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none of the others at first said anything. His request was that I would

at once release him from the asylum and send him home. This he backed up

with arguments regarding his complete recovery, and adduced his own

existing sanity. "I appeal to your friends," he said, "they will,

perhaps, not mind sitting in judgment on my case. By the way, you have

not introduced me." I was so much astonished, that the oddness of

introducing a madman in an asylum did not strike me at the moment; and,

besides, there was a certain dignity in the man's manner, so much of

the habit of equality, that I at once made the introduction: "Lord

Godalming; Professor Van Helsing; Mr. Quincey Morris, of Texas; Mr.

Renfield." He shook hands with each of them, saying in turn:--

 

"Lord Godalming, I had the honour of seconding your father at the

Windham; I grieve to know, by your holding the title, that he is no

more. He was a man loved and honoured by all who knew him; and in his

youth was, I have heard, the inventor of a burnt rum punch, much

patronised on Derby night. Mr. Morris, you should be proud of your great

state. Its reception into the Union was a precedent which may have

far-reaching effects hereafter, when the Pole and the Tropics may hold

alliance to the Stars and Stripes. The power of Treaty may yet prove a

vast engine of enlargement, when the Monroe doctrine takes its true

place as a political fable. What shall any man say of his pleasure at

meeting Van Helsing? Sir, I make no apology for dropping all forms of

conventional prefix. When an individual has revolutionised therapeutics

by his discovery of the continuous evolution of brain-matter,

conventional forms are unfitting, since they would seem to limit him to

one of a class. You, gentlemen, who by nationality, by heredity, or by

the possession of natural gifts, are fitted to hold your respective

places in the moving world, I take to witness that I am as sane as at

least the majority of men who are in full possession of their liberties.

And I am sure that you, Dr. Seward, humanitarian and medico-jurist as

well as scientist, will deem it a moral duty to deal with me as one to

be considered as under exceptional circumstances." He made this last

appeal with a courtly air of conviction which was not without its own

charm.

 

I think we were all staggered. For my own part, I was under the

conviction, despite my knowledge of the man's character and history,

that his reason had been restored; and I felt under a strong impulse to

tell him that I was satisfied as to his sanity, and would see about the

necessary formalities for his release in the morning. I thought it

better to wait, however, before making so grave a statement, for of old

I knew the sudden changes to which this particular patient was liable.

So I contented myself with making a general statement that he appeared

to be improving very rapidly; that I would have a longer chat with him

in the morning, and would then see what I could do in the direction of

meeting his wishes. This did not at all satisfy him, for he said

quickly:--

 

"But I fear, Dr. Seward, that you hardly apprehend my wish. I desire to

go at once--here--now--this very hour--this very moment, if I may. Time

presses, and in our implied agreement with the old scytheman it is of

the essence of the contract. I am sure it is only necessary to put

before so admirable a practitioner as Dr. Seward so simple, yet so

momentous a wish, to ensure its fulfilment." He looked at me keenly, and

seeing the negative in my face, turned to the others, and scrutinised

them closely. Not meeting any sufficient response, he went on:--

 

"Is it possible that I have erred in my supposition?"

 

"You have," I said frankly, but at the same time, as I felt, brutally.

There was a considerable pause, and then he said slowly:--

 

"Then I suppose I must only shift my ground of request. Let me ask for

this concession--boon, privilege, what you will. I am content to implore

in such a case, not on personal grounds, but for the sake of others. I

am not at liberty to give you the whole of my reasons; but you may, I

assure you, take it from me that they are good ones, sound and

unselfish, and spring from the highest sense of duty. Could you look,

sir, into my heart, you would approve to the full the sentiments which

animate me. Nay, more, you would count me amongst the best and truest of

your friends." Again he looked at us all keenly. I had a growing

conviction that this sudden change of his entire intellectual method was

but yet another form or phase of his madness, and so determined to let

him go on a little longer, knowing from experience that he would, like

all lunatics, give himself away in the end. Van Helsing was gazing at

him with a look of utmost intensity, his bushy eyebrows almost meeting

with the fixed concentration of his look. He said to Renfield in a tone

which did not surprise me at the time, but only when I thought of it

afterwards--for it was as of one addressing an equal:--

 

"Can you not tell frankly your real reason for wishing to be free

to-night? I will undertake that if you will satisfy even me--a stranger,

without prejudice, and with the habit of keeping an open mind--Dr.

Seward will give you, at his own risk and on his own responsibility, the

privilege you seek." He shook his head sadly, and with a look of

poignant regret on his face. The Professor went on:--

 

"Come, sir, bethink yourself. You claim the privilege of reason in the

highest degree, since you seek to impress us with your complete

reasonableness. You do this, whose sanity we have reason to doubt, since

you are not yet released from medical treatment for this very defect. If

you will not help us in our effort to choose the wisest course, how can

we perform the duty which you yourself put upon us? Be wise, and help

us; and if we can we shall aid you to achieve your wish." He still shook

his head as he said:--

 

"Dr. Van Helsing, I have nothing to say. Your argument is complete, and

if I were free to speak I should not hesitate a moment; but I am not my

own master in the matter. I can only ask you to trust me. If I am

refused, the responsibility does not rest with me." I thought it was now

time to end the scene, which was becoming too comically grave, so I went

towards the door, simply saying:--

 

"Come, my friends, we have work to do. Good-night."

 

As, however, I got near the door, a new change came over the patient. He

moved towards me so quickly that for the moment I feared that he was

about to make another homicidal attack. My fears, however, were

groundless, for he held up his two hands imploringly, and made his

petition in a moving manner. As he saw that the very excess of his

emotion was militating against him, by restoring us more to our old

relations, he became still more demonstrative. I glanced at Van Helsing,

and saw my conviction reflected in his eyes; so I became a little more

fixed in my manner, if not more stern, and motioned to him that his

efforts were unavailing. I had previously seen something of the same

constantly growing excitement in him when he had to make some request of

which at the time he had thought much, such, for instance, as when he

wanted a cat; and I was prepared to see the collapse into the same

sullen acquiescence on this occasion. My expectation was not realised,

for, when he found that his appeal would not be successful, he got into

quite a frantic condition. He threw himself on his knees, and held up

his hands, wringing them in plaintive supplication, and poured forth a

torrent of entreaty, with the tears rolling down his cheeks, and his

whole face and form expressive of the deepest emotion:--

 

"Let me entreat you, Dr. Seward, oh, let me implore you, to let me out

of this house at once. Send me away how you will and where you will;

send keepers with me with whips and chains; let them take me in a

strait-waistcoat, manacled and leg-ironed, even to a gaol; but let me go

out of this. You don't know what you do by keeping me here. I am

speaking from the depths of my heart--of my very soul. You don't know

whom you wrong, or how; and I may not tell. Woe is me! I may not tell.

By all you hold sacred--by all you hold dear--by your love that is

lost--by your hope that lives--for the sake of the Almighty, take me out

of this and save my soul from guilt! Can't you hear me, man? Can't you

understand? Will you never learn? Don't you know that I am sane and

earnest now; that I am no lunatic in a mad fit, but a sane man fighting

for his soul? Oh, hear me! hear me! Let me go! let me go! let me go!"

 

I thought that the longer this went on the wilder he would get, and so

would bring on a fit; so I took him by the hand and raised him up.

 

"Come," I said sternly, "no more of this; we have had quite enough

already. Get to your bed and try to behave more discreetly."

 

He suddenly stopped and looked at me intently for several moments. Then,

without a word, he rose and moving over, sat down on the side of the

bed. The collapse had come, as on former occasion, just as I had

expected.

 

When I was leaving the room, last of our party, he said to me in a

quiet, well-bred voice:--

 

"You will, I trust, Dr. Seward, do me the justice to bear in mind, later

on, that I did what I could to convince you to-night."

 

 

CHAPTER XIX

 

JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL

 

 

_1 October, 5 a. m._--I went with the party to the search with an easy

mind, for I think I never saw Mina so absolutely strong and well. I am

so glad that she consented to hold back and let us men do the work.

Somehow, it was a dread to me that she was in this fearful business at

all; but now that her work is done, and that it is due to her energy and

brains and foresight that the whole story is put together in such a way

that every point tells, she may well feel that her part is finished, and

that she can henceforth leave the rest to us. We were, I think, all a

little upset by the scene with Mr. Renfield. When we came away from his

room we were silent till we got back to the study. Then Mr. Morris said

to Dr. Seward:--

 

"Say, Jack, if that man wasn't attempting a bluff, he is about the

sanest lunatic I ever saw. I'm not sure, but I believe that he had some

serious purpose, and if he had, it was pretty rough on him not to get a

chance." Lord Godalming and I were silent, but Dr. Van Helsing added:--

 

"Friend John, you know more of lunatics than I do, and I'm glad of it,

for I fear that if it had been to me to decide I would before that last

hysterical outburst have given him free. But we live and learn, and in

our present task we must take no chance, as my friend Quincey would say.

All is best as they are." Dr. Seward seemed to answer them both in a

dreamy kind of way:--

 

"I don't know but that I agree with you. If that man had been an

ordinary lunatic I would have taken my chance of trusting him; but he

seems so mixed up with the Count in an indexy kind of way that I am

afraid of doing anything wrong by helping his fads. I can't forget how

he prayed with almost equal fervour for a cat, and then tried to tear my

throat out with his teeth. Besides, he called the Count 'lord and

master,' and he may want to get out to help him in some diabolical way.

That horrid thing has the wolves and the rats and his own kind to help

him, so I suppose he isn't above trying to use a respectable lunatic. He

certainly did seem earnest, though. I only hope we have done what is

best. These things, in conjunction with the wild work we have in hand,

help to unnerve a man." The Professor stepped over, and laying his hand

on his shoulder, said in his grave, kindly way:--

 

"Friend John, have no fear. We are trying to do our duty in a very sad

and terrible case; we can only do as we deem best. What else have we to

hope for, except the pity of the good God?" Lord Godalming had slipped

away for a few minutes, but now he returned. He held up a little silver

whistle, as he remarked:--

 

"That old place may be full of rats, and if so, I've got an antidote on

call." Having passed the wall, we took our way to the house, taking care

to keep in the shadows of the trees on the lawn when the moonlight shone

out. When we got to the porch the Professor opened his bag and took out

a lot of things, which he laid on the step, sorting them into four

little groups, evidently one for each. Then he spoke:--

 

"My friends, we are going into a terrible danger, and we need arms of

many kinds. Our enemy is not merely spiritual. Remember that he has the

strength of twenty men, and that, though our necks or our windpipes are

of the common kind--and therefore breakable or crushable--his are not

amenable to mere strength. A stronger man, or a body of men more strong

in all than him, can at certain times hold him; but they cannot hurt him

as we can be hurt by him. We must, therefore, guard ourselves from his

touch. Keep this near your heart"--as he spoke he lifted a little silver

crucifix and held it out to me, I being nearest to him--"put these

flowers round your neck"--here he handed to me a wreath of withered

garlic blossoms--"for other enemies more mundane, this revolver and this

knife; and for aid in all, these so small electric lamps, which you can

fasten to your breast; and for all, and above all at the last, this,

which we must not desecrate needless." This was a portion of Sacred

Wafer, which he put in an envelope and handed to me. Each of the others

was similarly equipped. "Now," he said, "friend John, where are the

skeleton keys? If so that we can open the door, we need not break house

by the window, as before at Miss Lucy's."

 

Dr. Seward tried one or two skeleton keys, his mechanical dexterity as a

surgeon standing him in good stead. Presently he got one to suit; after

a little play back and forward the bolt yielded, and, with a rusty

clang, shot back. We pressed on the door, the rusty hinges creaked, and

it slowly opened. It was startlingly like the image conveyed to me in

Dr. Seward's diary of the opening of Miss Westenra's tomb; I fancy that

the same idea seemed to strike the others, for with one accord they

shrank back. The Professor was the first to move forward, and stepped

into the open door.

 

"_In manus tuas, Domine!_" he said, crossing himself as he passed over

the threshold. We closed the door behind us, lest when we should have

lit our lamps we should possibly attract attention from the road. The

Professor carefully tried the lock, lest we might not be able to open it

from within should we be in a hurry making our exit. Then we all lit our

lamps and proceeded on our search.

 

The light from the tiny lamps fell in all sorts of odd forms, as the

rays crossed each other, or the opacity of our bodies threw great

shadows. I could not for my life get away from the feeling that there

was some one else amongst us. I suppose it was the recollection, so

powerfully brought home to me by the grim surroundings, of that terrible

experience in Transylvania. I think the feeling was common to us all,

for I noticed that the others kept looking over their shoulders at every

sound and every new shadow, just as I felt myself doing.

 

The whole place was thick with dust. The floor was seemingly inches

deep, except where there were recent footsteps, in which on holding down

my lamp I could see marks of hobnails where the dust was cracked. The

walls were fluffy and heavy with dust, and in the corners were masses of

spider's webs, whereon the dust had gathered till they looked like old

tattered rags as the weight had torn them partly down. On a table in the

hall was a great bunch of keys, with a time-yellowed label on each. They

had been used several times, for on the table were several similar rents

in the blanket of dust, similar to that exposed when the Professor

lifted them. He turned to me and said:--

 

"You know this place, Jonathan. You have 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 gloated 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 any one; 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 amenable

to his spiritual power; for look, these rats that would come to his

call, just as from his castle top he summon the wolves to your going and

to that poor mother's cry, though they come to him, they run pell-mell

from the so little dogs of my friend Arthur. We have other matters

before us, other dangers, other fears; and that monster--he has not used

his power over the brute world for the only or the last time to-night.

So be it that he has gone elsewhere. Good! It has given us opportunity

to cry 'check' in some ways in this chess game, which we play for the

stake of human souls. And now let us go home. The dawn is close at hand,

and we have reason to be content with our first night's work. It may be

ordained that we have many nights and days to follow, if full of peril;

but we must go on, and from no danger shall we shrink."

 

The house was silent when we got back, save for some poor creature who

was screaming away in one of the distant wards, and a low, moaning sound

from Renfield's room. The poor wretch was doubtless torturing himself,

after the manner of the insane, with needless thoughts of pain.

 

I came tiptoe into our own room, and found Mina asleep, breathing so

softly that I had to put my ear down to hear it. She looks paler than

usual. I hope the meeting to-night has not upset her. I am truly

thankful that she is to be left out of our future work, and even of our

deliberations. It is too great a strain for a woman to bear. I did not

think so at first, but I know better now. Therefore I am glad that it is

settled. There may be things which would frighten her to hear; and yet

to conceal them from her might be worse than to tell her if once she

suspected that there was any concealment. Henceforth our work is to be a

sealed book to her, till at least such time as we can tell her that all

is finished, and the earth free from a monster of the nether world. I

daresay it will be difficult to begin to keep silence after such

confidence as ours; but I must be resolute, and to-morrow I shall keep

dark over to-night's doings, and shall refuse to speak of anything that

has happened. I rest on the sofa, so as not to disturb her.

 

* * * * *

 

_1 October, later._--I suppose it was natural that we should have all

overslept ourselves, for the day was a busy one, and the night had no

rest at all. Even Mina must have felt its exhaustion, for though I slept

till the sun was high, I was awake before her, and had to call two or

three times before she awoke. Indeed, she was so sound asleep that for a

few seconds she did not recognize me, but looked at me with a sort of

blank terror, as one looks who has been waked out of a bad dream. She

complained a little of being tired, and I let her rest till later in the

day. We now know of twenty-one boxes having been removed, and if it be

that several were taken in any of these removals we may be able to trace

them all. Such will, of course, immensely simplify our labour, and the

sooner the matter is attended to the better. I shall look up Thomas







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