“You know this place, Jonathan.You have copied maps of it,and you know it at least more than we do.Which is the way to the chapel?” I had an idea of its direction,though on my former visit I had not been able to get admission to it;so I led the way, and after a few wrong turnings found myself opposite a low,arched oaken door, ribbed with iron bands.“This is the spot,” said the Professor as he turned his lamp on a small map of the house, copied from the file of my original correspondence regarding the purchase. With a little trouble we found the key on the bunch and opened the door. We were prepared for some unpleasantness, for as we were opening the door a faint, malodorous air seemed to exhale through the gaps, but none of us ever expected such an odour as we encountered. None of the others had met the Count at all at close quarters, and when I had seen him he was either in the fasting stage of his existence in his rooms or, when he was gloated with fresh blood, in a ruined building open to the air; but here the place was small and close, and the long disuse had made the air stagnant and foul. There was an earthy smell, as of some dry miasma, which came through the fouler air. But as to the odour itself, how shall I describe it?It was not alone that it was composed of all the ills of mortality and with the pungent, acrid smell of blood, but it seemed as though corruption had become itself corrupt. Faugh!it sickens me to think of it.Every breath exhaled by that monster seemed to have clung to the place and intensified its loathsomeness.
Under ordinary circumstances such a stench would have brought our enterprise to an end; but this was no ordinary case, and the high and terrible purpose in which we were involved gave us a strength which rose above merely physical considerations. After the involuntary shrinking consequent on the first nauseous whiff, we one and all set about our work as though that loathsome place were a garden of roses.
We made an accurate examination of the place,the Professor saying as we began:--
“The first thing is to see how many of the boxes are left;we must then examine every hole and corner and cranny and see if we cannot get some clue as to what has become of the rest.” A glance was sufficient to show how many remained, for the great earth chests were bulky, and there was no mistaking them.
There were only twenty-nine left out of the fifty!Once I got a fright, for,seeing Lord Godalming suddenly turn and look out of the vaulted door into the dark passage beyond, I looked too, and for an instant my heart stood still. Somewhere, looking out from the shadow, I seemed to see the high lights of the Count’s evil face, the ridge of the nose, the red eyes, the red lips, the awful pallor. It was only for a moment, for, as Lord Godalming said, “I thought I saw a face, but it was only the shadows,” and resumed his inquiry, I turned my lamp in the direction, and stepped into the passage. There was no sign of any one; and as there were no corners, no doors, no aperture of any kind, but only the solid walls of the passage, there could be no hiding-place even for _him_. I took it that fear had helped imagination, and said nothing.
A few minutes later I saw Morris step suddenly back from a corner,which he was examining.We all followed his movements with our eyes,for undoubtedly some nervousness was growing on us,and we saw a whole mass of phosphorescence,which twinkled like stars.We all instinctively drew back.The whole place was becoming alive with rats.
For a moment or two we stood appalled,all save Lord Godalming,who was seemingly prepared for such an emergency.Rushing over to the great iron-bound oaken door,which Dr. Seward had described from the outside,and which I had seen myself,he turned the key in the lock, drew the huge bolts,and swung the door open. Then,taking his little silver whistle from his pocket,he blew a low, shrill call.It was answered from behind Dr.Seward’s house by the yelping of dogs,and after about a minute three terriers came dashing round the corner of the house. Unconsciously we had all moved towards the door, and as we moved I noticed that the dust had been much disturbed: the boxes which had been taken out had been brought this way. But even in the minute that had elapsed the number of the rats had vastly increased. They seemed to swarm over the place all at once, till the lamplight, shining on their moving dark bodies and glittering, baleful eyes, made the place look like a bank of earth set with fireflies. The dogs dashed on, but at the threshold suddenly stopped and snarled, and then, simultaneously lifting their noses, began to howl in most lugubrious fashion. The rats were multiplying in thousands, and we moved out.
Lord Godalming lifted one of the dogs,and carrying him in, placed him on the floor.The instant his feet touched the ground he seemed to recover his courage,and rushed at his natural enemies.They fled before him so fast that before he had shaken the life out of a score,the other dogs, who had by now been lifted in the same manner,had but small prey ere the whole mass had vanished.
With their going it seemed as if some evil presence had departed,for the dogs frisked about and barked merrily as they made sudden darts at their prostrate foes, and turned them over and over and tossed them in the air with vicious shakes. We all seemed to find our spirits rise. Whether it was the purifying of the deadly atmosphere by the opening of the chapel door, or the relief which we experienced by finding ourselves in the open I know not; but most certainly the shadow of dread seemed to slip from us like a robe, and the occasion of our coming lost something of its grim significance, though we did not slacken a whit in our resolution. We closed the outer door and barred and locked it, and bringing the dogs with us, began our search of the house. We found nothing throughout except dust in extraordinary proportions, and all untouched save for my own footsteps when I had made my first visit. Never once did the dogs exhibit any symptom of uneasiness, and even when we returned to the chapel they frisked about as though they had been rabbit-hunting in a summer wood.
The morning was quickening in the east when we emerged from the front.Dr. Van Helsing had taken the key of the hall-door from the bunch,and locked the door in orthodox fashion,putting the key into his pocket when he had done.