No More Learning

It was twelve
o'clock before I got any satisfactory hint of such a building, and this
I got at a coffee-shop, where some workmen were having their dinner.
One of these suggested that there was being erected at Cross Angel
Street a new "cold storage" building; and as this suited the condition
of a "new-fangled ware'us," I at once drove to it. An interview with a
surly gatekeeper and a surlier foreman, both of whom were appeased with
coin of the realm, put me on the track of Bloxam; he was sent for on my
suggesting that I was willing to pay his day's wages to his foreman for
the privilege of asking him a few questions on a private matter. He was
a smart enough fellow, though rough of speech and bearing. When I had
promised to pay for his information and given him an earnest, he told me
that he had made two journeys between Carfax and a house in Piccadilly,
and had taken from this house to the latter nine great boxes--"main
heavy ones"--with a horse and cart hired by him for this purpose. I
asked him if he could tell me the number of the house in Piccadilly, to
which he replied:--

"Well, guv'nor, I forgits the number, but it was only a few doors from
a big white church or somethink of the kind, not long built. It was a
dusty old 'ouse, too, though nothin' to the dustiness of the 'ouse we
tooked the bloomin' boxes from. "

"How did you get into the house if they were both empty? "

"There was the old party what engaged me a-waitin' in the 'ouse at
Purfleet. He 'elped me to lift the boxes and put them in the dray. Curse
me, but he was the strongest chap I ever struck, an' him a old feller,
with a white moustache, one that thin you would think he couldn't throw
a shadder. "

How this phrase thrilled through me!

"Why, 'e took up 'is end o' the boxes like they was pounds of tea, and
me a-puffin' an' a-blowin' afore I could up-end mine anyhow--an' I'm no
chicken, neither. "

"How did you get into the house in Piccadilly? " I asked.

"He was there too. He must 'a' started off and got there afore me, for
when I rung of the bell he kem an' opened the door 'isself an' 'elped me
to carry the boxes into the 'all. "

"The whole nine? " I asked.

"Yus; there was five in the first load an' four in the second. It
was main dry work, an' I don't so well remember 'ow I got 'ome. " I
interrupted him:--

"Were the boxes left in the hall? "

"Yus; it was a big 'all, an' there was nothin' else in it. " I made one
more attempt to further matters:--

"You didn't have any key? "

"Never used no key nor nothink. The old gent, he opened the door 'isself
an' shut it again when I druv off. I don't remember the last time--but
that was the beer. "

"And you can't remember the number of the house? "

"No, sir. But ye needn't have no difficulty about that. It's a 'igh 'un
with a stone front with a bow on it, and 'igh steps up to the door. I
know them steps, 'avin' 'ad to carry the boxes up with three loafers
what come round to earn a copper. The old gent give them shillin's, an'
they seem' they got so much, they wanted more; but 'e took one of them
by the shoulder and was like to throw 'im down the steps, till the lot
of them went away cussin'. " I thought that with this description I could
find the house, so having paid my friend for his information, I started
off for Piccadilly. I had gained a new painful experience: the Count
could, it was evident, handle the earth-boxes himself. If so, time was
precious; for, now he had achieved a certain amount of distribution,
he could, by choosing his own time, complete the task unobserved. At
Piccadilly Circus I discharged my cab, and walked westward; beyond
the Junior Constitutional I came across the house described, and was
satisfied that this was the next of the lairs arranged by Dracula. The
house looked as though it had been long untenanted. The windows were
encrusted with dust, and the shutters were up. All the framework was
black with time, and from the iron the paint had mostly scaled away.
It was evident that up to lately there had been a large notice-board
in front of the balcony; it had, however, been roughly torn away, the
uprights which had supported it still remaining. Behind the rails of
the balcony I saw there were some loose boards, whose raw edges looked
white. I would have given a good deal to have been able to see the
notice-board intact, as it would, perhaps, have given some clue to the
ownership of the house. I remembered my experience of the investigation
and purchase of Carfax, and I could not but feel that if I could find
the former owner there might be some means of gaining access to the
house.

There was at present nothing to be learned from the Piccadilly side,
and nothing could be done; so I went round to the back to see if
anything could be gathered from this quarter. The mews were active,
the Piccadilly houses being mostly in occupation. I asked one or two
of the grooms and helpers whom I saw around if they could tell me
anything about the empty house. One of them said he had heard it had
lately been taken, but he couldn't say from whom. He told me, however,
that up to very lately there had been a notice-board of "For sale" up,
and that perhaps Mitchell, Sons & Candy, the house agents, could tell
me something, as he thought he remembered seeing the name of that firm
on the board. I did not wish to seem too eager, or to let my informant
know or guess too much, so, thanking him in the usual manner, I strolled
away. It was now growing dusk, and the autumn night was closing in, so
I did not lose any time. Having learned the address of Mitchell, Sons &
Candy from a directory at the Berkeley, I was soon at their office in
Sackville Street.

The gentleman who saw me was particularly suave in manner, but
uncommunicative in equal proportion. Having once told me that
the Piccadilly house--which throughout our interview he called a
"mansion"--was sold, he considered my business as concluded. When I
asked who had purchased it, he opened his eyes a thought wider, and
paused a few seconds before replying:--

"It is sold, sir. "

"Pardon me," I said, with equal politeness, "but I have a special reason
for wishing to know who purchased it. "

Again he paused longer, and raised his eyebrows still more. "It is sold,
sir," was again his laconic reply.

"Surely," I said, "you do not mind letting me know so much. "

"But I do mind," he answered. "The affairs of their clients are
absolutely safe in the hands of Mitchell, Sons & Candy. " This was
manifestly a prig of the first water, and there was no use arguing with
him. I thought I had best meet him on his own ground, so I said:--

"Your clients, sir, are happy in having so resolute a guardian of their
confidence. I am myself a professional man. " Here I handed him my card.
"In this instance I am not prompted by curiosity; I act on the part of
Lord Godalming, who wishes to know something of the property which was,
he understood, lately for sale. " These words put a different complexion
on affairs. He said:--

"I would like to oblige you if I could, Mr. Harker, and especially
would I like to oblige his lordship. We once carried out a small matter
of renting some chambers for him when he was the Honourable Arthur
Holmwood. If you will let me have his lordship's address I will consult
the House on the subject, and will, in any case, communicate with his
lordship by to-night's post. It will be a pleasure if we can so far
deviate from our rules as to give the required information to his
lordship. "

I wanted to secure a friend, and not to make an enemy, so I thanked him,
gave the address at Dr. Seward's, and came away. It was now dark, and I
was tired and hungry. I got a cup of tea at the Aerated Bread Company
and came down to Purfleet by the next train.

I found all the others at home. Mina was looking tired and pale, but
she made a gallant effort to be bright and cheerful; it wrung my heart
to think that I had had to keep anything from her and so caused her
inquietude. Thank God, this will be the last night of her looking
on at our conferences, and feeling the sting of our not showing our
confidence. It took all my courage to hold to the wise resolution of
keeping her out of our grim task. She seems somehow more reconciled; or
else the very subject seems to have become repugnant to her, for when
any accidental allusion is made she actually shudders. I am glad we made
our resolution in time, as with such a feeling as this, our growing
knowledge would be torture to her.

I could not tell the others of the day's discovery till we were alone;
so after dinner--followed by a little music to save appearances even
amongst ourselves--I took Mina to her room and left her to go to bed.
The dear girl was more affectionate with me than ever, and clung to
me as though she would detain me; but there was much to be talked of
and I came away. Thank God, the ceasing of telling things has made no
difference between us.

When I came down again I found the others all gathered round the fire in
the study. In the train I had written my diary so far, and simply read
it off to them as the best means of letting them get abreast of my own
information; when I had finished Van Helsing said:--

"This has been a great day's work, friend Jonathan. Doubtless we are on
the track of the missing boxes. If we find them all in that house, then
our work is near the end. But if there be some missing, we must search
until we find them. Then shall we make our final _coup_, and hunt the
wretch to his real death. " We all sat silent awhile, and all at once Mr.
Morris spoke:--

"Say! how are we going to get into that house? "

"We got into the other," answered Lord Godalming quickly.

"But, Art, this is different. We broke house at Carfax, but we had night
and a walled park to protect us. It will be a mighty different thing
to commit burglary in Piccadilly, either by day or night. I confess I
don't see how we are going to get in unless that agency duck can find
us a key of some sort; perhaps we shall know when you get his letter in
the morning. " Lord Godalming's brows contracted, and he stood up and
walked about the room. By-and-by he stopped and said, turning from one
to another of us:--

"Quincey's head is level. This burglary business is getting serious; we
got off once all right; but we have now a rare job on hand--unless we
can find the Count's key basket. "

As nothing could well be done before morning, and as it would be at
least advisable to wait till Lord Godalming should hear from Mitchell's,
we decided not to take any active step before breakfast time. For a good
while we sat and smoked, discussing the matter in its various lights and
bearings; I took the opportunity of bringing this diary right up to the
moment. I am very sleepy and shall go to bed. . . .

Just a line. Mina sleeps soundly and her breathing is regular. Her
forehead is puckered up into little wrinkles, as though she thinks even
in her sleep. She is still too pale, but does not look so haggard as she
did this morning. To-morrow will, I hope, mend all this; she will be
herself at home in Exeter. Oh, but I am sleepy!


_Dr. Seward's Diary. _

_1 October. _--I am puzzled afresh about Renfield. His moods change so
rapidly that I find it difficult to keep touch of them, and as they
always mean something more than his own well-being, they form a more
than interesting study. This morning, when I went to see him after
his repulse of Van Helsing, his manner was that of a man commanding
destiny. He was, in fact, commanding destiny--subjectively. He did not
really care for any of the things of mere earth; he was in the clouds
and looked down on all the weaknesses and wants of us poor mortals. I
thought I would improve the occasion and learn something, so I asked
him:--

"What about the flies these times? " He smiled on me in quite a superior
sort of way--such a smile as would have become the face of Malvolio--as
he answered me:--

"The fly, my dear sir, has one striking feature: its wings are typical
of the aerial powers of the psychic faculties. The ancients did well
when they typified the soul as a butterfly! "

I thought I would push his analogy to its utmost logically, so I said
quickly:--

"Oh, it is a soul you are after now, is it? " His madness foiled his
reason, and a puzzled look spread over his face as, shaking his head
with a decision which I had but seldom seen in him, he said:--

"Oh no, oh no! I want no souls. Life is all I want. " Here he brightened
up: "I am pretty indifferent about it at present. Life is all right;
I have all I want. You must get a new patient, doctor, if you wish to
study zoophagy! "

This puzzled me a little, so I drew him on:--

"Then you command life; you are a god, I suppose? " He smiled with an
ineffably benign superiority.

"Oh no! Far be it from me to arrogate to myself the attributes of the
Deity. I am not even concerned in His especially spiritual doings. If
I may state my intellectual position I am, so far as concerns things
purely terrestrial, somewhat in the position which Enoch occupied
spiritually! " This was a poser to me. I could not at the moment recall
Enoch's appositeness; so I had to ask a simple question, though I felt
that by doing so I was lowering myself in the eyes of the lunatic:--

"And why Enoch? "

"Because he walked with God. " I could not see the analogy, but did not
like to admit it; so I harked back to what he had denied:--

"So you don't care about life and you don't want souls. Why not? " I put
my question quickly and somewhat sternly, on purpose to disconcert him.
The effort succeeded; for an instant he unconsciously relapsed into his
old servile manner, bent low before me, and actually fawned upon me as
he replied:--

"I don't want any souls, indeed, indeed! I don't. I couldn't use them
if I had them; they would be no manner of use to me. I couldn't eat
them or----" He suddenly stopped and the old cunning look spread over
his face, like a wind-sweep on the surface of the water. "And, Doctor,
as to life, what is it after all? When you've got all you require, and
you know that you will never want, that is all. I have friends--good
friends--like you Doctor Seward;" this was said with a leer of
inexpressible cunning, "I know that I shall never lack the means of
life! "

I think that through the cloudiness of his insanity he saw some
antagonism in me, for he at once fell back on the last refuge of such as
he--a dogged silence. After a short time I saw that for the present it
was useless to speak to him. He was sulky, and so I came away.

Later in the day he sent for me. Ordinarily I would not have come
without special reason, but just at present I am so interested in him
that I would gladly make an effort. Besides, I am glad to have anything
to help to pass the time. Harker is out, following up clues; and so are
Lord Godalming and Quincey. Van Helsing sits in my study poring over
the record prepared by the Harkers; he seems to think that by accurate
knowledge of all details he will light upon some clue. He does not wish
to be disturbed in the work, without cause. I would have taken him with
me to see the patient, only I thought that after his last repulse he
might not care to go again. There was also another reason: Renfield
might not speak so freely before a third person as when he and I were
alone.

I found him sitting out in the middle of the floor on his stool, a pose
which is generally indicative of some mental energy on his part. When I
came in, he said at once, as though the question had been waiting on his
lips:--

"What about souls? " It was evident then that my surmise had been
correct. Unconscious cerebration was doing its work, even with
the lunatic. I determined to have the matter out. "What about them
yourself? " I asked. He did not reply for a moment but looked all round
him, and up and down, as though he expected to find some inspiration for
an answer.

"I don't want any souls! " he said in a feeble, apologetic way. The
matter seemed preying on his mind, and so I determined to use it--to "be
cruel only to be kind. " So I said:--

"You like life, and you want life? "

"Oh yes! but that is all right; you needn't worry about that! "

"But," I asked, "how are we to get the life without getting the soul
also? " This seemed to puzzle him, so I followed it up:--

"A nice time you'll have some time when you're flying out there, with
the souls of thousands of flies and spiders and birds and cats buzzing
and twittering and miauing all round you. You've got their lives, you
know, and you must put up with their souls! " Something seemed to affect
his imagination, for he put his fingers to his ears and shut his eyes,
screwing them up tightly just as a small boy does when his face is being
soaped. There was something pathetic in it that touched me; it also gave
me a lesson, for it seemed that before me was a child--only a child,
though the features were worn, and the stubble on the jaws was white. It
was evident that he was undergoing some process of mental disturbance,
and, knowing how his past moods had interpreted things seemingly foreign
to himself, I thought I would enter into his mind as well as I could and
go with him. The first step was to restore confidence, so I asked him,
speaking pretty loud so that he would hear me through his closed ears:--

"Would you like some sugar to get your flies round again! " He seemed to
wake up all at once, and shook his head. With a laugh he replied:--

"Not much! flies are poor things, after all! " After a pause he added,
"But I don't want their souls buzzing round me, all the same. "

"Or spiders," I went on.

"Blow spiders! What's the use of spiders? There isn't anything in them
to eat or"--he stopped suddenly, as though reminded of a forbidden
topic.

"So, so! " I thought to myself, "this is the second time he has suddenly
stopped at the word 'drink'; what does it mean? " Renfield seemed himself
aware of having made a lapse, for he hurried on, as though to distract
my attention from it:--

"I don't take any stock at all in such matters. 'Rats and mice and such
small deer' as Shakespeare has it; 'chicken-feed of the larder' they
might be called. I'm past all that sort of nonsense. You might as well
ask a man to eat molecules with a pair of chop-sticks, as to try to
interest me about the lesser carnivora, when I know of what is before
me. "

"I see," I said. "You want big things that you can make your teeth meet
in? How would you like to breakfast on elephant?
"

"What ridiculous nonsense you are talking! " He was getting too wide
awake, so I thought I would press him hard. "I wonder," I said
reflectively, "what an elephant's soul is like! "

The effect I desired was obtained, for he at once fell from his
high-horse and became a child again.

"I don't want an elephant's soul, or any soul at all! " he said. For a
few moments he sat despondently. Suddenly he jumped to his feet, with
his eyes blazing and all the signs of intense cerebral excitement. "To
hell with you and your souls! " he shouted. "Why do you plague me about
souls? Haven't I got enough to worry, and pain, and distract me already,
without thinking of souls? " He looked so hostile that I thought he
was in for another homicidal fit, so I blew my whistle. The instant,
however, that I did so he became calm, and said apologetically:--

"Forgive me, Doctor; I forgot myself. You do not need any help. I am so
worried in my mind that I am apt to be irritable. If you only knew the
problem I have to face, and that I am working out, you would pity, and
tolerate, and pardon me. Pray do not put me in a strait-waistcoat. I
want to think and I cannot think freely when my body is confined. I am
sure you will understand! " He had evidently self-control; so when the
attendants came I told them not to mind, and they withdrew. Renfield
watched them go; when the door was closed he said, with considerable
dignity and sweetness:--

"Dr. Seward, you have been very considerate towards me. Believe me
that I am very very grateful to you! " I thought it well to leave him in
this mood, and so I came away. There is certainly something to ponder
over in this man's state. Several points seem to make what the American
interviewer calls "a story," if one could only get them in proper order.
Here they are:--

Will not mention "drinking. "

Fears the thought of being burdened with the "soul" of anything.

Has no dread of wanting "life" in the future.

Despises the meaner forms of life altogether, though he dreads being
haunted by their souls.

Logically all these things point one way! he has assurance of some kind
that he will acquire some higher life. He dreads the consequence--the
burden of a soul. Then it is a human life he looks to!

And the assurance--?

Merciful God! the Count has been to him, and there is some new scheme of
terror afoot!

_Later. _--I went after my round to Van Helsing and told him my
suspicion. He grew very grave; and, after thinking the matter over for a
while asked me to take him to Renfield. I did so. As we came to the door
we heard the lunatic within singing gaily, as he used to do in the time
which now seems so long ago. When we entered we saw with amazement that
he had spread out his sugar as of old; the flies, lethargic with the
autumn, were beginning to buzz into the room. We tried to make him talk
of the subject of our previous conversation, but he would not attend. He
went on with his singing, just as though we had not been present. He had
got a scrap of paper and was folding it into a note-book. We had to come
away as ignorant as we went in.

His is a curious case indeed; we must watch him to-night.


_Letter, Mitchell, Sons and Candy to Lord Godalming_

"_1 October. _

"My Lord,

"We are at all times only too happy to meet your wishes. We beg, with
regard to the desire of your Lordship, expressed by Mr. Harker on your
behalf, to supply the following information concerning the sale and
purchase of No. 347, Piccadilly. The original vendors are the executors
of the late Mr. Archibald Winter-Suffield. The purchaser is a foreign
nobleman, Count de Ville, who effected the purchase himself paying the
purchase money in notes 'over the counter,' if your Lordship will pardon
us using so vulgar an expression. Beyond this we know nothing whatever
of him.

"We are, my Lord,
"Your Lordship's humble servants,
"/Mitchell, Sons & Candy. /"


_Dr. Seward's Diary. _

_2 October. _--I placed a man in the corridor last night, and told him to
make an accurate note of any sound he might hear from Renfield's room,
and gave him instructions that if there should be anything strange he
was to call me. After dinner, when we had all gathered round the fire in
the study--Mrs. Harker having gone to bed--we discussed the attempts and
discoveries of the day. Harker was the only one who had any result, and
we are in great hopes that his clue may be an important one.

Before going to bed I went round to the patient's room and looked in
through the observation trap. He was sleeping soundly, and his chest
rose and fell with regular respiration.

This morning the man on duty reported to me that a little after midnight
he was restless and kept saying his prayers somewhat loudly. I asked
him if that was all; he replied that it was all he heard. There was
something about his manner so suspicious that I asked point-blank if he
had been asleep. He denied sleep, but admitted to having "dozed" for a
while. It is too bad that men cannot be trusted unless they are watched.

To-day Harker is out following up his clue, and Art and Quincey are
looking after horses. Godalming thinks that it will be well to have
horses always in readiness, for when we get the information which we
seek there will be no time to lose. We must sterilise all the imported
earth between sunrise and sunset; we shall thus catch the Count at his
weakest, and without a refuge to fly to. Van Helsing is off to the
British Museum, looking up some authorities on ancient medicine. The
old physicians took account of things which their followers do not
accept, and the Professor is searching for witch and demon cures which
may be useful later.

I sometimes think we must be all mad and that we shall wake to sanity in
strait-waistcoats.

_Later. _--We have met again. We seem at last to be on the track,
and our work of to-morrow may be the beginning of the end. I wonder
if Renfield's quiet has anything to do with this. His moods have so
followed the doings of the Count, that the coming destruction of the
monster may be carried to him in some subtle way. If we could only get
some hint as to what passed in his mind, between the time of my argument
with him to-day and his resumption of fly-catching, it might afford us a
valuable clue. He is now seemingly quiet for a spell. . . . Is he? ---- that
wild yell seemed to come from his room. . . .

The attendant came bursting into my room and told me that Renfield had
somehow met with some accident. He had heard him yell; and when he went
to him found him lying on his face on the floor, all covered with blood.
I must go at once. . . .




CHAPTER XXI.

/Dr. Seward's Diary. /


_3 October. _--Let me put down with exactness all that happened, as well
as I can remember it, since last I made an entry. Not a detail that I
can recall must be forgotten; in all calmness I must proceed.

When I came to Renfield's room I found him lying on the floor on his
left side in a glittering pool of blood. When I went to move him, it
became at once apparent that he had received some terrible injuries;
there seemed none of that unity of purpose between the parts of the
body which marks even lethargic sanity. As the face was exposed I could
see that it was horribly bruised, as though it had been beaten against
the floor--indeed it was from the face wounds that the pool of blood
originated. The attendant who was kneeling beside the body said to me as
we turned him over:--

"I think, sir, his back is broken. See, both his right arm and leg
and the whole side of his face are paralysed. " How such a thing could
have happened puzzled the attendant beyond measure. He seemed quite
bewildered, and his brows were gathered in as he said:--

"I can't understand the two things. He could mark his face like that
by beating his own head on the ground. I saw a young woman do it once
at the Eversfield Asylum before anyone could lay hands on her. And I
suppose he might have broke his back by falling out of bed, if he got
in an awkward kink. But for the life of me I can't imagine how the two
things occurred. If his back was broke, he couldn't beat his head; and
if his face was like that before the fall out of bed, there would be
marks of it. " I said to him:--

"Go to Dr. Van Helsing, and ask him to kindly come here at once. I want
him without an instant's delay. " The man ran off, and within a very few
minutes the Professor, in his dressing-gown and slippers appeared. When
he saw Renfield on the ground, he looked keenly at him a moment and then
turned to me. I think he recognized my thought in my eyes, for he said
very quietly, manifestly for the ears of the attendant:--

"Ah, a sad accident! He will need very careful watching, and much
attention. I shall stay with you myself; but I shall first dress myself.
If you will remain I shall in a few minutes join you. "

The patient was now breathing stertorously, and it was easy to see
that he had suffered some terrible injury. Van Helsing returned with
extraordinary celerity, bearing with him a surgical case. He had
evidently been thinking and had his mind made up; for, almost before he
looked at the patient, he whispered to me:--

"Send the attendant away. We must be alone with him when he becomes
conscious, after the operation. " So I said:--

"I think that will do now, Simmons. We have done all that we can at
present. You had better go your round, and Dr. Van Helsing will operate.
Let me know instantly if there be anything unusual anywhere. "

The man withdrew, and we went into a strict examination of the patient.
The wounds of the face were superficial; the real injury was a depressed
fracture of the skull, extending right up through the motor area. The
Professor thought a moment and said:--

"We must reduce the pressure and get back to normal conditions, as far
as can be; the rapidity of the suffusion shows the terrible nature of
his injury. The whole motor area seems affected. The suffusion of the
brain will increase quickly, so we must trephine at once or it may be
too late. " As he was speaking there was a soft tapping at the door. I
went over and opened it and found in the corridor without, Arthur and
Quincey in pyjamas and slippers: the former spoke:--

"I heard your man call up Dr. Van Helsing and tell him of an accident.
So I woke Quincey, or rather called for him as he was not asleep. Things
are moving too quickly and too strangely for sound sleep for any of
us these times. I've been thinking that to-morrow night will not see
things as they have been. We'll have to look back--and forward a little
more than we have done. May we come in? " I nodded, and held the door
open till they had entered; then I closed it again. When Quincey saw the
attitude and state of the patient, and noted the horrible pool on the
floor, he said softly:--

"My God! what has happened to him? Poor, poor devil! " I told him
briefly, and added that we expected he would recover consciousness after
the operation--for a short time at all events. He went at once and sat
down on the edge of the bed, with Godalming beside him; we all watched
in patience.

"We shall wait," said Van Helsing, "just long enough to fix the best
spot for trephining, so that we may most quickly and perfectly remove
the blood clot; for it is evident that the haemorrhage is increasing. "

The minutes during which we waited passed with fearful slowness. I had
a horrible sinking in my heart, and from Van Helsing's face I gathered
that he felt some fear or apprehension as to what was to come. I
dreaded the words that Renfield might speak. I was positively afraid to
think; but the conviction of what was coming was on me, as I have read
of men who have heard the death-watch. The poor man's breathing came
in uncertain gasps. Each instant he seemed as though he would open his
eyes and speak; but then would follow a prolonged stertorous breath,
and he would relapse into a more fixed insensibility. Inured as I was
to sick-beds and death, this suspense grew, and grew upon me. I could
almost hear the beating of my own heart; and the blood surging through
my temples sounded like blows from a hammer. The silence finally became
agonising. I looked at my companions, one after another, and saw from
their flushed faces and damp brows that they were enduring equal
torture. There was a nervous suspense over us all, as though overhead
some dread bell would peal out powerfully when we should least expect
it.

At last there came a time when it was evident that the patient was
sinking fast; he might die at any moment. I looked up at the Professor
and caught his eyes fixed on mine. His face was sternly set as he
spoke:--

"There is no time to lose. His words may be worth many lives; I have
been thinking so, as I stood here. It may be there is a soul at stake!
We shall operate just above the ear. "

Without another word he made the operation. For a few moments the
breathing continued to be stertorous. Then there came a breath so
prolonged that it seemed as though it would tear open his chest.
Suddenly his eyes opened, and became fixed in a wild, helpless
stare. This was continued for a few moments; then it softened into
a glad surprise, and from the lips came a sigh of relief. He moved
convulsively, and as he did so, said:--

"I'll be quiet, Doctor. Tell them to take off the strait-waistcoat. I
have had a terrible dream, and it has left me so weak that I cannot
move. What's wrong with my face? It feels all swollen, and it smarts
dreadfully. " He tried to turn his head; but even with the effort his
eyes seemed to grow glassy again, so I gently put it back. Then Van
Helsing said in a quiet, grave tone:--

"Tell us your dream, Mr. Renfield. " As he heard the voice his face
brightened through its mutilation, and he said:--

"That is Dr. Van Helsing. How good it is of you to be here. Give me some
water, my lips are dry; and I shall try to tell you. I dreamed"--he
stopped and seemed fainting. I called quietly to Quincey--"The
brandy--it is in my study--quick! " He flew and returned with a glass,
the decanter of brandy and a carafe of water. We moistened the parched
lips, and the patient quickly revived. It seemed, however, that his poor
injured brain had been working in the interval, for, when he was quite
conscious, he looked at me piercingly with an agonised confusion which I
shall never forget, and said:--

"I must not deceive myself; it was no dream, but all a grim reality. "
Then his eyes roved round the room; as they caught sight of the two
figures sitting patiently on the edge of the bed he went on:--

"If I were not sure already, I should know from them. " For an instant
his eyes closed--not with pain or sleep but voluntarily, as though he
were bringing all his faculties to bear; when he opened them he said,
hurriedly, and with more energy than he had yet displayed:--

"Quick, Doctor, quick. I am dying! I feel that I have but a few minutes;
and then I must go back to death--or worse! Wet my lips with brandy
again. I have something that I must say before I die; or before my
poor crushed brain dies anyhow.