3 October.—Let me put down with exactness all that happened, as
well as I can remember, since last I made an entry. Not a detail
that I can 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
his left side in a glittering pool of blood. When I went to move
him, it became at once apparent that he had received some terrible
injuries. There seemed none of the unity of purpose between the
parts of the body which marks even lethargic sanity. As the face
was exposed I could see that it was horribly bruised, as though it
had been beaten against the floor. Indeed it was from the face
wounds that the pool of blood originated.
The attendant who was kneeling beside the body said to me as we
turned him over, "I think, sir, his back is broken. See, both his
right arm and leg and the whole side of his face are paralysed."
How such a thing could have happened puzzled the attendant beyond
measure. He seemed quite bewildered, and his brows were gathered in
as he said, "I can't understand the two things. He could mark his
face like that by beating his own head on the floor. I saw a young
woman do it once at the Eversfield Asylum before anyone could lay
hands on her. And I suppose he might have broken his neck by
falling out of bed, if he got in an awkward kink. But for the life
of me I can't imagine how the two things occurred. If his back was
broke, he couldn't beat his head, and if his face was like that
before the fall out of bed, there would be marks of it."
I said to him, "Go to Dr. Van Helsing, and ask him to kindly
come here at once. I want him without an instant's delay."
The man ran off, and within a few minutes the Professor, in his
dressing gown and slippers, appeared. When he saw Renfield on the
ground, he looked keenly at him a moment, and then turned to me. I
think he recognized my thought in my eyes, for he said very
quietly, manifestly for the ears of the attendant, "Ah, a sad
accident! He will need very careful watching, and much attention. Iaccident! He will need very careful watching, and much attention. 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
see that he had suffered some terrible injury.
Van Helsing returned with extraordinary celerity, bearing with
him a surgical case. He had evidently been thinking and had his
mind made up, for almost before he looked at the patient, he
whispered to me, "Send the attendant away. We must be alone with
him when he becomes conscious, after the operation."
I said, "I think that will do now, Simmons. We have done all
that we can at present. 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 depressed fracture of the skull, extending right up through
the motor area.
The Professor thought a moment and said,"We must reduce the
pressure and get back to normal conditions, as far as can be. The
rapidity of the suffusion shows the terrible nature of his injury.
The whole motor area seems affected. The suffusion of the brain
will increase quickly, so we must trephine at once or it may be too
late."
As he was speaking there was a soft tapping at the door. I went
over and opened it and found in the corridor without, Arthur and
Quincey in pajamas 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. Things are
moving too quickly and too strangely for sound sleep for any of us
these times. I've been thinking that tomorrow night will not see
things as they have been. We'll have to look back, and forward a
little more than we have done. May we come in?"
I nodded, and held the door open till they had entered, then II nodded, and held the door open till they had entered, then I
closed it again. When Quincey saw the attitude and state of the
patient, and noted the horrible pool on the floor, he said softly,
"My God! What has happened to him? Poor, poor devil!"
I told him briefly, and added that we expected he would recover
consciousness after the operation, for a short time, at all events.
He went at once and sat down on the edge of the bed, with Godalming
beside him. We all watched in patience.
"We shall wait," said Van Helsing, "just long enough to fix the
best spot for trephining, so that we may most quickly and perfectly
remove the blood clot, for it is evident that the haemorrhage is
increasing."
The minutes during which we waited passed with fearful slowness.
I had a horrible sinking in my heart, and from Van Helsing's face I
gathered that he felt some fear or apprehension as to what was to
come. I dreaded the words Renfield might speak. I was positively
afraid to think. But the conviction of what was coming was on me,
as I have read of men who have heard the death watch. The poor
man's breathing came in uncertain gasps.Each instant he seemed as
though he would open his eyes and speak, but then would follow a
prolonged stertorous breath, and he would relapse into a more fixed
insensibility. Inured as I was to sick beds and death, this
suspense grew and grew upon me. I could almost hear the beating of
my own heart, and the blood surging through my temples sounded like
blows from a hammer. The silence finally became agonizing. I looked
at my companions, one after another, and saw from their flushed
faces and damp brows that they were enduring equal torture. There
was a nervous suspense over us all, as though overhead some dread
bell would peal out powerfully when we should least expect it.
At last there came a time when it was evident that the patient
was sinking fast. He might die at any moment. I looked up at the
Professor and caught his eyes fixed on mine. His face was sternly