No More Learning

_Secondly_ we must see, as well as we can surmise it from the facts we
know of, what he has done here.

As to the first, he evidently intended to arrive at Galatz, and sent
invoice to Varna to deceive us lest we should ascertain his means of
exit from England; his immediate and sole purpose then was to escape.
The proof of this is the letter of instructions sent to Immanuel
Hildesheim to clear and take away the box _before sunrise_. There is
also the instruction to Petrof Skinsky. This we must only guess at;
but there must have been some letter or message, since Skinsky came to
Hildesheim.

That, so far, his plans were successful we know. The _Czarina Catherine_
made a phenomenally quick journey--so much so that Captain Donelson's
suspicions were aroused; but his superstition united with his canniness
played the Count's game for him, and he ran with his favouring wind
through fogs and all till he brought up blindfold at Galatz. That the
Count's arrangements were well made, has been proved. Hildesheim cleared
the box, took it off, and gave it to Skinsky. Skinsky took it--and here
we lose the trail. We only know that the box is somewhere on the water,
moving along. The customs and the octroi, if there be any, have been
avoided.

Now we come to what the Count must have done after his arrival--_on
land_, at Galatz.

The box was given to Skinsky before sunrise. At sunrise the Count could
appear in his own form. Here, we ask why Skinsky was chosen at all to
aid in the work? In my husband's diary, Skinsky is mentioned as dealing
with the Slovaks who trade down the river to the port; and the man's
remark, that the murder was the work of a Slovak, showed the general
feeling against his class. The Count wanted isolation.

My surmise is, this: that in London the Count decided to get back to his
Castle by water, as the most safe and secret way. He was brought from
the Castle by Szgany, and probably they delivered their cargo to Slovaks
who took the boxes to Varna, for there they were shipped for London.
Thus the Count had knowledge of the persons who could arrange this
service. When the box was on land, before sunrise or after sunset, he
came out from his box, met Skinsky and instructed him what to do as to
arranging the carriage of the box up some river. When this was done, and
he knew that all was in train, he blotted out his traces, as he thought,
by murdering his agent.

I have examined the map, and find that the river most suitable for the
Slovaks to have ascended is either the Pruth or the Sereth. I read in
the typescript that in my trance I heard cows low and water swirling
level with my ears and the creaking of wood. The Count in his box, then,
was on a river in an open boat--propelled probably either by oars or
poles, for the banks are near and it is working against stream. There
would be no such sound if floating down stream.

Of course it may not be either the Sereth or the Pruth, but we may
possibly investigate further. Now of these two, the Pruth is the more
easily navigated, but the Sereth is, at Fundu, joined by the Bistritza,
which runs up round the Borgo Pass. The loop it makes is manifestly as
close to Dracula's Castle as can be got by water.


_Mina Harker's Journal--continued. _

When I had done reading, Jonathan took me in his arms and kissed me. The
others kept shaking me by both hands, and Dr. Van Helsing said:--

"Our dear Madam Mina is once more our teacher. Her eyes have seen where
we were blinded. Now we are on the track once again, and this time we
may succeed. Our enemy is at his most helpless; and if we can come on
him by day, on the water, our task will be over. He has a start, but he
is powerless to hasten, as he may not leave his box lest those who carry
him may suspect; for them to suspect would be to prompt them to throw
him in the stream, where he perish. This he knows, and will not. Now,
men, to our Council of War; for, here and now, we must plan what each
and all shall do. "

"I shall get a steam launch and follow him," said Lord Godalming.

"And I, horses to follow on the bank lest by chance he land," said Mr.
Morris.

"Good! " said the Professor, "both good. But neither must go alone. There
must be force to overcome force if need be; the Slovak is strong and
rough, and he carries rude arms. " All the men smiled, for amongst them
they carried a small arsenal. Said Mr. Morris:--

"I have brought some Winchesters; they are pretty handy in a crowd,
and there may be wolves. The Count, if you remember, took some other
precautions; he made some requisitions on others that Mrs. Harker could
not quite hear or understand. We must be ready at all points. " Dr.
Seward said:--

"I think I had better go with Quincey. We have been accustomed to hunt
together, and we two, well armed, will be a match for whatever may come
along. You must not be alone, Art. It may be necessary to fight the
Slovaks, and a chance thrust--for I don't suppose these fellows carry
guns--would undo all our plans. There must be no chances, this time;
we shall not rest until the Count's head and body have been separated,
and we are sure that he cannot re-incarnate. " He looked at Jonathan as
he spoke, and Jonathan looked at me. I could see that the poor dear was
torn about in his mind. Of course he wanted to be with me; but then the
boat service would, most likely, be the one which would destroy the . . .
the . . . the . . . Vampire. (Why did I hesitate to write the word? ) He was
silent awhile, and during his silence Dr. Van Helsing spoke:--

"Friend Jonathan, this is to you for twice reasons. First, because you
are young and brave and can fight, and all energies may be needed at
the last; and again that it is your right to destroy him--that--which
has wrought such woe to you and yours. Be not afraid for Madam Mina;
she will be my care, if I may. I am old. My legs are not so quick to
run as once; and I am not used to ride so long or to pursue as need be,
or to fight with lethal weapons. But I can be of other service; I can
fight in other way. And I can die, if need be, as well as younger men.
Now let me say that what I would is this: while you, my Lord Godalming,
and friend Jonathan go in your so swift little steamboat up the river,
and whilst John and Quincey guard the bank where perchance he might
be landed, I will take Madam Mina right into the heart of the enemy's
country. Whilst the old fox is tied in his box, floating on the running
stream whence he cannot escape to land--where he dares not raise the lid
of his coffin-box lest his Slovak carriers should in fear leave him to
perish--we shall go in the track where Jonathan went--from Bistritz over
the Borgo--and find our way to the Castle of Dracula. Here, Madam Mina's
hypnotic power will surely help, and we shall find our way--all dark and
unknown otherwise--after the first sunrise when we near that fateful
place. There is much to be done, and other places to be made sanctify,
so that that nest of vipers be obliterated. " Here Jonathan interrupted
him hotly:--

"Do you mean to say, Professor Van Helsing, that you would bring Mina,
in her sad case and tainted as she is with that devil's illness, right
into the jaws of his death-trap? Not for the world! Not for Heaven or
Hell! " He became almost speechless for a minute, and then went on:--

"Do you know what the place is? Have you seen that awful den of hellish
infamy--with the very moonlight alive with grisly shapes, and ever speck
of dust that whirls in the wind a devouring monster in embryo? Have you
felt the Vampire's lips upon your throat? " Here he turned to me, and as
his eyes lit on my forehead, he threw up his arms with a cry: "Oh, my
God, what have we done to have this terror upon us? " and he sank down on
the sofa in a collapse of misery. The Professor's voice, as he spoke in
clear, sweet tones, which seemed to vibrate in the air, calmed us all:--

"Oh, my friend, it is because I would save Madam Mina from that awful
place that I would go. God forbid that I should take her into that
place. There is work--wild work--to be done there, that her eyes may not
see. We men here, all save Jonathan, have seen with our own eyes what
is to be done before that place can be purify. Remember that we are in
terrible straits. If the Count escape us this time--and he is strong and
subtle and cunning--he may choose to sleep him for a century; and then
in time our dear one"--he took my hand--"would come to him to keep
him company, and would be as those others that you, Jonathan, saw. You
have told us of their gloating lips; you heard their ribald laugh as
they clutched the moving bag that the Count threw to them. You shudder;
and well may it be. Forgive me that I make you so much pain, but it is
necessary. My friend, is it not a dire need for the which I am giving,
if need be, my life? If it were that anyone went into that place to
stay, it is I who would have to go, to keep them company. "

"Do as you will;" said Jonathan, with a sob that shook him all over, "We
are in the hands of God! "

_Later. _--Oh, it did me good to see the way that these brave men
worked. How can women help loving men when they are so earnest, and so
true, and so brave! And, too, it made me think of the wonderful power of
money! What can it not do when it is properly applied; and what might it
do when basely used! I felt so thankful that Lord Godalming is rich, and
that both he and Mr. Morris, who also has plenty of money, are willing
to spend it so freely. For if they did not, our little expedition could
not start, either so promptly or so well equipped, as it will within
another hour. It is not three hours since it was arranged what part each
of us was to do; now Lord Godalming and Jonathan have a lovely steam
launch, with steam up ready to start at a moment's notice. Dr. Seward
and Mr. Morris have half a dozen beautiful horses, well appointed. We
have all the maps and appliances of various kinds that can be had.
Professor Van Helsing and I are to leave by the 11. 40 train to-night
for Veresti, where we are to get a carriage to drive to the Borgo Pass.
We are bringing a good deal of ready money, as we are to buy a carriage
and horses. We shall drive ourselves, for we have no one whom we can
trust in this matter. The Professor knows something of a great many
languages, so we shall get on all right. We have all got arms, even for
me a large-bore revolver; Jonathan would not be happy unless I was armed
like the rest. Alas! I cannot carry one arm that the rest do; the scar
on my forehead forbids that. Dear Dr. Van Helsing comforts me by telling
me that I am fully armed as there may be wolves; the weather is getting
colder every hour, and there are snow-flurries which come and go as
warnings.

_Later. _--It took all my courage to say good-bye to my darling. We may
never meet again. Courage, Mina! the Professor is looking at you keenly;
his look is a warning. There must be no tears now--unless it may be that
God will let them fall in gladness.


_Jonathan Harker's Journal. _

_October 30. Night. _--I am writing this in the light from the furnace
door of the steam launch; Lord Godalming is firing up. He is an
experienced hand at the work, as he has had for years a launch of his
own on the Thames, and another on the Norfolk Broads. Regarding our
plans, we finally decided that Mina's guess was correct, and that if
any waterway was chosen for the Count's escape back to his Castle, the
Sereth, and then the Bistritza at its junction, would be the one. We
took it that somewhere about the 47th degree, north latitude, would be
the place chosen for crossing the country between the river and the
Carpathians. We have no fear in running at good speed up the river at
night; there is plenty of water, and the banks are wide enough apart
to make steaming, even in the dark, easy enough. Lord Godalming tells
me to sleep for a while, as it is enough for the present for one to
be on watch. But I cannot sleep--how can I with the terrible danger
hanging over my darling, and her going out into that awful place. . . . My
only comfort is that we are in the hands of God. Only for that faith
it would be easier to die than to live, and so be quit of all the
trouble. Mr. Morris and Dr. Seward were off on their long ride before
we started; they are to keep up the right bank, far enough off to get
on higher lands, where they can see a good stretch of river and avoid
the following of its curves. They have, for the first stages, two men
to ride and lead their spare horses--four in all, so as not to excite
curiosity. When they dismiss the men, which will be shortly, they will
themselves look after the horses. It may be necessary for us to join
forces; if so they can mount our whole party. One of the saddles has a
movable horn, and can be easily adapted for Mina, if required.

It is a wild adventure we are on. Here, as we are rushing along through
the darkness, with the cold from the river seeming to rise up and strike
us; with all the mysterious voices of the night around us, it all comes
home. We seem to be drifting into unknown places and unknown ways; into
a whole world of dark and dreadful things. Godalming is shutting the
furnace door. . . .

_31 October. _--Still hurrying along. The day has come, and Godalming is
sleeping. I am on watch. The morning is bitterly cold; the furnace heat
is grateful, though we have heavy fur coats. As yet we have passed only
a few open boats, but none of them had on board any box or package of
anything like the size of the one we seek. The men were scared every
time we turned our electric lamp on them, and fell on their knees and
prayed.

_1 November, evening. _--No news all day; we have found nothing of the
kind we seek. We have now passed into the Bistritza; and if we are
wrong in our surmise our chance is gone. We have overhauled every boat,
big and little. Early this morning, one crew took us for a Government
boat, and treated us accordingly. We saw in this a way of smoothing
matters, so at Fundu, where the Bistritza runs into the Sereth, we got a
Roumanian flag which we now fly conspicuously. With every boat which we
have overhauled since then this trick has succeeded; we have had every
deference shown to us, and not once any objection to whatever we chose
to ask or do. Some of the Slovaks tell us that a big boat passed them,
going at more than usual speed as she had a double crew on board. This
was before they came to Fundu, so they could not tell us whether the
boat turned into the Bistritza or continued on up the Sereth. At Fundu
we could not hear of any such boat, so she must have passed there in
the night. I am feeling very sleepy; the cold is perhaps beginning to
tell upon me, and nature must have rest some time. Godalming insists
that he shall keep the first watch. God bless him for all his goodness
to poor dear Mina and me.

_2 November, morning. _--It is broad daylight. That good fellow would not
wake me. He says it would have been a sin to, for I slept so peacefully
and was forgetting my trouble. It seems brutally selfish of me to have
slept so long, and let him watch all night; but he was quite right. I am
a new man this morning; and, as I sit here and watch him sleeping, I can
do all that is necessary both as to minding the engine, steering, and
keeping watch. I can feel that my strength and energy are coming back
to me. I wonder where Mina is now, and Van Helsing. They should have
got to Veresti about noon on Wednesday. It would take them some time to
get the carriage and horses; so if they had started and travelled hard,
they would be about now at the Borgo Pass. God guide and help them! I
am afraid to think what may happen. If we could only go faster! but
we cannot; the engines are throbbing and doing their utmost. I wonder
how Dr. Seward and Mr. Morris are getting on. There seem to be endless
streams running down from the mountains into this river, but as none of
them are very large--at present, at all events, though they are terrible
doubtless in winter and when the snow melts--the horsemen may not have
met much obstruction.
I hope that before we get to Strasba we may see
them; for if by that time we have not overtaken the Count, it may be
necessary to take counsel together what to do next.


_Dr. Seward's Diary. _

_2 November. _--Three days on the road. No news, and no time to write it
if there had been, for every moment is precious. We have had only the
rest needful for the horses; but we are both bearing it wonderfully.
Those adventurous days of ours are turning up useful. We must push on;
we shall never feel happy till we get the launch in sight again.

_3 November. _--We heard at Fundu that the launch had gone up the
Bistritza. I wish it wasn't so cold. There are signs of snow coming;
and if it falls heavy it will stop us. In such case we must get a sledge
and go on, Russian fashion.

_4 November. _--To-day we heard of the launch having been detained by an
accident when trying to force a way up the rapid. The Slovak boats get
up all right, by aid of a rope, and steering with knowledge. Some went
up only a few hours before. Godalming is an amateur fitter himself, and
evidently it was he who put the launch in trim again. Finally, they
got up the Rapids all right, with local help, and are off on the chase
afresh. I fear that the boat is not any better for the accident; the
peasantry tell us that after she got upon the smooth water again, she
kept stopping every now and again so long as she was in sight. We must
push on harder than ever; our help may be wanted soon.


_Mina Harker's Journal. _

_31 October. _--Arrived at Veresti at noon. The Professor tells me that
this morning at dawn he could hardly hypnotize me at all, and that all
I could say was: "Dark and quiet. " He is off now buying a carriage and
horses. He says that he will later on try to buy additional horses, so
that we may be able to change them on the way. We have something more
than 70 miles before us. The country is lovely, and most interesting;
if only it were under different conditions, how delightful it would be
to see it all. If Jonathan and I were driving through it alone what a
pleasure it would be. To stop and see people, and learn something of
their life, and to fill our minds and memories with all the colour and
picturesqueness of the whole wild, beautiful country and the quaint
people! But, alas! --

_Later. _--Dr. Van Helsing has returned. He has got the carriage and
horses; we are to have some dinner, and to start in an hour. The
landlady is putting us up a huge basket of provisions; it seems enough
for a company of soldiers. The Professor encourages her, and whispers to
me that it may be a week before we can get any good food again. He has
been shopping too, and has sent home such a wonderful lot of fur coats
and wraps, and all sorts of warm things. There will not be any chance of
our being cold.

* * * * *

We shall soon be off. I am afraid to think what may happen to us. We
are truly in the hands of God. He alone knows what may be, and I pray
Him, with all the strength of my sad and humble soul, that He will
watch over my beloved husband; that whatever may happen, Jonathan may
know that I loved him and honoured him more than I can say, and that my
latest and truest thought will be always for him.




CHAPTER XXVII.

/Mina Harker's Journal. /


_1 November. _--All day long we have travelled, and at a good speed.
The horses seem to know that they are being kindly treated, for they
go willingly their full stage at best speed. We have now had so many
changes and find the same thing so constantly that we are encouraged to
think that the journey will be an easy one. Dr. Van Helsing is laconic;
he tells the farmers that he is hurrying to Bistritz, and pays them
well to make the exchange of horses. We get hot soup, or coffee, or
tea; and off we go. It is a lovely country; full of beauties of all
imaginable kinds, and the people are brave, and strong, and simple, and
seem full of nice qualities. They are very, very superstitious. In the
first house where we stopped, when the woman who served us saw the scar
on my forehead, she crossed herself and put out two fingers towards me,
to keep off the evil eye. I believe they went to the trouble of putting
an extra amount of garlic into our food; and I can't abide garlic.
Ever since then I have taken care not to take off my hat or veil, and
so have escaped their suspicions. We are travelling fast, and as we
have no driver with us to carry tales, we go ahead of scandal; but I
daresay that fear of the evil eye will follow hard behind us all the
way. The Professor seems tireless; all day he would not take any rest,
though he made me sleep for a long spell. At sunset time he hypnotized
me, and he says that I answered as usual "darkness, lapping water
and creaking wood;" so our enemy is still on the river. I am afraid
to think of Jonathan, but somehow I have now no fear for him, or for
myself. I write this whilst we wait in a farmhouse for the horses to be
got ready. Dr. Van Helsing is sleeping. Poor dear, he looks very tired
and old and grey, but his mouth is set as firmly as a conqueror's; even
in his sleep he is instinct with resolution. When we have well started
I must make him rest whilst I drive. I shall tell him that we have days
before us, and he must not break down when most of all his strength
will be needed. . . . All is ready; we are off shortly.

_2 November, morning. _--I was successful, and we took turns driving
all night; now the day is on us, bright though cold. There is a strange
heaviness in the air--I say heaviness for want of a better word; I mean
that it oppresses us both. It is very cold, and only our warm furs keep
us comfortable. At dawn Van Helsing hypnotised me; he says I answered
"darkness, creaking wood and roaring water," so the river is changing
as they ascend. I do hope that my darling will not run any chance of
danger--more than need be; but we are in God's hands.

_2 November, night. _--All day long driving. The country gets wilder as
we go, and the great spurs of the Carpathians, which at Veresti seemed
so far from us and so low on the horizon, now seem to gather round us
and tower in front. We both seem in good spirits; I think we make an
effort each to cheer the other; in the doing so we cheer ourselves.
Dr. Van Helsing says that by morning we shall reach the Borgo Pass.
The houses are very few here now, and the Professor says that the last
horses we got will have to go on with us, as we may not be able to
change. He got two in addition to the two we changed, so that now we
have a rude four-in-hand. The dear horses are patient and good, and
they give us no trouble. We are not worried with other travellers, and
so even I can drive. We shall get to the Pass in daylight; we do not
want to arrive before. So we take it easy, and have each a long rest
in turn. Oh, what will to-morrow bring to us? We go to seek the place
where my poor darling suffered so much. God grant that we may be guided
aright, and that He will deign to watch over my husband and those dear
to us both, and who are in such deadly peril. As for me, I am not
worthy in His sight. Alas! I am unclean to His eyes, and shall be until
He may deign to let me stand forth in His sight as one of those who
have not incurred His wrath.


_Memorandum by Abraham Van Helsing. _

_4 November. _--This to my old and true friend John Seward, M. D. ,
of Purfleet, London, in case I may not see him. It may explain. It
is morning, and I write by a fire which all the night I have kept
alive--Madam Mina aiding me. It is cold, cold; so cold that the grey
heavy sky is full of snow, which when it falls will settle for all
winter as the ground is hardening to receive it. It seems to have
affected Madam Mina; she has been so heavy of head all day that she
was not like herself. She sleeps, and sleeps, and sleeps! She, who
is usual so alert, have done literally nothing all the day; she even
have lost her appetite. She make no entry into her little diary, she
who write so faithful at every pause. Something whisper to me that all
is not well. However, to-night she is more _vif_. Her long sleep all
day have refresh and restore her, for now she is all sweet and bright
as ever. At sunset I try to hypnotise her, but alas! with no effect;
the power has grown less and less with each day, and to-night it fail
me altogether. Well, God's will be done--whatever it may be, and
whithersoever it may lead!

Now to the historical, for as Madam Mina write not in her stenography,
I must, in my cumbrous old fashion, that so each day of us may not go
unrecorded.

We got to the Borgo Pass just after sunrise yesterday morning. When I
saw the signs of the dawn I got ready for the hypnotism. We stopped our
carriage, and got down so that there might be no disturbance. I made a
couch with furs, and Madam Mina, lying down, yield herself as usual,
but more slow and more short time than ever, to the hypnotic sleep. As
before, came the answer: "darkness and the swirling of water. " Then
she woke, bright and radiant, and we go on our way and soon reach the
Pass. At this time and place she become all on fire with zeal; some new
guiding power be in her manifested, for she point to a road and say:--

"This is the way. "

"How know you it? " I ask.

"Of course I know it," she answer, and with a pause, add: "Have not my
Jonathan travel it and wrote of his travel? "

At first I think somewhat strange, but soon I see that there be only
one such by-road. It is used but little, and very different from the
coach road from Bukovina to Bistritz, which is more wide and hard, and
more of use.

So we came down this road; when we meet other ways--not always were we
sure that they were roads at all, for they be neglect and light snow
have fallen--the horses know and they only. I give rein to them, and
they go on so patient. By-and-by we find all the things which Jonathan
have note in that wonderful diary of him. Then we go on for long, long
hours and hours. At the first, I tell Madam Mina to sleep; she try, and
she succeed. She sleep all the time; till at the last, I feel myself
to suspicious grow, and attempt to wake her. But she sleep on, and I
may not wake her though I try. I do not wish to try too hard lest I
harm her; for I know that she have suffer much, and sleep at times be
all--in--all to her. I think I drowse myself, for all of sudden I feel
guilt, as though I have done something; I find myself bolt up, with the
reins in my hand, and the good horses go along jog, jog, just as ever.
I look down and find Madam Mina still sleep. It is now not far off
sunset time, and over the snow the light of the sun flow in big yellow
flood, so that we throw great long shadow on where the mountain rise so
steep. For we are going up, and up; and all is oh! so wild and rocky,
as though it were the end of the world.

Then I arouse Madam Mina. This time she wake with not much trouble, and
then I try to put her to hypnotic sleep. But she sleep not, being as
though I were not. Still I try and try, till all at once I find her and
myself in dark; so I look round, and find that the sun have gone down.
Madam Mina laugh, and I turn and look at her. She is now quite awake,
and look so well as I never saw her since that night at Carfax when
we first enter the Count's house. I am amaze, and not at ease then;
but she is so bright and tender and thoughtful for me that I forget
all fear. I light a fire, for we have brought supply of wood with us,
and she prepare food while I undo the horses and set them, tethered in
shelter, to feed. Then when I return to the fire she have my supper
ready. I go to help her; but she smile, and tell me that she have eat
already--that she was so hungry that she would not wait. I like it not,
and I have grave doubts; but I fear to affright her, and so I am silent
of it. She help me and I eat alone; and then we wrap in fur and lie
beside the fire, and I tell her to sleep while I watch. But presently
I forget all of watching; and when I sudden remember that I watch,
I find her lying quiet, but awake, and looking at me with so bright
eyes. Once, twice more the same occur, and I get much sleep till before
morning. When I wake I try to hypnotise her; but alas! though she shut
her eyes obedient, she may not sleep. The run rise up, and up, and up;
and then sleep come to her too late, but so heavy that she will not
wake. I have to lift her up and place her sleeping in the carriage when
I have harnessed the horses and made all ready. Madam still sleep,
and sleep; and she look in her sleep more healthy and more redder than
before. And I like it not. And I am afraid, afraid, afraid! --I am
afraid of all things--even to think; but I must go on my way. The stake
we play for is life and death, or more than these, and we must not
flinch.

_5 November, morning. _--Let me be accurate in everything, for though
you and I have seen some strange things together, you may at the first
think that I, Van Helsing, am mad--that the many horrors and the so
long strain on nerves has at the last turn my brain.

All yesterday we travel, ever getting closer to the mountains, and
moving into a more and more wild and desert land. There are great,
frowning precipices and much falling water, and Nature seemed to have
held sometime her carnival. Madam Mina still sleep and sleep; and
though I did have hunger and appeased it, I could not waken her--even
for food. I began to fear that the fatal spell of the place was upon
her, tainted as she is with that Vampire baptism. "Well," said I to
myself, "if it be that she sleep all the day, it shall also be that I
do not sleep at night. " As we travel on the rough road, for a road of
an ancient and imperfect kind there was, I held down my head and slept.
Again I waked with a sense of guilt and of time passed, and found Madam
Mina still sleeping, and the sun low down. But all was indeed changed;
the frowning mountains seemed further away, and we were near the top
of a steep-rising hill, on summit of which was such as castle as
Jonathan tell of in his diary. At once I exulted and feared; for now,
for good or ill, the end was near. I woke Madam Mina, and again tried
to hypnotise her; but alas! unavailing till too late. Then, ere the
great dark came upon us--for even after down-sun the heavens reflected
the gone sun on the snow, and all was for a time in a great twilight--I
took out the horses and fed them in what shelter I could. Then I make a
fire; and near it I made Madam Mina, now awake and more charming than
ever, sit comfortable amid her rugs. I got ready food: but she would
not eat, simply saying that she had not hunger. I did not press her,
knowing her unavailingness. But I myself eat, for I must needs now be
strong for all. Then, with the fear on me of what might be, I drew a
ring so big for her comfort, round where Madam Mina sat; and over the
ring I passed some of the wafer, and I broke it fine so that all was
well guarded. She sat still all the time--so still as one dead; and she
grew whiter and ever whiter till the snow was not more pale; and no
word she said. But when I drew near, she clung to me, and I could know
that the poor soul shook her from head to feet with a tremor that was
pain to feel. I said to her presently, when she had grown more quiet:--

"Will you not come over to the fire? " for I wished to make a test of
what she could. She rose obedient, but when she have made a step she
stopped, and stood as one stricken.

"Why not go on? " I asked. She shook her head, and, coming back, sat
down in her place. Then, looking at me with open eyes, as of one waked
from sleep, she said simply:--

"I cannot! " and remained silent. I rejoiced, for I knew that what she
could not, none of those that we dreaded could. Though there might be
danger to her body, yet her soul was safe!

Presently the horses began to scream, and tore at their tethers till
I came to them and quieted them. When they did feel my hands on them,
they whinnied low as in joy, and licked at my hands and were quiet
for a time. Many times through the night did I come to them, till it
arrive to the cold hour when all nature is at lowest; and every time
my coming was with quiet of them. In the cold hour the fire began to
die, and I was about stepping forth to replenish it, for now the snow
came in flying sweeps and with it a chill mist. Even in the dark there
was a light of some kind, as there ever is over snow; and it seemed as
though the snow-flurries and the wreaths of mist took shape as of women
with trailing garments. All was in dead, grim silence, only that the
horses whinnied and cowered, as if in terror of the worst.