CHAPTER X
Letter, Dr. Seward to Hon. Arthur Holmwood
" 6 September.
"My dear Art,—
"My news to-day is not so good . Lucy this morning had
gone back a bit. There is, however, one good thing which
has arisen from it ; Mrs. Westenra was naturally anxious
concerning Lucy, and has consulted me professionally
about her. I took advantage of the opportunity, and told
her that my old master, Van Helsing, the great specialist ,
was coming to stay with me, and that I would put her in
his charge conjointly with myself ; so now we can come
and go without alarming her unduly, for a shock to her
would mean sudden death, and this, in Lucy's weak con-
dition, might be disastrous to her. We are hedged in with
difficulties, all of us, my poor old fellow ; but , please God,
we shall come through them all right. If any need I shall
write, so that, if you do not hear from me, take it for
granted that I am simply waiting for news. In haste
Yours ever,
" JOHN SEWARD. "
Dr. Seward's Diary.
7 September. The first thing Van Helsing said to me
when we met at Liverpool Street was :-
"Have you said anything to our young friend the lover
of her ?"
"No, " I said. "I waited till I had seen you, as I said in
my telegram. I wrote him a letter simply telling him that
you were coming, as Miss Westenra was not so well, and
that I should let him know if need be. "
"Right, my friend ," he said, "quite right ! Better he not
know as yet ; perhaps he shall never know. I pray so ; but
129
•130 DRACULA
if it be needed, then he shall know all. And , my good friend
John, let me caution you. You deal with the madmen. All
men are mad in some way or the other ; and inasmuch as
you deal discreetly with your madmen, so deal with God's
madmen, too—the rest of the world . You tell not your
madmen what you do nor why you do it ; you tell them not
what you think. So you shall keep knowledge in its place,
where it may rest—where it may gather its kind around it
and breed . You and I shall keep as yet what we know here,
and here." He touched me on the heart and on the fore-
head, and then touched himself the same way. "I have for
myself thoughts at the present. Later I shall unfold to
you. "
" Why not now ?" I asked. " It may do some good ; we
may arrive at some decision . " He stopped and looked at
me, and said : -
"My friend John, when the corn is grown, even before it
has ripened while the milk of its mother- earth is in him,
and the sunshine has not yet begun to paint him with his
gold, the husbandman he pull the ear and rub him between
his rough hands, and blow away the green chaff, and say
to you : 'Look! he's good corn ; he will make good crop
999
when the time comes.' I did not see the application , and
told him so. For reply he reached over and took my ear in
his hand and pulled it playfully, as he used long ago to do
at lectures, and said : "The good husbandman tell you so
then because he knows, but not till then. But you do not
find the good husbandman dig up his planted corn to see if
he grow ; that is for the children who play at husbandry,
and not for those who take it as of the work of their life .
See you now, friend John ? I have sown my corn, and Na-
ture has her work to do in making it sprout ; if he sprout
at all, there's some promise ; and I wait till the ear begins
to swell." He broke off, for he evidently saw that I under-
stood. Then he went on, and very gravely :-
" You were always a careful student, and your case-
book was ever more full than the rest . You were only stu-
dent then ; now you are master, and I trust that good habit
have not fail . Remember, my friend, that knowledge is
stronger than memory, and we should not trust the weaker.LETTERS , ETC. 131
Even if you have not kept the good practise, let me tell
you that this case of our dear miss is one that may be-
mind, I say may be-of such interest to us and others that
all the rest may not make him kick the beam, as your peo-
ples say. Take then good note of it . Nothing is too small
I counsel you, put down in record even your doubts and
surmises. Hereafter it may be of interest to you to see how
true you guess. We learn from failure, not from success ! "
When I described Lucy's symptoms-the same as be-
fore, but infinitely more marked-he looked very grave,
but said nothing. He took with him a bag in which were
many instruments and drugs, "the ghastly paraphernalia
of our beneficial trade, " as he once called , in one of his
lectures, the equipment of a professor of the healing craft.
When we were shown in, Mrs. Westenra met us. She was
alarmed, but not nearly so much as I expected to find her.
Nature in one of her beneficent moods has ordained that
even death has some antidote to its own terrors. Here, in
a case where any shock may prove fatal, matters are so
ordered that, from some cause or other, the things not per-
sonal even the terrible change in her daughter to whom
she is so attached-do not seem to reach her. It is some-
thing like the way Dame Nature gathers round a foreign
body an envelope of some insensitive tissue which can pro-
tect from evil that which it would otherwise harm by con-
tact. If this be an ordered selfishness , then we should pause
before we condemn any one for the vice of egoism, for
there may be deeper root for its causes than we have
knowledge of.
I used my knowledge of this phase of spiritual pathol-
ogy, and laid down a rule that she should not be present
with Lucy or think of her illness more than was absolutely
required. She assented readily, so readily that I saw again
the hand of Nature fighting for life. Van Helsing and I
were shown up to Lucy's room. If I was shocked when I
saw her yesterday, I was horrified when I saw her to-day.
She was ghastly, chalkily pale ; the red seemed to have gone
even from her lips and gums, and the bones of her face
stood out prominently ; her breathing was painful to see or
hear. Van Helsing's face grew set as marble, and his eye-132 DRACULA
brows converged till they almost touched over his nose.
Lucy lay motionless, and did not seem to have strength to
speak, so for a while we were all silent. Then Van Helsing
beckoned to me, and we went gently out of the room. The
instant we had closed the door he stepped quickly along the
passage to the next door, which was open. Then he pulled
me quickly in with him and closed the door. "My God !"
he said ; "this is dreadful . There is no time to be lost. She
will die for sheer want of blood to keep the heart's action
as it should be. There must be transfusion of blood at once.
Is it you or me ?"
" I am younger and stronger, Professor. It must be me. "
"Then get ready at once. I will bring up my bag. I am
prepared .' " "
I went downstairs with him, and as we were going there
was a knock at the hall-door. When we reached the hall
the maid had just opened the door, and Arthur was step-
ping quickly in. He rushed up to me, saying in an eager
whisper: -
" Jack, I was so anxious. I read between the lines of your
letter, and have been in an agony. The dad was better, so
I ran down here to see for myself. Is not that gentleman
Dr. Van Helsing ? I am so thankful to you, sir, for com-
ing." When first the Professor's eye had lit upon him he
had been angry at his interruption at such a time ; but now,
as he took in his stalwart proportions and recognised the
strong young manhood which seemed to emanate from
him, his eyes gleamed . Without a pause he said to him
gravely as he held out his hand : -
"Sir, you have come in time. You are the lover of our
dear miss. She is bad, very, very bad. Nay, my child, do
not go like that. " For he suddenly grew pale and sat down
in a chair almost fainting. "You are to help her. You can
do more than any that live, and your courage is your best
help."
" What can I do ?" asked Arthur hoarsely. "Tell me,
and I shall do it. My life is hers, and I would give the last
drop of blood in my body for her. " The Professor has a
strongly humorous side, and I could from old knowledge
detect a trace of its origin in his answer : —LETTERS , ETC. 133
"My young sir, I do not ask so much as that—not the
last ! "
" What shall I do ?" There was fire in his eyes, and his
open nostril quivered with intent. Van Helsing slapped him
on the shoulder. "Come ! " he said . "You are a man, and it
is a man we want. You are better than me, better than my
friend John. " Arthur looked bewildered, and the Profes-
sor went on by explaining in a kindly way : -
" Young miss is bad, very bad. She wants blood, and
blood she must have or die. My friend John and I have
consulted ; and we are about to perform what we call trans-
fusion of blood-to transfer from full veins of one to the
empty veins which pine for him. John was to give his blood.
as he is the more young and strong than me" -here
Arthur took my hand and wrung it hard in silence— " but,
now you are here, you are more good than us, old or young,
who toil much in the world of thought. Our nerves are not
so calm and our blood not so bright than yours !" Arthur
turned to him and said : -
"If you only knew how gladly I would die for her you
would understand- " "
He stopped, with a sort of choke in his voice.
"Good boy !" said Van Helsing. "In the not- so - far-off
you will be happy that you have done all for her you love.
Come now and be silent. You shall kiss her once before it
is done, but then you must go ; and you must leave at my
sign. Say no word to Madame ; you know how it is with
her! There must be no shock ; any knowledge of this would
be one. Come !"
We all went up to Lucy's room. Arthur by direction re-
mained outside. Lucy turned her head and looked at us,
but said nothing. She was not asleep, but she was simply
too weak to make the effort . Her eyes spoke to us ; that
was all . Van Helsing took some things from his bag and
laid them on a little table out of sight . Then he mixed a
narcotic, and coming over to the bed, said cheerily : —
"Now, little miss, here is your medicine. Drink it off,
like a good child. See, I lift you so that to swallow is easy.
Yes. " She had made the effort with success .
It astonished me how long the drug took to act. This, in134 DRACULA
fact, marked the extent of her weakness. The time seemed
endless until sleep began to flicker in her eyelids. At last,
however, the narcotic began to manifest its potency ; and '
she fell into a deep sleep. When the Professor was satis-
fied he called Arthur into the room, and bade him strip off
his coat. Then he added : "you may take that one little kiss
whiles I bring over the table. Friend John, help to me !"
So neither of us looked whilst he bent over her.
Van Helsing turning to me, said :
"He is so young and strong and of blood so pure that
we need not defibrinate it . "
Then with swiftness, but with absolute method, Van
Helsing performed the operation . As the transfusion went
on something like life seemed to come back to poor Lucy's
cheeks, and through Arthur's growing pallor the joy of his
face seemed absolutely to shine. After a bit I began to grow
anxious, for the loss of blood was telling on Arthur, strong
man as he was. It gave me an idea of what a terrible strain
Lucy's system must have undergone that what weakened
Arthur only partially restored her. But the Professor's
face was set, and he stood watch in hand and with his eyes
fixed now on the patient and now on Arthur. I could hear
my own heart beat. Presently he said in a soft voice : "Do
not stir an instant. It is enough. You attend him ; I will
look to her." When all was over I could see how much
Arthur was weakened . I dressed the wound and took his
arm to bring him away, when Van Helsing spoke without
turning round-the man seems to have eyes in the back of
his head :- -
" The brave lover, I think, deserve another kiss , which he
shall have presently." And as he had now finished his oper-
ation, he adjusted the pillow to the patient's head. As he
did so the narrow black velvet band which she seems always
to wear round her throat, buckled with an old diamond
buckle which her lover had given her, was dragged a little
up, and showed a red mark on her throat. Arthur did not
notice it, but I could hear the deep hiss of indrawn breath
which is one of Van Helsing's ways of betraying emotion.
He said nothing at the moment, but turned to me, saying:LETTERS , ETC. 135
"Now take down our brave young lover, give him of the
port wine, and let him lie down a while. He must then go
home and rest, sleep much and eat much, that he may be
recruited of what he has so given to his love. He must not
stay here. Hold ! a moment. I may take it, sir, that you are
anxious of result. Then bring it with you that in all ways
the operation is successful. You have saved her life this
time, and you can go home and rest easy in mind that all
that can be is . I shall tell her all when she is well ; she shall
love you none the less for what you have done. Good-bye."
When Arthur had gone I went back to the room. Lucy
was sleeping gently, but her breathing was stronger ; I
could see the counterpane move as her breast heaved. By
the bedside sat Van Helsing, looking at her intently. The
velvet band again covered the red mark. I asked the Pro-
fessor in a whisper : -
" What do you make of that mark on her throat ?"
" What do you make of it ?"
" I have not examined it yet," I answered, and then and
there proceeded to loose the band. Just over the external
jugular vein there were two punctures, not large, but not
wholesome- looking . There was no sign of disease, but the
edges were white and worn-looking, as if by some tritura-
tion. It at once occurred to me that this wound, or what-
ever it was, might be the means of that manifest loss of
blood ; but I abandoned the idea as soon as formed, for
such a thing could not be. The whole bed would have been
drenched to a scarlet with the blood which the girl must
have lost to leave such a pallor as she had before the trans-
fusion.
" Well ? " said Van Helsing.
" Well, " said I , "I can make nothing of it. " The Profes-
sor stood up. " I must go back to Amsterdam to- night, " he
said . " There are books and things there which I want. You
must remain here all the night, and you must not let your
sight pass from her."
"Shall I have a nurse ? " I asked.
" We are the best nurses, you and I. You keep watch all
night ; see that she is well fed, and that nothing disturbs136 DRACULA
her. You must not sleep all the night. Later on we can
sleep, you and I. I shall be back as soon as possible. And
then we may begin. "
"May begin ?" I said. "What on earth do you mean ?"
" We shall see !" he answered , as he hurried out. He came
back a moment later and put his head inside the door and
said with warning finger held up : -
"Remember, she is your charge. If you leave her, and
harm befall, you shall not sleep easy hereafter ! "
Dr. Seward's Diary--continued .
8 September. I sat up all night with Lucy. The opiate
worked itself off towards dusk, and she waked naturally ;
she looked a different being from what she had been be-
fore the operation. Her spirits even were good, and she
was full of a happy vivacity, but I could see evidences of
the absolute prostration which she had undergone. When I
told Mrs. Westenra that Dr. Van Helsing had directed that
I should sit up with her she almost pooh- poohed the idea,
pointing out her daughter's renewed strength and excel-
lent spirits. I was firm, however, and made preparations
for my long vigil. When her maid had prepared her for
the night I came in, having in the meantime had supper,
and took a seat by the bedside. She did not in any way
make objection, but looked at me gratefully whenever I
caught her eye. After a long spell she seemed sinking off
to sleep, but with an effort seemed to pull herself together
and shook it off. This was repeated several times, with
greater effort and with shorter pauses as the time moved
on. It was apparent that she did not want to sleep, so I
tackled the subject at once :—
"You do not want to go to sleep ?"
"No ; I am afraid. "
66 ' Afraid to go to sleep ! Why so ? It is the boon we all
crave for."
"Ah, not if you were like me-if sleep was to you a
presage of horror !"
"A presage of horror ! What on earth do you mean?"
"I don't know ; oh, I don't know. And that is what is soLETTERS , ETC. 137
terrible. All this weakness comes to me in sleep ; until I
dread the very thought. "
"But, my dear girl, you may sleep to- night. I am here
watching you, and I can promise that nothing will happen."
"Ah, I can trust you ! " I seized the opportunity, and
said : "I promise you that if I see any evidence of bad
dreams I will wake you at once."
" You will ? Oh, will you really ? How good you are to
me. Then I will sleep !" And almost at the word she gave a
deep sigh of relief, and sank back, asleep.
All night long I watched by her. She never stirred, but
slept on and on in a deep, tranquil, life-giving, health-
giving sleep. Her lips were slightly parted , and her breast
rose and fell with the regularity of a pendulum. There was
a smile on her face, and it was evident that no bad dreams
had come to disturb her peace of mind.
In the early morning her maid came, and I left her in her
care and took myself back home, for I was anxious about
many things. I sent a short wire to Van Helsing and to
Arthur, telling them of the excellent result of the opera-
tion. My own work, with its manifold arrears, took me all
day to clear off ; it was dark when I was able to inquire
about my zoophagous patient. The report was good ; he had
been quiet for the past day and night. A telegram came
from Van Helsing at Amsterdam whilst I was at dinner,
suggesting that I should be at Hillingham to-night, as it
might be well to be at hand, and stating that he was leav-
ing by the night mail and would join me early in the morn-
ing.
9 September. I was pretty tired and worn out when I
got to Hillingham . For two nights I had hardly had a wink
of sleep, and my brain was beginning to feel that numb-
ness which marks cerebral exhaustion. Lucy was up and in
cheerful spirits. When she shook hands with me she looked
sharply in my face and said : -
"No sitting up to- night for you. You are worn out. I
am quite well again ; indeed, I am ; and if there is to be any
sitting up, it is I who will sit up with you. " I would not138
DRACULA
argue the point, but went and had my supper. Lucy came
with me, and, enlivened by her charming presence, I made
an excellent meal, and had a couple of glasses of the more
than excellent port. Then Lucy took me upstairs, and
showed me a room next her own, where a cozy fire was
burning. "Now," she said, "you must stay here. I shall
leave this door open and my door too . You can lie on the
sofa for I know that nothing would induce any of you
doctors to go to bed whilst there is a patient above the hori-
son. If I want anything I shall call out, and you can come
to me at once." I could not but acquiesce, for I was "dog-
tired, " and could not have sat up had I tried . So, on her re-
newing her promise to call me if she should want anything,
I lay on the sofa, and forgot all about everything.
Lucy Westenra's Diary.
9 September. I feel so happy to- night. I have been so
miserably weak, that to be able to think and move about is
like feeling sunshine after a long spell of east wind out of
a steel sky. Somehow Arthur feels very, very close to me.
I seem to feel his presence warm about me. I suppose it is
that sickness and weakness are selfish things and turn our
inner eyes and sympathy on ourselves, whilst health and
strength give Love rein, and in thought and feeling he can
wander where he wills. I know where my thoughts are. If
Arthur only knew ! My dear, my dear, your ears must
tingle as you sleep, as mine do waking. Oh, the blissful
rest of last night ! How I slept, with that dear, good Dr.
Seward watching me. And to- night I shall not fear to
sleep, since he is close at hand and within call . Thank
everybody for being so good to me ! Thank God ! Good-
night, Arthur.
Dr. Seward's Diary.
10 September. -I was conscious of the Professor's hand
on my head, and started awake all in a second. That is one
of the things that we learn in an asylum, at any rate.
"And how is our patient ?"LETTERS , ETC. 139
" Well, when I left her, or rather when she left me," I
answered .
" Come, let us see," he said. And together we went into
the room.
The blind was down, and I went over to raise it gently,
whilst Van Helsing stepped, with his soft, cat-like tread,
over to the bed.
As I raised the blind, and the morning sunlight flooded
the room, I heard the Professor's low hiss of inspiration,
and knowing its rarity, a deadly fear shot through my
heart. As I passed over he moved back, and his exclama-
tion of horror, " Gott in Himmel !" needed no enforcement
from his agonised face. He raised his hand and pointed to
the bed, and his iron face was drawn and ashen white. I
felt my knees begin to tremble.
There on the bed, seemingly in a swoon, lay poor Lucy,
more horribly white and wan-looking than ever. Even the
lips were white, and the gums seemed to have shrunken
back from the teeth, as we sometimes see in a corpse after
a prolonged illness. Van Helsing raised his foot to stamp
in anger, but the instinct of his life and all the long years
of habit stood to him, and he put it down again softly.
" Quick !" he said. "Bring the brandy." I flew to the dining-
room, and returned with the decanter. He wetted the poor
white lips with it, and together we rubbed palm and wrist
and heart. He felt her heart, and after a few moments of
agonising suspense said : -
"It is not too late. It beats , though but feebly. All our
work is undone ; we must begin anew. There is no young
Arthur here now ; I have to call on you yourself this time,
friend John. " As he spoke, he was dipping into his bag and
producing the instruments for transfusion ; I had taken off
my coat and rolled up my shirt- sleeve. There was no possi-
bility of an opiate just at present, and no need of one ; and
so, without a moment's delay, we began the operation.
After a time-it did not seem a short time either, for the
draining away of one's blood, no matter how willingly it
be given, is a terrible feeling-Van Helsing held up a
warning finger. "Do not stir," he said, "but I fear that with
growing strength she may wake ; and that would makeA
140 DRACULA
danger, oh, so much danger. But I shall precaution take.
I shall give hypodermic injection of morphia. " He pro-
ceeded then, swiftly and deftly, to carry out his intent . The
effect on Lucy was not bad, for the faint seemed to merge
subtly into the narcotic sleep. It was with a feeling of per-
sonal pride that I could see a faint tinge of colour steal
back into the pallid cheeks and lips. No man knows, till he
experiences it, what it is to feel his own life- blood drawn
away into the veins of the woman he loves.
The Professor watched me critically. "That will do," he
said. "Already ?" I remonstrated. "You took a great deal
more from Art. " To which he smiled a sad sort of smile as
he replied : -
"He is her lover, her fiancé. You have work, much work,
to do for her and for others ; and the present will suffice. "
When we stopped the operation, he attended to Lucy,
whilst I applied digital pressure to my own incision. I laid
down, whilst I waited his leisure to attend to me, for I felt
faint and a little sick. By-and-by he bound up my wound,
and sent me down-stairs to get a glass of wine for myself.
As I was leaving the room, he came after me, and half
whispered : -
"Mind, nothing must be said of this. If our young lover
should turn up unexpected, as before, no word to him. It
would at once frighten him and enjealous him , too . There
must be none. So ! "
When I came back he looked at me carefully, and then
said : -
"You are not much the worse. Go into the room, and lie
on your sofa, and rest awhile ; then have much breakfast,
and come here to me. "
I followed out his orders, for I knew how right and wise
they were. I had done my part, and now my next duty was
to keep up my strength. I felt very weak, and in the weak-
ness lost something of the amazement at what had oc-
curred. I fell asleep on the sofa, however, wondering over
and over again how Lucy had made such a retrograde
movement, and how she could have been drained of so
much blood with no sign anywhere to show for it. I think
I must have continued my wonder in my dreams, for, sleep-LETTERS , ETC. 141
ing and waking, my thoughts always came back to the
little punctures in her throat and the ragged, exhausted
appearance of their edges- tiny though they were.
Lucy slept well into the day, and when she woke she was
fairly well and strong, though not nearly so much so as the
day before. When Van Helsing had seen her, he went out
for a walk, leaving me in charge, with strict injunctions
that I was not to leave her for a moment. I could hear his
voice in the hall, asking the way to the nearest telegraph
office.
Lucy chatted with me freely, and seemed quite uncon-
scious that anything had happened . I tried to keep her
amused and interested. When her mother came up to see
her, she did not seem to notice any change whatever, but
said to me gratefully : -
" We owe you so much, Dr. Seward, for all you have
done, but you really must now take care not to overwork
yourself. You are looking pale yourself . You want a wife
to nurse and look after you a bit ; that you do !" As she
spoke, Lucy turned crimson, though it was only momen-
tarily, for her poor wasted veins could not stand for long
such an unwonted drain to the head. The reaction came in
excessive pallor as she turned imploring eyes on me. I
smiled and nodded, and laid my finger on my lips ; with a
sigh, she sank back amid her pillows.
Van Helsing returned in a couple of hours, and pres-
ently said to me : "Now you go home, and eat much and
drink enough. Make yourself strong. I stay here to-night,
and I shall sit up with little miss myself. You and I must
watch the case, and we must have none other to know. I
have grave reasons. No, do not ask them ; think what you
will. Do not fear to think even the most not- probable .
Good-night."
In the hall two of the maids came to me, and asked if
they or either of them might not sit up with Miss Lucy.
They implored me to let them ; and when I said it was Dr.
Van Helsing's wish that either he or I should sit up, they
asked me quite piteously to intercede with the "foreign
gentleman." I was much touched by their kindness . Per-
haps it is because I am weak at present, and perhaps be-142 DRACULA
cause it was on Lucy's account, that their devotion was
manifested ; for over and over again have I seen similar
instances of woman's kindness . I got back here in time for
a late dinner ; went my rounds-all well ; and set this
down whilst waiting for sleep . It is coming.
11 September. This afternoon I went over to Hilling-
ham. Found Van Helsing in excellent spirits, and Lucy
much better. Shortly after I had arrived, a big parcel from
abroad came for the Professor. He opened it with much
impressment-assumed, of course-and showed a great
bundle of white flowers.
" These are for you, Miss Lucy, " he said.
"For me? Oh, Dr. Van Helsing !"
"Yes, my dear, but not for you to play with. These are
medicines." Here Lucy made a wry face. "Nay, but they
are not to take in a decoction or in nauseous form, so you
need not snub that so charming nose, or I shall point out
to my friend Arthur what woes he may have to endure in
seeing so much beauty that he so loves so much distort.
Aha, my pretty miss, that bring the so nice nose all straight
again. This is medicinal, but you do not know how. I put
him in your window, I make pretty wreath , and hang him
round your neck, so that you sleep well. Oh yes ! they, like
the lotus flower, make your trouble forgotten. It smell so
like the waters of Lethe, and of that fountain of youth
that the Conquistadores sought for in the Floridas, and
find him all too late."
Whilst he was speaking, Lucy had been examining the
flowers and smelling them. Now she threw them down,
saying, with half- laughter, and half - disgust : -
"Oh, Professor, I believe you are only putting up a joke
on me. Why, these flowers are only common garlic. "
To my surprise, Van Helsing rose up and said with all
his sternness, his iron jaw set and his bushy eyebrows
meeting : -
"No trifling with me ! ' I never jest ! There is grim pur-
pose in all I do ; and I warn you that you do not thwart
me. Take care, for the sake of others if not for your own. "
Then seeing poor Lucy scared, as she might well be, heLETTERS , ETC. 143
went on more gently : "Oh, little miss, my dear, do not
fear me. I only do for your good ; but there is much virtue
to you in those so common flowers. See, I place them my-
self in your room. I make myself the wreath that you are
to wear. But hush ! no telling to others that make so in-
quisitive questions. We must obey, and silence is a part of
obedience ; and obedience is to bring you strong and well
into loving arms that wait for you . Now sit still awhile.
Come with me, friend John , and you shall help me deck the
room with my garlic, which is all the way from Haarlem,
where my friend Vanderpool raise herb in his glass-houses
all the year. I had to telegraph yesterday, or they would
not have been here. "
We went into the room , taking the flowers with us. The
Professor's actions were certainly odd and not to be found
in any pharmacopoeia that I ever heard of. First he fas-
tened up the windows and latched them securely ; next,
taking a handful of the flowers, he rubbed them all over
the sashes, as though to ensure that every whiff of air that
might get in would be laden with the garlic smell. Then
with the wisp he rubbed all over the jamb of the door,
above, below , and at each side, and round the fireplace in
the same way. It all seemed grotesque to me, and presently
I said : -
" Well, Professor, I know you always have a reason for
what you do, but this certainly puzzles me. It is well we
have no sceptic here, or he would say that you were work-
ing some spell to keep out an evil spirit. "
" Perhaps I am ! " he answered quietly as he began to
make the wreath which Lucy was to wear round her neck.
We then waited whilst Lucy made her toilet for the
night, and when she was in bed he came and himself fixed
the wreath of garlic round her neck. The last words he said
to here were : -
"Take care you do not disturb it ; and even if the room
feel close, do not to-night open the window or the door. "
"I promise, " said Lucy, "and thank you both a thousand
times for all your kindness to me ! Oh, what have I done to
be blessed with such friends ?"144 DRACULA
As we left the house in my fly, which was waiting, Van
Helsing said : -
"To-night I can sleep in peace, and sleep I want-two
nights of travel, much reading in the day between, and
much anxiety on the day to follow, and a night to sit up,
without to wink. To-morrow in the morning early you call
for me, and we come together to see our pretty miss, so
much more strong for my ' spell' which I have work. Ho!
ho ! "
He seemed so confident that I, remembering my own
confidence two nights before and with the baneful result,
felt awe and vague terror. It must have been my weakness
that made me hesitate to tell it to my friend, but I felt it
all the more, like unshed tears.