“The Count is a criminal and of criminal type.Nordau and Lombroso would so classify him,and _quâ_ criminal he is of imperfectly formed mind.Thus, in a difficulty he has to seek resource in habit.His past is a clue,and the one page of it that we know--and that from his own lips--tells that once before, when in what Mr. Morris would call a ‘tight place,’ he went back to his own country from the land he had tried to invade, and thence, without losing purpose, prepared himself for a new effort. He came again better equipped for his work; and won. So he came to London to invade a new land. He was beaten, and when all hope of success was lost, and his existence in danger, he fled back over the sea to his home; just as formerly he had fled back over the Danube from Turkey Land.”
“Good, good!oh, you so clever lady!” said Van Helsing, enthusiastically,as he stooped and kissed her hand.A moment later he said to me,as calmly as though we had been having a sick-room consultation: --
“Seventy-two only; and in all this excitement.I have hope.” Turning to her again,he said with keen expectation:--
“But go on. Go on!there is more to tell if you will. Be not afraid;John and I know. I do in any case,and shall tell you if you are right. Speak, without fear!”
“I will try to; but you will forgive me if I seem egotistical. ”
“Nay!fear not, you must be egotist,for it is of you that we think.”
“Then, as he is criminal he is selfish;and as his intellect is small and his action is based on selfishness,he confines himself to one purpose.That purpose is remorseless.As he fled back over the Danube,leaving his forces to be cut to pieces,so now he is intent on being safe, careless of all.So his own selfishness frees my soul somewhat from the terrible power which he acquired over me on that dreadful night. I felt it!Oh, I felt it!Thank God, for His great mercy!My soul is freer than it has been since that awful hour;and all that haunts me is a fear lest in some trance or dream he may have used my knowledge for his ends.” The Professor stood up:--
“He has so used your mind;and by it he has left us here in Varna,whilst the ship that carried him rushed through enveloping fog up to Galatz,where, doubtless, he had made preparation for escaping from us.But his child-mind only saw so far; and it may be that,as ever is in God’s Providence,the very thing that the evil-doer most reckoned on for his selfish good,turns out to be his chiefest harm.The hunter is taken in his own snare,as the great Psalmist says.For now that he think he is free from every trace of us all,and that he has escaped us with so many hours to him,then his selfish child-brain will whisper him to sleep.He think, too, that as he cut himself off from knowing your mind,there can be no knowledge of him to you;there is where he fail!That terrible baptism of blood which he give you makes you free to go to him in spirit, as you have as yet done in your times of freedom, when the sun rise and set. At such times you go by my volition and not by his; and this power to good of you and others, as you have won from your suffering at his hands. This is now all the more precious that he know it not, and to guard himself have even cut himself off from his knowledge of our where. We, however, are not selfish, and we believe that God is with us through all this blackness, and these many dark hours. We shall follow him; and we shall not flinch; even if we peril ourselves that we become like him. Friend John, this has been a great hour; and it have done much to advance us on our way. You must be scribe and write him all down, so that when the others return from their work you can give it to them; then they shall know as we do.”
And so I have written it whilst we wait their return,and Mrs. Harker has written with her typewriter all since she brought the MS. to us.
CHAPTER XXVI
DR. SEWARD’S DIARY
_29 October._--This is written in the train from Varna to Galatz.Last night we all assembled a little before the time of sunset.Each of us had done his work as well as he could;so far as thought, and endeavour, and opportunity go,we are prepared for the whole of our journey,and for our work when we get to Galatz.When the usual time came round Mrs.Harker prepared herself for her hypnotic effort;and after a longer and more serious effort on the part of Van Helsing than has been usually necessary, she sank into the trance. Usually she speaks on a hint; but this time the Professor had to ask her questions, and to ask them pretty resolutely, before we could learn anything; at last her answer came:--
“I can see nothing; we are still;there are no waves lapping,but only a steady swirl of water softly running against the hawser.I can hear men’s voices calling, near and far,and the roll and creak of oars in the rowlocks.A gun is fired somewhere;the echo of it seems far away.There is tramping of feet overhead,and ropes and chains are dragged along. What is this?There is a gleam of light;I can feel the air blowing upon me.”
Here she stopped. She had risen, as if impulsively,from where she lay on the sofa,and raised both her hands, palms upwards,as if lifting a weight.Van Helsing and I looked at each other with understanding.Quincey raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at her intently,whilst Harker’s hand instinctively closed round the hilt of his Kukri.There was a long pause.We all knew that the time when she could speak was passing;but we felt that it was useless to say anything.Suddenly she sat up, and, as she opened her eyes, said sweetly:--
“Would none of you like a cup of tea?You must all be so tired!” We could only make her happy, and so acquiesced.She bustled off to get tea;when she had gone Van Helsing said:--
“You see, my friends. _He_ is close to land:he has left his earth-chest.But he has yet to get on shore.In the night he may lie hidden somewhere;but if he be not carried on shore,or if the ship do not touch it,he cannot achieve the land. In such case he can,if it be in the night,change his form and can jump or fly on shore,as he did at Whitby.But if the day come before he get on shore, then,unless he be carried he cannot escape.And if he be carried,then the customs men may discover what the box contain.Thus, in fine, if he escape not on shore to-night,or before dawn, there will be the whole day lost to him.We may then arrive in time;for if he escape not at night we shall come on him in daytime,boxed up and at our mercy;for he dare not be his true self, awake and visible,lest he be discovered.”
There was no more to be said,so we waited in patience until the dawn;at which time we might learn more from Mrs. Harker.
Early this morning we listened, with breathless anxiety,for her response in her trance.The hypnotic stage was even longer in coming than before;and when it came the time remaining until full sunrise was so short that we began to despair. Van Helsing seemed to throw his whole soul into the effort; at last, in obedience to his will she made reply:--
“All is dark. I hear lapping water, level with me,and some creaking as of wood on wood.” She paused,and the red sun shot up. We must wait till to-night.
And so it is that we are travelling towards Galatz in an agony of expectation.We are due to arrive between two and three in the morning;but already, at Bucharest, we are three hours late,so we cannot possibly get in till well after sun-up.Thus we shall have two more hypnotic messages from Mrs.Harker; either or both may possibly throw more light on what is happening.
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