has yet to get on shore. In the night he may lie hidden somewhere,
but if he be not carried on shore, or if the ship do not touch it,
he cannot achieve the land. In such case he can, if it be in the
night, change his form and jump or fly on shore, then, unless he be
carried he cannot escape. And if he be carried, then the customs
men may discover what the box contain. Thus, in fine, if he escape
not on shore tonight, or before dawn, there will be the whole day
lost to him. We may then arrive in time. For if he escape not at
night we shall come on him in daytime, boxed up and at our mercy.
For he dare not be his true self, awake and visible, lest he be
discovered."
There was no more to be said, so we waited in patience until the
dawn, at which time we might learn more from Mrs. Harker.
Early this morning we listened, with breathless anxiety, for her
response in her trance. The hypnotic stage was even longer in
coming than before, and when it came the time remaining until full
sunrise was so short that we began to despair. Van Helsing seemed
to throw his whole soul into the effort. At last, in obedience to
his will she made reply.
"All is dark. I hear lapping water, level with me, and some
creaking as of wood on wood." She paused, and the red sun shot up.
We must wait till tonight.
And so it is that we are travelling towards Galatz in an agony
of expectation. We are due to arrive between two and three in the
morning. But already, at Bucharest, we are three hours late, so we
cannot possibly get in till well after sunup. Thus we shall have
two more hypnotic messages from Mrs. Harker! Either or both may
possibly throw more light on what is happening.
Later.—Sunset has come and gone. Fortunately it came at a time
when there was no distraction. For had it occurred whilst we were
at a station, we might not have secured the necessary calm and
isolation. Mrs. Harker yielded to the hypnotic influence even less
readily than this morning. I am in fear that her power of readingreadily than this morning. I am in fear that her power of reading
the Count's sensations may die away, just when we want it most. It
seems to me that her imagination is beginning to work. Whilst she
has been in the trance hitherto she has confined herself to the
simplest of facts. If this goes on it may ultimately mislead us. If
I thought that the Count's power over her would die away equally
with her power of knowledge it would be a happy thought. But I am
afraid that it may not be so.
When she did speak, her words were enigmatical,"Something is
going out. I can feel it pass me like a cold wind. I can hear, far
off, confused sounds, as of men talking in strange tongues, fierce
falling water, and the howling of wolves." She stopped and a
shudder ran through her, increasing in intensity for a few seconds,
till at the end, she shook as though in a palsy. She said no more,
even in answer to the Professor's imperative questioning. When she
woke from the trance, she was cold, and exhausted, and languid, but
her mind was all alert. She could not remember anything, but asked
what she had said. When she was told, she pondered over it deeply
for a long time and in silence.
30 October, 7 a. m.—We are near Galatz now, and I may not have
time to write later. Sunrise this morning was anxiously looked for
by us all. Knowing of the increasing difficulty of procuring the
hypnotic trance, Van Helsing began his passes earlier than usual.
They produced no effect, however, until the regular time, when she
yielded with a still greater difficulty, only a minute before the
sun rose. The Professor lost no time in his questioning.
Her answer came with equal quickness, "All is dark. I hear water
swirling by, level with my ears, and the creaking of wood on wood.
Cattle low far off. There is another sound, a queer one like …
" She stopped and grew white, and whiter still.
"Go on, go on! Speak, I command you!" said Van Helsing in an
agonized voice. At the same time there was despair in his eyes, foragonized voice. At the same time there was despair in his eyes, for
the risen sun was reddening even Mrs. Harker's pale face. She
opened her eyes, and we all started as she said, sweetly and
seemingly with the utmost unconcern.
"Oh, Professor, why ask me to do what you know I can't? I don't
remember anything." Then, seeing the look of amazement on our
faces, she said, turning from one to the other with a troubled
look, "What have I said? What have I done? I know nothing, only
that I was lying here, half asleep, and heard you say `go on!
speak, I command you!' It seemed so funny to hear you order me
about, as if I were a bad child!"
"Oh, Madam Mina," he said, sadly, "it is proof, if proof be
needed, of how I love and honor you, when a word for your good,
spoken more earnest than ever, can seem so strange because it is to
order her whom I am proud to obey!"
The whistles are sounding. We are nearing Galatz. We are on fire
with anxiety and eagerness.
MINA HARKER'S JOURNAL
30 October.—Mr. Morris took me to the hotel where our rooms had
been ordered by telegraph, he being the one who could best be
spared, since he does not speak any foreign language. The forces
were distributed much as they had been at Varna, except that Lord
Godalming went to the Vice Consul, as his rank might serve as an
immediate guarantee of some sort to the official, we being in
extreme hurry. Jonathan and the two doctors went to the shipping
agent to learn particulars of the arrival of the Czarina
Catherine.
Later.—Lord Godalming has returned. The Consul is away, and the
Vice Consul sick. So the routine work has been attended to by a
clerk. He was very obliging, and offered to do anything in his
power.
JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL
30 October.—At nine o'clock Dr. Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and I
called on Messrs. Mackenzie & Steinkoff, the agents of the
London firm of Hapgood. They had received a wire from London, in
answer to Lord Godalming's telegraphed request, asking them to show
us any civility in their power. They were more than kind and