CHAPTER II
JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL- continued
5 May. I must have been asleep, for certainly if I had
been fully awake I must have noticed the approach of such
a remarkable place. In the gloom the courtyard looked
of considerable size, and as several dark ways led from
it under great round arches, it perhaps seemed bigger than
it really is. I have not yet been able to see it by daylight.
When the calèche stopped, the driver jumped down
and held out his hand to assist me to alight. Again I could
not but notice his prodigious strength. His hand actually
seemed like a steel vice that could have crushed mine if he
had chosen. Then he took out my traps, and placed them
on the ground beside me as I stood close to a great door,
old and studded with large iron nails, and set in a project-
ing doorway of massive stone. I could see even in the
dim light that the stone was massively carved, but that the
carving had been much worn by time and weather. As I
stood, the driver jumped again into his seat and shook
the reins ; the horses started forward, and trap and all
disappeared down one of the dark openings .
I stood in silence where I was, for I did not know what
to do. Of bell or knocker there was no sign ; through
these frowning walls and dark window openings it was not
likely that my voice could penetrate. The time I waited
seemed endless, and I felt doubts and fears crowding upon
me. What sort of place had I come to, and among what
kind of people ? What sort of grim adventure was it on
which I had embarked ? Was this a customary incident in
the life of a solicitor's clerk sent out to explain the pur-
chase of a London estate to a foreigner ? Solicitor's clerk !
Mina would not like that. Solicitor-for just before leav-
ing London I got word that my examination was success-
16JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 17
ful ; and I am now a full-blown solicitor ! I began to rub
my eyes and pinch myself to see if I were awake. It all
seemed like a horrible nightmare to me, and I expected
that I should suddenly awake, and find myself at home,
with the. dawn struggling in through the windows, as I
had now and again felt in the morning after a day of
overwork. But my flesh answered the pinching test, and
my eyes were not to be deceived. I was indeed awake and
among the Carpathians. All I could do now was to be
patient, and to wait the coming of the morning.
Just as I had come to this conclusion I heard a heavy
step approaching behind the great door, and saw through
the chinks the gleam of a coming light . Then there was the
sound of rattling chains and the clanking of massive bolts
drawn back. A key was turned with the loud grating noise
of long disuse, and the great door swung back.
Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a
long white moustache, and clad in black from head to
foot, without a single speck of colour about him any-
where. He held in his hand an. antique silver lamp, in
which the flame burned without chimney or globe of any
kind, throwing long quivering shadows as it flickered in
the draught of the open door. The old man motioned me
in with his right hand with a courtly gesture, saying in
excellent English, but with a strange intonation : -
" Welcome to my house ! Enter freely and of your own
will ! " He made no motion of stepping to meet me, but
stood like a statue, as though his gesture of welcome had
fixed him into stone . The instant, however, that I had
stepped over the threshold, he moved impulsively forward,
and holding out his hand grasped mine with a strength
which made me wince, an effect which was not lessened by
the fact that it seemed as cold as ice—more like the hand
of a dead than´a living man. Again he said :-
" Welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely ; ano
leave something of the happiness you bring ! " The strength
of the handshake was so much akin to that which I had
noticed in the driver, whose face I had not seen, that for
a moment I doubted if it were not the same person to18 DRACULA
whom I was speaking ; so to make sure, I said interro-
gatively : -
"Count Dracula ?" He bowed in a courtly way as he re-
plied : -
"I am Dracula ; and I bid you welcome, Mr. Harker,
to my house. Come in ; the night air is chill , and you must
need to eat and rest." As he was speaking, he put the lamp
on a bracket on the wall, and stepping out, took my lug-
gage ; he had carried it in before I could forestall him. I
protested but he insisted : -
"Nay, sir, you are my guest. It is late, and my people
are not available. Let me see to your comfort myself. " He
insisted on carrying my traps along the passage, and then
up a great winding stair, and along another great pas-
sage, on whose stone floor our steps rang heavily. At the
end of this he threw open a heavy door, and I rejoiced
to see within a well-lit room in which a table was spread
for supper, and on whose mighty hearth a great fire of
logs, freshly replenished, flamed and flared .
The Count halted, putting down my bags, closed the
door, and crossing the room, opened another door, which
led into a small octagonal room lit by a single lamp, and
seemingly without a window of any sort. Passing through
this, he opened another door, and motioned me to enter.
It was a welcome sight ; for here was a great bedroom
well lighted and warmed with another log fire , also added
to but lately, for the top logs were fresh-which sent a
hollow roar up the wide chimney. The Count himself left
my luggage inside and withdrew, saying, before he closed
the door : -
"You will need, after your journey, to refresh yourself
by making your toilet. I trust you will find all you wish.
When you are ready, come into the other room, where you
will find your supper prepared."
The light and warmth and the Count's courteous wel-
come seemed to have dissipated all my doubts and fears.
Having then reached my normal state, I discovered that
I was half famished with hunger ; so making a hasty
toilet, I went into the other room.
I found supper already laid out. My host, who stoodJONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 19
on one side of the great fireplace, leaning against the stone-
work, made a graceful wave of his hand to the table, and
and said : -
" I pray you, be seated and sup how you please. You
will, I trust, excuse me that I do not join you ; but I have
dined already, and I do not sup. "
I handed to him the sealed letter which Mr. Hawkins
had entrusted to me. He opened it and read it gravely ;
then, with a charming smile, he handed it to me to read.
One passage of it , at least , gave me a thrill of pleasure.
"I must regret that an attack of gout, from which
malady I am a constant sufferer, forbids absolutely any
travelling on my part for some time to come ; but I am
happy to say I can send a sufficient substitute, one in whom
I have every possible confidence. He is a young man, full
of energy and talent in his own way, and of a very faith-
ful disposition. He is discreet and silent, and has grown
into manhood in my service. He shall be ready to attend
on you when you will during his stay, and shall take your
instructions in all matters. "
The Count himself came forward and took off the cover
of a dish, and I fell to at once on an excellent roast
chicken. This, with some cheese and a salad and a bottle
of old Tokay, of which I had two glasses, was my supper.
During the time I was eating it the Count asked me many
questions as to my journey, and I told him by degrees all
I had experienced.
By this time I had finished my supper, and by my host's
desire had drawn up a chair by the fire and begun to smoke
a cigar which he offered me, at the same time excusing
himself that he did not smoke. I had now an opportunity
of observing him, and found him of a very marked
physiognomy.
His face was a strong-a very strong-aquiline, with
high bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils ;
with lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily
round the temples but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows
were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and
with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion.
The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy mous-20 DRACULA
tache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly
sharp white teeth ; these protruded over the lips , whose
remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man
of his years . For the rest, his ears were pale, and at the
tops extremely pointed ; the chin was broad and strong,
and the cheeks firm though thin. The general effect was
one of extraordinary pallor.
Hitherto I had noticed the backs of his hands as they
lay on his knees in the firelight, and they had seemed
rather white and fine ; but seeing them now close to me,
I could not but notice that they were rather coarse-
broad, with squat fingers. Strange to say, there were hairs
in the centre of the palm. The nails were long and fine,
and cut to a sharp point. As the Count leaned over me and
his hands touched me, I could not repress a shudder. It
may have been that his breath was rank, but a horrible
feeling of nausea came over me, which, do what I would,
I could not conceal. The Count, evidently noticing it , drew
back ; and with a grim sort of smile, which showed more
than he had yet done his protuberant teeth, sat himself
down again on his own side of the fireplace. We were both
silent for a while ; and as I looked towards the window I
saw the first dim streak of the coming dawn. There seemed
a strange stillness over everything ; but as I listened I
heard as if from down below in the valley the howling of
many wolves. The Count's eyes gleamed, and he said : -
" Listen to them-the children of the night. What music
they make !" Seeing, I suppose, some expression in my
face strange to him, he added : -
"Ah, sir, you dwellers in the city cannot enter into the
feelings of the hunter. " Then he rose and said :- --
"But you must be tired. Your bedroom is all ready,
and to-morrow you shall sleep as late as you will . I have
to be away till the afternoon ; so sleep well and dream
well !" With a courteous bow, he opened for me himself
the door to the octagonal room, and I entered my bed-
room ...
I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt ; I fear ; I think
strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul.
God keep me, if only for the sake of those dear to me !JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 21
7 May. It is again early morning, but I have rested
and enjoyed the last twenty- four hours. I slept till late
in the day, and awoke of my own accord. When I had
dressed myself I went into the room where we had supped,
and found a cold breakfast laid out, with coffee kept hot
by the pot being placed on the hearth. There was a card
on the table, on which was written : -
" I have to be absent for a while. Do not wait for me.-
D." I set to and enjoyed a hearty meal. When I had done,
I looked for a bell , so that I might let the servants know
I had finished but I could not find one. There are certainly
odd deficiencies in the house, considering the extraordi-
nary evidences of wealth which are round me. The table
service is of gold , and so beautifully wrought that it must
be of immense value. The curtains and upholstery of the
chairs and sofas and the hangings of my bed are of the
costliest and most beautiful fabrics, and must have been
of fabulous value when they were made, for they are
centuries old, though in excellent order. I saw something
like them in Hampton Court, but there they were worn
and frayed and moth-eaten. But still in none of the rooms
is there a mirror. There is not even a toilet glass on my
table, and I had to get the little shaving glass from my
bag before I could either shave or brush my hair. I have
not yet seen a servant anywhere, or heard a sound near the
castle except the howling of wolves. Some time after I
had finished my meal-I do not know whether to call it
breakfast or dinner, for it was between five and six o'clock
when I had it-I looked about for something to read, for
I did not like to go about the castle until I had asked the
Count's permission . There was absolutely nothing in the
room, book, newspaper, or even writing materials ; so I
opened another door in the room and found a sort of li-
brary. The door opposite mine I tried, but found it locked.
In the library I found, to my great delight, a vast num-
ber of English books, whole shelves full of them, and
bound volumes of magazines and newspapers. A table in
the centre was littered with English magazines and news-
papers, though none of them were of very recent date.
The books were of the most varied kind-history, geog-22 DRACULA]
raphy, politics, political economy, botany, geology, law-
all relating to England and English life and customs and
manners. There were even such books of reference as the
London Directory, the "Red" and "Blue" books, Whit-
aker's Almanac, the Army and Navy Lists, and it some-
how gladdened my heart to see it-the Law List.
Whilst I was looking at the books, the door opened, and
the Count entered . He saluted me in a hearty way, and
hoped that I had had a good night's rest. Then he went
on : -
"I am glad you found your way in here, for I am sure
there is much that will interest you. These companions"
-and he laid his hand on some of the books- "have been
good friends to me, and for some years past, ever since I
had the idea of going to London, have given me many,
many hours of pleasure. Through them I have come to
know your great England ; and to know her is to love her.
I long to go through the crowded streets of your mighty
London, to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of
humanity, to share its life, its change, its death, and all that
makes it what it is . But alas ! as yet I only know your ton-
gue through books. To you, my friend, I look that I know
it to speak.
"But, Count, " I said, " you know and speak English
thoroughly ! " He bowed gravely.
"I thank you, my friend, for your all too- flattering
estimate, but yet I fear that I am but a little way on
the road I would travel. True, I know the grammar and
the words, but yet I know not how to speak them."
"Indeed," I said, "you speak excellently. ' 99
"Not so, " he answered. "Well, I know that, did I move
and speak in your London, none there are who would not
know me for a stranger. That is not enough for me. Here
I am noble ; I am boyar; the common people know me,
and I am master. But a stranger in a strange land , he is
no one ; men know him not-and to know not is to care
not for. I am content if I am like the rest, so that no man
stops if he sees me, or pause in his speaking if he hear my
words, ' Ha, ha ! a stranger !' I have been so long master
that I would be master still-or at least that none otherJONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 23
should be master of me. You come to me not alone as agent
of my friend Peter Hawkins, of Exeter, to tell me all
about my new estate in London. You shall, I trust, rest
here with me awhile, so that by our talking I may learn
the English intonation ; and I would that you tell me when
I make error, even of the smallest, in my speaking. I am
sorry that I had to be away so long to-day ; but you will,
I know, forgive one who has so many important affairs in
hand."
Of course I said all I could about being willing, and
asked if I might come into that room when I chose. He
answered : "Yes, certainly, " and added : -
"You may go anywhere you wish in the castle, except
where the doors are locked, where of course you will not
wish to go. There is reason that all things are as they
are, and did you see with my eyes and know with my
knowledge, you would perhaps better understand . " I said
I was sure of this, and then he went on : -
" We are in Transylvania ; and Transylvania is not Eng-
land. Our ways are not your ways, and there shall be to
you many strange things. Nay, from what you have told
me of your experiences already, you know something of
what strange things there may be."
This led to much conversation ; and as it was evident
that he wanted to talk, if only for talking's sake, I asked
him many questions regarding things that had already
happened to me or come within my notice. Sometimes he
sheered off the subject, or turned the conversation by pre-
tending not to understand ; but generally he answered all
I asked most frankly. Then as time went on, and I had got
somewhat bolder, I asked him of some of the strange
things of the preceding night, as, for instance, why the
coachman went to the places where he had seen the blue
flames. He then explained to me that it was commonly
believed that on a certain night of the year-last night, in
fact, when all evil spirits are supposed to have unchecked
sway—a blue flame is seen over any place where treasure
has been concealed . "That treasure has been hidden," he
went on, "in the region through which you came last night,
there can be but little doubt ; for it was the ground fought24 DRACULA
over for centuries by the Wallachian, the Saxon, and the
Turk. Why, there is hardly a foot of soil in all this region
that has not been enriched by the blood of men, patriots
or invaders. In old days there were stirring times, when
the Austrian and the Hungarian came up in hordes, and
the patriots went out to meet them-men and women, the
aged and the children too-and waited their coming on
the rocks above the passes, that they might sweep de-
struction on them with their artificial avalanches . When
the invader was triumphant he found but little, for what-
ever there was had been sheltered in the friendly soil."
"But how, " said I, " can it have remained so long un-
discovered, when there is a sure index to it if men will but
take the trouble to look ?" The Count smiled, and as his
lips ran back over his gums, the long, sharp, canine teeth
showed out strangely ; he answered : —
"Because your peasant is at heart a coward and a fool !
Those flames only appear on one night ; and on that night
no man of this land will, if he can help it, stir without his
doors. And, dear sir, even if he did he would not know
what to do. Why, even the peasant that you tell me of who
marked the place of the flame would not know where to
look in daylight even for his own work. Even you would
not, I dare be sworn, be able to find these places again ?"
"There you are right," I said. "I know no more than
the dead where even to look for them. " Then we drifted
into other matters.
"Come, " he said at last, "tell me of London and of the
house which you have procured for me. " With an apology
for my remissness, I went into my own room to get the
papers from my bag. Whilst I was placing them in order
I heard a rattling of china and silver in the next room,
and as I passed through, noticed that the table had been
cleared and the lamp lit, for it was by this time deep into
the dark. The lamps were also lit in the study or library,
and I found the Count lying on the sofa, reading, of all
things in the world, an English Bradshaw's Guide. When
I came in he cleared the books and papers from the table ;
and with him I went into plans and deeds and figures of all
sorts. He was interested in everything, and asked me aJONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 25
myriad questions about the place and its surroundings . He
clearly had studied beforehand all he could get on the
subject of the neighbourhood , for he evidently at the end
knew very much more than I did . When I remarked this,
he answered : -
" Well, but, my friend, is it not needful that I should ?
When I go there I shall be all alone, and my friend Harker
Jonathan-nay, pardon me, I fall into my country's habit
of putting your patronymic first-my friend Jonathan
Harker will not be by my side to correct and aid me. He
will be in Exeter, miles away, probably working at papers
of the law with my other friend, Peter Hawkins. So !"
We went thoroughly into the business of the purchase
of the estate at Purfleet. When I had told him the facts
and got his signature to the necessary papers, and had
written a letter with them ready to post to Mr. Hawkins,
he began to ask me how I had come across so suitable a
place. I read to him the notes which I had made at the
time, and which I inscribe here : -
"At Purfleet, on a by-road, I came across just such a
place as seemed to be required, and where was displayed a
dilapidated notice that the place was for sale. It is sur-
rounded by a high wall, of ancient structure, built of heavy
stones, and has not been repaired for a large number of
years. The closed gates are of heavy old oak and iron, all
caten with rust.
"The estate is called Carfax , no doubt a corruption of
the old Quatre Face, as the house is four-sided, agreeing
with the cardinal points of the compass. It contains in all
some twenty acres, quite surrounded by the solid stone wall
above mentioned . There are many trees on it , which make
it in places gloomy, and there is a deep, dark-looking pond
or small lake, evidently fed by some springs, as the water
is clear and flows away in a fair- sized stream . The house
is very large and of all periods back, I should say, to
mediæval times, for one part is of stone immensely thick,
with only a few windows high up and heavily barred with
iron. It looks like part of a keep, and is close to an old
chapel or church. I could not enter it, as I had not the key
of the door leading to it from the house, but I have taken26 DRACULA
with my kodak views of it from various points . The
house has been added to but in a very straggling way, and
I can only guess at the amount of ground it covers, which
must be very great. There are but few houses close at
hand, one being a very large house only recently added to
and formed into a private lunatic asylum. It is not, how-
ever, visible from the grounds. "
When I had finished, he said : -
"I am glad that it is old and big. I myself am of an
old family, and to live in a new house would kill me. A
house cannot be made habitable in a day ; and, after all ,
how few days go to make up a century. I rejoice also
that there is a chapel of old times. We Transylvanian
nobles love not to think that our bones may lie amongst
the common dead . I seek not gaiety nor mirth, not the
bright voluptuousness of much sunshine and sparkling
waters which please the young and gay. I am no longer
young ; and my heart, through weary years of mourning
over the dead, is not attuned to mirth. Moreover, the walls
of my castle are broken ; the shadows are many, and the
wind breathes cold through the broken battlements and
casements. I love the shade and the shadow, and would
be alone with my thoughts when I may. " Somehow his
words and his look did not seem to accord, or else it was
that his cast of face made his smile look malignant and
saturnine.
Presently, with an excuse, he left me, asking me to put
all my papers together. He was some little time away, and
I began to look at some of the books around me. One was
an atlas, which I found opened naturally at England, as if
that map had been much used. On looking at it I found in
certain places little rings marked, and on examining these
I noticed that one was near London on the east side, mani-
festly where his new estate was situated ; the other two
were Exeter, and Whitby on the Yorkshire coast.
It was the better part of an hour when the Count re-
turned. "Aha !" he said ; " still at your books ? Good ! But
you must not work always. Come ; I am informed that
your supper is ready." He took my arm, and we went into
the next room, where I found an excellent supper ready onJONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 27
the table. The Count again excused himself, as he had
dined out on his being away from home. But he sat as on
the previous night, and chatted whilst I ate. After supper
I smoked, as on the last evening, and the Count stayed
with me, chatting and asking questions on every conceiv-
able subject, hour after hour. I felt that it was getting very
late indeed, but I did not say anything, for I felt under
obligation to meet my host's wishes in every way. I was
not sleepy, as the long sleep yesterday had fortified me ;
but I could not help experiencing that chill which comes
over one at the coming of the dawn, which is like, in its
way, the turn of the tide. They say that people who are
near death die generally at the change to the dawn or at
the turn of the tide ; any one who has when tired, and tied
as it were to his post, experienced this change in the atmos-
phere can well believe it. All at once we heard the crow
of a cock coming up with preternatural shrillness through
the clear morning air ; Count Dracula, jumping to his feet,
said : -
" Why, there is the morning again ! How remiss I am to
let
you stay up so long. You must make your conversation
regarding my dear new country of England less interest-
ing, so that I may not forget how time flies by us," and,
with a courtly bow, he quickly left me.
I went into my own room and drew the curtains, but
there was little to notice ; my window opened into the
courtyard, all I could see was the warm grey of quicken-
ing sky. So I pulled the curtains again, and have written
of this day.
8 May. I began to fear as I wrote in this book that I
was getting too diffuse ; but now I am glad that I went into
detail from the first, for there is something so strange about
this place and all in it that I cannot but feel uneasy. I wish
I were safe out of it , or that I had never come. It may be
that this strange night-existence is telling on me ; but would
that that were all ! If there were any one to talk to I could
bear it, but there is no one. I have only the Count to speak
with, and he ! -I fear I am myself the only living soul
within the place. Let me be prosaic so far as facts can be ;28 DRACULA
it will help me to bear up, and imagination must not run
riot with me. If it does I am lost. Let me say at once how
I stand- -or seem to.
I only slept a few hours when I went to bed , and feel-
ing that I could not sleep any more, got up. I had hung my
shaving glass by the window, and was just beginning to
shave. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, and heard
the Count's voice saying to me, " Good- morning . " I started,
for it amazed me that I had not seen him, since the reflec-
tion of the glass covered the whole room behind me. In
starting I had cut myself slightly, but did not notice it at
the moment. Having answered the Count's salutation, I
turned to the glass again to see how I had been mistaken.
This time there could be no error, for the man was close
to me, and I could see him over my shoulder. But there was
no reflection of him in the mirror ! The whole room be-
hind me was displayed ; but there was no sign of a man in
it, except myself . This was startling, and, coming on the
top of so many strange things, was beginning to increase
that vague feeling of uneasiness which I always had when
the Count is near ; but at the instant I saw that the cut had
bled a little, and the blood was trickling over my chin. I
laid down the razor, turning as I did so half round to look
for some sticking plaster. When the Count saw my face,
his
eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury , and he sud-
denly made a grab at my throat. I drew away, and his
hand touched the string of beads which held the crucifix .
It made an instant change in him, for the fury passed so
quickly that I could hardly believe that it was ever there.
" Take care, " he said, "take care how you cut yourself.
It is more dangerous than you think in this country. " Then
seizing the shaving glass, he went on : "And this is the
wretched thing that has done the mischief . It is a foul
bauble of man's vanity. Away with it !" and opening the
heavy window with one wrench of his terrible hand, he
flung out the glass, which was shattered into a thousand
pieces on the stones of the courtyard far below. Then he
withdrew without a word. It is very annoying, for I do not
see how I am to shave, unless in my watch- case or the
bottom of the shaving- pot, which is fortunately of metal.JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 29
When I went into the dining-room, breakfast was pre-
pared ; but I could not find the Count anywhere . So I
breakfasted alone. It is strange that as yet I have not seen
the Count eat or drink. He must be a very peculiar man!
After breakfast I did a little exploring in the castle. I went
out on the stairs, and found a room looking towards the
South. The view was magnificent, and from where I stood
there was every opportunity of seeing it. The castle is on
the very edge of a terrible precipice. A stone falling from
the window would fall a thousand feet without touching
anything ! As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green
tree tops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a
chasm. Here and there are silver threads where the rivers
wind in deep gorges through the forests.
But I am not in heart to describe beauty, for when I
had seen the view I explored further ; doors, doors, doors
everywhere, and all locked and bolted . In no place save
from the windows in the castle walls is there an available
exit.
The castle is a veritable prison, and I am a prisoner !