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_Report from Patrick Hennessey, M.D., M.R.C.S., L.K.Q.CP.I., etc., etc.,to John Seward, M.D._

"_20 September._

"My dear Sir,--

"In accordance with your wishes, I enclose report of the conditionsof everything left in my charge.... With regard to patient, Renfield,there is more to say. He has had another outbreak which might have had adreadful ending, but which, as it fortunately happened, was unattendedwith any unhappy results. This afternoon a carrier's cart with two menmade a call at the empty house whose grounds abut on ours--the house towhich, you will remember, the patient twice ran away. The men stoppedat our gate to ask the porter their way, as they were strangers. I wasmyself looking out of the study window, having a smoke after dinner,and saw one of them come up to the house. As he passed the window ofRenfield's room, the patient began to rate him from within, and calledhim all the foul names he could lay his tongue to. The man, who seemed adecent fellow enough, contented himself by telling him to 'shut up fora foul-mouthed beggar,' whereon our man accused him of robbing him andwanting to murder him and said that he would hinder him if he were toswing for it. I opened the window and signed to the man not to notice,so he contented himself after looking the place over and making up hismind as to what kind of place he had got to by saying: 'Lor' bless yer,sir, I wouldn't mind what was said to me in a bloomin' madhouse. I pityye and the guv'nor for havin' to live in the house with a wild beastlike that.' Then he asked the way civilly enough, and I told him wherethe gate of the empty house was; he went away, followed by threats andcurses and revilings from our man. I went down to see if I could makeout any cause for his anger, since he is usually such a well-behavedman, and except his violent fits nothing of the kind had ever occurred.I found him, to my astonishment, quite composed and most genial in hismanner. I tried to get him to talk of the incident, but he blandly askedme questions as to what I meant, and led me to believe that he wascompletely oblivious of the affair. It was, I am sorry to say, however,only another instance of his cunning, for within half an hour I heard ofhim again. This time he had broken out through the window of his room,and was running down the avenue. I called to the attendants to followme, and ran after him, for I feared he was intent on some mischief. Myfear was justified when I saw the same cart which had passed beforecoming down the road, having on it some great wooden boxes. The men werewiping their foreheads, and were flushed in the face, as if with violentexercise. Before I could get up to him the patient rushed at them, andpulling one of them off the cart, began to knock his head against theground. If I had not seized him just at the moment I believe he wouldhave killed the man there and then. The other fellow jumped down andstruck him over the head with the butt-end of his heavy whip. It wasa terrible blow; but he did not seem to mind it, but seized him also,and struggled with the three of us, pulling us to and fro as if we werekittens. You know I am no light weight, and the others were both burlymen. At first he was silent in his fighting; but as we began to masterhim, and the attendants were putting a strait-waistcoat on him, hebegan to shout: 'I'll frustrate them! They shan't rob me! they shan'tmurder me by inches! I'll fight for my Lord and Master!' and all sortsof similar incoherent ravings. It was with very considerable difficultythat they got him back to the house and put him in the padded room. Oneof the attendants, Hardy, had a finger broken. However, I set it allright; and he is going on well.

"The two carriers were at first loud in their threats of actions fordamages, and promised to rain all the penalties of the law on us. Theirthreats were, however, mingled with some sort of indirect apology forthe defeat of the two of them by a feeble madman. They said that if ithad not been for the way their strength had been spent in carrying andraising the heavy boxes to the cart they would have made short work ofhim. They gave as another reason for their defea

t the extraordinarystate of drouth to which they had been reduced by the dusty nature oftheir occupation and the reprehensible distance from the scene of theirlabours of any place of public entertainment. I quite understood theirdrift, and after a stiff glass of grog, or rather more of the same,and with each a sovereign in hand, they made light of the attack, andswore that they would encounter a worse madman any day for the pleasureof meeting so 'bloomin' good a bloke' as your correspondent. I tooktheir names and addresses, in case they might be needed. They are asfollows:--Jack Smollet, of Dudding's Rents, King George's Road, GreatWalworth, and Thomas Snelling, Peter Parley's Row, Guide Court, BethnalGreen. They are both in the employment of Harris & Sons, Moving andShipment Company, Orange Master's Yard, Soho.

"I shall report to you any matter of interest occurring here, and shallwire you at once if there is anything of importance.

"Believe me, dear Sir, "Yours faithfully, "/Patrick Hennessey./"

_Letter, Mina Harker to Lucy Westenra._

(Unopened by her.)

"_18 September._

"My dearest Lucy,--

"Such a sad blow has befallen us. Mr. Hawkins has died very suddenly.Some may not think it so sad for us, but we had both come to so lovehim that it really seems as though we had lost a father. I never kneweither father or mother, so that the dear old man's death is a real blowto me. Jonathan is greatly distressed. It is not only that he feelssorrow, deep sorrow, for the dear, good man who has befriended him allhis life, and now at the end has treated him like his own son and lefthim a fortune which to people of our modest bringing up is wealth beyondthe dream of avarice, but Jonathan feels it on another account. He saysthe amount of responsibility which it puts upon him makes him nervous.He begins to doubt himself. I try to cheer him up, and _my_ belief in_him_ helps him to have a belief in himself. But it is here that thegrave shock that he experienced tells upon him the most. Oh, it is toohard that a sweet, simple, noble, strong nature such as his--a naturewhich enabled him by our dear, good friend's aid, to rise from clerk tomaster in a few years--should be so injured that the very essence ofits strength is gone. Forgive me, dear, if I worry you with my troublesin the midst of your own happiness; but, Lucy dear, I must tell someone, for the strain of keeping up a brave and cheerful appearance toJonathan tries me, and I have no one here that I can confide in. I dreadcoming up to London, as we must do the day after to-morrow; for poor Mr.Hawkins left in his will that he was to be buried in the grave with hisfather. As there are no relations at all, Jonathan will have to be chiefmourner. I shall try to run over to see you, dearest, if only for a fewminutes. Forgive me for troubling you. With all blessings,

"Your loving "/Mina Harker./"

_Dr. Seward's Diary._

_20 September._--Only resolution and habit can let me make an entryto-night. I am too miserable, too low-spirited, too sick of the worldand all in it, including life itself, and I would not care if I heardthis moment the flapping of the wings of the angel of death. And he hasbeen flapping those grim wings to some purpose of late--Lucy's motherand Arthur's father, and now.... Let me get on with my work.

I duly relieved Van Helsing in his watch over Lucy. We wanted Arthur togo to rest also, but he refused at first. It was only when I told himthat we should want him to help us during the day, and that we must notall break down for want of rest, lest Lucy should suffer, that he agreedto go. Van Helsing was very kind to him. "Come, my child," he said;"come with me. You are sick and weak, and have had much sorrow and muchmental pain, as well as that tax on your strength that we know of. Youmust not be alone; for to be alone is to be full of fears and alarms.Come to the drawing-room, where there is a big fire, and there are twosofas. You shall lie on one, and I on the other, and our sympathy willbe comfort for each other, even though we do not speak, and even ifwe sleep." Arthur went off with him, casting back a longing look onLucy's face, which lay on her pillow, almost whiter than the lawn. Shelay quite still, and I looked round the room to see that all was asit should be. I could see that the Professor had carried out in thisroom, as in the other, his purpose of using the garlic; the whole ofthe window-sashes reeked with it, and round Lucy's neck, over the silkhandkerchief which Van Helsing made her keep on, was a rough chaplet ofthe same odorous flowers. Lucy was breathing somewhat stertorously, andher face was at its worst, for the open mouth showed the pale gums. Herteeth, in the dim, uncertain light, seemed longer and sharper than theyhad been in the morning. In particular, by some trick of the light, thecanine teeth looked longer and sharper than the rest. I sat down by her,and presently she moved uneasily. At the same moment there came a sortof dull flapping or buffeting at the window. I went over to it softly,and peeped out by the corner of the blind. There was a full moonlight,and I could see that the noise was made by a great bat, which wheeledround--doubtless attracted by the light, although so dim--and everynow and again struck the window with its wings. When I came back to myseat I found that Lucy had moved slightly, and had torn away the garlicflowers from her throat. I replaced them as well as I could, and satwatching her.

Presently she woke, and I gave her food, as Van Helsing had prescribed.She took but a little, and that languidly. There did not seem to bewith her now the unconscious struggle for life and strength that hadhitherto so marked her illness. It struck me as curious that the momentshe became conscious she pressed the garlic flowers close to her. It wascertainly odd that whenever she got into that lethargic state, with thestertorous breathing, she put the flowers from her; but that when shewaked she clutched them close. There was no possibility of making anymistake about this, for in the long hours that followed, she had manyspells of sleeping and waking, and repeated both actions many times.

At six o'clock Van Helsing came to relieve me. Arthur had then falleninto a doze, and he mercifully let him sleep on. When he saw Lucy's faceI could hear the hissing indraw of his breath, and he said to me in asharp whisper: "Draw up the blind; I want light!" Then he bent down,and, with his face almost touching Lucy's, examined her carefully. Heremoved the flowers and lifted the silk handkerchief from her throat.As he did so he started back, and I could hear his ejaculation, "MeinGott!" as it was smothered in his throat. I bent over and looked too,and as I noticed some queer chill came over me.

The wounds on the throat had absolutely disappeared.

For fully five minutes Van Helsing stood looking at her, with his faceat its sternest. Then he turned to me and said calmly:--

"She is dying. It will not be long now. It will be much difference, markme, whether she dies conscious or in her sleep. Wake that poor boy, andlet him come and see the last; he trusts us, and we have promised him."

I went to the dining-room and waked him. He was dazed for a moment, butwhen he saw the sunlight streaming in through the edges of the shuttershe thought he was late, and expressed his fear. I assured him thatLucy was still asleep, but told him as gently as I could that both VanHelsing and I feared that the end was near. He covered his face withhis hands, and slid down on his knees by the sofa, where he remained,perhaps a minute, with his hands buried, praying, whilst his shouldersshook with grief. I took him by the hand and raised him up. "Come," Isaid, "my dear old fellow, summon all your fortitude; it will be bestand easiest for _her_."

When we came into Lucy's room I could see that Van Helsing had, with hisusual forethought, been putting matters straight and making everythinglook as pleasing as possible. He had even brushed Lucy's hair, so thatit lay on the pillow in its usual sunny ripples. When we came into theroom she opened her eyes, and seeing him, whispered softly:--

"Arthur! Oh, my love, I am glad you have come!" He was stooping to kissher, when Van Helsing motioned him back. "No," he whispered, "not yet!Hold her hand; it will comfort her more."

So Arthur took her hand and knelt beside her, and she looked her best,with all the soft lines matching the angelic beauty of her eyes. Thengradually her eyes closed, and she sank to sleep. For a little bit herbreast heaved softly, and her breath came and went

like a tired child's.

And then insensibly there came the strange change which I had noticed inthe night. Her breathing grew stertorous, the mouth opened, and the palegums, drawn back, made the teeth look longer and sharper than ever. In asort of sleep-waking, vague, unconscious way she opened her eyes, whichwere now dull and hard at once, and said in a soft voluptuous voice,such as I had never heard from her lips:--

"Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me!" Arthur benteagerly over to kiss her; but at that instant Van Helsing, who, like me,had been startled by her voice, swooped upon him, and catching him bythe neck with both hands, dragged him back with a fury of strength whichI never thought he could have possessed, and actually hurled him almostacross the room.

"Not for your life!" he said; "not for your living soul and hers!" Andhe stood between them like a lion at bay.


Tags: Bram Stoker Vampires