CHAPTER III
JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL—continued
WHEN I found that I was a prisoner a sort of wild feeling
came over me. I rushed up and down the stairs, trying
every door and peering out of every window I could find ;
but after a little the conviction of my helplessness over-
powered all other feelings. When I look back after a few
hours I think I must have been mad for the time, for I
behaved much as a rat does in a trap. When, however, the
conviction had come to me that I was helpless I sat down
quietly as quietly as I have ever done anything in my life
—and began to think over what was best to be done. I am
thinking still, and as yet have come to no definite conclu-
sion. Of one thing only am I certain ; that it is no use mak-
ing my ideas known to the Count. He knows well that I
am imprisoned ; and as he has done it himself, and has
doubtless his own motives for it, he would only deceive
me if I trusted him fully with the facts. So far as I can
see, my only plan will be to keep my knowledge and my
fears to myself, and my eyes open. I am, I know, either
being deceived, like a baby, by my own fears, or else I am
in desperate straits ; and if the latter be so, I need, and
shall need, all my brains to get through.
I had hardly come to this conclusion when I heard the
great door below shut, and knew that the Count had re-
turned. He did not come at once to the library, so I went
cautiously to my own room and found him making the bed .
This was odd, but only confirmed what I had all along
thought-that there were no servants in the house. When
later I saw him through the chink of the hinges of the door
laying the table in the dining- room, I was assured of it ;
for if he does himself all these menial offices, surely it is
proof that there is no one else to do them. This gave me
30JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 31
a fright, for if there is no one else in the castle, it must
have been the Count himself who was the driver of the
coach that brought me here. This is a terrible thought ; for
if so, what does it mean that he could control the wolves,
as he did, by only holding up his hand in silence. How was
it that all the people at Bistritz and on the coach had some
terrible fear for me ? What meant the giving of the crucifix,
of the garlic, of the wild rose, of the mountain ash ? Bless
that good, good woman who hung the crucifix round my
neck ! for it is a comfort and a strength to me whenever I
touch it. It is odd that a thing which I have been taught to
regard with disfavour and as idolatrous should in a time of
loneliness and trouble be of help. Is it that there is some-
thing in the essence of the thing itself, or that it is a med-
ium, a tangible help, in conveying memories of sympathy
and comfort ? Some time, if it may be, I must examine this
matter and try to make up my mind about it. In the mean-
time I must find out all I can about Count Dracula, as it
may help me to understand . To- night he may talk of him-
self, if I turn the conversation that way. I must be very
careful, however, not to awake his suspicion.
-
Midnight. I have had a long talk with the Count. I
asked him a few questions on Transylvania history, and he
warmed up to the subject wonderfully. In his speaking of
things and people, and especially of battles, he spoke as if
he had been present at them all . This he afterwards ex-
plained by saying that to a boyar the pride of his house and
name is his own pride, that their glory is his glory, that
their fate is his fate. Whenever he spoke of his house he
always said, "we, " and spoke almost in the plural, like a
king speaking. I wish I could put down all he said exactly
as he said it, for to me it was most fascinating. It seemed
to have in it a whole history of the country. He grew ex-
cited as he spoke, and walked about the room pulling his
great white moustache and grasping anything on which he
laid his hands as though he would crush it by main
strength. One thing he said which I shall put down as
nearly as I can ; for it tells in its way the story of his
race : -12 DRACULA
" We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins
flows the blood of many brave races who fought as the lion
fights, for lordship. Here, in the whirlpool of European
races, the Ugric tribe bore down from Iceland the fighting
spirit which Thor and Wodin gave them, which their Ber-
serkers displayed to such fell intent on the seaboards of
Europe, ay, and of Asia and Africa too, till the peoples
thought that the were wolves themselves had come. Here,
too, when they came, they found the Huns, whose warlike
fury had swept the earth like a living flame, till the dying
peoples held that in their veins ran the blood of those old
witches, who, expelled from Scythia had mated with the
devils in the desert. Fools , fools ! What devil or what
witch was ever so great as Attila, whose blood is in these
veins ?" He held up his arms . "Is it a wonder that we were
a conquering_race ; that we were proud ; that when the
Magyar, the Lombard, the Avar, the Bulgar, or the Turk
poured his thousands on our frontiers, we drove them
back ? Is it strange that when Arpad and his legions swept
through the Hungarian fatherland he found us here when
he reached the frontier ; that the Honfoglalas was com-
pleted there? And when the Hungarian flood swept east-
ward, the Szekelys were claimed as kindred by the vic-
torious Magyars, and to us for centuries was trusted the
guarding of the frontier of Turkey-land ; ay, and more
than that, endless duty of the frontier guard, for, as the
Turks say, ' water sleeps, and enemy is sleepless . ' Who
more gladly than we throughout the Four Nations received
the ' bloody sword, ' or at its warlike call flocked quicker to
the standard of the King? When was redeemed that great
shame of my nation , the shame of Cassova, when the flags
of the Wallach and the Magyar went down beneath the
Crescent ? Who was it but one of my own race who as
Voivode crossed the Danube and beat the Turk on his own
ground? This was a Dracula indeed ! Woe was it that his
own unworthy brother, when he had fallen, sold his peo-
ple to the Turk and brought the shame of slavery on them !
Was it not this Dracula, indeed , who inspired that other
of his race who in a later age again and again brought his
forces over the great river into Turkey- land ; who, whenJONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 33
he was beaten back, came again, and again, and again,
though he had to come alone from the bloody field where
his troops were being slaughtered, since he knew that he
alone could ultimately triumph ! They said that he thought
only of himself . Bah ! what good are peasants without a
leader ? Where ends the war without a brain and heart to
conduct it ? Again, when, after the battle of Mohács, we
threw off the Hungarian yoke, we of the Dracula blood
were amongst their leaders, for our spirit would not brook
that we were not free. Ah, young sir, the Szekelys-and
the Dracula as their heart's blood, their brains, and their
swords can boast a record that mushroom growths like
the Hapsburgs and the Romanoffs can never reach. The
warlike days are over. Blood is too precious a thing in these
days of dishonourable peace ; and the glories of the great
races are as a tale that is told. "
It was by this time close on morning, and we went to
bed. (Mem. , this diary seems horribly like the beginning
of the "Arabian Nights, " for everything has to break off
at cockcrow-or like the ghost of Hamlet's father. )
12 May. Let me begin with facts-bare, meagre facts,
verified by books and figures, and of which there can be
no doubt. I must not confuse them with experiences which
will have to rest on my own observation, or my memory of
them. Last evening when the Count came from his room
he began by asking me questions on legal matters and on
the doing of certain kinds of business. I had spent the day
wearily over books, and, simply to keep my mind occu-
pied, went over some of the matters I had been examined
in at Lincoln's Inn. There was a certain method in the
Count's inquiries, so I shall try to put them down in
sequence ; the knowledge may somehow or some time be
useful to me.
First, he asked if a man in England might have two
solicitors or more. I told him he might have a dozen if he
wished, but that it would not be wise to have more than
one solicitor engaged in one transaction, as only one could
act at a time, and that to change would be certain to mili-
tate against his interest. He seemed thoroughly to under-34 DRACULA
stand, and went on to ask if there would be any practical
difficulty in having one man to attend, say, to banking,
and another to look after shipping, in case local help were
needed in a place far from the home of the banking solici-
tor. I asked him to explain more fully, so that I might not
by any chance mislead him, so he said :-
"I shall illustrate. Your friend and mine, Mr. Peter
Hawkins, from under the shadow of your beautiful cathe-
dral at Exeter, which is far from London, buys for me
through your good self my place at London. Good ! Now
here let me say frankly, lest you should think it strange
that I have sought the services of one so far off from Lon-
don instead of some one resident there, that my motive was
that no local interest might be served save my wish only ;
and as one of London residence might, perhaps , have some
purpose of himself or friend to serve, I went thus afield
to seek my agent, whose labours should be only to my
interest. Now, suppose I, who have much of affairs, wish
to ship goods, say, to Newcastle , or Durham, or Harwich,
or Dover, might it not be that it could with more ease be
done by consigning to one in these ports ?" I answered that
certainly it would be most easy, but that we solicitors had
a system of agency one for the other, so that local work
could be done locally on instruction from any solicitor, so
that the client, simply placing himself in the hands of one
man, could have his wishes carried out by him without
further trouble.
"But, " said he, "I could be at liberty to direct myself.
Is it not so? "
"Of course," I replied ; and "such is often done by men
of business, who do not like the whole of their affairs to
be known by any one person."
"Good !" he said, and then went on to ask about the
means of making consignments and the forms to be gone
through, and of all sorts of difficulties which might arise,
but by forethought could be guarded against. I explained
all these things to him to the best of my ability, and he cer-
tainly left me under the impression that he would have
made a wonderful solicitor, for there was nothing that he
did not think of or foresee. For a man who was never inJONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 35
the country, and who did not evidently do much in the way
of business, his knowledge and acumen were wonderful.
When he had satisfied himself on these points of which he
had spoken, and I had verified all as well as I could by the
books available, he suddenly stood up and said : -
"Have you written since your first letter to our friend
Mr. Peter Hawkins, or to any other ?" It was with some
bitterness in my heart that I answered that I had not, that
as yet I had not seen any opportunity of sending letters to
anybody.
"Then write now, my young friend, " he said, laying a
heavy hand on my shoulder : "write to our friend and to
any other ; and say, if it will please you , that you shall stay
with me until a month from now. "
"Do you wish me to stay so long ?" I asked, for my
heart grew cold at the thought.
"I desire it much ; nay, I will take no refusal. When
your master, employer, what you will, engaged that some-
one should come on his behalf, it was understood that my
needs only were to be consulted. I have not stinted . Is it
not so ?"
What could I do but bow acceptance ? It was Mr. Haw-
kins's interest, not mine, and I had to think of him, not
myself ; and besides, while Count Dracula was speaking,
there was that in his eyes and in his bearing which made
me remember that I was a prisoner, and that if I wished it
I could have no choice. The Count saw his victory in my
bow, and his mastery in the trouble of my face, for he
began at once to use them, but in his own smooth, resist-
less way : - ---
"I pray you, my good young friend, that you will not
discourse of things other than business in your letters. It
will doubtless please your friends to know that you are
well, and that you look forward to getting home to them.
Is it not so ?" As he spoke he handed me three sheets of
note-paper and three envelopes . They were all of the
thinnest foreign post, and looking at them, then at him.
and noticing his quiet smile, with the sharp, canine teeth
lying over the red underlip, I understood as well as if he
had spoken that I should be careful what I wrote, for he36 DRACULA
would be able to read it . So I determined to write only
formal notes now, but to write fully to Mr. Hawkins in
secret, and also to Mina, for to her I could write in short-
hand, which would puzzle the Count, if he did see it . When
I had written my two letters I sat quiet, reading a book
whilst the Count wrote several notes, referring as he wrote
them to some books on his table. Then he took up my two
and placed them with his own, and put by his writing ma-
terials, after which, the instant the door had closed behind
him, I leaned over and looked at the letters , which were
face down on the table. I felt no compunction in doing
so, for under the circumstances I felt that I should protect
myself in every way I could.
One of the letters was directed to Samuel F. Billington,
No. 7, The Crescent, Whitby, another to Herr Leutner,
Varna ; the third was to Coutts & Co. , London, and the
fourth to Herren Klopstock & Billreuth, bankers , Buda-
Pesth. The second and fourth were unsealed . I was just
about to look at them when I saw the door-handle move.
I sank back in my seat, having just had time to replace the
letters as they had been and to resume my book before
the Count, holding still another letter in his hand, entered
the room. He took up the letters on the table and stamped
them carefully, and then turning to me, said :—
"I trust you will forgive me, but I have much work to
do in private this evening. You will , I hope, find all things
as you wish." At the door he turned , and after a moment's
pause said : —
" Let me advise you, my dear young friend-nay, let me
warn you with all seriousness , that should you leave these
rooms you will not by any chance go to sleep in any other
part of the castle. It is old, and has many memories, and
there are bad dreams for those who sleep unwisely. Be
warned ! Should sleep now or ever overcome you , or be
like to do , then haste to your own chamber or to these
rooms, for your rest will then be safe. But if you be not
careful in this respect, then"-He finished his speech in a
gruesome way, for he motioned with his hands as if he
were washing them. I quite understood ; my only doubt
was as to whether any dream could be more terrible thanJONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 34
the unnatural, horrible net of gloom and mystery which
seemed closing around me.
Later. I endorse the last words written, but this time
there is no doubt in question. I shall not fear to sleep in
any place where he is not. I have placed the crucifix over
the head of my bed-I imagine that my rest is thus freer
from dreams ; and there it shall remain.
When he left me I went to my room. After a little while,
not hearing any sound, I came out and went up the stone
stair to where I could look out towards the South. There
was some sense of freedom in the vast expanse, inacces-
sible though it was to me, as compared with the narrow
darkness of the courtyard . Looking out of this , I felt that
I was indeed in prison, and I seemed to want a breath of
fresh air, though it were of the night . I am beginning to
feel this nocturnal existence tell on me. It is destroying my
nerve. I start at my own shadow, and am full of all sorts
of horrible imaginings. God knows that there is ground for
my terrible fear in this accursed place ! I looked out over
the beautiful expanse, bathed in soft yellow moonlight till
it was almost as light as day. In the soft light the distant
hills became melted, and the shadows in the valleys and
gorges of velvety blackness . The mere beauty seemed to
cheer me ; there was peace and comfort in every breath I
drew. As I leaned from the window my eye was caught by
something moving a storey below me, and somewhat to
my left, where I imagined, from the order of the rooms,
that the windows of the Count's own room would look
out. The window at which I stood was tall and deep, stone-
mullioned, and though weatherworn, was still complete ;
but it was evidently many a day since the case had been
there. I drew back behind the stonework, and looked care-
fully out.
What I saw was the Count's head coming out from the
window. I did not see the face, but I knew the man by the
neck and the movement of his back and arms. In any case
I could not mistake the hands which I had had so many
opportunities of studying. I was at first interested and
somewhat amused, for it is wonderful how small a matterDRACULA
38
will interest and amuse a man when he is a prisoner. But
my very feelings changed to repulsion and terror when I
saw the whole man slowly emerge from the window and
begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful
abyss, face down with his cloak spreading out around him
like great wings. At first I could not believe my eyes. I
thought it was some trick of the moonlight, some weird
effect of shadow ; but I kept looking, and it could be no
delusion. I saw the fingers and toes grasp the corners of
the stones, worn clear of the mortar by the stress of years,
and by thus using every projection and inequality move
downwards with considerable speed, just as a lizard moves
along a wall.
What manner of man is this , or what manner of creature
is it in the semblance of man ? I feel the dread of this hor-
rible place overpowering me ; I am in fear- in awful fear
-and there is no escape for me ; I am encompassed about
with terrors that I dare not think of..
15 May. Once more have I seen the Count go out in his
lizard fashion. He moved downwards in a sidelong way,
some hundred feet down, and a good deal to the left. He
vanished into some hole or window. When his head had
disappeared, I leaned out to try and see more, but without
avail the distance was too great to allow a proper angle
of sight. I knew he had left the castle now, and thought to
use the opportunity to explore more than I had dared to
do as yet. I went back to the room, and taking a lamp,
tried all the doors. They were all locked, as I had expected,
and the locks were comparatively new ; but I went down
the stone stairs to the hall where I had entered originally.
I found I could pull back the bolts easily enough and un-
hook the great chains ; but the door was locked, and the
key was gone ! That key must be in the Count's room ; I
must watch should his door be unlocked , so that I may
get it and escape. I went on to make a thorough examina-
tion of the various stairs and passages, and to try the doors
that opened from them. One or two small rooms near the
hall were open, but there was nothing to see in them ex-
cept old furniture, dusty with age and moth-eaten. AtJONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 39
last, however, I found one door at the top of the stairway
which, though it seemed to be locked, gave a little under
pressure. I tried it harder, and found that it was not really
locked, but that the resistance came from the fact that the
hinges had fallen somewhat, and the heavy door rested on
the floor. Here was an opportunity which I might not have
again, so I exerted myself, and with many efforts forced
it back so that I could enter. I was now in a wing of the
castle further to the right than the rooms I knew and a
storey lower down. From the windows I could see that the
suite of rooms lay along to the south of the castle , the
windows of the end room looking out both west and south.
On the latter side, as well as to the former, there was a
great precipice. The castle was built on the corner of a
great rock, so that on three sides it was quite impregnable,
and great windows were placed here where sling, or bow,
or culverin could not reach, and consequently light and
comfort, impossible to a position which had to be guarded,
were secured. To the west was a great valley, and then,
rising far away, great jagged mountain fastnesses , rising
peak on peak, the sheer rock studded with mountain ash
and thorn, whose roots clung in cracks and crevices and
crannies of the stone. This was evidently the portion of
the castle occupied by the ladies in bygone days, for the
furniture had more air of comfort than any I had seen.
The windows were curtainless, and the yellow moonlight,
flooding in through the diamond panes, enabled one to see
even colours, whilst it softened the wealth of dust which
lay over all and disguised in some measure the ravages of
time and the moth. My lamp seemed to be of little effect
in the brilliant moonlight, but I was glad to have it with
me, for there was a dread loneliness in the place which
chilled my heart and made my nerves tremble. Still, it was
better than living alone in the rooms which I had come to
hate from the presence of the Count, and after trying a
little to school my nerves, I found a soft quietude come
over me. Here I am, sitting at a little oak table where in
old times possibly some fair lady sat to pen, with much
thought and many blushes, her ill -spelt love-letter, and
writing in my diary in short hand all that has happened40 DRACULA
since I closed it last. It is nineteenth century up-to-date
with a vengeance. And yet, unless my senses deceive me,
the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which
mere "modernity" cannot kill .
Later: the Morning of 16 May.-God preserve my san-
ity, for to this I am reduced . Safety and the assurance of
safety are things of the past. Whilst I live on here there is
but one thing to hope for, that I may not go mad, if, in-
deed, I be not mad already. If I be sane, then surely it is
maddening to think that of all the foul things that lurk in
this hateful place the Count is the least dreadful to me ;
that to him alone I can look for safety, even though this
be only whilst I can serve his purpose. Great God ! merci-
ful God ! Let me be calm, for out of that way lies madness
indeed. I begin to get new lights on certain things which
have puzzled me. Up to now I never quite knew what
Shakespeare meant when he made Hamlet say : -
" My tablets ! quick, my tablets !
'Tis meet that I put it down," etc. ,
for now, feeling as though my own brain were unhinged
or as if the shock had come which must end in its undoing,
I turn to my diary for repose. The habit of entering ac-
curately must help to soothe me.
The Count's mysterious warning frightened me at the
time ; it frightens me more now when I think of it , for in
future he has a fearful hold upon me. I shall fear to doubt
what he may say !
When I had written in my diary and had fortunately
replaced the book and pen in my pocket I felt sleepy. The
Count's warning came into my mind, but I took a pleasure
in disobeying it . The sense of sleep was upon me, and with
it the obstinacy which sleep brings as outrider. The soft
moonlight soothed, and the wide expanse without gave a
sense of freedom which refreshed me. I determined not to
return to-night to the gloom- haunted rooms, but to sleep
here, where, of old , ladies had sat and sung and lived sweet
lives whilst their gentle breasts were sad for their menfolk
away in the midst of remorseless wars. I drew a greatJONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 41
couch out of its place near the corner, so that as I lay, I
could look at the lovely view to east and south, and un-
thinking of and uncaring for the dust, composed myself
for sleep. I suppose I must have fallen asleep ; I hope so,
but I fear, for all that followed was startlingly real-so
real that now sitting here in the broad, full sunlight of the
morning, I cannot in the least believe that it was all sleep.
I was not alone. The room was the same, unchanged in
any way since I came into it ; I could see along the floor,
in the brilliant moonlight, my own footsteps marked where
I had disturbed the long accumulation of dust. In the moon-
light opposite me were three young women, ladies by their
dress and manner. I thought at the time that I must be
dreaming when I saw them, for, though the moonlight was
behind them, they threw no shadow on the floor. They
came close to me, and looked at me for some time , and
then whispered together. Two were dark, and had high
aquiline noses, like the Count, and great dark, piercing
eyes, that seemed to be almost red when contrasted with
the pale yellow moon. The other was fair, as fair as can
be, with great wavy masses of golden hair and eyes like
pale sapphires. I seemed somehow to know her face, and
to know it in connection with some dreamy fear, but I
could not recollect at the moment how or where. All three
had brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the
ruby of their voluptuous lips . There was something about
them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same
time some deadly fear. I felt in my heart a wicked, burning
desire that they would kiss me with those red lips. It is
not good to note this down ; lest some day it should meet
Mina's eyes and cause her pain ; but it is the truth. They
whispered together, and then they all three laughed—
such a silvery, musical laugh, but as hard as though the
sound never could have come through the softness of
human lips . It was like the intolerable, tingling sweetness
of water- glasses when played on by a cunning hand. The
fair girl shook her head coquettishly, and the other two
urged her on. One said : -
"Go on ! You are first, and we shall follow ; yours is the
right to begin." The other added :-42 DRACULA
" He is young and strong ; there are kisses for us all. " I
lay quiet, looking out under my eyelashes in an agony of
delightful anticipation. The fair girl advanced and bent
over me till I could feel the movement of her breath upon
me. Sweet it was in one sense, honey- sweet, and sent the
same tingling through the nerves as her voice, but with a
bitter underlying the sweet, a bitter offensiveness, as one
smells in blood .
I was afraid to raise my eyelids, but looked out and
saw perfectly under the lashes. The girl went on her knees,
and bent over me, simply gloating. There was a deliberate
voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and
as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an
animal, till I could see in the moonlight the moisture shin-
ing on the scarlet lips and on the red tongue as it lapped
the white sharp teeth. Lower and lower went her head
as the lips went below the range of my mouth and chin
and seemed about to fasten on my throat. Then she paused,
and I could hear the churning sound of her tongue as it
licked her teeth and lips, and could feel the hot breath on
my neck. Then the skin of my throat began to tingle as
one's flesh does when the hand that is to tickle it ap-
proaches nearer-nearer. I could feel the soft, shivering
touch of the lips on the super-sensitive skin of my throat,
and the hard dents of two sharp teeth, just touching and
pausing there. I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and
waited waited with beating heart.
But at that instant, another sensation swept through me
as quick as lightning. I was conscious of the presence of
the Count, and of his being as if lapped in a storm of
fury. As my eyes opened involuntarily I saw his strong
hand grasp the slender neck of the fair woman and with
giant's power draw it back, the blue eyes transformed with
fury, the white teeth champing with rage, and the fair
cheeks blazing with passion. But the Count ! Never did
I imagine such wrath and fury, even to the demons of the
pit. His eyes were positively blazing. The red light in them
was lurid, as if the flames of hell- fire blazed behind them.
His face was deathly pale, and the lines of it were hard
like drawn wires ; the thick eyebrows that met over theJONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 43
nose now seemed like a heaving bar of white-hot metal.
With a fierce sweep of his arm, he hurled the woman from
him, and then motioned to the others, as though he were
beating them back ; it was the same imperious gesture that
I had seen used to the wolves. In a voice which, though
low and almost in a whisper seemed to cut through the air
and then ring round the room he said :—
"How dare you touch him, any of you ? How dare you
cast eyes on him when I had forbidden it ? Back, I tell you
all ! This man belongs to me ! Beware how you meddle
with him, or you'll have to deal with me. " The fair girl,
with a laugh of ribald coquetry, turned to answer him : --
" You yourself never loved ; you never love !" On this
the other women joined, and such a mirthless, hard , soul-
less laughter rang through the room that it almost made
me faint to hear ; it seemed like the pleasure of fiends.
Then the Count turned, after looking at my face atten-
tively and said in a soft whisper : -
" Yes, I too can love ; you yourselves can tell it from the
past. Is it not so ? Well, now I promise you that when I
am done with him you shall kiss him at your will . Now go!
go! I must awaken him, for there is work to be done."
"Are we to have nothing to-night ?" said one of them,
with a low laugh, as she pointed to the bag which he had
thrown upon the floor, and which moved as though there
were some living thing within it . For answer he nodded his
head. One of the women jumped forward and opened it.
If my ears did not deceive me there was a gasp and a low
wail, as of a half-smothered child. The women closed
round, whilst I was aghast with horror ; but as I looked
they disappeared, and with them the dreadful bag. There
was no door near them, and they could not have passed
me without my noticing. They simply seemed to fade into
the rays of the moonlight and pass out through the win-
dow, for I could see outside the dim, shadowy forms for
a moment before they entirely faded away.
Then the horror overcame me, and I sank down uncon-scious.