Dracula, Chapter 3 and 4.

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95.4% CHAPTER III JONATHAN HARKER S JOURNAL continued WHEN I found that I was a prisoner a sort of wild feeling came over me I rushed up and down the stairs trying every door and peering out of every window I could find but after a little the conviction of my helplessness overpowered all other feelings When I look back after a few hours I think I must have been mad for the time for I behaved much as a rat does in a trap When however the conviction had come to me that I was helpless I sat down quietly as quietly as I have ever done anything in my life and began to think over what was best to be done I am thinking still and as yet have come to no definite conclusion Of one thing only am I certain that it is no use making my ideas known to the Count He knows well that I am imprisoned and as he has done it himself and has doubtless his own motives for it he would only deceive me if I trusted him fully with the facts So far as I can see my only plan will be to keep my knowledge and my fears to myself and my eyes open I am I know either being deceived like a baby by my own fears or else I am in desperate straits and if the latter be so I need and shall need all my brains to get through I had hardly come to this conclusion when I heard the great door below shut and knew that the Count had returned He did not come at once into the library so I went cautiously to my own room and found him making the bed This was odd but only confirmed what I had all along thought that there were no servants in the house When later I saw him through the chink of the hinges of the door laying the table in the dining room I was assured of it for if he does himself all these menial offices surely it is proof that there is no one else to do them This gave me a fright for if there is no one else in the castle it must have been the Count himself who was the driver of the coach that brought me here This is a terrible thought for if so what does it mean that he could control the wolves as he did by only holding up his hand in silence How was it that all the people at Bistritz and on the coach had some terrible fear for me What meant the giving of the crucifix of the garlic of the wild rose of the mountain ash Bless that good good woman who hung the crucifix round my neck for it is a comfort and a strength to me whenever I touch it It is odd that a thing which I have been taught to regard with disfavour and as idolatrous should in a time of loneliness and trouble be of help Is it that there is something in the essence of the thing itself or that it is a medium a tangible help in conveying memories of sympathy and comfort Some time if it may be I must examine this matter and try to make up my mind about it In the meantime I must find out all I can about Count Dracula as it may help me to understand To night he may talk of himself if I turn the conversation that way I must be very careful however not to awake his suspicion Midnight I have had a long talk with the Count I asked him a few questions on Transylvania history and he warmed up to the subject wonderfully In his speaking of things and people and especially of battles he spoke as if he had been present at them all This he afterwards explained by saying that to a boyar the pride of his house and name is his own pride that their glory is his glory that their fate is his fate Whenever he spoke of his house he always said we and spoke almost in the plural like a king speaking I wish I could put down all he said exactly as he said it for to me it was most fascinating It seemed to have in it a whole history of the country He grew excited as he spoke and walked about the room pulling his great white moustache and grasping anything on which he laid his hands as though he would crush it by main strength One thing he said which I shall put down as nearly as I can for it tells in its way the story of his race We Szekelys have a right to be proud for in our veins flows the blood of many brave races who fought as the lion fights for lordship Here in the whirlpool of European races the Ugric tribe bore down from Iceland the fighting spirit which Thor and Wodin gave them which their Berserkers displayed to such fell intent on the seaboards of Europe ay and of Asia and Africa too till the peoples thought that the were wolves themselves had come Here too when they came they found the Huns whose whirl warlike fury had swept the earth like a living flame till the dying peoples held that in their veins ran the blood of those old witches who expelled from Scythia had mated with the devils in the desert Fools fools What devil or what witch was ever so great as Attila whose blood is in these veins He held up his arms Is it a wonder that we were a conquering race that we were proud that when the Magyar the Lombard the Avar the Bulgar or the Turk poured his thousands on our frontiers we drove them back Is it strange that when Arpad and his legions swept through the Hungarian fatherland he found us here when he reached the frontier that the Honfoglalas was completed there And when the Hungarian flood swept eastward the Szekelys were claimed as kindred by the victorious Magyars and to us for centuries was trusted the guarding of the frontier of Turkey land ay and more than that endless duty of the frontier guard for as the Turks say water sleeps and enemy is sleepless Who more gladly than we throughout the Four Nations received the bloody sword or as at its warlike call flocked quicker to the standard of the King When was redeemed that great shame of my nation the shame of Cassova when the flags of the Wallach and the Magyar went down beneath the Crescent Who was it but one of my own race who as the Voivode crossed the Danube and beat the Turk on his own ground This was a Dracula indeed Woe was it that his own unworthy brother when he had fallen sold his people to the Turk and brought the shame of slavery on them Was it not this Dracula indeed who inspired that other of his race who in a later age again and again brought his forces over the great river into Turkey land who when he was beaten back came again and again and again though he had to come alone from the bloody field where his troops were being slaughtered since he knew that he alone could ultimately triumph They said that he had thought only of himself Bah what good are peasants without a leader Where ends the war without a brain and heart to conduct it Again when after the battle of Mohács we threw off the Hungarian yoke we of the Dracula blood were amongst their leaders for our spirit would not be brook that we were not free Ah young sir the Szekelys and the Dracula as their heart s blood their brains and their swords can boast a record that mushroom growths like the Hapsburgs and the Romanoffs can never reach The warlike days are over Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonourable peace and the glories of the great races are as a tale that is told It was by this time close on morning and we went to bed Mem this diary seems horribly like the beginning of the Arabian Nights for everything has to break off at cockcrow or like the ghost of Hamlet s father The Twelfth 12 May Let me begin with the facts bare meagre facts verified by books and figures and of which there can be no doubt I must not confuse them with experiences which will have to rest on my own observation or my memory of them Last evening when the Count came from his room he began by asking me questions on legal matters and on the doing of certain kinds of business I had spent the day wearily over books and simply to keep my mind occupied went over some of the matters I had been examining at Lincoln s Inn There was a certain method in the Count s inquiries so I shall try to put them down in sequence the knowledge may somehow or some time be useful to me First he asked if a man in England might have two solicitors or more I told him he might have a dozen if he wished but that it would not be wise to have more than one solicitor engaged in one transaction as only one could act at a time and that to change would be to certain to militate against his interest He seemed thoroughly to understand and went on to ask if there would be any practical difficulty in having one man to attend say to banking and another to look after shipping in case local help were needed in a place far from the home of the banking solicitor I asked him to explain more fully so that I might not by any chance mislead him so he said I shall illustrate Your friend and mine Mr Peter Hawkins from under the shadow of your beautiful cathedral at Exeter which is far from London buys for me through your good self my place at London Good Now here let me say frankly lest you should think it strange that I have sought the services of one so far off from London instead of some one resident there that my motive was that no local interest might be served save my wish only and as one of London residence might perhaps have some purpose of himself or friend to serve I went thus afield to seek my agent whose labours should be only to my interest Now suppose I who have much of affairs wish to ship goods say to Newcastle or Durham or Harwich or Dover might it not be that it could with more ease be done by consigning to one in these ports I answered that certainly it would be most easy but that we solicitors had a system of agency one for the other so that local work could be done locally on instruction from any solicitor so that the client simply placing himself in the hands of one man could have his wishes carried out by him without further trouble But said he I could be at liberty to direct myself Is it not so Of course I replied and such is often done by men of business who do not like the whole of their affairs to be known by any one person Good he said and then went on to ask about the means of making consignments and the forms to be gone through and of all sorts of difficulties which might arise but by forethought could be guarded against I explained all these things to him to the best of my ability and he certainly left me under the impression that he would have made a wonderful solicitor for there was nothing that he did not think of or foresee For a man who was never in the country and who did not evidently do much in the way of business his knowledge and acumen were wonderful When he had satisfied himself on these points of which he had spoken and I had verified all as well as I could by the books available he suddenly stood up and said Have you written since your first letter to our friend Mr Peter Hawkins or to any other It was with some bitterness in my heart that I answered that I had not that as yet I had not seen any opportunity of sending letters to any anybody Then write now my young friend he said laying a heavy hand on my shoulder write to our friend and to any other and say if it will please you that you shall stay with me until a month from now Do you wish me to stay so long I asked for my heart grew cold at the thought I desire it much nay I will take no refusal When your master employer what you will engaged that someone should come on his behalf it was understood that my needs only were to be consulted I have not stinted Is it not so What could I do but bow acceptance It was Mr Hawkins s interest not mine and I had to think of him not myself and besides while Count Dracula was speaking there was that in his eyes and in his bearing which made me remember that I was a prisoner and that if I wished it I could have no choice The Count saw his victory in my bow and his mastery in the trouble of my face for he began at once to use them but in his own smooth resistless way I pray you my good young friend that you will not discourse of things other than your business in your letters It will doubtless please your friends to know that you are well and that you look forward to getting home to them Is it not so As he spoke he handed me three sheets of note paper and three envelopes They were all of the thinnest foreign post and looking at them then at him and noticing his quiet smile with the sharp canine teeth lying over the red underlip I understood as well as if he had spoken that I should be careful what I wrote for he would be able to read it So I determined to write only formal notes now but to write fully to Mr Hawkins in the secret and also to Mina for to her I could write in shorthand which would puzzle the Count if he did see it When I had written my two letters I sat quiet reading a book whilst the Count wrote several notes referring as he wrote them to some books on his table Then he took up my two and placed them with his own and put by his writing materials after which the instant the door had closed behind him I leaned over and looked at the letters which were face down on the table I felt no compunction in doing so for under the circumstances I felt that I should protect myself in every way I could One of the letters was directed to Samuel F Billington No 7 The Crescent might Whitby another to Herr Leutner Varna the third was to Coutts Co London and the fourth to Herron Herren Klopstock Billreuth bankers Buda Pesth The second and fourth were unsealed I was just about to look at them when I saw the door handle move I sank back in my seat having just had time to replace the letters as they had been and to resume my book before the Count holding still another letter in his hand entered the room He took up the letters on the table and stamped them carefully and then turning to me said I trust you will forgive me but I have much work to do in private this evening You will I hope find all things as you wish At the door he turned and after a moment s pause said Let me advise you my dear young friend nay let me warn you with all seriousness that should you leave these rooms you will not by any chance go to sleep in any other part of the castle It is old and has many memories and there are bad dreams for those who sleep unwisely Be warned Should sleep now or ever overcome you or be like to do then haste to your own chamber or to these rooms for your rest will then be safe But if you be not careful in this respect then He finished his speech in a gruesome way for he motioned with his hands as if he were washing them I quite understood my only doubt was as to whether any dream could be more terrible than the unnatural horrible net of gloom and mystery which seemed closing around me Later I endorse the last words written but this time there is no doubt in question I shall not fear to sleep in any place where he is not I have placed the crucifix over the head of my bed I imagine that my rest is thus freer from dreams and there it shall remain When he left me I went to my room After a little while not hearing any sound I came out and went up the stone stair to where I could now look out towards the South There was some sense of freedom in the vast expanse inaccessible though it was to me as compared with the narrow darkness of the court courtyard Looking out on this I felt that I was indeed in prison and I seemed to want a breath of fresh air though it were of the night I am beginning to feel this nocturnal existence tell on me It is destroying my nerve I start at my own shadow and am full of all sorts of horrible imaginings God knows that there is ground for my terrible fear in this accursed place I looked out over the beautiful expanse bathed in soft yellow moonlight till it was almost as light as day In the soft light the distant hills became melted and the shadows in the valleys and gorges of velvety blackness The mere beauty seemed to cheer me there was peace and comfort in every breath I drew As I leaned from the window my eye was caught by something moving a storey below me and somewhat to my left where I imagined from the order of the rooms that the windows of the Count s own room would look out The window at which I stood was tall and deep stone mullioned and though weather weatherworn was still complete but it was evidently many a day since the case had been there I drew back behind the stonework and looked carefully out What I saw was the Count s head coming out from the window I did not see the face but I knew the man by the neck and the movement of his back and arms In any case I could not mistake the hands which I had had so many opportunities of studying I was at first interested and somewhat amused for it is wonderful how small a matter will interest and amuse a man when he is a prisoner But my very feelings changed to repulsion and terror when I saw the whole man slowly emerge from the window and begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss face down with his cloak spreading out around him like great wings At first I could not believe my eyes I thought it was some trick of the moonlight some weird effect of shadow but I kept looking and it could be no delusion I saw the fingers and toes grasp the corners of the stones worn clear of the mortar by the stress of years and by thus using every projection and inequality move downwards with considerable speed just as a lizard moves along a wall What manner of man is this or what manner of creature is it in the semblance of man I feel the dread of this horrible place overpowering me I am in fear in awful fear and there is no escape for me I am encompassed about with terrors that I dare not think of The 15th 15 May Once more have I seen the Count go out in his lizard fashion He moved downwards in a sidelong way some hundred feet down and a good deal to the left He vanished into some hole or window When his head had disappeared I leaned out to try and see more but without a avail the distance was too great to allow a proper angle of sight I knew he had left the castle now and thought to use the opportunity to explore more than I had dared to do as yet I went back to the room and taking a lamp tried all the doors They were all locked as I had expected and the locks were comparatively new but I went down the stone stairs to the hall where I had entered originally I found I could pull back the bolts easily enough and unhook the great chains but the door was locked and the key was gone That key must be in the Count s room I must watch should his door be unlocked so that I may get it and escape I went on to make a thorough examination of the various stairs and passages and to try the doors that opened from them One or two small rooms near the hall were open but there was nothing to see in them except old furniture dusty with age and moth eaten At last however I found one door at the top of the stairway which though it seemed to be locked gave a little under pressure I tried it harder and found that it was not really locked but that the resistance came from the fact that the hinges had fallen somewhat and the heavy door rested on the floor Here was an opportunity which I might not have again so I exerted myself and with many efforts forced it back so that I could enter I was now in a wing of the castle further to the right than the rooms I knew and a storey lower down From the windows I could see that the suite of rooms lay along to the south of the castle the windows of the end room looking out both west and south On the latter side as well as to the former there was a great precipice The castle was built on the corner of a great rock so that on three sides it was quite impregnable and great windows were placed here where sling or bow or culverin could not reach and consequently light and comfort impossible to a position which had to be guarded were secured To the west was a great valley and then rising far away great jagged mountain fastnesses rising peak on peak the sheer rock studded with mountain ash and thorn whose roots clung in cracks and crevices and crannies of the stone This was evidently the portion of the castle occupied by the ladies in bygone days for the furniture had more air of comfort than any I had seen The windows were curtainless and loose and the yellow moonlight flooding in through the diamond panes enabled one to see even colours whilst it softened the wealth of dust which lay over all and disguised in some measure the ravages of time and the moth My lamp seemed to be of little effect in the brilliant moonlight but I was glad to have it with me for there was a dread loneliness in the place which chilled my heart and made my nerves tremble Still it was better than living alone in the rooms which I had come to hate from the presence of the Count and after trying a little to school my nerves I found a soft quietude come over me Here I am sitting at a little oak table where in old times possibly some fair lady sat to pen with much thought and many blushes her ill spelt love letter and writing in my diary in shorthand all that has happened since I closed it last It is nineteenth century up to date with a vengeance And yet unless my senses deceive me the old centuries had and have powers of their own which mere modernity cannot kill Later the Morning of the 16th 16 May God preserve my sanity for to this I am reduced Safety and the assurance of safety are things of the past Whilst I live on here there is but one thing to hope for that I may not go mad if indeed I may be not mad already If I be sane then surely it is as maddening to think that of all the foul things that lurk in this hateful place the Count is the least dreadful to me that to him alone I can look for safety even though this be only whilst I can serve his purpose Great God merciful God Let me be calm for out of that way lies madness indeed I begin to get new lights on certain things which have puzzled me Up to now I never quite knew what Shakespeare meant when he made Hamlet say My tablets quick my tablets Tis meet that I put it down etc for now feeling as though my own brain were unhinged or as if the shock had come which must end in its undoing I turn to my diary for repose The habit of entering accurately must help to soothe me The Count s mysterious warning frightened me at the time it frightens me more now when I think of it for in future he has a fearful hold upon me I shall fear to doubt what he may say When I had written in my diary and had fortunately replaced the book and pen in my pocket I felt sleepy The Count s warning came into my mind but I took a pleasure in disobeying it The sense of sleep was upon me and with it the obstinacy which sleep brings as outrider The soft moonlight soothed and the wide expanse without gave a sense of freedom which refreshed me I determined not to return to night to the gloom haunted rooms but to sleep here where of old ladies had sat and sung and lived with sweet lives whilst their gentle breasts were sad for their menfolk away in the midst of a remorseless wars I drew a great couch out of its place near the corner so that as I lay I could look at the lovely view to east and south and unthinking of and uncaring for the dust composed myself for sleep I suppose I must have fallen asleep I hope so but I fear for all that followed was startlingly real so real that now sitting here in the broad full sunlight of the morning I cannot in the least believe that it was all sleep I was not alone The room was the same unchanged in any way since I came into it I could see along the floor in the brilliant moonlight my own footsteps marked where I had disturbed the long accumulation of dust In the moonlight opposite me were three young women ladies by their dress and manner I thought at the time that I must be dreaming when I saw them for though the moonlight was behind them they threw no shadow on the floor They came close to me and looked at me for some time and then whispered together Two were dark and had high aqua aquiline noses like the Count and great dark piercing eyes that seemed to be almost red when contrasted with the pale yellow moon The other was fair as fair as can be with great wavy masses of golden hair and eyes like pale sapphires I seemed somehow to know her face and to know it in connection with some dreamy fear but I could not recollect at the moment how we or where All three had brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lips There was something about them that made me uneasy some longing and at the same time some deadly fear I felt in my heart a wicked burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips It is not good to note this down lest some day it should meet Mina s eyes and cause her pain but it is the truth They whispered together and then they all three laughed such a silvery musical laugh but as hard as though the sound never could have come through the softness of human lips It was like the intolerable tingling sweetness of water glasses when played on by a cunning hand The fair girl shook her head coquettishly and the other two urged her on One said Go on You are the first and we shall follow yours is the right to begin The other added He is young and strong there are kisses for us all I lay quiet looking out under my eyelashes in an agony of delightful anticipation The fair girl advanced and bent over me till I could feel the movement of her breath upon me Sweet it was in one sense honey sweet and sent the same tingling through the nerves as her voice but with a bitter underlying the sweet a bitter offensiveness as one smells in blood I was afraid to raise my eyelids but looked out and saw perfectly under the lashes The girl went on her knees and bent over me simply gloating There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal till I could see in the moonlight the moisture shining on the scarlet lips and on the red tongue as it lapped the white sharp teeth Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my mouth and chin and seemed about to fasten on my throat Then she paused and I could hear the churning sound of her tongue as it licked her teeth and lips and could feel the hot breath on my neck Then the skin of my throat began to tingle as one s flesh does when the hand that is to tickle it approaches nearer nearer I could feel the soft shivering touch of the lips on the super sensitive skin of my throat and the hard dents of two sharp teeth just touching and pausing there I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waited waited with beating heart But at that instant another sensation swept through me as quick as lightning I was conscious of the presence of the Count and of his being as if lapped in a storm of fury As my eyes opened involuntarily I saw his strong hand grasp the slender neck of the fair woman and with giant s power draw it back the blue eyes transformed with fury the white teeth champing with rage and the fair cheeks blazing red with passion But the Count Never did I imagine such wrath and fury even to the demons of the pit His eyes were positively blazing The red light in them was lurid as if the flames of hell fire blazed behind them His face was deathly pale and the lines of it were hard like drawn wires the thick eyebrows that met over the nose now seemed like a heaving bar of white hot metal With a fierce sweep of his arm he hurled the woman from him and then motioned to the others as though he were beating them back it was the same imperious gesture that I had seen used to the wolves In a voice which though low and almost in a whisper seemed to cut through the air and then ring round the room he said How dare you touch him any of you How dare you cast eyes on him when I had forbidden it Back I tell you all This man belongs to me Beware how you meddle with him or you ll have to deal with me The fair girl with a laugh of ribald coquetry turned to answer him You yourself never loved you never love On this the other women joined and such a mirthless hard soulless laughter rang through the room that it almost made me faint to hear it seemed like the pleasure of fiends Then the Count turned after looking at my face attentively and said in a soft whisper Yes I too can love you yourselves can tell it from the past Is it not so Well now I promise you that when I am done with him you shall kiss him at your will Now go go I must awaken him for there is work to be done Are we to have nothing to night said one of them with a low laugh as she pointed to the bag which he had thrown upon the floor and which moved me as though there were some living thing within it For answer he nodded his head One of the women jumped forward and opened it If my ears did not deceive me there was a gasp and a low wail as of a half smothered child The women closed round whilst I was aghast with horror but as I looked they disappeared and with them the dreadful bag There was no door near them and they could not have passed me without my noticing They simply seemed to fade into the rays of the moonlight and pass out through the window for I could see outside the dim shadowy forms for a moment before they entirely faded away Then the horror overcame me and I sank down unconscious CHAPTER IV JONATHAN HARKER S JOURNAL continued I AWOKE in my own bed If it be that I had not dreamt the Count must have carried me here I tried to satisfy myself on the subject but could not arrive at any unquestionable result To be sure there were certain small evidences such as that my clothes were folded and laid by in a manner which was not my habit My watch was still unwound and I am rigorously accustomed to wind it the last thing before going to bed and many such details But these things are no proof for they may have been evidences that my mind was not as usual and from some cause or another I had certainly been much upset I must watch for proof Of one thing I am glad if it was that the Count carried me here and undressed me he must have been hurried in his task for my pockets are intact I am sure this diary would have been a mystery to him which he would not have brooked He would have taken or destroyed it As I look round this room although it has been to me so full of fear it is now a sort of sanctuary for nothing can be more dreadful than those awful women who were who are waiting to suck my blood the 18th 18 May I have been down to look at that room again in daylight for I must know the truth When I got to the doorway at the top of the stairs I found it closed It had been so forcefully driven against the jam that part of the woodwork was splintered I could see that the bolt of the lock had not been shot but the door is fastened from the inside Here it was no dream I must act on the surmise the 18th of May I have been down to look at that room again in daylight for I must know the truth When I got to the doorway at the top of the stairs I found it closed It had been so forcibly driven against the jamb that part of the woodwork was splintered I could see that the bolt of the lock had not been shot but the door is fastened from the inside I fear it was no dream and must act on this surmise 19th 19 May I am surely in the toils Last night the Count asked me in the suavest tones to write three letters one saying that my work here was nearly done and that I should start for home within a few days another that I was starting on the next morning from the time of the letter and the third that I had left the castle and arrived at Bistritz I would fain have rebelled but felt that in the present state of things it would be madness to quarrel openly with the Count whilst I am so absolutely in his power and to refuse would be to excite his suspicion and to arouse his anger He knows that I know too much and that I must not live lest I be dangerous to him my only chance is to prolong my opportunities Something may occur which will give me a chance to escape I saw in his eyes something of that gathering wrath which was manifest when he hurled that fair woman from him He explained to me that posts were few and uncertain and that my writing now would ensure ease of mind to my friends and he assured me with so much impressiveness that he would countermand the later letters which would be held over at Bistritz until due time in case chance would admit of my prolonging my stay that to oppose him would have been to create new suspicion I therefore pretended to fall in with his views and asked him what dates I should put on the letters He calculated a minute and then said The first should be June 12 the second June 19 and the third June 29 I know now the span of my life God help me 28th 28 May There is a chance of escape or at any rate of being able to send word home A band of Szgany have come to the castle and are encamped in the courtyard These Szgany are gipsies I have notes of them in my book They are peculiar to this part of the world though allied to the ordinary gipsies all the world over There are thousands of them in Hungary and Transylvania who are almost outside all law They attach themselves as a rule to some great noble or boyar and call themselves by his name They are fearless and without religion save superstition and they talk only their own varieties of the Romany tongue I shall write some letters home and shall try to get them to have them posted I have already spoken them through my window to begin equating a acquaintanceship They took their hats off and made obeisance and many signs which however I could not understand any more than I could their spoken language I have written the letters Mina s is in shorthand and I simply ask Mr Hawkins to communicate with her To her I have explained my situation but without the horrors which I may only surmise It would shock and frighten her to death were I to expose my heart to her Should the letters not carry then the Count shall not yet know my secret or the extent of my knowledge I have given the letters I threw them through the bars of my window with a gold piece and made what signs I could to have them posted The man who took them pressed them to his heart and bowed and then put them in his cap I could do no more I stole back to the study and began to read As the Count did not come in I have written here The Count has come He sat down beside me and said in his smoothest voice as he opened two letters The Szgany has given me these of which though I know not whence they come I shall of course take care See he must have looked at it one is from you and to my friend Peter Hawkins the other here he caught sight of the strange symbols as he opened the envelope and the dark look came into his face and his eyes blazed wickedly the other is a vile thing an outrage upon friendship and hospitality It is not signed Well so it cannot matter to us And he calmly held letter and envelope in the flame of the lamp till they were consumed Then he went on The letter to Hawkins that I shall of course send on since it is yours Your letters are sacred to me You Your pardon my friend that unknowingly I did break the seal Will you not cover it again He held out the letter to me and with a courteous bow handed me a clean envelope I could only redirect it and hand it to him in silence When he went out of the room I could hear the key turn softly A minute later I went over and tried it and the door was locked When an hour or two after the court came the Count came quietly into the room his coming awakened to me for I had gone to sleep on the sofa He was very courteous and very cheery in his manner and seeing that I had been sleeping he said So my friend you are tired Get to bed There is the surest rest I may not have the pleasure of to talk to night since there are many labours to me but you will sleep I pray I passed to my room and went to bed and strange to say slept without dreaming Despair has its own calms the thirty first 31 May This morning when I woke I thought I would provide myself with some paper and envelopes from my bag and keep them in my pocket so that I might write in case I should get an opportunity but again a surprise again a shock Every scrap of paper was gone and with it all my notes my memoranda relating to railways and travel my letter of credit in fact all that might be useful to me when were I once outside the castle I sat and pondered a awhile and then some thought occurred to me and I made search of my portmanteau and in the wardrobe where I had placed my clothes The suit in which I had travelled was gone and also my overcoat and rug I could find no trace of them anywhere This looked like some new scheme of villainy The 17th 17 June This morning as I was sitting on the edge of my bed cudgelling my brains I heard without a cracking of whips and pounding and scraping of horses feet up the rocky path beyond the courtyard With joy I hurried to the window and saw drive into the yard two great leiter wagons each drawn by eight sturdy horses and at the head of each pair a Slovak with his wide hat great nail studded belt dirty sheepskin and high boots They had also their long staves in hand I ran to the door intending to descend and try and join them through the main hall as I thought that way might be opened for them Again a shock my door was fastened on the outside Then I ran to the window and cried to them They looked up at me stupidly and pointed but just then the hetman of the Szgany came out and seeing them pointing to my window said something at which they laughed Henceforth no effort of mine no piteous cry or agonised entreaty would make them even look at me They resolutely turned away The leiter wagons contained great square boxes with handles of thick rope these were evidently empty by the ease with which the Slovaks handled them and by their resonance as they were roughly moved When they were all unloaded and packed in a great heap in one corner of the yard the Slovaks were given some money by the Szgany and spitting on it for luck lazily went each to his horse s head Shortly afterwards I heard the cracking of their whips die away in the distance 24th 24 June before morning Last night the Count left me early and locked himself into his own room As soon as I dared I ran up the winding stair and looked out of the window which opened south I thought I would watch for the Count for there is something going on The Szgany are quartered somewhere in the castle and are doing work of some kind I know it for now and then I hear a far away muffled sound as of mattock and spade and whatever it is it must be the end of some ruthless villainy I had been at the window somewhat less than half an hour when I saw something coming out of the Count s window I drew back and watched carefully and saw the whole man emerge It was a new shock to me to find that he had on the suit of clothes which I had worn whilst travelling here and slung over his shoulder the terrible bag which I had seen the women take away There could be no doubt as to his quest and in my garb too This then is his new scheme of evil that he will allow others to see me as they think so that he may both leave evidence that I have been seen in the towns or villages posting my own letters and that any wickedness which he may do shall by the local people be attributed to me It makes me rage to think that this can go on and whilst I am shut up here a veritable prisoner but without that protection of the law which is even a criminal s right and consolation I thought I would watch for the Count s return and for a long time sat doggedly at the window Then I began to notice that there were some quaint little specks floating in the rays of the moonlight They were like the tiniest grains of dust and they whirled round and gathered in clusters in a nebulous sort of way I watched them with a sense of soothing and a sort of calm stole over me I leaned back in the embrasure in a more comfortable position so that I could enjoy more fully the aërial gambolling Something made me start up a low piteous howling of dogs somewhere far below in the valley which was hidden from my sight Louder it seemed to ring in my ears and the floating motes of dust to take new shapes to the sound as they danced in the moonlight I felt myself struggling to awake to some call of my instincts nay my very soul was struggling and my half remembered sensibilities were striving to answer the call I was becoming hypnotised Quicker and quicker danced the dust the moonbeams seemed to quiver as they went by me into the mass of gloom beyond More and more they gathered till they seemed to take dim phantom shapes And then I started broad awake and in full possession of my senses and ran screaming from the place The phantom shapes which were becoming gradually materialised from the moonbeams were those of the three ghostly women to whom I was doomed I fled and felt somewhat safer in my own room where there was no moonlight and where the lamp was burning brightly When a couple of hours had passed I heard something stirring in the Count s room something like a sharp wail quickly suppressed and then there was silence deep awful silence which chilled me With a beating heart I tried the door but I was locked in my prison and could do nothing I sat down and simply cried As I sat I heard a sound in the courtyard without the agonised cry of a woman I rushed to the window and throwing it up peered out between the bars There indeed was a woman with dishevelled hair holding her hands over her heart as one distressed with running She was leaning against a corner of the gateway When she saw my face at the window she threw herself forward and shouted in a voice laden with menace Monster give me my child She threw herself on her knees and raising up her hands cried the same words in tones which wrung my heart Then she tore her hair and beat her breast and abandoned herself to all the violences of extravagant emotion Finally she threw herself forward and though I could not see her I could hear the beating of her naked hands against the door Some Somewhere high overhead probably on the tower I heard the voice of the Count calling in his harsh metallic whisper His call seemed to be answered from far and wide by the howling of wolves Before many minutes had passed a pack of them poured like a pent up dam when liberated through the wide entrance into the courtyard There was no cry from the woman and the howling of the wolves was but short Before long they streamed away singly licking their lips I could not pity her for I knew now what had become of her child and she was better dead What shall I do what can I do How can I escape from this dreadful thing of night and gloom and fear the twenty fifth 25 June morning No man knows till he has suffered from the night how sweet and how dear to his heart and eye the morning can be When the sun grew up so high this morning that it struck the top of the great gateway opposite my window the high spot which it touched seemed to me as if the dove from the ark had lighted there My fear fell from me as if it had been a vaporous garment which dissolved in the warmth I must take action of some sort whilst the courage of the day is upon me Last night one of my post dated letters went to post the first of that fatal series which is to blot out the very traces of my existence from the earth Let me not think of it Action It has always been at night time that I have been molested or threatened or in some way in danger or in fear I have not yet seen the Count in the daylight Can it be that he sleeps when others wake that he may be awake whilst they sleep If I could only get into his room But there is no possible way The door is always locked no way for me Yes there is a way if one dares to take it Where his body has gone why may not another body go I have seen him myself crawl from his window Why should not I imitate him and go in by his window The chances are desperate but my need is more desperate still I shall risk it At the worst it can only be death and a man s death is not a calf s and the dreaded Hereafter may still be open to me God help me in my task Good bye Mina if I fail good bye my faithful friend and second father good bye all and last of all Mina Same day later I have made the effort and God helping me have come safely back to this room I must put down every detail in order I went whilst my courage was fresh straight to the window on the south side and at once got outside on the narrow ledge of stone which runs around the building on this side The stones are big and roughly cut and the mortar has by process of time been washed away between them I took off my boots and ventured out on the desperate way I looked down once so as to make sure that a sudden glimpse of the awful depth would not overcome me but after that kept my eyes away from it I knew pretty well the direction and distance of the Count s window and made for it as well as I could having regard to the opportunities available I did not feel dizzy I suppose I was too excited and the time seemed ridiculously short till I found myself standing on the window sill and trying to raise up the sash I was filled with agitation however when I bent down and slid feet foremost in through the window Then I looked around for the Count but with surprise and gladness made a discovery The room was empty It was barely furnished with odd things which seemed to have never been used the furniture was something the same style as that in the south rooms and was covered with dust I looked for the key but it was not in the lock and I could not find it anywhere The only thing I found was a great heap of gold in one corner gold of all kinds Roman and British and Austrian and Hungarian and Greek and Turkish money covered with a film of dust as though it had lain long in the ground None of it that I noticed was less than three hundred years old There were also chains and ornaments some jewelled but all of them old and stained At one corner of the room was a heavy door I tried it for since I could not find the key of the room or the key of the outer door which was the main object of my search I must make further examination or all my efforts would be in vain It was open and led through a stone passage to a circular stairway which went steeply down I descended minding carefully where I went for the stairs were dark being only lit by loopholes in the heavy masonry At the bottom there was a dark tunnel like passage through which came a deathly sickly odour the odour of old earth newly turned As I went through the passage the smell grew closer and heavier At last I pulled open a heavy door which stood ajar and found myself in an old ruined chapel which had evidently been used as a graveyard The roof was broken and in two places were steps leading to vaults but the ground had recently been dug over and the earth placed in great wooden boxes manifestly those which had been brought by the Slovaks There was nobody about and I made search for any further outlet but there was none Then I went over every inch of the ground so as not to lose a chance I went down even into the vaults where the dim light struggled although to do so was a dread to my very soul Into two of these I went but saw nothing except fragments of old coffins and piles of dust in the third however I made a discovery There in one of the great boxes of which there were fifty in all on a pile of newly dug earth lay the Count He was either dead or asleep I could not say which for the eyes were open and stony but without the glassiness of death and the cheeks had the warmth of life through all their pallor the lips were as red as ever But there was no sign of movement no pulse no breath no beating of the heart even I bent over him and tried to find any sign of life but in vain He could not have lain there long for the earthy smell would have passed away in a few hours By the side of the box was its cover pierced with holes here and there I thought he might have the keys on him but when I went to search I saw the dead eyes and in them dead though they were such a look of hate though unconscious of me or my presence that I fled from the place and leaving the Count s room by the window crawled again up the castle wall Regaining my room I threw myself panting upon the bed and tried to think The 29 June To day is the last date of my last letter and the Count has taken steps to prove that it was genuine for again I saw him leave the castle by the same window and in my clothes As he went down the wall lizard fashion I wished I had a gun or some lethal weapon that I might destroy him but I fear that no weapon wrought alone by man s hand would have any effect on him I dared not wait to see him return for I feared to see those weird sisters I came back to the library and read there till I fell asleep I was awakened by the Count who looked at me as grimly as a man can look as he said To morrow my friend we must part You return to your beautiful England I to some work which may have such an end that we may never meet Your letter home has been despatched to morrow I shall not be here but all shall be ready for your journey In the morning come the Szgany who have some labours of their own here and also come some Slovaks When they have gone my carriage shall come for you and shall bear you to the Borgo Pass to meet the diligence from Bukovina to Bistritz But I am in hopes that I shall see more of you at Castle Dracula I suspected him and determined to test his sincerity Sincerity It seems like a profanation of the word to write it in connection with such a monster so asked him point blank Why may I not go to night Because dear sir my coachman and horses are away on a mission But I would walk with pleasure I want to get away at once He smiled such a soft smooth diabolical smile that I knew there was some trick behind his smoothness He said And your baggage I do not care about it I can send for it some other time The Count stood up and said with a sweet courtesy which made me rub my eyes it seemed so real You English have a saying which is close to my heart for its spirit is that which rules our boyars Welcome the coming speed the parting guest Come with me my dear young friend Not an hour shall you wait in my house against your will though sad am I at your going and that you so suddenly desire it Come With a stately gravity he with the lamp preceded me down the stairs and along the hall Suddenly he stopped Hark Close at hand came the howling of many wolves It was almost as if the sound sprang up at the rising of his hand just as the music of a great orchestra seems to leap under the bâton of the conductor After a pause of a moment he proceeded in his stately way to the door drew back the ponderous bolts unhooked the heavy chains and began to draw it open To my intense astonishment I saw that it was unlocked Suspiciously I looked all round but could see no key of any kind As the door began to open the howling of the wolves without grew louder and angrier their red jaws with champing teeth and their blunt clawed feet as they leaped came in through the opening door I knew then that to struggle at the moment against the Count was useless With such allies as these at his command I could do nothing But still the door continued slowly to open and only the Count s body stood in the gap Suddenly it struck me that this might be the moment and means of my doom I was to be given to the wolves and at my own instigation There was a diabolical wickedness in the idea great enough for the Count and as a last chance I cried out Shut the door I shall wait till morning and covered my face with my hands to hide my tears of bitter disappointment With one sweep of his powerful arm the Count threw the door shut and the great bolts clanged and echoed through the hall as they shot back into their places In silence we returned to the library and after a minute or two I went to my own room The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand to me with a red light of triumph in his eyes and with a smile that Judas in hell might be proud of When I was in my room and about to lie down I thought I heard a whispering at my door I went to it softly and listened Unless my ears deceived me I heard the voice of the Count Back back to your own place Your time is not yet come Wait Have patience To night is mine To morrow night is yours There was a low sweet ripple of laughter and in a rage I threw open the door and saw without the three terrible women licking their lips As I appeared they all joined in a horrible laugh and ran away I came back to my room and threw myself on my knees It is then so near the end To morrow to morrow Lord help me and those to whom I am dear The 30th 30 June morning These may be the last words I ever write in this diary I slept till just before the dawn and when I woke threw myself on my knees for I determined that if Death came he should find me ready At last I felt that subtle change in the air and I knew that the morning had come Then came the welcome cock crow and I felt that I was safe With a glad heart I opened my door and ran down to the hall I had seen that the door was unlocked and now escape was before me With hands that trembled with eagerness I unhooked the chains and drew back the massive bolts But the door would not move Despair seized me I pulled and pulled at the door and shook it till massive as it was it rattled in its casement I could see the bolt shot It had been locked after I left the Count Then a wild desire took me to obtain that key at any risk and I determined then and there to scale the wall again and gain the Count s room He might kill me but death now seemed the happier choice of evils Without a pause I rushed up to the east window and scrambled down the wall as before into the Count s room It was empty but that was as I expected I could not see a key anywhere but the heap of gold remained I went through the door in the corner and down the winding stair and along the dark passage to the old chapel I knew now well enough where to find the monster I sought The great box was in the same place close against the wall but the lid was laid on it not fastened down but with the nails ready in their places to be hammered home I knew I must reach the body for the key so I raised the lid and laid it back against the wall and then I saw something which filled my very soul with horror There lay the Count but looking as if his youth had been half renewed for the white hair and moustache were changed to dark iron grey the cheeks were fuller and the white skin seemed ruby red underneath the mouth was redder than ever for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood which trickled from the corners of the mouth and ran over the chin and neck Even the deep burning eyes seemed set amongst swollen flesh for the lids and pouches underneath were bloated It seemed as if the whole awful creature were simply gorged with blood He lay like a filthy leech exhausted with his repletion I shuddered as I bent over to touch him and every sense in me revolted at the contact but I had to search or I was lost The coming night might see my own body a banquet in a similar way to those horrid three I felt all over the body but no sign could I find of the key Then I stopped and looked at the Count There was a mocking smile on the bloated face which seemed to drive me mad This was the being I was helping to transfer to London where perhaps for centuries to come he might amongst its teeming millions satiate his lust for blood and create a new and ever widening circle of semi demons to batten on the helpless The very thought drove me mad A terrible desire came upon me to rid the world of such a monster There was no lethal weapon at hand but I seized a shovel which the workmen had been using to fill the cases and lifting it high struck with the edge downward at the hateful face But as I did so the head turned and the eyes fell full upon me with all their blaze of basilisk horror The sight seemed to paralyse me and the shovel turned in my hand and glanced from the face merely making a deep gash above the forehead The shovel fell from my hand across the box and as I pulled it away the flange of the blade caught the edge of the lid which fell over again and hid the horrid thing from my sight The last glimpse I had was of the bloated face blood stained and fixed with a grin of malice which would have held its own in the nethermost hell I thought and thought what should be my next move but my brain seemed on fire and I waited with a despairing feeling growing over me As I watched as I waited I heard in the distance a gipsy song sung by merry voices coming closer and through their song the rolling of heavy wheels and the cracking of whips the shaken Szgany and the Slovaks of whom the Count had spoken were coming With a last look around and at the box which contained the vile body I ran from the place and gained the Count s room determined to rush out at the moment the door should be opened With strained ears I listened and heard downstairs the grinding of the key in the great lock and the falling back of the heavy door There must have been some other means of entry or some one had a key for one of the locked doors Then there came the sound of many feet tramping and dying away in some passage which sent up a clanging echo I turned to run down again towards the vault where I might find the new entrance but at the moment there seemed to come a violent puff of wind and the door to the winding stair blew to with a shock that set the dust from the lintels flying When I ran to push it open I found that it was hopelessly fast I was again a prisoner and the net of doom was closing round me more closely As I write there is in the passage below a sound of many tramping feet and the crash of weights being set down heavily to doubtless the boxes with their freight of earth There is a sound of hammering it is the box being nailed down Now I can hear the heavy feet tramping again along the hall with many other idle feet coming behind them The door is shut and the chains rattle there is a grinding of the key in the lock I can hear the key withdraw then another door opens and shuts I hear the creaking of lock and bolt Hark in the courtyard and down the rocky way the roll of heavy wheels the crack of whips and the chorus of the Szgany as they pass into the distance I am alone in the castle with those awful women Faugh Mina is a woman and there is nought in common They are devils of the Pit I shall not remain alone with them I shall try to scale the castle wall farther than I have yet attempted I shall take some of the gold with me lest I want it later I may find a way from this dreadful place And then a away for home a away to the quickest and nearest train away from this cursed spot from this cursed land where the devil and his children still walk with earthly feet At least God s mercy is better than that of these monsters and the precipice is steep and high At its foot a man may sleep as a man Good bye all Mina