DR. SEWARD'S DIARY
3 October.--Let me put down
with exactness all that happened,
as well as I can remember, since
last I made an entry. Not a detail
that I can recall must be forgotten.
In all calmness I must proceed.
When I came to Renfield's room
I found him lying on the floor
on his left side in a glittering
pool of blood. When I went to
move him, it became at once apparent
that he had received some terrible
injuries. There seemed none of
the unity of purpose between
the parts of the body which marks
even lethargic sanity. As the
face was exposed I could see
that it was horribly bruised,
as though it had been beaten
against the floor. Indeed it
was from the face wounds that
the pool of blood originated.
The attendant
who was kneeling beside the
body said to me as
we turned him over, "I think,
sir, his back is broken. See,
both his right arm and leg and
the whole side of his face are
paralysed." How such a thing
could have happened puzzled the
attendant beyond measure. He
seemed quite bewildered, and
his brows were gathered in as
he said, "I can't understand
the two things. He could mark
his face like that by beating
his own head on the floor. I
saw a young woman do it once
at the Eversfield Asylum before
anyone could lay hands on her.
And I suppose he might have broken
his neck by falling out of bed,
if he got in an awkward kink.
But for the life of me I can't
imagine how the two things occurred.
If his back was broke, he couldn't
beat his head, and if his face
was like that before the fall
out of bed, there would be marks
of it."
I said to him, "Go
to Dr. Van Helsing, and ask
him to kindly
come here at once. I want him
without an instant's delay."
The man ran
off, and within a few minutes
the Professor,
in his dressing gown and slippers,
appeared. When he saw Renfield
on the ground, he looked keenly
at him a moment, and then turned
to me. I think he recognized
my thought in my eyes, for he
said very quietly, manifestly
for the ears of the attendant, "Ah,
a sad accident! He will need
very careful watching, and much
attention. I shall stay with
you myself, but I shall first
dress myself. If you will remain
I shall in a few minutes join
you."
The patient was now breathing
stertorously and it was easy
to see that he had suffered some
terrible injury.
Van Helsing
returned with extraordinary
celerity, bearing with him a
surgical case. He had evidently
been thinking and had his mind
made up, for almost before he
looked at the patient, he whispered
to me, "Send the attendant away.
We must be alone with him when
he becomes conscious, after the
operation."
I said, "I
think that will do now, Simmons.
We have done
all that we can at present. You
had better go your round, and
Dr. Van Helsing will operate.
Let me know instantly if there
be anything unusual anywhere."
The man withdrew, and we went
into a strict examination of
the patient. The wounds of the
face were superficial. The real
injury was a depressed fracture
of the skull, extending right
up through the motor area.
The Professor
thought a moment and said,"We
must reduce the pressure and
get back to normal
conditions, as far as can be.
The rapidity of the suffusion
shows the terrible nature of
his injury. The whole motor area
seems affected. The suffusion
of the brain will increase quickly,
so we must trephine at once or
it may be too late."
As he was speaking
there was a soft tapping at
the door. I
went over and opened it and found
in the corridor without, Arthur
and Quincey in pajamas and slippers,
the former spoke, "I heard your
man call up Dr. Van Helsing and
tell him of an accident. So I
woke Quincey or rather called
for him as he was not asleep.
Things are moving too quickly
and too strangely for sound sleep
for any of us these times. I've
been thinking that tomorrow night
will not see things as they have
been. We'll have to look back,
and forward a little more than
we have done. May we come in?"
I nodded, and
held the door open till they
had entered, then
I closed it again. When Quincey
saw the attitude and state of
the patient, and noted the horrible
pool on the floor, he said softly, "My
God! What has happened to him?
Poor, poor devil!"
I told him briefly, and added
that we expected he would recover
consciousness after the operation,
for a short time, at all events.
He went at once and sat down
on the edge of the bed, with
Godalming beside him. We all
watched in patience.
"We shall wait," said Van Helsing, "just
long enough to fix the best spot
for trephining, so that we may
most quickly and perfectly remove
the blood clot, for it is evident
that the haemorrhage is increasing."
The minutes during which we
waited passed with fearful slowness.
I had a horrible sinking in my
heart, and from Van Helsing's
face I gathered that he felt
some fear or apprehension as
to what was to come. I dreaded
the words Renfield might speak.
I was positively afraid to think.
But the conviction of what was
coming was on me, as I have read
of men who have heard the death
watch. The poor man's breathing
came in uncertain gasps.Each
instant he seemed as though he
would open his eyes and speak,
but then would follow a prolonged
stertorous breath, and he would
relapse into a more fixed insensibility.
Inured as I was to sick beds
and death, this suspense grew
and grew upon me. I could almost
hear the beating of my own heart,
and the blood surging through
my temples sounded like blows
from a hammer. The silence finally
became agonizing. I looked at
my companions, one after another,
and saw from their flushed faces
and damp brows that they were
enduring equal torture. There
was a nervous suspense over us
all, as though overhead some
dread bell would peal out powerfully
when we should least expect it.
At last there
came a time when it was evident
that the patient
was sinking fast. He might die
at any moment. I looked up at
the Professor and caught his
eyes fixed on mine. His face
was sternly set as he spoke, "There
is no time to lose. His words
may be worth many lives. I have
been thinking so, as I stood
here. It may be there is a soul
at stake! We shall operate just
above the ear."
Without another
word he made the operation.
For a few moments
the breathing continued to be
stertorous. Then there came a
breath so prolonged that it seemed
as though it would tear open
his chest. Suddenly his eyes
opened, and became fixed in a
wild, helpless stare. This was
continued for a few moments,
then it was softened into a glad
surprise, and from his lips came
a sigh of relief. He moved convulsively,
and as he did so, said, "I'll
be quiet, Doctor. Tell them to
take off the strait waistcoat.
I have had a terrible dream,
and it has left me so weak that
I cannot move. What's wrong with
my face? It feels all swollen,
and it smarts dreadfully."
He tried to
turn his head, but even with
the effort his
eyes seemed to grow glassy again
so I gently put it back. Then
Van Helsing said in a quiet grave
tone, "Tell us your dream, Mr.
Renfield."
As he heard
the voice his face brightened,
through its mutilation,
and he said, "That is Dr. Van
Helsing. How good it is of you
to be here. Give me some water,
my lips are dry, and I shall
try to tell you. I dreamed" .
. .
He stopped
and seemed fainting. I called
quietly to Quincey, "The
brandy, it is in my study, quick!" He
flew and returned with a glass,
the decanter of brandy and a
carafe of water. We moistened
the parched lips, and the patient
quickly revived.
It seemed,
however, that his poor injured
brain had been working
in the interval, for when he
was quite conscious, he looked
at me piercingly with an agonized
confusion which I shall never
forget, and said, "I must not
deceive myself. It was no dream,
but all a grim reality." Then
his eyes roved round the room.
As they caught sight of the two
figures sitting patiently on
the edge of the bed he went on, "If
I were not sure already, I would
know from them."
For an instant
his eyes closed, not with pain
or sleep but voluntarily,
as though he were bringing all
his faculties to bear. When he
opened them he said, hurriedly,
and with more energy than he
had yet displayed, "Quick, Doctor,
quick, I am dying! I feel that
I have but a few minutes, and
then I must go back to death,
or worse! Wet my lips with brandy
again. I have something that
I must say before I die. Or before
my poor crushed brain dies anyhow.
Thank you! It was that night
after you left me, when I implored
you to let me go away. I couldn't
speak then, for I felt my tongue
was tied. But I was as sane then,
except in that way, as I am now.
I was in an agony of despair
for a long time after you left
me, it seemed hours. Then there
came a sudden peace to me. My
brain seemed to become cool again,
and I realized where I was. I
heard the dogs bark behind our
house, but not where He was!"
As he spoke,
Van Helsing's eyes never blinked,
but his hand
came out and met mine and gripped
it hard. He did not, however,
betray himself. He nodded slightly
and said, "Go on," in a low voice.
Renfield proceeded. "He
came up to the window in the
mist,
as I had seen him often before,
but he was solid then, not a
ghost, and his eyes were fierce
like a man's when angry. He was
laughing with his red mouth,
the sharp white teeth glinted
in the moonlight when he turned
to look back over the belt of
trees, to where the dogs were
barking. I wouldn't ask him to
come in at first, though I knew
he wanted to, just as he had
wanted all along. Then he began
promising me things, not in words
but by doing them."
He was interrupted
by a word from the Professor, "How?"
"By making
them happen. Just as he used
to send in the flies
when the sun was shining. Great
big fat ones with steel and sapphire
on their wings. And big moths,
in the night, with skull and
cross-bones on their backs."
Van Helsing
nodded to him as he whispered
to me unconsciously, "The
Acherontia Atropos of the Sphinges,
what you call the `Death's-head
Moth'?"
The patient
went on without stopping, "Then
he began to whisper.`Rats,
rats, rats! Hundreds, thousands,
millions of them, and every one
a life. And dogs to eat them,
and cats too. All lives! All
red blood, with years of life
in it, and not merely buzzing
flies!' I laughed at him, for
I wanted to see what he could
do. Then the dogs howled, away
beyond the dark trees in His
house. He beckoned me to the
window. I got up and looked out,
and He raised his hands,and seemed
to call out without using any
words. A dark mass spread over
the grass, coming on like the
shape of a flame of fire. And
then He moved the mist to the
right and left, and I could see
that there were thousands of
rats with their eyes blazing
red, like His only smaller. He
held up his hand, and they all
stopped, and I thought he seemed
to be saying, `All these lives
will I give you, ay, and many
more and greater, through countless
ages, if you will fall down and
worship me!' And then a red cloud,
like the color of blood, seemed
to close over my eyes, and before
I knew what I was doing, I found
myself opening the sash and saying
to Him, `Come in, Lord and Master!'
The rats were all gone, but He
slid into the room through the
sash, though it was only open
an inch wide, just as the Moon
herself has often come in through
the tiniest crack and has stood
before me in all her size and
splendor."
His voice was
weaker, so I moistened his
lips with the brandy
again, and he continued, but
it seemed as though his memory
had gone on working in the interval
for his story was further advanced.
I was about to call him back
to the point, but Van Helsing
whispered to me, "Let him go
on. Do not interrupt him. He
cannot go back, and maybe could
not proceed at all if once he
lost the thread of his thought."
He proceeded, "All
day I waited to hear from him,
but he did
not send me anything, not even
a blowfly, and when the moon
got up I was pretty angry with
him. When he did slide in through
the window, though it was shut,
and did not even knock, I got
mad with him. He sneered at me,
and his white face looked out
of the mist with his red eyes
gleaming, and he went on as though
he owned the whole place, and
I was no one. He didn't even
smell the same as he went by
me. I couldn't hold him. I thought
that, somehow, Mrs. Harker had
come into the room."
The two men
sitting on the bed stood up
and came over, standing
behind him so that he could not
see them, but where they could
hear better. They were both silent,
but the Professor started and
quivered. His face, however,
grew grimmer and sterner still.
Renfield went on without noticing, "When
Mrs. Harker came in to see me
this afternoon she wasn't the
same. It was like tea after the
teapot has been watered." Here
we all moved, but no one said
a word.
He went on, "I didn't know
that she was here till she spoke,
and she didn't look the same.
I don't care for the pale people.
I like them with lots of blood
in them, and hers all seemed
to have run out. I didn't think
of it at the time, but when she
went away I began to think, and
it made me mad to know that He
had been taking the life out
of her." I could feel that the
rest quivered, as I did. But
we remained otherwise still. "So
when He came tonight I was ready
for Him. I saw the mist stealing
in, and I grabbed it tight. I
had heard that madmen have unnatural
strength. And as I knew I was
a madman, at times anyhow, I
resolved to use my power. Ay,
and He felt it too, for He had
to come out of the mist to struggle
with me. I held tight, and I
thought I was going to win, for
I didn't mean Him to take any
more of her life, till I saw
His eyes. They burned into me,
and my strength became like water.
He slipped through it, and when
I tried to cling to Him, He raised
me up and flung me down. There
was a red cloud before me, and
a noise like thunder,and the
mist seemed to steal away under
the door."
His voice was becoming fainter
and his breath more stertorous.
Van Helsing stood up instinctively.
"We know the worst now," he
said. "He is here, and we know
his purpose. It may not be too
late. Let us be armed, the same
as we were the other night, but
lose no time, there is not an
instant to spare."
There was no
need to put our fear, nay our
conviction, into
words, we shared them in common.
We all hurried and took from
our rooms the same things that
we had when we entered the Count's
house. The Professor had his
ready, and as we met in the corridor
he pointed to them significantly
as he said, "They never leave
me, and they shall not till this
unhappy business is over. Be
wise also, my friends. It is
no common enemy that we deal
with Alas! Alas! That dear Madam
Mina should suffer!" He stopped,
his voice was breaking, and I
do not know if rage or terror
predominated in my own heart.
Outside the
Harkers' door we paused. Art
and Quincey held
back, and the latter said, "Should
we disturb her?"
"We must," said Van Helsing
grimly. "If the door be locked,
I shall break it in."
"May it not
frighten her terribly? It is
unusual to break into a
lady's room!"
Van Helsing
said solemnly, "You
are always right. But this is
life and death. All chambers
are alike to the doctor. And
even were they not they are all
as one to me tonight. Friend
John, when I turn the handle,
if the door does not open, do
you put your shoulder down and
shove. And you too, my friends.
Now!"
He turned the handle as he
spoke, but the door did not yield.
We threw ourselves against it.
With a crash it burst open, and
we almost fell headlong into
the room. The Professor did actually
fall, and I saw across him as
he gathered himself up from hands
and knees. What I saw appalled
me. I felt my hair rise like
bristles on the back of my neck,
and my heart seemed to stand
still.
The moonlight was so bright
that through the thick yellow
blind the room was light enough
to see. On the bed beside the
window lay Jonathan Harker, his
face flushed and breathing heavily
as though in a stupor. Kneeling
on the near edge of the bed facing
outwards was the white-clad figure
of his wife. By her side stood
a tall, thin man, clad in black.
His face was turned from us,
but the instant we saw we all
recognized the Count, in every
way, even to the scar on his
forehead. With his left hand
he held both Mrs. Harker's hands,
keeping them away with her arms
at full tension. His right hand
gripped her by the back of the
neck, forcing her face down on
his bosom. Her white night-dress
was smeared with blood, and a
thin stream trickled down the
man's bare chest which was shown
by his torn-open dress. The attitude
of the two had a terrible resemblance
to a child forcing a kitten's
nose into a saucer of milk to
compel it to drink. As we burst
into the room, the Count turned
his face, and the hellish look
that I had heard described seemed
to leap into it. His eyes flamed
red with devilish passion. The
great nostrils of the white aquiline
nose opened wide and quivered
at the edge, and the white sharp
teeth, behind the full lips of
the blood dripping mouth, clamped
together like those of a wild
beast. With a wrench, which threw
his victim back upon the bed
as though hurled from a height,
he turned and sprang at us. But
by this time the Professor had
gained his feet, and was holding
towards him the envelope which
contained the Sacred Wafer. The
Count suddenly stopped, just
as poor Lucy had done outside
the tomb, and cowered back. Further
and further back he cowered,
as we, lifting our crucifixes,
advanced. The moonlight suddenly
failed, as a great black cloud
sailed across the sky. And when
the gaslight sprang up under
Quincey's match, we saw nothing
but a faint vapor. This, as we
looked, trailed under the door,
which with the recoil from its
bursting open, had swung back
to its old position. Van Helsing,
Art, and I moved forward to Mrs.
Harker, who by this time had
drawn her breath and with it
had given a scream so wild, so
ear-piercing, so despairing that
it seems to me now that it will
ring in my ears till my dying
day. For a few seconds she lay
in her helpless attitude and
disarray. Her face was ghastly,
with a pallor which was accentuated
by the blood which smeared her
lips and cheeks and chin. From
her throat trickled a thin stream
of blood. Her eyes were mad with
terror. Then she put before her
face her poor crushed hands,
which bore on their whiteness
the red mark of the Count's terrible
grip, and from behind them came
a low desolate wail which made
the terrible scream seem only
the quick expression of an endless
grief. Van Helsing stepped forward
and drew the coverlet gently
over her body, whilst Art, after
looking at her face for an instant
despairingly, ran out of the
room.
Van Helsing
whispered to me, "Jonathan
is in a stupor such as we know
the Vampire can produce. We can
do nothing with poor Madam Mina
for a few moments till she recovers
herself. I must wake him!"
He dipped the end of a towel
in cold water and with it began
to flick him on the face, his
wife all the while holding her
face between her hands and sobbing
in a way that was heart breaking
to hear. I raised the blind,
and looked out of the window.
There was much moonshine, and
as I looked I could see Quincey
Morris run across the lawn and
hide himself in the shadow of
a great yew tree. It puzzled
me to think why he was doing
this. But at the instant I heard
Harker's quick exclamation as
he woke to partial consciousness,
and turned to the bed. On his
face, as there might well be,
was a look of wild amazement.
He seemed dazed for a few seconds,
and then full consciousness seemed
to burst upon him all at once,
and he started up.
His wife was aroused by the
quick movement, and turned to
him with her arms stretched out,
as though to embrace him. Instantly,
however, she drew them in again,
and putting her elbows together,
held her hands before her face,and
shuddered till the bed beneath
her shook.
"In God's name what does this
mean?" Harker cried out. "Dr.
Seward, Dr. Van Helsing, what
is it? What has happened? What
is wrong? Mina, dear what is
it? What does that blood mean?
My God, my God! Has it come to
this!" And, raising himself to
his knees, he beat his hands
wildly together."Good God help
us! Help her! Oh, help her!"
With a quick
movement he jumped from bed,
and began to pull on
his clothes, all the man in him
awake at the need for instant
exertion. "What has happened?
Tell me all about it!" he cried
without pausing. "Dr. Van Helsing
you love Mina, I know. Oh, do
something to save her. It cannot
have gone too far yet. Guard
her while I look for him!"
His wife, through her terror
and horror and distress, saw
some sure danger to him. Instantly
forgetting her own grief, she
seized hold of him and cried
out.
"No! No! Jonathan, you must
not leave me. I have suffered
enough tonight, God knows, without
the dread of his harming you.
You must stay with me. Stay with
these friends who will watch
over you!" Her expression became
frantic as she spoke. And, he
yielding to her, she pulled him
down sitting on the bedside,
and clung to him fiercely.
Van Helsing
and I tried to calm them both.
The Professor
held up his golden crucifix,
and said with wonderful calmness, "Do
not fear, my dear. We are here,
and whilst this is close to you
no foul thing can approach. You
are safe for tonight, and we
must be calm and take counsel
together."
She shuddered and was silent,
holding down her head on her
husband's breast. When she raised
it, his white nightrobe was stained
with blood where her lips had
touched, and where the thin open
wound in the neck had sent forth
drops. The instant she saw it
she drew back, with a low wail,
and whispered, amidst choking
sobs.
"Unclean, unclean!
I must touch him or kiss him
no more. Oh,
that it should be that it is
I who am now his worst enemy,
and whom he may have most cause
to fear."
To this he
spoke out resolutely, "Nonsense,
Mina. It is a shame to me to
hear such a word. I would not
hear it of you. And I shall not
hear it from you. May God judge
me by my deserts, and punish
me with more bitter suffering
than even this hour, if by any
act or will of mine anything
ever come between us!"
He put out his arms and folded
her to his breast. And for a
while she lay there sobbing.
He looked at us over her bowed
head, with eyes that blinked
damply above his quivering nostrils.
His mouth was set as steel.
After a while her sobs became
less frequent and more faint,
and then he said to me, speaking
with a studied calmness which
I felt tried his nervous power
to the utmost.
"And now, Dr.
Seward, tell me all about it.
Too well I know
the broad fact. Tell me all that
has been."
I told him exactly what had
happened and he listened with
seeming impassiveness, but his
nostrils twitched and his eyes
blazed as I told how the ruthless
hands of the Count had held his
wife in that terrible and horrid
position, with her mouth to the
open wound in his breast. It
interested me, even at that moment,
to see that whilst the face of
white set passion worked convulsively
over the bowed head, the hands
tenderly and lovingly stroked
the ruffled hair. Just as I had
finished, Quincey and Godalming
knocked at the door. They entered
in obedience to our summons.
Van Helsing looked at me questioningly.
I understood him to mean if we
were to take advantage of their
coming to divert if possible
the thoughts of the unhappy husband
and wife from each other and
from themselves. So on nodding
acquiescence to him he asked
them what they had seen or done.
To which Lord Godalming answered.
"I could not see him anywhere
in the passage, or in any of
our rooms. I looked in the study
but, though he had been there,
he had gone. He had, however
. . ." He stopped suddenly, looking
at the poor drooping figure on
the bed.
Van Helsing
said gravely, "Go
on, friend Arthur. We want here
no more concealments. Our hope
now is in knowing all. Tell freely!"
So Art went
on, "He had been
there, and though it could only
have been for a few seconds,
he made rare hay of the place.
All the manuscript had been burned,
and the blue flames were flickering
amongst the white ashes. The
cylinders of your phonograph
too were thrown on the fire,
and the wax had helped the flames."
Here I interrupted. "Thank
God there is the other copy in
the safe!"
His face lit
for a moment, but fell again
as he went on. "I
ran downstairs then, but could
see no sign of him. I looked
into Renfield's room, but there
was no trace there except . .
." Again he paused.
"Go on," said Harker hoarsely.
So he bowed his head and moistening
his lips with his tongue, added, "except
that the poor fellow is dead."
Mrs. Harker
raised her head, looking from
one to the other
of us she said solemnly, "God's
will be done!"
I could not but feel that Art
was keeping back something. But,
as I took it that it was with
a purpose, I said nothing.
Van Helsing
turned to Morris and asked,"And
you, friend Quincey, have you
any to tell?"
"A little," he answered. "It
may be much eventually, but at
present I can't say. I thought
it well to know if possible where
the Count would go when he left
the house. I did not see him,
but I saw a bat rise from Renfield's
window, and flap westward. I
expected to see him in some shape
go back to Carfax, but he evidently
sought some other lair. He will
not be back tonight, for the
sky is reddening in the east,
and the dawn is close. We must
work tomorrow!"
He said the latter words through
his shut teeth. For a space of
perhaps a couple of minutes there
was silence, and I could fancy
that I could hear the sound of
our hearts beating.
Then Van Helsing
said, placing his hand tenderly
on Mrs. Harker's
head, "And now, Madam Mina, poor
dear, dear, Madam Mina, tell
us exactly what happened. God
knows that I do not want that
you be pained, but it is need
that we know all. For now more
than ever has all work to be
done quick and sharp, and in
deadly earnest. The day is close
to us that must end all, if it
may be so, and now is the chance
that we may live and learn."
The poor dear lady shivered,
and I could see the tension of
her nerves as she clasped her
husband closer to her and bent
her head lower and lower still
on his breast. Then she raised
her head proudly, and held out
one hand to Van Helsing who took
it in his, and after stooping
and kissing it reverently, held
it fast. The other hand was locked
in that of her husband, who held
his other arm thrown round her
protectingly. After a pause in
which she was evidently ordering
her thoughts, she began.
"I took the sleeping draught
which you had so kindly given
me, but for a long time it did
not act. I seemed to become more
wakeful, and myriads of horrible
fancies began to crowd in upon
my mind. All of them connected
with death, and vampires, with
blood, and pain, and trouble." Her
husband involuntarily groaned
as she turned to him and said
lovingly, "Do not fret, dear.
You must be brave and strong,
and help me through the horrible
task. If you only knew what an
effort it is to me to tell of
this fearful thing at all, you
would understand how much I need
your help. Well, I saw I must
try to help the medicine to its
work with my will, if it was
to do me any good, so I resolutely
set myself to sleep. Sure enough
sleep must soon have come to
me, for I remember no more. Jonathan
coming in had not waked me, for
he lay by my side when next I
remember. There was in the room
the same thin white mist that
I had before noticed. But I forget
now if you know of this. You
will find it in my diary which
I shall show you later. I felt
the same vague terror which had
come to me before and the same
sense of some presence. I turned
to wake Jonathan, but found that
he slept so soundly that it seemed
as if it was he who had taken
the sleeping draught, and not
I. I tried, but I could not wake
him. This caused me a great fear,
and I looked around terrified.
Then indeed, my heart sank within
me. Beside the bed, as if he
had stepped out of the mist,
or rather as if the mist had
turned into his figure, for it
had entirely disappeared, stood
a tall, thin man, all in black.
I knew him at once from the description
of the others. The waxen face,
the high aquiline nose, on which
the light fell in a thin white
line, the parted red lips, with
the sharp white teeth showing
between, and the red eyes that
I had seemed to see in the sunset
on the windows of St. Mary's
Church at Witby. I knew, too,
the red scar on his forehead
where Jonathan had struck him.
For an instant my heart stood
still, and I would have screamed
out, only that I was paralyzed.
In the pause he spoke in a sort
of keen, cutting whisper, pointing
as he spoke to Jonathan.
"`Silence! If you make a sound
I shall take him and dash his
brains out before your very eyes.'
I was appalled and was too bewildered
to do or say anything. With a
mocking smile, he placed one
hand upon my shoulder and, holding
me tight, bared my throat with
the other, saying as he did so,
`First, a little refreshment
to reward my exertions. You may
as well be quiet. It is not the
first time, or the second, that
your veins have appeased my thirst!'
I was bewildered, and strangely
enough, I did not want to hinder
him. I suppose it is a part of
the horrible curse that such
is, when his touch is on his
victim. And oh, my God, my God,
pity me! He placed his reeking
lips upon my throat!" Her husband
groaned again. She clasped his
hand harder, and looked at him
pityingly, as if he were the
injured one, and went on.
"I felt my strength fading
away, and I was in a half swoon.
How long this horrible thing
lasted I know not, but it seemed
that a long time must have passed
before he took his foul, awful,
sneering mouth away. I saw it
drip with the fresh blood!"The
remembrance seemed for a while
to overpower her, and she drooped
and would have sunk down but
for her husband's sustaining
arm. With a great effort she
recovered herself and went on.
"Then he spoke to me mockingly,
`And so you, like the others,
would play your brains against
mine. You would help these men
to hunt me and frustrate me in
my design! You know now, and
they know in part already, and
will know in full before long,
what it is to cross my path.
They should have kept their energies
for use closer to home. Whilst
they played wits against me,
against me who commanded nations,
and intrigued for them, and fought
for them, hundreds of years before
they were born, I was countermining
them. And you, their best beloved
one, are now to me, flesh of
my flesh, blood of my blood,
kin of my kin, my bountiful wine-press
for a while, and shall be later
on my companion and my helper.
You shall be avenged in turn,
for not one of them but shall
minister to your needs. But as
yet you are to be punished for
what you have done. You have
aided in thwarting me. Now you
shall come to my call. When my
brain says "Come!" to you, you
shall cross land or sea to do
my bidding. And to that end this!'
With that he
pulled open his shirt, and
with his long sharp
nails opened a vein in his breast.
When the blood began to spurt
out, he took my hands in one
of his, holding them tight, and
with the other seized my neck
and pressed my mouth to the wound,
so that I must either suffocate
or swallow some to the . . .
Oh, my God! My God! What have
I done? What have I done to deserve
such a fate, I who have tried
to walk in meekness and righteousness
all my days. God pity me! Look
down on a poor soul in worse
than mortal peril. And in mercy
pity those to whom she is dear!" Then
she began to rub her lips as
though to cleanse them from pollution.
As she was telling her terrible
story, the eastern sky began
to quicken, and everything became
more and more clear. Harker was
still and quiet. But over his
face, as the awful narrative
went on, came a grey look which
deepened and deepened in the
morning light, till when the
first red streak of the coming
dawn shot up, the flesh stood
darkly out against the whitening
hair.
We have arranged that one of
us is to stay within call of
the unhappy pair till we can
meet together and arrange about
taking action.
Of this I am sure. The sun
rises today on no more miserable
house in all the great round
of its daily course. |