century, and then in time our dear one," he
took my hand, "would come to him to keep him company, and would be as
those others that you, Jonathan, saw.  You have told us of their
gloating lips.  You heard their ribald laugh as they clutched the
moving bag that the Count threw to them.  You shudder, and well may it
be.  Forgive me that I make you so much pain, but it is necessary.  My
friend, is it not a dire need for that which I am giving, possibly my
life?  If it were that any one went into that place to stay, it is I
who would have to go to keep them company."

"Do as you will," said Jonathan, with a sob that shook him all over,
"we are in the hands of God!"


Later.--Oh, it did me good to see the way that these brave men worked.
How can women help loving men when they are so earnest, and so true,
and so brave!  And, too, it made me think of the wonderful power of
money!  What can it not do when basely used.  I felt so thankful that
Lord Godalming is rich, and both he and Mr. Morris, who also has
plenty of money, are willing to spend it so freely.  For if they did
not, our little expedition could not start, either so promptly or so
well equipped, as it will within another hour.  It is not three hours
since it was arranged what part each of us was to do.  And now Lord
Godalming and Jonathan have a lovely steam launch, with steam up ready
to start at a moment's notice.  Dr. Seward and Mr. Morris have half a
dozen good horses, well appointed.  We have all the maps and
appliances of various kinds that can be had.  Professor Van Helsing
and I are to leave by the 11:40 train tonight for Veresti, where we
are to get a carriage to drive to the Borgo Pass.  We are bringing a
good deal of ready money, as we are to buy a carriage and horses.  We
shall drive ourselves, for we have no one whom we can trust in the
matter.  The Professor knows something of a great many languages, so
we shall get on all right.  We have all got arms, even for me a large
bore revolver.  Jonathan would not be happy unless I was armed like
the rest.  Alas!  I cannot carry one arm that the rest do, the scar on
my forehead forbids that.  Dear Dr. Van Helsing comforts me by telling
me that I am fully armed as there may be wolves.  The weather is
getting colder every hour, and there are snow flurries which come and
go as warnings.


Later.--It took all my courage to say goodbye to my darling.  We may
never meet again.  Courage, Mina!  The Professor is looking at you
keenly.  His look is a warning.  There must be no tears now, unless it
may be that God will let them fall in gladness.

t/dracula.DOS.txt  view on Meta::CPAN

believe they went to the trouble of putting an extra amount of garlic
into our food, and I can't abide garlic.  Ever since then I have taken
care not to take off my hat or veil, and so have escaped their
suspicions.  We are travelling fast, and as we have no driver with us
to carry tales, we go ahead of scandal.  But I daresay that fear of
the evil eye will follow hard behind us all the way.  The Professor
seems tireless.  All day he would not take any rest, though he made me
sleep for a long spell.  At sunset time he hypnotized me, and he says
I answered as usual, "darkness, lapping water and creaking wood."  So
our enemy is still on the river.  I am afraid to think of Jonathan,
but somehow I have now no fear for him, or for myself.  I write this
whilst we wait in a farmhouse for the horses to be ready.  Dr. Van
Helsing is sleeping.  Poor dear, he looks very tired and old and grey,
but his mouth is set as firmly as a conqueror's.  Even in his sleep he
is intense with resolution.  When we have well started I must make him
rest whilst I drive.  I shall tell him that we have days before us,
and he must not break down when most of all his strength will be
needed . . . All is ready.  We are off shortly.


2 November, morning.--I was successful, and we took turns driving all
night.  Now the day is on us, bright though cold.  There is a strange
heaviness in the air.  I say heaviness for want of a better word.  I
mean that it oppresses us both.  It is very cold, and only our warm
furs keep us comfortable.  At dawn Van Helsing hypnotized me.  He says
I answered "darkness, creaking wood and roaring water," so the river
is changing as they ascend.  I do hope that my darling will not run
any chance of danger, more than need be, but we are in God's hands.


2 November, night.--All day long driving.  The country gets wilder as
we go, and the great spurs of the Carpathians, which at Veresti seemed
so far from us and so low on the horizon, now seem to gather round us
and tower in front.  We both seem in good spirits.  I think we make an
effort each to cheer the other, in the doing so we cheer ourselves.
Dr. Van Helsing says that by morning we shall reach the Borgo Pass.
The houses are very few here now, and the Professor says that the last
horse we got will have to go on with us, as we may not be able to
change.  He got two in addition to the two we changed, so that now we
have a rude four-in-hand.  The dear horses are patient and good, and
they give us no trouble.  We are not worried with other travellers,
and so even I can drive.  We shall get to the Pass in daylight.  We do
not want to arrive before.  So we take it easy, and have each a long
rest in turn.  Oh, what will tomorrow bring to us?  We go to seek the
place where my poor darling suffered so much.  God grant that we may
be guided aright, and that He will deign to watch over my husband and
those dear to us both, and who are in such deadly peril.  As for me, I
am not worthy in His sight.  Alas!  I am unclean to His eyes, and
shall be until He may deign to let me stand forth in His sight as one
of those who have not incurred His wrath.





MEMORANDUM BY ABRAHAM VAN HELSING

4 November.--This to my old and true friend John Seward, M.D.,
of Purfleet, London, in case I may not see him.  It may
explain.  It is morning, and I write by a fire which all
the night I have kept alive, Madam Mina aiding me.  It is
cold, cold.  So cold that the grey heavy sky is full of
snow, which when it falls will settle for all winter as the
ground is hardening to receive it.  It seems to have affected
Madam Mina.  She has been so heavy of head all day that she was
not like herself.  She sleeps, and sleeps, and sleeps!  She who
is usual so alert, have done literally nothing all the day.  She
even have lost her appetite.  She make no entry into her little
diary, she who write so faithful at every pause.  Something
whisper to me that all is not well.  However, tonight she is more
/vif/.  Her long sleep all day have refresh and restore her, for
now she is all sweet and bright as ever.  At sunset I try to
hypnotize her, but alas! with no effect.  The power has grown
less and less with each day, and tonight it fail me altogether.
Well, God's will be done, whatever it may be, and whithersoever
it may lead!

Now to the historical, for as Madam Mina write not in her
stenography, I must, in my cumbrous old fashion, that so
each day of us may not go unrecorded.

We got to the Borgo Pass just after sunrise yesterday
morning.  When I saw the signs of the dawn I got ready for
the hypnotism.  We stopped our carriage, and got down so
that there might be no disturbance.  I made a couch with
furs, and Madam Mina, lying down, yield herself as usual,
but more slow and more short time than ever, to the hypnotic
sleep.  As before, came the answer, "darkness and the swirling of
water."  Then she woke, bright and radiant and we go on our way
and soon reach the Pass.  At this time and place, she become all
on fire with zeal.  Some new guiding power be in her manifested,
for she point to a road and say, "This is the way."

"How know you it?" I ask.

"Of course I know it," she answer, and with a pause, add,
"Have not my Jonathan travelled it and wrote of his travel?"

At first I think somewhat strange, but soon I see that there be
only one such byroad.  It is used but little, and very different
from the coach road from the Bukovina to Bistritz, which is more
wide and hard, and more of use.

So we came down this road.  When we meet other ways, not
always were we sure that they were roads at all, for they
be neglect and light snow have fallen, the horses know and
they only.  I give rein to them, and they go on so patient.  By
and by we find all the things which Jonathan have note in that
wonderful diary of him.  Then we go on for long, long hours and
hours.  At the first, I tell Madam Mina to sleep.  She try, and
she succeed.  She sleep all the time, till at the last, I feel
myself to suspicious grow, and attempt to wake her.  But she
sleep on, and I may not wake her though I try.  I do not wish to
try too hard lest I harm her.  For I know that she have suffer
much, and sleep at times be all-in-all to her.  I think I drowse
myself, for all of sudden I feel guilt, as though I have done
something.  I find myself bolt up, with the reins in my hand, and
the good horses go along jog, jog, just as ever.  I look down and
find Madam Mina still asleep.  It is now not far off sunset time,
and over the snow the light of the sun flow in big yellow flood,
so that we throw great long shadow on where the mountain rise so