JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL
3 October.--As I must do something
or go mad, I write this diary.
It is now six o'clock, and we
are to meet in the study in half
an hour and take something to
eat, for Dr. Van Helsing and
Dr. Seward are agreed that if
we do not eat we cannot work
our best. Our best will be, God
knows, required today. I must
keep writing at every chance,
for I dare not stop to think.
All, big and little, must go
down. Perhaps at the end the
little things may teach us most.
The teaching, big or little,
could not have landed Mina or
me anywhere worse than we are
today. However, we must trust
and hope. Poor Mina told me just
now, with the tears running down
her dear cheeks, that it is in
trouble and trial that our faith
is tested. That we must keep
on trusting, and that God will
aid us up to the end. The end!
Oh my God! What end? . . . To
work! To work!
When Dr. Van Helsing and Dr.
Seward had come back from seeing
poor Renfield, we went gravely
into what was to be done. First,
Dr. Seward told us that when
he and Dr. Van Helsing had gone
down to the room below they had
found Renfield lying on the floor,
all in a heap. His face was all
bruised and crushed in, and the
bones of the neck were broken.
Dr. Seward
asked the attendant who was
on duty in the passage
if he had heard anything. He
said that he had been sitting
down, he confessed to half dozing,
when he heard loud voices in
the room, and then Renfield had
called out loudly several times, "God!
God! God!" After that there was
a sound of falling, and when
he entered the room he found
him lying on the floor, face
down, just as the doctors had
seen him. Van Helsing asked if
he had heard "voices" or "a voice," and
he said he could not say. That
at first it had seemed to him
as if there were two, but as
there was no one in the room
it could have been only one.
He could swear to it, if required,
that the word "God" was spoken
by the patient.
Dr. Seward said to us, when
we were alone, that he did not
wish to go into the matter. The
question of an inquest had to
be considered, and it would never
do to put forward the truth,
as no one would believe it. As
it was, he thought that on the
attendant's evidence he could
give a certificate of death by
misadventure in falling from
bed. In case the coroner should
demand it, there would be a formal
inquest, necessarily to the same
result.
When the question began to
be discussed as to what should
be our next step, the very first
thing we decided was that Mina
should be in full confidence.
That nothing of any sort, no
matter how painful, should be
kept from her. She herself agreed
as to its wisdom, and it was
pitiful to see her so brave and
yet so sorrowful, and in such
a depth of despair.
"There must be no concealment," she
said. "Alas! We have had too
much already. And besides there
is nothing in all the world that
can give me more pain than I
have already endured, than I
suffer now! Whatever may happen,
it must be of new hope or of
new courage to me!"
Van Helsing
was looking at her fixedly
as she spoke, and
said, suddenly but quietly, "But
dear Madam Mina, are you not
afraid. Not for yourself, but
for others from yourself, after
what has happened?"
Her face grew
set in its lines, but her eyes
shone with the devotion
of a martyr as she answered, "Ah
no! For my mind is made up!"
"To what?" he
asked gently, whilst we were
all very still,
for each in our own way we had
a sort of vague idea of what
she meant.
Her answer
came with direct simplicity,
as though she was
simply stating a fact, "Because
if I find in myself, and I shall
watch keenly for it, a sign of
harm to any that I love, I shall
die!"
"You would not kill yourself?" he
asked, hoarsely.
"I would. If there were no
friend who loved me, who would
save me such a pain, and so desperate
an effort!" She looked at him
meaningly as she spoke.
He was sitting
down, but now he rose and came
close to her
and put his hand on her head
as he said solemnly. "My child,
there is such an one if it were
for your good. For myself I could
hold it in my account with God
to find such an euthanasia for
you, even at this moment if it
were best. Nay, were it safe!
But my child . . ."
For a moment
he seemed choked, and a great
sob rose in his throat.
He gulped it down and went on, "There
are here some who would stand
between you and death. You must
not die. You must not die by
any hand, but least of all your
own. Until the other, who has
fouled your sweet life, is true
dead you must not die. For if
he is still with the quick Undead,
your death would make you even
as he is. No, you must live!
You must struggle and strive
to live, though death would seem
a boon unspeakable. You must
fight Death himself, though he
come to you in pain or in joy.
By the day, or the night, in
safety or in peril! On your living
soul I charge you that you do
not die. Nay, nor think of death,
till this great evil be past."
The poor dear
grew white as death, and shook
and shivered,
as I have seen a quicksand shake
and shiver at the incoming of
the tide. We were all silent.
We could do nothing. At length
she grew more calm and turning
to him said sweetly, but oh so
sorrowfully, as she held out
her hand, "I promise you, my
dear friend, that if God will
let me live, I shall strive to
do so. Till, if it may be in
His good time, this horror may
have passed away from me."
She was so
good and brave that we all
felt that our hearts were
strengthened to work and endure
for her, and we began to discuss
what we were to do. I told her
that she was to have all the
papers in the safe, and all the
papers or diaries and phonographs
we might hereafter use, and was
to keep the record as she had
done before. She was pleased
with the prospect of anything
to do, if "pleased" could be
used in connection with so grim
an interest.
As usual Van Helsing had thought
ahead of everyone else, and was
prepared with an exact ordering
of our work.
"It is perhaps well," he said, "that
at our meeting after our visit
to Carfax we decided not to do
anything with the earth boxes
that lay there. Had we done so,
the Count must have guessed our
purpose, and would doubtless
have taken measures in advance
to frustrate such an effort with
regard to the others. But now
he does not know our intentions.
Nay, more, in all probability,
he does not know that such a
power exists to us as can sterilize
his lairs, so that he cannot
use them as of old.
"We are now
so much further advanced in
our knowledge as
to their disposition that, when
we have examined the house in
Piccadilly, we may track the
very last of them. Today then,
is ours, and in it rests our
hope. The sun that rose on our
sorrow this morning guards us
in its course. Until it sets
tonight, that monster must retain
whatever form he now has. He
is confined within the limitations
of his earthly envelope. He cannot
melt into thin air nor disappear
through cracks or chinks or crannies.
If he go through a doorway, he
must open the door like a mortal.
And so we have this day to hunt
out all his lairs and sterilize
them. So we shall, if we have
not yet catch him and destroy
him, drive him to bay in some
place where the catching and
the destroying shall be, in time,
sure."
Here I started up for I could
not contain myself at the thought
that the minutes and seconds
so preciously laden with Mina's
life and happiness were flying
from us, since whilst we talked
action was impossible. But Van
Helsing held up his hand warningly.
"Nay, friend Jonathan," he
said, "in this, the quickest
way home is the longest way,
so your proverb say. We shall
all act and act with desperate
quick, when the time has come.
But think, in all probable the
key of the situation is in that
house in Piccadilly. The Count
may have many houses which he
has bought. Of them he will have
deeds of purchase, keys and other
things. He will have paper that
he write on. He will have his
book of cheques. There are many
belongings that he must have
somewhere. Why not in this place
so central, so quiet, where he
come and go by the front or the
back at all hours, when in the
very vast of the traffic there
is none to notice. We shall go
there and search that house.
And when we learn what it holds,
then we do what our friend Arthur
call, in his phrases of hunt
`stop the earths' and so we run
down our old fox, so? Is it not?"
"Then let us come at once," I
cried, "we are wasting the precious,
precious time!"
The Professor
did not move, but simply said, "And
how are we to get into that
house in
Piccadilly?"
"Any way!" I cried. "We
shall break in if need be."
"And your police?
Where will they be, and what
will they say?"
I was staggered,
but I knew that if he wished
to delay he
had a good reason for it. So
I said, as quietly as I could, "Don't
wait more than need be. You know,
I am sure, what torture I am
in."
"Ah, my child, that I do. And
indeed there is no wish of me
to add to your anguish. But just
think, what can we do, until
all the world be at movement.
Then will come our time. I have
thought and thought, and it seems
to me that the simplest way is
the best of all. Now we wish
to get into the house, but we
have no key. Is it not so?"I
nodded.
"Now suppose
that you were, in truth, the
owner of that house,
and could not still get in. And
think there was to you no conscience
of the housebreaker, what would
you do?"
"I should get
a respectable locksmith, and
set him to work
to pick the lock for me."
"And your police,
they would interfere, would
they not?"
"Oh no! Not
if they knew the man was properly
employed."
"Then," he looked at me as
keenly as he spoke, "all that
is in doubt is the conscience
of the employer, and the belief
of your policemen as to whether
or not that employer has a good
conscience or a bad one. Your
police must indeed be zealous
men and clever, oh so clever,
in reading the heart, that they
trouble themselves in such matter.
No, no, my friend Jonathan, you
go take the lock off a hundred
empty houses in this your London,
or of any city in the world,
and if you do it as such things
are rightly done, and at the
time such things are rightly
done, no one will interfere.
I have read of a gentleman who
owned a so fine house in London,
and when he went for months of
summer to Switzerland and lock
up his house, some burglar come
and broke window at back and
got in. Then he went and made
open the shutters in front and
walk out and in through the door,
before the very eyes of the police.
Then he have an auction in that
house, and advertise it, and
put up big notice. And when the
day come he sell off by a great
auctioneer all the goods of that
other man who own them. Then
he go to a builder, and he sell
him that house, making an agreement
that he pull it down and take
all away within a certain time.
And your police and other authority
help him all they can. And when
that owner come back from his
holiday in Switzerland he find
only an empty hole where his
house had been. This was all
done en regle, and in our work
we shall be en regle too. We
shall not go so early that the
policemen who have then little
to think of, shall deem it strange.
But we shall go after ten o'clock,
when there are many about, and
such things would be done were
we indeed owners of the house."
I could not but see how right
he was and the terrible despair
of Mina's face became relaxed
in thought. There was hope in
such good counsel.
Van Helsing
went on, "When
once within that house we may
find more clues. At any rate
some of us can remain there whilst
the rest find the other places
where there be more earth boxes,
at Bermondsey and Mile End."
Lord Godalming
stood up. "I
can be of some use here," he
said. "I shall wire to my people
to have horses and carriages
where they will be most convenient."
"Look here, old fellow," said
Morris, "it is a capital idea
to have all ready in case we
want to go horse backing, but
don't you think that one of your
snappy carriages with its heraldic
adornments in a byway of Walworth
or Mile End would attract too
much attention for our purpose?
It seems to me that we ought
to take cabs when we go south
or east. And even leave them
somewhere near the neighborhood
we are going to."
"Friend Quincey is right!" said
the Professor. "His head is what
you call in plane with the horizon.
It is a difficult thing that
we go to do, and we do not want
no peoples to watch us if so
it may."
Mina took a growing interest
in everything and I was rejoiced
to see that the exigency of affairs
was helping her to forget for
a time the terrible experience
of the night. She was very, very
pale, almost ghastly, and so
thin that her lips were drawn
away, showing her teeth in somewhat
of prominence. I did not mention
this last, lest it should give
her needless pain, but it made
my blood run cold in my veins
to think of what had occurred
with poor Lucy when the Count
had sucked her blood. As yet
there was no sign of the teeth
growing sharper, but the time
as yet was short, and there was
time for fear.
When we came to the discussion
of the sequence of our efforts
and of the disposition of our
forces, there were new sources
of doubt. It was finally agreed
that before starting for Piccadilly
we should destroy the Count's
lair close at hand. In case he
should find it out too soon,
we should thus be still ahead
of him in our work of destruction.
And his presence in his purely
material shape, and at his weakest,
might give us some new clue.
A s to the disposal of forces,
it was suggested by the Professor
that, after our visit to Carfax,
we should all enter the house
in Piccadilly. That the two doctors
and I should remain there, whilst
Lord Godalming and Quincey found
the lairs at Walworth and Mile
End and destroyed them. It was
possible, if not likely, the
Professor urged, that the Count
might appear in Piccadilly during
the day, and that if so we might
be able to cope with him then
and there. At any rate, we might
be able to follow him in force.
To this plan I strenuously objected,
and so far as my going was concerned,
for I said that I intended to
stay and protect Mina. I thought
that my mind was made up on the
subject, but Mina would not listen
to my objection. She said that
there might be some law matter
in which I could be useful. That
amongst the Count's papers might
be some clue which I could understand
out of my experience in Transylvania.
And that, as it was, all the
strength we could muster was
required to cope with the Count's
extraordinary power. I had to
give in, for Mina's resolution
was fixed. She said that it was
the last hope for her that we
should all work together.
"As for me," she said, "I
have no fear. Things have been
as
bad as they can be. And whatever
may happen must have in it some
element of hope or comfort. Go,
my husband! God can, if He wishes
it, guard me as well alone as
with any one present."
So I started
up crying out, "Then
in God's name let us come at
once, for we are losing time.
The Count may come to Piccadilly
earlier than we think."
"Not so!" said
Van Helsing, holding up his
hand.
"But why?" I
asked.
"Do you forget," he said, with
actually a smile, "that last
night he banqueted heavily, and
will sleep late?"
Did I forget! Shall I ever
. . . can I ever! Can any of
us ever forget that terrible
scene! Mina struggled hard to
keep her brave countenance, but
the pain overmastered her and
she put her hands before her
face, and shuddered whilst she
moaned. Van Helsing had not intended
to recall her frightful experience.
He had simply lost sight of her
and her part in the affair in
his intellectual effort.
When it struck him what he
said, he was horrified at his
thoughtlessness and tried to
comfort her.
"Oh, Madam Mina," he said,"dear,
dear, Madam Mina, alas! That
I of all who so reverence you
should have said anything so
forgetful. These stupid old lips
of mine and this stupid old head
do not deserve so, but you will
forget it, will you not?" He
bent low beside her as he spoke.
She took his
hand, and looking at him through
her tears, said
hoarsely, "No, I shall not forget,
for it is well that I remember.
And with it I have so much in
memory of you that is sweet,
that I take it all together.
Now, you must all be going soon.
Breakfast is ready, and we must
all eat that we may be strong."
Breakfast was
a strange meal to us all. We
tried to be cheerful
and encourage each other, and
Mina was the brightest and most
cheerful of us. When it was over,
Van Helsing stood up and said, "Now,
my dear friends, we go forth
to our terrible enterprise. Are
we all armed, as we were on that
night when first we visited our
enemy's lair. Armed against ghostly
as well as carnal attack?"
We all assured him.
"Then it is
well. Now, Madam Mina, you
are in any case quite
safe here until the sunset. And
before then we shall return .
. . if . . . We shall return!
But before we go let me see you
armed against personal attack.
I have myself, since you came
down, prepared your chamber by
the placing of things of which
we know, so that He may not enter.
Now let me guard yourself. On
your forehead I touch this piece
of Sacred Wafer in the name of
the Father, the Son, and . .
.
There was a fearful scream
which almost froze our hearts
to hear. As he had placed the
Wafer on Mina's forehead, it
had seared it . . . had burned
into the flesh as though it had
been a piece of whitehot metal.
My poor darling's brain had told
her the significance of the fact
as quickly as her nerves received
the pain of it, and the two so
overwhelmed her that her overwrought
nature had its voice in that
dreadful scream.
But the words to her thought
came quickly. The echo of the
scream had not ceased to ring
on the air when there came the
reaction, and she sank on her
knees on the floor in an agony
of abasement. Pulling her beautiful
hair over her face, as the leper
of old his mantle, she wailed
out.
"Unclean! Unclean!
Even the Almighty shuns my
polluted flesh!
I must bear this mark of shame
upon my forehead until the Judgement
Day."
They all paused. I had thrown
myself beside her in an agony
of helpless grief, and putting
my arms around held her tight.
For a few minutes our sorrowful
hearts beat together, whilst
the friends around us turned
away their eyes that ran tears
silently. Then Van Helsing turned
and said gravely. So gravely
that I could not help feeling
that he was in some way inspired,
and was stating things outside
himself.
"It may be
that you may have to bear that
mark till God himself
see fit, as He most surely shall,
on the Judgement Day, to redress
all wrongs of the earth and of
His children that He has placed
thereon. And oh, Madam Mina,
my dear, my dear, may we who
love you be there to see, when
that red scar, the sign of God's
knowledge of what has been, shall
pass away, and leave your forehead
as pure as the heart we know.
For so surely as we live, that
scar shall pass away when God
sees right to lift the burden
that is hard upon us. Till then
we bear our Cross, as His Son
did in obedience to His Will.
It may be that we are chosen
instruments of His good pleasure,
and that we ascend to His bidding
as that other through stripes
and shame. Through tears and
blood. Through doubts and fear,
and all that makes the difference
between God and man."
There was hope in his words,
and comfort. And they made for
resignation. Mina and I both
felt so, and simultaneously we
each took one of the old man's
hands and bent over and kissed
it. Then without a word we all
knelt down together, and all
holding hands, swore to be true
to each other. We men pledged
ourselves to raise the veil of
sorrow from the head of her whom,
each in his own way, we loved.
And we prayed for help and guidance
in the terrible task which lay
before us. It was then time to
start. So I said farewell to
Mina, a parting which neither
of us shall forget to our dying
day, and we set out.
To one thing I have made up
my mind. If we find out that
Mina must be a vampire in the
end, then she shall not go into
that unknown and terrible land
alone. I suppose it is thus that
in old times one vampire meant
many. Just as their hideous bodies
could only rest in sacred earth,
so the holiest love was the recruiting
sergeant for their ghastly ranks.
We entered Carfax without trouble
and found all things the same
as on the first occasion. It
was hard to believe that amongst
so prosaic surroundings of neglect
and dust and decay there was
any ground for such fear as already
we knew. Had not our minds been
made up, and had there not been
terrible memories to spur us
on, we could hardly have proceeded
with our task. We found no papers,
or any sign of use in the house.
And in the old chapel the great
boxes looked just as we had seen
them last.
Dr. Van Helsing
said to us solemnly as we stood
before him, "And
now, my friends, we have a duty
here to do. We must sterilize
this earth, so sacred of holy
memories, that he has brought
from a far distant land for such
fell use. He has chosen this
earth because it has been holy.
Thus we defeat him with his own
weapon, for we make it more holy
still. It was sanctified to such
use of man, now we sanctify it
to God."
As he spoke he took from his
bag a screwdriver and a wrench,
and very soon the top of one
of the cases was thrown open.
The earth smelled musty and close,
but we did not somehow seem to
mind, for our attention was concentrated
on the Professor. Taking from
his box a piece of the Scared
Wafer he laid it reverently on
the earth, and then shutting
down the lid began to screw it
home, we aiding him as he worked.
One by one
we treated in the same way
each of the great boxes,
and left them as we had found
them to all appearance. But in
each was a portion of the Host.
When we closed the door behind
us, the Professor said solemnly, "So
much is already done. It may
be that with all the others we
can be so successful, then the
sunset of this evening may shine
of Madam Mina's forehead all
white as ivory and with no stain!"
As we passed across the lawn
on our way to the station to
catch our train we could see
the front of the asylum. I looked
eagerly, and in the window of
my own room saw Mina. I waved
my hand to her, and nodded to
tell that our work there was
successfully accomplished. She
nodded in reply to show that
she understood. The last I saw,
she was waving her hand in farewell.
It was with a heavy heart that
we sought the station and just
caught the train, which was steaming
in as we reached the platform.
I have written this in the train.
Piccadilly,
12:30 o'clock.--Just before
we reached Fenchurch Street
Lord Godalming said to me, "Quincey
and I will find a locksmith.
You had better not come with
us in case there should be any
difficulty. For under the circumstances
it wouldn't seem so bad for us
to break into an empty house.
But you are a solicitor and the
Incorporated Law Society might
tell you that you should have
known better."
I demurred
as to my not sharing any danger
even of odium, but
he went on, "Besides, it will
attract less attention if there
are not too many of us. My title
will make it all right with the
locksmith, and with any policeman
that may come along. You had
better go with Jack and the Professor
and stay in the Green Park. Somewhere
in sight of the house, and when
you see the door opened and the
smith has gone away, do you all
come across. We shall be on the
lookout for you, and shall let
you in."
"The advice is good!" said
Van Helsing, so we said no more.
Godalming and Morris hurried
off in a cab, we following in
another. At the corner of Arlington
Street our contingent got out
and strolled into the Green Park.
My heart beat as I saw the house
on which so much of our hope
was centered, looming up grim
and silent in its deserted condition
amongst its more lively and spruce-looking
neighbors. We sat down on a bench
within good view , and began
to smoke cigars so as to attract
as little attention as possible.
The minutes seemed to pass with
leaden feet as we waited for
the coming of the others.
At length we saw a four-wheeler
drive up. Out of it, in leisurely
fashion, got Lord Godalming and
Morris. And down from the box
descended a thick-set working
man with his rush-woven basket
of tools. Morris paid the cabman,
who touched his hat and drove
away. Together the two ascended
the steps, and Lord Godalming
pointed out what he wanted done.
The workman took off his coat
leisurely and hung it on one
of the spikes of the rail, saying
something to a policeman who
just then sauntered along. The
policeman nodded acquiescence,
and the man kneeling down placed
his bag beside him. After searching
through it, he took out a selection
of tools which he proceeded to
lay beside him in orderly fashion.
Then he stood up, looked in the
keyhole, blew into it, and turning
to his employers, made some remark.
Lord Godalming smiled, and the
man lifted a good sized bunch
of keys. Selecting one of them,
he began to probe the lock, as
if feeling his way with it. After
fumbling about for a bit he tried
a second, and then a third. All
at once the door opened under
a slight push from him, and he
and the two others entered the
hall. We sat still. My own cigar
burnt furiously, but Van Helsing's
went cold altogether. We waited
patiently as we saw the workman
come out and bring his bag. Then
he held the door partly open,
steadying it with his knees,
whilst he fitted a key to the
lock. This he finally handed
to Lord Godalming, who took out
his purse and gave him something.
The man touched his hat, took
his bag, put on his coat and
departed. Not a soul took the
slightest notice of the whole
transaction.
When the man had fairly gone,
we three crossed the street and
knocked at the door. It was immediately
opened by Quincey Morris, beside
whom stood Lord Godalming lighting
a cigar.
"The place smells so vilely," said
the latter as we came in. It
did indeed smell vilely. Like
the old chapel at Carfax. And
with our previous experience
it was plain to us that the Count
had been using the place pretty
freely. We moved to explore the
house, all keeping together in
case of attack, for we knew we
had a strong and wily enemy to
deal with, and as yet we did
not know whether the Count might
not be in the house.
In the dining room, which lay
at the back of the hall, we found
eight boxes of earth. Eight boxes
only out of the nine which we
sought! Our work was not over,
and would never be until we should
have found the missing box.
First we opened the shutters
of the window which looked out
across a narrow stone flagged
yard at the blank face of a stable,
pointed to look like the front
of a miniature house. There were
no windows in it, so we were
not afraid of being overlooked.
We did not lose any time in examining
the chests. With the tools which
we had brought with us we opened
them, one by one, and treated
them as we had treated those
others in the old chapel. It
was evident to us that the Count
was not at present in the house,
and we proceeded to search for
any of his effects.
After a cursory glance at the
rest of the rooms, from basement
to attic, we came to the conclusion
that the dining room contained
any effects which might belong
to the Count. And so we proceeded
to minutely examine them. They
lay in a sort of orderly disorder
on the great dining room table.
There were title deeds of the
Piccadilly house in a great bundle,
deeds of the purchase of the
houses at Mile End and Bermondsey,
notepaper, envelopes, and pens
and ink. All were covered up
in thin wrapping paper to keep
them from the dust. There were
also a clothes brush, a brush
and comb, and a jug and basin.
The latter containing dirty water
which was reddened as if with
blood. Last of all was a little
heap of keys of all sorts and
sizes, probably those belonging
to the other houses.
When we had examined this last
find, Lord Godalming and Quincey
Morris taking accurate notes
of the various addresses of the
houses in the East and the South,
took with them the keys in a
great bunch, and set out to destroy
the boxes in these places. The
rest of us are, with what patience
we can, waiting their return,
or the coming of the Count. |