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"Well,
in him the brain powers survived the physical death. Though it would seem
that memory was not all complete. In some faculties of mind he has been, and
is, only a child. But he is growing, and some things that were childish at
the first are now of man's stature. He
is experimenting, and doing it well. And if it had not been that we have
crossed his path he would be yet, he may be yet if we fail, the father or
furtherer of a new order of beings, whose road must lead through Death, not
Life."
Harker
groaned and said, "And this is all arrayed against my darling! But how
is he experimenting? The
knowledge may help us to defeat him!"
"He
has all along, since his coming, been trying his power, slowly but surely.
That big child-brain of his is working. Well for us, it is as yet, a
child-brain. For had he dared, at the first, to attempt certain things he
would long ago have been beyond our power.
However, he means to succeed, and a man who has centuries before him
can afford to wait and to go slow. Festina lente may well be his
motto."
"I
fail to understand," said Harker wearily.
"Oh, do be more plain to me! Perhaps grief and trouble are
dulling my brain."
The
Professor laid his hand tenderly on his shoulder as he spoke, "Ah, my
child, I will be plain. Do you not see how, of late, this monster has been creeping
into knowledge experimentally. How he has been making use of the zoophagous
patient to effect his entry into friend John's home.
For your Vampire, though in all afterwards he can come when and how
he will, must at the first make entry only when asked thereto by an inmate.
But these are not his most important experiments. Do we not see how at the
first all these so great boxes were moved by others.
He knew not then but that must be so. But all the time that so great
child-brain of his was growing, and he began to consider whether he might
not himself move the box. So he
began to help. And then, when
he found that this be all right, he try to move them all alone. And so he
progress, and he scatter these graves of him. And none but he know where
they are hidden.
"He
may have intend to bury them deep in the ground. So that only he use them in
the night, or at such time as he can change his form, they do him equal
well, and none may know these are his hiding place!
But, my child, do not despair, this knowledge came to him just too
late! Already all of his lairs but one be sterilize as for him. And before
the sunset this shall be so. Then
he have no place where he can move and hide.
I delayed this morning that so we might be sure.
Is there not more at stake for us than for him? Then why not be more
careful than him? By my clock
it is one hour and already, if all be well, friend Arthur and Quincey are on
their way to us. Today is our
day, and we must go sure, if slow, and lose no chance.
See! There are five of
us when those absent ones return."
Whilst
we were speaking we were startled by a knock at the hall door, the double
postman's knock of the telegraph boy. We
all moved out to the hall with one impulse, and Van Helsing, holding up his
hand to us to keep silence, stepped to the door and opened it. The boy
handed in a dispatch. The Professor closed the door again, and after looking at the
direction, opened it and read aloud.
"Look
out for D. He has just now, 12:45, come from Carfax hurriedly and hastened
towards the South. He seems to be going the round and may want to see you:
Mina."
There
was a pause, broken by Jonathan Harker's voice, "Now, God be thanked,
we shall soon meet!"
Van
Helsing turned to him quickly and said, "God will act in His own way
and time. Do not fear, and do
not rejoice as yet. For what we wish for at the moment may be our own
undoings."
"I
care for nothing now," he answered hotly, "except to wipe out this
brute from the face of creation. I
would sell my soul to do it!"
"Oh,
hush, hush, my child!" said Van Helsing.
"God does not purchase souls in this wise, and the Devil, though
he may purchase, does not keep faith. But God is merciful and just, and
knows your pain and your devotion to that dear Madam Mina.
Think you, how her pain would be doubled, did she but hear your wild
words. Do not fear any of us,
we are all devoted to this cause, and today shall see the end.
The time is coming for action. Today
this Vampire is limit to the powers of man, and till sunset he may not
change. It will take him time to arrive here, see it is twenty minutes past
one, and there are yet some times before he can hither come, be he never so
quick. What we must hope for is that my Lord Arthur and Quincey arrive
first."
About
half an hour after we had received Mrs. Harker's telegram, there came a
quiet, resolute knock at the hall door. It was just an ordinary knock, such
as is given hourly by thousands of gentlemen, but it made the Professor's
heart and mine beat loudly. We looked at each other, and together moved out
into the hall. We each held ready to use our various armaments, the
spiritual in the left hand, the mortal in the right. Van Helsing pulled back
the latch, and holding the door half open, stood back, having both hands
ready for action. The gladness
of our hearts must have shown upon our faces when on the step, close to the
door, we saw Lord Godalming and Quincey Morris. They came quickly in and
closed the door behind them, the former saying, as they moved along the
hall.
"It
is all right. We found both places. Six
boxes in each and we destroyed them all."
"Destroyed?"
asked the Professor.
"For
him!" We were silent for a minute, and then Quincey said,
"There's nothing to do but to wait here.
If, however, he doesn't turn up by five o'clock, we must start off.
For it won't do to leave Mrs. Harker alone after sunset."
"He
will be here before long now,' said Van Helsing, who had been consulting his
pocketbook. "Nota bene, in Madam's telegram he went south from
Carfax. That means he went to cross the river, and he could only do so at
slack of tide, which should be something before one o'clock. That he went
south has a meaning for us. He
is as yet only suspicious, and he went from Carfax first to the place where
he would suspect interference least. You must have been at Bermondsey only a
short time before him. That he is not here already shows that he went to
Mile End next. This took him some time, for he would then have to be carried
over the river in some way. Believe
me, my friends, we shall not have long to wait now. We should have ready
some plan of attack, so that we may throw away no chance.
Hush, there is no time now. Have
all your arms! Be ready!"
He held up a warning hand as he spoke, for we all could hear a key softly
inserted in the lock of the hall door.
I
could not but admire, even at such a moment, the way in which a dominant
spirit asserted itself. In all our hunting parties and adventures in different parts
of the world, Quincey Morris had always been the one to arrange the plan of
action, and Arthur and I had been accustomed to obey him implicitly.
Now, the old habit seemed to be renewed instinctively. With a swift
glance around the room, he at once laid out our plan of attack, and without
speaking a word, with a gesture, placed us each in position. Van Helsing,
Harker, and I were just behind the door, so that when it was opened the
Professor could guard it whilst we two stepped between the incomer and the
door. Godalming behind and
Quincey in front stood just out of sight ready to move in front of the
window. We waited in a suspense that made the seconds pass with nightmare
slowness. The slow, careful steps came along the hall.
The Count was evidently prepared for some surprise, at least he
feared it.
Suddenly
with a single bound he leaped into the room. Winning a way past us before
any of us could raise a hand to stay him. There was something so pantherlike
in the movement, something so unhuman, that it seemed to sober us all from
the shock of his coming. The first to act was Harker, who with a quick
movement, threw himself before the door leading into the room in the front
of the house. As the Count saw us, a horrible sort of snarl passed over his
face, showing the eyeteeth long and pointed.
But the evil smile as quickly passed into a cold stare of lion-like
disdain. His expression again
changed as, with a single impulse, we all advanced upon him. It was a pity
that we had not some better organized plan of attack, for even at the moment
I wondered what we were to do. I
did not myself know whether our lethal weapons would avail us anything.
Harker
evidently meant to try the matter, for he had ready his great Kukri knife
and made a fierce and sudden cut at him.
The blow was a powerful one. Only the diabolical quickness of the
Count's leap back saved him. A second less and the trenchant blade had shorn
through his coat, making a wide gap whence a bundle of bank notes and a
stream of gold fell out. The expression of the Count's face was so hellish,
that for a moment I feared for Harker, though I saw him throw the terrible
knife aloft again for another stroke. Instinctively I moved forward with a protective impulse,
holding the Crucifix and Wafer in my left hand.
I felt a mighty power fly along my arm, and it was without surprise
that I saw the monster cower back before a similar movement made
spontaneously by each one of us. It
would be impossible to describe the expression of hate and baffled
malignity, of anger and hellish rage, which came over the Count's face.
His waxen hue became greenish-yellow by the contrast of his burning
eyes, and the red scar on the forehead showed on the pallid skin like a
palpitating wound. The next instant, with a sinuous dive he swept under
Harker's arm, ere his blow could fall, and grasping a handful of the money
from the floor, dashed across the room, threw himself at the window.
Amid the crash and glitter of the falling glass, he tumbled into the
flagged area below. Through the sound of the shivering glass I could hear
the "ting" of the gold, as some of the sovereigns fell on the
flagging.
We
ran over and saw him spring unhurt from the ground.
He, rushing up the steps, crossed the flagged yard, and pushed open
the stable door. There he turned and spoke to us.
"You
think to baffle me, you with your pale faces all in a row, like sheep in a
butcher's. You shall be sorry yet, each one of you! You think you have left
me without a place to rest, but I have more. My revenge is just begun!
I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side.
Your girls that you all love are mine already. And through them you
and others shall yet be mine, my creatures, to do my bidding and to be my
jackals when I want to feed. Bah!"
With
a contemptuous sneer, he passed quickly through the door, and we heard the
rusty bolt creak as he fastened it behind him. A door beyond opened and
shut. The first of us to speak
was the Professor. Realizing the difficulty of following him through the
stable, we moved toward the hall.
"We
have learnt something. . .much!
Notwithstanding his brave words, he fears us.
He fears time, he fears want! For if not, why he hurry so?
His very tone betray him, or my ears deceive.
Why take that money? You
follow quick. You are hunters of the wild beast, and understand it so. For
me, I make sure that nothing here may be of use to him, if so that he
returns."
As
he spoke he put the money remaining in his pocket, took the title deeds in
the bundle as Harker had left them, and swept the remaining things into the
open fireplace, where he set fire to them with a match.
Godalming
and Morris had rushed out into the yard, and Harker had lowered himself from
the window to follow the Count. He had, however, bolted the stable door, and
by the time they had forced it open there was no sign of him. Van Helsing
and I tried to make inquiry at the back of the house. But the mews was
deserted and no one had seen him depart.
It
was now late in the afternoon, and sunset was not far off. We had to
recognize that our game was up. With heavy hearts we agreed with the Professor when he said,
"Let us go back to Madam Mina. Poor, poor dear Madam Mina.
All we can do just now is done, and we can there, at least, protect
her. But we need not despair.
There is but one more earth box, and we must try to find it. When that is
done all may yet be well."
I
could see that he spoke as bravely as he could to comfort Harker. The poor
fellow was quite broken down, now and again he gave a low groan which he
could not suppress. He was
thinking of his wife.
With
sad hearts we came back to my house, where we found Mrs. Harker waiting us,
with an appearance of cheerfulness which did honor to her bravery and
unselfishness. When she saw our faces, her own became as pale as death. For
a second or two her eyes were closed as if she were in secret prayer.
And
then she said cheerfully, "I can never thank you all enough. Oh, my
poor darling!"
As
she spoke, she took her husband's grey head in her hands and kissed it.
"Lay
your poor head here and rest it. All
will yet be well, dear! God
will protect us if He so will it in His good intent."
The poor fellow groaned. There was no place for words in his sublime
misery.
We
had a sort of perfunctory supper together, and I think it cheered us all up
somewhat. It was, perhaps, the
mere animal heat of food to hungry people, for none of us had eaten anything
since breakfast, or the sense of companionship may have helped us, but
anyhow we were all less miserable, and saw the morrow as not altogether
without hope.
True
to our promise, we told Mrs. Harker everything which had passed. And
although she grew snowy white at times when danger had seemed to threaten
her husband, and red at others when his devotion to her was manifested she
listened bravely and with calmness. When we came to the part where Harker
had rushed at the Count so recklessly, she clung to her husband's arm, and
held it tight as though her clinging could protect him from any harm that
might come. She said nothing, however, till the narration was all done, and
matters had been brought up to the present time.
Then
without letting go her husband's hand she stood up amongst us and spoke.
Oh, that I could give any idea of the scene. Of that sweet, sweet,
good, good woman in all the radiant beauty of her youth and animation, with
the red scar on her forehead, of which she was conscious, and which we saw
with grinding of our teeth, remembering whence and how it came.
Her loving kindness against our grim hate. Her tender faith against all our fears and doubting. And we,
knowing that so far as symbols went, she with all her goodness and purity
and faith, was outcast from God.
"Jonathan,"
she said, and the word sounded like music on her lips it was so full of love
and tenderness, "Jonathan dear, and you all my true, true friends, I
want you to bear something in mind through all this dreadful time.
I know that you must fight. That you must destroy even as you
destroyed the false Lucy so that the true Lucy might live hereafter.
But it is not a work of hate. That poor soul who has wrought all this
misery is the saddest case of all. Just think what will be his joy when he,
too, is destroyed in his worser part that his better part may have spiritual
immortality. You must be pitiful to him, too, though it may not hold your
hands from his destruction."
As
she spoke I could see her husband's face darken and draw together, as though
the passion in him were shriveling his being to its core. Instinctively the
clasp on his wife's hand grew closer, till his knuckles looked white.
She did not flinch from the pain which I knew she must have suffered,
but looked at him with eyes that were more appealing than ever.
As
she stopped speaking he leaped to his feet, almost tearing his hand from
hers as he spoke.
"May
God give him into my hand just for long enough to destroy that earthly life
of him which we are aiming at. If beyond it I could send his soul forever
and ever to burning hell I would do it!"
"Oh,
hush! Oh, hush in the name of
the good God. Don't say such things, Jonathan, my husband, or you will crush
me with fear and horror. Just
think, my dear. . .I have been thinking all this long, long day of it. .
.that. . . perhaps. . .some day. . .
I, too, may need such pity, and that some other like you, and with equal
cause for anger, may deny it to me! Oh,
my husband! My husband, indeed
I would have spared you such a thought had there been another way. But I
pray that God may not have treasured your wild words, except as the
heart-broken wail of a very loving and sorely stricken man.
Oh, God, let these poor white hairs go in evidence of what he has
suffered, who all his life has done no wrong, and on whom so many sorrows
have come."
We
men were all in tears now. There
was no resisting them, and we wept openly.
She wept, too, to see that her sweeter counsels had prevailed.
Her husband flung himself on his knees beside her, and putting his
arms round her, hid his face in the folds of her dress. Van Helsing beckoned
to us and we stole out of the room, leaving the two loving hearts alone with
their God.
Before
they retired the Professor fixed up the room against any coming of the
Vampire, and assured Mrs. Harker that she might rest in peace.
She tried to school herself to the belief, and manifestly for her
husband's sake, tried to seem content. It was a brave struggle, and was, I
think and believe, not without its reward.
Van Helsing had placed at hand a bell which either of them was to
sound in case of any emergency. When they had retired, Quincey, Godalming,
and I arranged that we should sit up, dividing the night between us, and
watch over the safety of the poor stricken lady. The first watch falls to
Quincey, so the rest of us shall be off to bed as soon as we can.
Godalming
has already turned in, for his is the second watch. Now that my work is done
I, too, shall go to bed.
JONATHAN
HARKER'S JOURNAL
3-4
October, close to midnight.--I thought yesterday would never end.
There was over me a yearning for sleep, in some sort of blind belief
that to wake would be to find things changed, and that any change must now
be for the better. Before we parted, we discussed what our next step was to
be, but we could arrive at no result. All
we knew was that one earth box remained, and that the Count alone knew where
it was. If he chooses to lie hidden, he may baffle us for years. And in the
meantime, the thought is too horrible, I dare not think of it even now.
This I know, that if ever there was a woman who was all perfection,
that one is my poor wronged darling. I loved her a thousand times more for
her sweet pity of last night, a pity that made my own hate of the monster
seem despicable. Surely God will not permit the world to be the poorer by
the loss of such a creature. This
is hope to me. We are all drifting reefwards now, and faith is our only
anchor. Thank God! Mina is
sleeping, and sleeping without dreams. I fear what her dreams might be like,
with such terrible memories to ground them in.
She has not been so calm, within my seeing, since the sunset.
Then, for a while, there came over her face a repose which was like
spring after the blasts of March. I thought at the time that it was the
softness of the red sunset on her face, but somehow now I think it has a
deeper meaning. I am not sleepy myself, though I am weary. . .weary to death. However, I must try to sleep.
For there is tomorrow to think of, and there is no rest for me until.
. .
Later--I
must have fallen asleep, for I was awakened by Mina, who was sitting up in
bed, with a startled look on her face. I could see easily, for we did not
leave the room in darkness. She had placed a 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 day. Dr.
Van Helsing placed his hands on Mina's shoulders, and laid her head down
softly on her pillow. She lay
like a sleeping child for a few moments, and then, with a long sigh, awoke
and stared in wonder to see us all around her.
"Have
I been talking in my sleep?" was all she said. She seemed, however, to
know the situation without telling, though she was eager to know what she
had told. The Professor
repeated the conversation, and she said, "Then there is not a moment to
lose. It may not be yet too
late!"
Mr.
Morris and Lord Godalming started for the door but the Professor's calm
voice called them back.
"Stay,
my friends. That ship, wherever it was, was weighing anchor at the moment
in your so great Port of London. Which of them is it that you seek?
God be thanked that we have once again a clue, though whither it may
lead us we know not. We have been blind somewhat.
Blind after the manner of men, since we can look back we see what we
might have seen looking forward if we had been able to see what we might
have seen! Alas, but that sentence is a puddle, is it not?
We can know now what was in the Count's mind, when he seize that
money, though Jonathan's so fierce knife put him in the danger that even he
dread. He meant escape.
Hear me, ESCAPE! He saw that with but one earth box left, and a pack
of men following like dogs after a fox, this London was no place for him. He
have take his last earth box on board a ship, and he leave the land. He think to escape, but no!
We follow him. Tally Ho!
As friend Arthur would say when he put on his red frock! Our old fox is
wily. Oh!
So wily, and we must follow with wile. I, too, am wily and I think
his mind in a little while. In meantime we may rest and in peace, for there
are between us which he do not want to pass, and which he could not if he
would. Unless the ship were to touch the land, and then only at full or
slack tide. See, and the sun is
just rose, and all day to sunset is us.
Let us take bath, and dress, and have breakfast which we all need,
and which we can eat comfortably since he be not in the same land with
us."
Mina
looked at him appealingly as she asked, "But why need we seek him
further, when he is gone away from us?"
He
took her hand and patted it as he replied, "Ask me nothing as yet. When
we have breakfast, then I answer all questions."
He would say no more, and we separated to dress.
After
breakfast Mina repeated her question. He
looked at her gravely for a minute and then said sorrowfully, "Because
my dear, dear Madam Mina, now more than ever must we find him even if we
have to follow him to the jaws of Hell!"
She
grew paler as she asked faintly, "Why?"
"Because,"
he answered solemnly, "he can live for centuries, and you are but
mortal woman. Time is now to be dreaded, since once he put that mark upon
your throat."
I
was just in time to catch her as she fell forward in a faint.
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