Before going to bed I went round to the patient's room and looked inthrough the observation trap. He was sleeping soundly, and his chestrose and fell with regular respiration.
This morning the man on duty reported to me that a little after midnighthe was restless and kept saying his prayers somewhat loudly. I askedhim if that was all; he replied that it was all he heard. There wassomething about his manner so suspicious that I asked point-blank if hehad been asleep. He denied sleep, but admitted to having "dozed" for awhile. It is too bad that men cannot be trusted unless they are watched.
To-day Harker is out following up his clue, and Art and Quincey arelooking after horses. Godalming thinks that it will be well to havehorses always in readiness, for when we get the information which weseek there will be no time to lose. We must sterilise all the importedearth between sunrise and sunset; we shall thus catch the Count at hisweakest, and without a refuge to fly to. Van Helsing is off to theBritish Museum, looking up some authorities on ancient medicine. Theold physicians took account of things which their followers do notaccept, and the Professor is searching for witch and demon cures whichmay be useful later.
I sometimes think we must be all mad and that we shall wake to sanity instrait-waistcoats.
_Later._--We have met again. We seem at last to be on the track,and our work of to-morrow may be the beginning of the end. I wonderif Renfield's quiet has anything to do with this. His moods have sofollowed the doings of the Count, that the coming destruction of themonster may be carried to him in some subtle way. If we could only getsome hint as to what passed in his mind, between the time of my argumentwith him to-day and his resumption of fly-catching, it might afford us avaluable clue. He is now seemingly quiet for a spell.... Is he?---- thatwild yell seemed to come from his room....
The attendant came bursting into my room and told me that Renfield hadsomehow met with some accident. He had heard him yell; and when he wentto him found him lying on his face on the floor, all covered with blood.I must go at once....
CHAPTER XXI.
/Dr. Seward's Diary./
_3 October._--Let me put down with exactness all that happened, as wellas I can remember it, since last I made an entry. Not a detail that Ican recall must be forgotten; in all calmness I must proceed.
When I came to Renfield's room I found him lying on the floor on hisleft side in a glittering pool of blood. When I went to move him, itbecame at once apparent that he had received some terrible injuries;there seemed none of that unity of purpose between the parts of thebody which marks even lethargic sanity. As the face was exposed I couldsee that it was horribly bruised, as though it had been beaten againstthe floor--indeed it was from the face wounds that the pool of bloodoriginated. The attendant who was kneeling beside the body said to me aswe turned him over:--
"I think, sir, his back is broken. See, both his right arm and legand the whole side of his face are paralysed." How such a thing couldhave happened puzzled the attendant beyond measure. He seemed quitebewildered, and his brows were gathered in as he said:--
"I can't understand the two things. He could mark his face like thatby beating his own head on the ground. I saw a young woman do it onceat the Eversfield Asylum before anyone could lay hands on her. And Isuppose he might have broke his back by falling out of bed, if he gotin an awkward kink. But for the life of me I can't imagine how the twothings occurred. If his back was broke, he couldn't beat his head; andif his face was like that before the fall out of bed, there would bemarks of it." I said to him:--
"Go to Dr. Van Helsing, and ask him to kindly come here at once. I wanthim without an instant's delay." The man ran off, and within a very fewminutes the Professor, in his dressing-gown and slippers appeared. Whenhe saw Renfield on the ground, he looked keenly at him a moment and thenturned to me. I think he recognized my thought in my eyes, for he saidvery quietly, manifestly for the ears of the attendant:--
"Ah, a sad accident! He will need very careful watching, and muchattention. I shall stay with you myself; but I shall first dress myself.If you will remain I shall in a few minutes join you."
The patient was now breathing stertorously, and it was easy to seethat he had suffered some terrible injury. Van Helsing returned withextraordinary celerity, bearing with him a surgical case. He hadevidently been thinking and had his mind made up; for, almost before helooked at the patient, he whispered to me:--
"Send the attendant away. We must be alone with him when he becomesconscious, after the operation." So I said:--
"I think that will do now, Simmons. We have done all that we can atpresent. You had better go your round, and Dr. Van Helsing will operate.Let me know instantly if there be anything unusual anywhere."
The man withdrew, and we went into a strict examination of the patient.The wounds of the face were superficial; the real injury was a depressedfracture of the skull, extending right up through the motor area. TheProfessor thought a moment and said:--
"We must reduce the pressure and get back to normal conditions, as faras can be; the rapidity of the suffusion shows the terrible nature ofhis injury. The whole motor area seems affected. The suffusion of thebrain will increase quickly, so we must trephine at once or it may betoo late." As he was speaking there was a soft tapping at the door. Iwent over and opened it and found in the corridor without, Arthur andQuincey in pyjamas and slippers: the former spoke:--
"I heard your man call up Dr. Van Helsing and tell him of an accident.So I woke Quincey, or rather called for him as he was not asleep. Thingsare moving too quickly and too strangely for sound sleep for any ofus these times. I've been thinking that to-morrow night will not seethings as they have been. We'll have to look back--and forward a littlemore than we have done. May we come in?" I nodded, and held the dooropen till they had entered; then I closed it again. When Quincey saw theattitude and state of the patient, and noted the horrible pool on thefloor, he said softly:--
"My God! what has happened to him? Poor, poor devil!" I told himbriefly, and added that we expected he would recover consciousness afterthe operation--for a short time at all events. He went at once and satdown on the edge of the bed, with Godalming beside him; we all watchedin patience.
"We shall wait," said Van Helsing, "just long enough to fix the bestspot for trephining, so that we may most quickly and perfectly removethe blood clot; for it is evident that the haemorrhage is increasing."
The minutes during which we waited passed with fearful slowness. I hada horrible sinking in my heart, and from Van Helsing's face I gatheredthat he felt some fear or apprehension as to what was to come. Idreaded the words that Renfield might speak. I was positively afraid tothink; but the conviction of what was coming was on me, as I have readof men who have heard the death-watch. The poor man's breathing camein uncertain gasps. Each instant he seemed as though he would open hiseyes and speak; but then would follow a prolonged stertorous breath,and he would relapse into a more fixed insensibility. Inured as I wasto sick-beds and death, this suspense grew, and grew upon me. I couldalmost hear the beating of my own heart; and the blood surging throughmy temples sounded like blows from a hammer. The silence finally becameagonising. I looked at my companions, one after another, and saw fromtheir flushed faces and damp brows that they were enduring equaltorture. There was a nervous suspense over us all, as though overheadsome dread bell would peal out powerfully when we should least expectit.
At last there came a time when it was evident that the patient wassinking fast; he might die at any moment. I looked up at the Professorand caught his eyes fixed on mine. His face was sternly set as hespoke:--
"There is no time to lose. His words may be worth many lives; I havebeen thinking so, as I stood here. It may be there is a soul at stake!We shall operate just above the ear."
Without another word he made the operation. For a few moments thebreathing continued to be stertorous. Then there came a breath soprolonged that it seemed as though it would tear open his chest.Suddenly his eyes opened, and became fixed in a wild, helplessstare. This was continued for a few moments; then it softened intoa glad surprise, and from the lips came a sigh of relief. He movedconvulsively, and as he did so, said:--
"I'll be quiet, Doctor. Tell them to take off the strait-waistcoat. Ihave had a terrible dream, and it has left me so weak that I cannotmove. What's wrong with my face? It feels all swollen, and it smartsdreadfully." He tried to turn his head; but even with the effort hiseyes seemed to grow glassy again, so I gently put it back. Then VanHelsing said in a quiet, grave tone:--
"Tell us your dream, Mr. Renfield." As he heard the voice his facebrightened through its mutilation, and he said:--
"That is Dr. Van Helsing. How good it is of you to be here. Give me somewater, my lips are dry; and I shall try to tell you. I dreamed"--hestopped and seemed fainting. I called quietly to Quincey--"Thebrandy--it is in my study--quick!" He flew and returned with a glass,the decanter of brandy and a carafe of water. We moistened the parchedlips, and the patient quickly revived. It seemed, however, that his poorinjured brain had been working in the interval, for, when he was quiteconscious, he looked at me piercingly with an agonised confusion which Ishall never forget, and said:--
"I must not deceive myself; it was no dream, but all a grim reality."Then his eyes roved round the room; as they caught sight of the twofigures sitting patiently on the edge of the bed he went on:--