Atlas Nightshade

Day 57

"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 to-day; 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's 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, sterilise 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 to-night, 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 four 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 judgment 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.

Renfield." He shook hands with each of them, saying in turn:--

"Lord Godalming, I had the honour 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 honoured by all who knew him; and in his

youth was, I have heard, the inventor of a burnt rum punch, much

patronised on Derby night. Mr. Morris, you should be proud of your great

state. Its reception into the Union was a precedent which may have

far-reaching 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 revolutionised 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 scrutinised

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 form or 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:--