DR. SEWARD'S DIARY
30 September.--I got home at
five o'clock, and found that
Godalming and Morris had not
only arrived, but had already
studied the transcript of the
various diaries and letters which
Harker had not yet returned from
his visit to the carriers' men,
of whom Dr. Hennessey had written
to me. Mrs. Harker gave us a
cup of tea, and I can honestly
say that, for the first time
since I have lived in it, this
old house seemed like home. When
we had finished, Mrs. Harker
said,
"Dr. Seward,
may I ask a favor? I want to
see your patient, Mr.
Renfield. Do let me see him.
What you have said of him in
your diary interests me so much!"
She looked
so appealing and so pretty
that I could not refuse
her, and there was no possible
reason why I should, so I took
her with me. When I went into
the room, I told the man that
a lady would like to see him,
to which he simply answered, "Why?"
"She is going through the house,
and wants to see every one in
it," I answered.
"Oh, very well," he said,"let
her come in, by all means, but
just wait a minute till I tidy
up the place."
His method
of tidying was peculiar, he
simply swallowed all the flies
and spiders in the boxes before
I could stop him. It was quite
evident that he feared, or was
jealous of, some interference.
When he had got through his disgusting
task, he said cheerfully, "Let
the lady come in," and sat down
on the edge of his bed with his
head down, but with his eyelids
raised so that he could see her
as she entered. For a moment
I thought that he might have
some homicidal intent. I remembered
how quiet he had been just before
he attacked me in my own study,
and I took care to stand where
I could seize him at once if
he attempted to make a spring
at her.
She came into the room with
an easy gracefulness which would
at once command the respect of
any lunatic, for easiness is
one of the qualities mad people
most respect. She walked over
to him, smiling pleasantly, and
held out her hand.
"Good evening, Mr. Renfield," said
she. "You see, I know you, for
Dr. Seward has told me of you." He
made no immediate reply, but
eyed her all over intently with
a set frown on his face. This
look gave way to one of wonder,
which merged in doubt, then to
my intense astonishment he said, "You're
not the girl the doctor wanted
to marry, are you? You can't
be, you know, for she's dead."
Mrs. Harker
smiled sweetly as she replied, "Oh
no! I have a husband of my
own, to whom
I was married before I ever saw
Dr. Seward, or he me. I am Mrs.
Harker."
"Then what
are you doing here?"
"My husband
and I are staying on a visit
with Dr. Seward."
"Then don't
stay."
"But why not?"
I thought that
this style of conversation
might not be pleasant
to Mrs. Harker, any more than
it was to me, so I joined in, "How
did you know I wanted to marry
anyone?"
His reply was
simply contemptuous, given
in a pause in which he
turned his eyes from Mrs. Harker
to me, instantly turning them
back again, "What an asinine
question!"
"I don't see that at all, Mr.
Renfield,"said Mrs. Harker, at
once championing me.
He replied
to her with as much courtesy
and respect as he had
shown contempt to me, "You will,
of course, understand, Mrs. Harker,
that when a man is so loved and
honored as our host is, everything
regarding him is of interest
in our little community. Dr.
Seward is loved not only by his
household and his friends, but
even by his patients, who, being
some of them hardly in mental
equilibrium, are apt to distort
causes and effects. Since I myself
have been an inmate of a lunatic
asylum, I cannot but notice that
the sophistic tendencies of some
of its inmates lean towards the
errors of non causa and ignoratio
elenche."
I positively opened my eyes
at this new development. Here
was my own pet lunatic, the most
pronounced of his type that I
had ever met with, talking elemental
philosophy, and with the manner
of a polished gentleman. I wonder
if it was Mrs. Harker's presence
which had touched some chord
in his memory. If this new phase
was spontaneous, or in any way
due to her unconscious influence,
she must have some rare gift
or power.
We continued to talk for some
time, and seeing that he was
seemingly quite reasonable, she
ventured, looking at me questioningly
as she began, to lead him to
his favorite topic. I was again
astonished, for he addressed
himself to the question with
the impartiality of the completest
sanity. He even took himself
as an example when he mentioned
certain things.
"Why, I myself
am an instance of a man who
had a strange belief.
Indeed, it was no wonder that
my friends were alarmed, and
insisted on my being put under
control. I used to fancy that
life was a positive and perpetual
entity, and that by consuming
a multitude of live things, no
matter how low in the scale of
creation, one might indefinitely
prolong life. At times I held
the belief so strongly that I
actually tried to take human
life. The doctor here will bear
me out that on one occasion I
tried to kill him for the purpose
of strengthening my vital powers
by the assimilation with my own
body of his life through the
medium of his blood, relying
of course, upon the Scriptural
phrase, `For the blood is the
life.' Though, indeed, the vendor
of a certain nostrum has vulgarized
the truism to the very point
of contempt. Isn't that true,
doctor?"
I nodded assent, for I was
so amazed that I hardly knew
what to either think or say,
it was hard to imagine that I
had seen him eat up his spiders
and flies not five minutes before.
Looking at my watch, I saw that
I should go to the station to
meet Van Helsing, so I told Mrs.
Harker that it was time to leave.
She came at
once, after saying pleasantly
to Mr. Renfield, "Goodbye,
and I hope I may see you often,
under auspices pleasanter to
yourself."
To which, to
my astonishment, he replied, "Goodbye,
my dear. I pray God I may never
see your
sweet face again. May He bless
and keep you!"
When I went to the station
to meet Van Helsing I left the
boys behind me. Poor Art seemed
more cheerful than he has been
since Lucy first took ill, and
Quincey is more like his own
bright self than he has been
for many a long day.
Van Helsing
stepped from the carriage with
the eager nimbleness
of a boy. He saw me at once,
and rushed up to me, saying, "Ah,
friend John, how goes all? Well?
So! I have been busy, for I come
here to stay if need be. All
affairs are settled with me,
and I have much to tell. Madam
Mina is with you? Yes. And her
so fine husband? And Arthur and
my friend Quincey, they are with
you, too? Good!"
As I drove to the house I told
him of what had passed, and of
how my own diary had come to
be of some use through Mrs. Harker's
suggestion, at which the Professor
interrupted me.
"Ah, that wonderful
Madam Mina! She has man's brain,
a brain
that a man should have were he
much gifted, and a woman's heart.
The good God fashioned her for
a purpose, believe me, when He
made that so good combination.
Friend John, up to now fortune
has made that woman of help to
us, after tonight she must not
have to do with this so terrible
affair. It is not good that she
run a risk so great. We men are
determined, nay, are we not pledged,
to destroy this monster? But
it is no part for a woman. Even
if she be not harmed, her heart
may fail her in so much and so
many horrors and hereafter she
may suffer, both in waking,from
her nerves, and in sleep,from
her dreams. And, besides, she
is young woman and not so long
married, there may be other things
to think of some time, if not
now. You tell me she has wrote
all, then she must consult with
us, but tomorrow she say goodbye
to this work, and we go alone."
I agreed heartily with him,
and then I told him what we had
found in his absence, that the
house which Dracula had bought
was the very next one to my own.
He was amazed, and a great concern
seemed to come on him.
"Oh that we had known it before!" he
said, "for then we might have
reached him in time to save poor
Lucy. However, `the milk that
is spilt cries not out afterwards,'as
you say. We shall not think of
that, but go on our way to the
end." Then he fell into a silence
that lasted till we entered my
own gateway. Before we went to
prepare for dinner he said to
Mrs. Harker, "I am told, Madam
Mina, by my friend John that
you and your husband have put
up in exact order all things
that have been, up to this moment."
"Not up to this moment, Professor,"she
said impulsively, "but up to
this morning."
"But why not
up to now? We have seen hitherto
how good light
all the little things have made.
We have told our secrets, and
yet no one who has told is the
worse for it."
Mrs. Harker
began to blush, and taking
a paper from her pockets,
she said, "Dr. Van Helsing, will
you read this, and tell me if
it must go in. It is my record
of today. I too have seen the
need of putting down at present
everything, however trivial,
but there is little in this except
what is personal. Must it go
in?"
The Professor
read it over gravely, and handed
it back,
saying, "It need not go in if
you do not wish it, but I pray
that it may. It can but make
your husband love you the more,
and all us, your friends, more
honor you, as well as more esteem
and love." She took it back with
another blush and a bright smile.
And so now, up to this very
hour, all the records we have
are complete and in order. The
Professor took away one copy
to study after dinner, and before
our meeting, which is fixed for
nine o'clock. The rest of us
have already read everything,
so when we meet in the study
we shall all be informed as to
facts, and can arrange our plan
of battle with this terrible
and mysterious enemy.
MINA HARKER'S JOURNAL
30 September.--When we met
in Dr. Seward's study two hours
after dinner, which had been
at six o'clock, we unconsciously
formed a sort of board or committee.
Professor Van Helsing took the
head of the table, to which Dr.
Seward motioned him as he came
into the room. He made me sit
next to him on his right, and
asked me to act as secretary.
Jonathan sat next to me. Opposite
us were Lord Godalming, Dr. Seward,
and Mr. Morris, Lord Godalming
being next the Professor, and
Dr. Seward in the center.
The Professor
said, "I may,
I suppose, take it that we are
all acquainted with the facts
that are in these papers." We
all expressed assent, and he
went on, "Then it were, I think,
good that I tell you something
of the kind of enemy with which
we have to deal. I shall then
make known to you something of
the history of this man, which
has been ascertained for me.
So we then can discuss how we
shall act, and can take our measure
according.
"There are
such beings as vampires, some
of us have evidence that
they exist. Even had we not the
proof of our own unhappy experience,
the teachings and the records
of the past give proof enough
for sane peoples. I admit that
at the first I was sceptic. Were
it not that through long years
I have trained myself to keep
an open mind, I could not have
believed until such time as that
fact thunder on my ear.`See!
See! I prove, I prove.' Alas!
Had I known at first what now
I know, nay, had I even guess
at him, one so precious life
had been spared to many of us
who did love her. But that is
gone, and we must so work, that
other poor souls perish not,
whilst we can save. The nosferatu
do not die like the bee when
he sting once. He is only stronger,
and being stronger, have yet
more power to work evil. This
vampire which is amongst us is
of himself so strong in person
as twenty men, he is of cunning
more than mortal, for his cunning
be the growth of ages, he have
still the aids of necromancy,
which is, as his etymology imply,
the divination by the dead, and
all the dead that he can come
nigh to are for him at command,
he is brute, and more than brute,
he is devil in callous, and the
heart of him is not, he can,
within his range, direct the
elements, the storm, the fog,
the thunder, he can command all
the meaner things, the rat, and
the owl, and the bat, the moth,
and the fox, and the wolf, he
can grow and become small, and
he can at times vanish and come
unknown. How then are we to begin
our strike to destroy him? How
shall we find his where, and
having found it, how can we destroy?
My friends, this is much, it
is a terrible task that we undertake,
and there may be consequence
to make the brave shudder. For
if we fail in this our fight
he must surely win, and then
where end we? Life is nothings,
I heed him not. But to fail here,
is not mere life or death. It
is that we become as him, that
we henceforward become foul things
of the night like him, without
heart or conscience, preying
on the bodies and the souls of
those we love best. To us forever
are the gates of heaven shut,
for who shall open them to us
again? We go on for all time
abhorred by all, a blot on the
face of God's sunshine, an arrow
in the side of Him who died for
man. But we are face to face
with duty, and in such case must
we shrink? For me, I say no,
but then I am old, and life,
with his sunshine, his fair places,
his song of birds, his music
and his love, lie far behind.
You others are young. Some have
seen sorrow, but there are fair
days yet in store. What say you?"
Whilst he was speaking, Jonathan
had taken my hand. I feared,
oh so much, that the appalling
nature of our danger was overcoming
him when I saw his hand stretch
out, but it was life to me to
feel its touch, so strong, so
self reliant, so resolute. A
brave man's hand can speak for
itself, it does not even need
a woman's love to hear its music.
When the Professor had done
speaking my husband looked in
my eyes, and I in his, there
was no need for speaking between
us.
"I answer for Mina and myself," he
said.
"Count me in, Professor," said
Mr. Quincey Morris, laconically
as usual.
"I am with you," said Lord
Godalming, "for Lucy's sake,
if for no other reason."
Dr. Seward simply nodded.
The Professor stood up and,
after laying his golden crucifix
on the table, held out his hand
on either side. I took his right
hand, and Lord Godalming his
left, Jonathan held my right
with his left and stretched across
to Mr. Morris. So as we all took
hands our solemn compact was
made. I felt my heart icy cold,
but it did not even occur to
me to draw back. We resumed our
places, and Dr. Van Helsing went
on with a sort of cheerfulness
which showed that the serious
work had begun. It was to be
taken as gravely, and in as businesslike
a way, as any other transaction
of life.
"Well, you
know what we have to contend
against, but we too,
are not without strength. We
have on our side power of combination,
a power denied to the vampire
kind, we have sources of science,
we are free to act and think,
and the hours of the day and
the night are ours equally. In
fact, so far as our powers extend,
they are unfettered, and we are
free to use them. We have self
devotion in a cause and an end
to achieve which is not a selfish
one. These things are much.
"Now let us
see how far the general powers
arrayed against
us are restrict, and how the
individual cannot. In fine, let
us consider the limitations of
the vampire in general, and of
this one in particular.
"All we have
to go upon are traditions and
superstitions.
These do not at the first appear
much, when the matter is one
of life and death, nay of more
than either life or death. Yet
must we be satisfied, in the
first place because we have to
be, no other means is at our
control, and secondly, because,
after all these things, tradition
and superstition, are everything.
Does not the belief in vampires
rest for others, though not,
alas! for us, on them! A year
ago which of us would have received
such a possibility, in the midst
of our scientific, sceptical,
matter-of-fact nineteenth century?
We even scouted a belief that
we saw justified under our very
eyes. Take it, then, that the
vampire, and the belief in his
limitations and his cure, rest
for the moment on the same base.
For, let me tell you, he is known
everywhere that men have been.
In old Greece, in old Rome, he
flourish in Germany all over,
in France, in India, even in
the Chermosese, and in China,
so far from us in all ways, there
even is he, and the peoples for
him at this day. He have follow
the wake of the berserker Icelander,
the devil-begotten Hun, the Slav,
the Saxon, the Magyar.
"So far, then,
we have all we may act upon,
and let me tell
you that very much of the beliefs
are justified by what we have
seen in our own so unhappy experience.
The vampire live on, and cannot
die by mere passing of the time,
he can flourish when that he
can fatten on the blood of the
living. Even more, we have seen
amongst us that he can even grow
younger, that his vital faculties
grow strenuous, and seem as though
they refresh themselves when
his special pabulum is plenty.
"But he cannot
flourish without this diet,
he eat not as others.
Even friend Jonathan, who lived
with him for weeks, did never
see him eat, never! He throws
no shadow, he make in the mirror
no reflect, as again Jonathan
observe. He has the strength
of many of his hand, witness
again Jonathan when he shut the
door against the wolves, and
when he help him from the diligence
too. He can transform himself
to wolf, as we gather from the
ship arrival in Whitby, when
he tear open the dog, he can
be as bat, as Madam Mina saw
him on the window at Whitby,
and as friend John saw him fly
from this so near house, and
as my friend Quincey saw him
at the window of Miss Lucy.
"He can come
in mist which he create, that
noble ship's
captain proved him of this, but,
from what we know, the distance
he can make this mist is limited,
and it can only be round himself.
"He come on
moonlight rays as elemental
dust, as again Jonathan
saw those sisters in the castle
of Dracula. He become so small,
we ourselves saw Miss Lucy, ere
she was at peace, slip through
a hairbreadth space at the tomb
door. He can, when once he find
his way, come out from anything
or into anything, no matter how
close it be bound or even fused
up with fire, solder you call
it. He can see in the dark, no
small power this, in a world
which is one half shut from the
light. Ah, but hear me through.
"He can do
all these things, yet he is
not free. Nay, he is
even more prisoner than the slave
of the galley, than the madman
in his cell. He cannot go where
he lists, he who is not of nature
has yet to obey some of nature's
laws, why we know not. He may
not enter anywhere at the first,
unless there be some one of the
household who bid him to come,
though afterwards he can come
as he please. His power ceases,
as does that of all evil things,
at the coming of the day.
"Only at certain
times can he have limited freedom.
If he
be not at the place whither he
is bound, he can only change
himself at noon or at exact sunrise
or sunset. These things we are
told, and in this record of ours
we have proof by inference. Thus,
whereas he can do as he will
within his limit, when he have
his earth-home,his coffin-home,
his hellhome, the place unhallowed,
as we saw when he went to the
grave of the suicide at Whitby,
still at other time he can only
change when the time come. It
is said, too, that he can only
pass running water at the slack
or the flood of the tide. Then
there are things which so afflict
him that he has no power, as
the garlic that we know of, and
as for things sacred, as this
symbol, my crucifix, that was
amongst us even now when we resolve,
to them he is nothing, but in
their presence he take his place
far off and silent with respect.
There are others, too, which
I shall tell you of, lest in
our seeking we may need them.
"The branch
of wild rose on his coffin
keep him that he move
not from it, a sacred bullet
fired into the coffin kill him
so that he be true dead, and
as for the stake through him,
we know already of its peace,
or the cut off head that giveth
rest. We have seen it with our
eyes.
"Thus when
we find the habitation of this
man-that-was, we can
confine him to his coffin and
destroy him, if we obey what
we know. But he is clever. I
have asked my friend Arminius,
of Buda-Pesth University, to
make his record, and from all
the means that are, he tell me
of what he has been. He must,
indeed, have been that Voivode
Dracula who won his name against
the Turk, over the great river
on the very frontier of Turkey-land.
If it be so, then was he no common
man, for in that time, and for
centuries after, he was spoken
of as the cleverest and the most
cunning, as well as the bravest
of the sons of the `land beyond
the forest.' That mighty brain
and that iron resolution went
with him to his grave, and are
even now arrayed against us.
The Draculas were, says Arminius,
a great and noble race, though
now and again were scions who
were held by their coevals to
have had dealings with the Evil
One. They learned his secrets
in the Scholomance, amongst the
mountains over Lake Hermanstadt,
where the devil claims the tenth
scholar as his due. In the records
are such words as `stregoica'
witch, `ordog' and `pokol' Satan
and hell, and in one manuscript
this very Dracula is spoken of
as `wampyr,'which we all understand
too well. There have been from
the loins of this very one great
men and good women, and their
graves make sacred the earth
where alone this foulness can
dwell. For it is not the least
of its terrors that this evil
thing is rooted deep in all good,
in soil barren of holy memories
it cannot rest."
Whilst they were talking Mr.
Morris was looking steadily at
the window, and he now got up
quietly, and went out of the
room. There was a little pause,
and then the Professor went on.
"And now we
must settle what we do. We
have here much data,
and we must proceed to lay out
our campaign. We know from the
inquiry of Jonathan that from
the castle to Whitby came fifty
boxes of earth, all of which
were delivered at Carfax, we
also know that at least some
of these boxes have been removed.
It seems to me, that our first
step should be to ascertain whether
all the rest remain in the house
beyond that wall where we look
today, or whether any more have
been removed. If the latter,
we must trace . . ."
Here we were
interrupted in a very startling
way. Outside
the house came the sound of a
pistol shot, the glass of the
window was shattered with a bullet,
which ricochetting from the top
of the embrasure, struck the
far wall of the room. I am afraid
I am at heart a coward, for I
shrieked out. The men all jumped
to their feet, Lord Godalming
flew over to the window and threw
up the sash. As he did so we
heard Mr. Morris' voice without, "Sorry!
I fear I have alarmed you. I
shall come in and tell you about
it."
A minute later
he came in and said, "It was
an idiotic thing of me to do,
and I ask your pardon,
Mrs. Harker, most sincerely,
I fear I must have frightened
you terribly. But the fact is
that whilst the Professor was
talking there came a big bat
and sat on the window sill. I
have got such a horror of the
damned brutes from recent events
that I cannot stand them, and
I went out to have a shot, as
I have been doing of late of
evenings, whenever I have seen
one. You used to laugh at me
for it then, Art."
"Did you hit it?" asked
Dr. Van Helsing.
"I don't know, I fancy not,
for it flew away into the wood." Without
saying any more he took his seat,
and the Professor began to resume
his statement.
"We must trace
each of these boxes, and when
we are ready,
we must either capture or kill
this monster in his lair, or
we must, so to speak, sterilize
the earth, so that no more he
can seek safety in it. Thus in
the end we may find him in his
form of man between the hours
of noon and sunset, and so engage
with him when he is at his most
weak.
"And now for
you, Madam Mina,this night
is the end until all be
well. You are too precious to
us to have such risk. When we
part tonight, you no more must
question. We shall tell you all
in good time. We are men and
are able to bear, but you must
be our star and our hope, and
we shall act all the more free
that you are not in the danger,
such as we are."
All the men, even Jonathan,
seemed relieved, but it did not
seem to me good that they should
brave danger and, perhaps lessen
their safety, strength being
the best safety, through care
of me, but their minds were made
up, and though it was a bitter
pill for me to swallow, I could
say nothing, save to accept their
chivalrous care of me.
Mr. Morris
resumed the discussion, "As
there is no time to lose, I vote
we have a look at his house right
now. Time is everything with
him, and swift action on our
part may save another victim."
I own that my heart began to
fail me when the time for action
came so close, but I did not
say anything, for I had a greater
fear that if I appeared as a
drag or a hindrance to their
work, they might even leave me
out of their counsels altogether.
They have now gone off to Carfax,
with means to get into the house.
Manlike, they had told me to
go to bed and sleep, as if a
woman can sleep when those she
loves are in danger!I shall lie
down, and pretend to sleep, lest
Jonathan have added anxiety about
me when he returns.
DR. SEWARD'S DIARY
1 October, 4 a. m.--Just as
we were about to leave the house,
an urgent message was brought
to me from Renfield to know if
I would see him at once, as he
had something of the utmost importance
to say to me. I told the messenger
to say that I would attend to
his wishes in the morning, I
was busy just at the moment.
The attendant
added, "He seems
very importunate, sir. I have
never seen him so eager. I don't
know but what, if you don't see
him soon, he will have one of
his violent fits." I knew the
man would not have said this
without some cause, so I said, "All
right, I'll go now," and I asked
the others to wait a few minutes
for me, as I had to go and see
my patient.
"Take me with you, friend John," said
the Professor."His case in your
diary interest me much, and it
had bearing, too, now and again
on our case. I should much like
to see him, and especial when
his mind is disturbed."
"May I come also?" asked
Lord Godalming.
"Me too?" said Quincey Morris. "May
I come?" said Harker. I nodded,
and we all went down the passage
together.
We found him in a state of
considerable excitement, but
far more rational in his speech
and manner than I had ever seen
him. There was an unusual understanding
of himself, which was unlike
anything I had ever met with
in a lunatic, and he took it
for granted that his reasons
would prevail with others entirely
sane. We all five went into the
room, but 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 judgement 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. Jonathan Harker, Mr. Renfield."
He shook hands
with each of them, saying in
turn, "Lord Godalming,
I had the honor 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 honored
by all who knew him, and in his
youth was, I have heard, the
inventor of a burnt rum punch,
much patronized on Derby night.
Mr. Morris, you should be proud
of your great state. Its reception
into the Union was a precedent
which may have farreaching 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
revolutionized 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 scrutinized
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 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 tonight? 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.
Goodnight."
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 realized,
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 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 occasions,
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 tonight." |