prompt:
Chapter: _3 October._--As I must do something or go mad, I write this diary. It
is now six o'clock, and we are to meet in the study in half an hour and
take something to eat; for Dr. Van Helsing and Dr. Seward are agreed
that if we do not eat we cannot work our best. Our best will be, God
knows, required to-day. I must keep writing at every chance, for I dare
not stop to think. All, big and little, must go down; perhaps at the end
the little things may teach us most. The teaching, big or little, could
not have landed Mina or me anywhere worse than we are to-day. However,
we must trust and hope. Poor Mina told me just now, with the tears
running down her dear cheeks, that it is in trouble and trial that our
faith is tested--that we must keep on trusting; and that God will aid us
up to the end. The end! oh my God! what end?... To work! To work!

When Dr. Van Helsing and Dr. Seward had come back from seeing poor
Renfield, we went gravely into what was to be done. First, Dr. Seward
told us that when he and Dr. Van Helsing had gone down to the room below
they had found Renfield lying on the floor, all in a heap. His face was
all bruised and crushed in, and the bones of the neck were broken.

Dr. Seward asked the attendant who was on duty in the passage if he had
heard anything. He said that he had been sitting down--he confessed to
half dozing--when he heard loud voices in the room, and then Renfield
had called out loudly several times, "God! God! God!" after that there
was a sound of falling, and when he entered the room he found him lying
on the floor, face down, just as the doctors had seen him. Van Helsing
asked if he had heard "voices" or "a voice," and he said he could not
say; that at first it had seemed to him as if there were two, but as
there was no one in the room it could have been only one. He could swear
to it, if required, that the word "God" was spoken by the patient. Dr.
Seward said to us, when we were alone, that he did not wish to go into
the matter; the question of an inquest had to be considered, and it
would never do to put forward the truth, as no one would believe it. As
it was, he thought that on the attendant's evidence he could give a
certificate of death by misadventure in falling from bed. In case the
coroner should demand it, there would be a formal inquest, necessarily
to the same result.

When the question began to be discussed as to what should be our next
step, the very first thing we decided was that Mina should be in full
confidence; that nothing of any sort--no matter how painful--should be
kept from her. She herself agreed as to its wisdom, and it was pitiful
to see her so brave and yet so sorrowful, and in such a depth of
despair. "There must be no concealment," she said, "Alas! we have had
too much already. And besides there is nothing in all the world that can
give me more pain than I have already endured--than I suffer now!
Whatever may happen, it must be of new hope or of new courage to me!"
Van Helsing was looking at her fixedly as she spoke, and said, suddenly
but quietly:--

"But dear Madam Mina, are you not afraid; not for yourself, but for
others from yourself, after what has happened?" Her face grew set in its
lines, but her eyes shone with the devotion of a martyr as she
answered:--

"Ah no! for my mind is made up!"

"To what?" he asked gently, whilst we were all very still; for each in
our own way we had a sort of vague idea of what she meant. Her answer
came with direct simplicity, as though she were simply stating a fact:--

"Because if I find in myself--and I shall watch keenly for it--a sign of
harm to any that I love, I shall die!"

"You would not kill yourself?" he asked, hoarsely.

"I would; if there were no friend who loved me, who would save me such a
pain, and so desperate an effort!" She looked at him meaningly as she
spoke. He was sitting down; but now he rose and came close to her and
put his hand on her head as he said solemnly:

"My child, there is such an one if it were for your good. For myself I
could hold it in my account with God to find such an euthanasia for you,
even at this moment if it were best. Nay, were it safe! But my
child----" For a moment he seemed choked, and a great sob rose in his
throat; he gulped it down and went on:--

"There are here some who would stand between you and death. You must not
die. You must not die by any hand; but least of all by your own. Until
the other, who has fouled your sweet life, is true dead you must not
die; for if he is still with the quick Un-Dead, your death would make
you even as he is. No, you must live! You must struggle and strive to
live, though death would seem a boon unspeakable. You must fight Death
himself, though he come to you in pain or in joy; by the day, or the
night; in safety or in peril! On your living soul I charge you that you
do not die--nay, nor think of death--till this great evil be past." The
poor dear grew white as death, and shock and shivered, as I have seen a
quicksand shake and shiver at the incoming of the tide. We were all
silent; we could do nothing. At length she grew more calm and turning to
him said, sweetly, but oh! so sorrowfully, as she held out her hand:--

"I promise you, my dear friend, that if God will let me live, I shall
strive to do so; till, if it may be in His good time, this horror may
have passed away from me." She was so good and brave that we all felt
that our hearts were strengthened to work and endure for her, and we
began to discuss what we were to do. I told her that she was to have all
the papers in the safe, and all the papers or diaries and phonographs we
might hereafter use; and was to keep the record as she had done before.
She was pleased with the prospect of anything to do--if "pleased" could
be used in connection with so grim an interest.

As usual Van Helsing had thought ahead of everyone else, and was
prepared with an exact ordering of our work.

"It is perhaps well," he said, "that at our meeting after our visit to
Carfax we decided not to do anything with the earth-boxes that lay
there. Had we done so, the Count must have guessed our purpose, and
would doubtless have taken measures in advance to frustrate such an
effort with regard to the others; but now he does not know our
intentions. Nay, more, in all probability, he does not know that such a
power exists to us as can sterilise his lairs, so that he cannot use
them as of old. We are now so much further advanced in our knowledge as
to their disposition that, when we have examined the house in
Piccadilly, we may track the very last of them. To-day, then, is ours;
and in it rests our hope. The sun that rose on our sorrow this morning
guards us in its course. Until it sets to-night, that monster must
retain whatever form he now has. He is confined within the limitations
of his earthly envelope. He cannot melt into thin air nor disappear
through cracks or chinks or crannies. If he go through a doorway, he
must open the door like a mortal. And so we have this day to hunt out
all his lairs and sterilise them. So we shall, if we have not yet catch
him and destroy him, drive him to bay in some place where the catching
and the destroying shall be, in time, sure." Here I started up for I
could not contain myself at the thought that the minutes and seconds so
preciously laden with Mina's life and happiness were flying from us,
since whilst we talked action was impossible. But Van Helsing held up
his hand warningly. "Nay, friend Jonathan," he said, "in this, the
quickest way home is the longest way, so your proverb say. We shall all
act and act with desperate quick, when the time has come. But think, in
all probable the key of the situation is in that house in Piccadilly.
The Count may have many houses which he has bought. Of them he will have
deeds of purchase, keys and other things. He will have paper that he
write on; he will have his book of cheques. There are many belongings
that he must have somewhere; why not in this place so central, so quiet,
where he come and go by the front or the back at all hour, when in the
very vast of the traffic there is none to notice. We shall go there and
search that house; and when we learn what it holds, then we do what our
friend Arthur call, in his phrases of hunt 'stop the earths' and so we
run down our old fox--so? is it not?"

"Then let us come at once," I cried, "we are wasting the precious,
precious time!" The Professor did not move, but simply said:--

"And how are we to get into that house in Piccadilly?"

"Any way!" I cried. "We shall break in if need be."

"And your police; where will they be, and what will they say?"

I was staggered; but I knew that if he wished to delay he had a good
reason for it. So I said, as quietly as I could:--

"Don't wait more than need be; you know, I am sure, what torture I am
in."

"Ah, my child, that I do; and indeed there is no wish of me to add to
your anguish. But just think, what can we do, until all the world be at
movement. Then will come our time. I have thought and thought, and it
seems to me that the simplest way is the best of all. Now we wish to get
into the house, but we have no key; is it not so?" I nodded.

"Now suppose that you were, in truth, the owner of that house, and could
not still get it; and think there was to you no conscience of the
housebreaker, what would you do?"

"I should get a respectable locksmith, and set him to work to pick the
lock for me."

"And your police, they would interfere, would they not?"

"Oh, no! not if they knew the man was properly employed."

"Then," he looked at me as keenly as he spoke, "all that is in doubt is
the conscience of the employer, and the belief of your policemen as to
whether or no that employer has a good conscience or a bad one. Your
police must indeed be zealous men and clever--oh, so clever!--in reading
the heart, that they trouble themselves in such matter. No, no, my
friend Jonathan, you go take the lock off a hundred empty house in this
your London, or of any city in the world; and if you do it as such
things are rightly done, and at the time such things are rightly done,
no one will interfere. I have read of a gentleman who owned a so fine
house in London, and when he went for months of summer to Switzerland
and lock up his house, some burglar came and broke window at back and
got in. Then he went and made open the shutters in front and walk out
and in through the door, before the very eyes of the police. Then he
have an auction in that house, and advertise it, and put up big notice;
and when the day come he sell off by a great auctioneer all the goods of
that other man who own them. Then he go to a builder, and he sell him
that house, making an agreement that he pull it down and take all away
within a certain time. And your police and other authority help him all
they can. And when that owner come back from his holiday in Switzerland
he find only an empty hole where his house had been. This was all done
_en regle_; and in our work we shall be _en regle_ too. We shall not go
so early that the policemen who have then little to think of, shall deem
it strange; but we shall go after ten o'clock, when there are many
about, and such things would be done were we indeed owners of the
house."

I could not but see how right he was and the terrible despair of Mina's
face became relaxed a thought; there was hope in such good counsel. Van
Helsing went on:--

"When once within that house we may find more clues; at any rate some of
us can remain there whilst the rest find the other places where there be
more earth-boxes--at Bermondsey and Mile End."

Lord Godalming stood up. "I can be of some use here," he said. "I shall
wire to my people to have horses and carriages where they will be most
convenient."

"Look here, old fellow," said Morris, "it is a capital idea to have all
ready in case we want to go horsebacking; but don't you think that one
of your snappy carriages with its heraldic adornments in a byway of
Walworth or Mile End would attract too much attention for our purposes?
It seems to me that we ought to take cabs when we go south or east; and
even leave them somewhere near the neighbourhood we are going to."

"Friend Quincey is right!" said the Professor. "His head is what you
call in plane with the horizon. It is a difficult thing that we go to
do, and we do not want no peoples to watch us if so it may."

Mina took a growing interest in everything and I was rejoiced to see
that the exigency of affairs was helping her to forget for a time the
terrible experience of the night. She was very, very pale--almost
ghastly, and so thin that her lips were drawn away, showing her teeth in
somewhat of prominence. I did not mention this last, lest it should give
her needless pain; but it made my blood run cold in my veins to think of
what had occurred with poor Lucy when the Count had sucked her blood. As
yet there was no sign of the teeth growing sharper; but the time as yet
was short, and there was time for fear.

When we came to the discussion of the sequence of our efforts and of the
disposition of our forces, there were new sources of doubt. It was
finally agreed that before starting for Piccadilly we should destroy the
Count's lair close at hand. In case he should find it out too soon, we
should thus be still ahead of him in our work of destruction; and his
presence in his purely material shape, and at his weakest, might give us
some new clue.

As to the disposal of forces, it was suggested by the Professor that,
after our visit to Carfax, we should all enter the house in Piccadilly;
that the two doctors and I should remain there, whilst Lord Godalming
and Quincey found the lairs at Walworth and Mile End and destroyed them.
It was possible, if not likely, the Professor urged, that the Count
might appear in Piccadilly during the day, and that if so we might be
able to cope with him then and there. At any rate, we might be able to
follow him in force. To this plan I strenuously objected, and so far as
my going was concerned, for I said that I intended to stay and protect
Mina, I thought that my mind was made up on the subject; but Mina would
not listen to my objection. She said that there might be some law matter
in which I could be useful; that amongst the Count's papers might be
some clue which I could understand out of my experience in Transylvania;
and that, as it was, all the strength we could muster was required to
cope with the Count's extraordinary power. I had to give in, for Mina's
resolution was fixed; she said that it was the last hope for _her_ that
we should all work together. "As for me," she said, "I have no fear.
Things have been as bad as they can be; and whatever may happen must
have in it some element of hope or comfort. Go, my husband! God can, if
He wishes it, guard me as well alone as with any one present." So I
started up crying out: "Then in God's name let us come at once, for we
are losing time. The Count may come to Piccadilly earlier than we
think."

"Not so!" said Van Helsing, holding up his hand.

"But why?" I asked.

"Do you forget," he said, with actually a smile, "that last night he
banqueted heavily, and will sleep late?"

Did I forget! shall I ever--can I ever! Can any of us ever forget that
terrible scene! Mina struggled hard to keep her brave countenance; but
the pain overmastered her and she put her hands before her face, and
shuddered whilst she moaned. Van Helsing had not intended to recall her
frightful experience. He had simply lost sight of her and her part in
the affair in his intellectual effort. When it struck him what he said,
he was horrified at his thoughtlessness and tried to comfort her. "Oh,
Madam Mina," he said, "dear, dear Madam Mina, alas! that I of all who so
reverence you should have said anything so forgetful. These stupid old
lips of mine and this stupid old head do not deserve so; but you will
forget it, will you not?" He bent low beside her as he spoke; she took
his hand, and looking at him through her tears, said hoarsely:--

"No, I shall not forget, for it is well that I remember; and with it I
have so much in memory of you that is sweet, that I take it all
together. Now, you must all be going soon. Breakfast is ready, and we
must all eat that we may be strong."

Breakfast was a strange meal to us all. We tried to be cheerful and
encourage each other, and Mina was the brightest and most cheerful of
us. When it was over, Van Helsing stood up and said:--

"Now, my dear friends, we go forth to our terrible enterprise. Are we
all armed, as we were on that night when first we visited our enemy's
lair; armed against ghostly as well as carnal attack?" We all assured
him. "Then it is well. Now, Madam Mina, you are in any case _quite_ safe
here until the sunset; and before then we shall return--if---- We shall
return! But before we go let me see you armed against personal attack. I
have myself, since you came down, prepared your chamber by the placing
of things of which we know, so that He may not enter. Now let me guard
yourself. On your forehead I touch this piece of Sacred Wafer in the
name of the Father, the Son, and----"

There was a fearful scream which almost froze our hearts to hear. As he
had placed the Wafer on Mina's forehead, it had seared it--had burned
into the flesh as though it had been a piece of white-hot metal. My poor
darling's brain had told her the significance of the fact as quickly as
her nerves received the pain of it; and the two so overwhelmed her that
her overwrought nature had its voice in that dreadful scream. But the
words to her thought came quickly; the echo of the scream had not ceased
to ring on the air when there came the reaction, and she sank on her
knees on the floor in an agony of abasement. Pulling her beautiful hair
over her face, as the leper of old his mantle, she wailed out:--

"Unclean! Unclean! Even the Almighty shuns my polluted flesh! I must
bear this mark of shame upon my forehead until the Judgment Day." They
all paused. I had thrown myself beside her in an agony of helpless
grief, and putting my arms around held her tight. For a few minutes our
sorrowful hearts beat together, whilst the friends around us turned away
their eyes that ran tears silently. Then Van Helsing turned and said
gravely; so gravely that I could not help feeling that he was in some
way inspired, and was stating things outside himself:--

"It may be that you may have to bear that mark till God himself see fit,
as He most surely shall, on the Judgment Day, to redress all wrongs of
the earth and of His children that He has placed thereon. And oh, Madam
Mina, my dear, my dear, may we who love you be there to see, when that
red scar, the sign of God's knowledge of what has been, shall pass away,
and leave your forehead as pure as the heart we know. For so surely as
we live, that scar shall pass away when God sees right to lift the
burden that is hard upon us. Till then we bear our Cross, as His Son did
in obedience to His Will. It may be that we are chosen instruments of
His good pleasure, and that we ascend to His bidding as that other
through stripes and shame; through tears and blood; through doubts and
fears, and all that makes the difference between God and man."

There was hope in his words, and comfort; and they made for resignation.
Mina and I both felt so, and simultaneously we each took one of the old
man's hands and bent over and kissed it. Then without a word we all
knelt down together, and, all holding hands, swore to be true to each
other. We men pledged ourselves to raise the veil of sorrow from the
head of her whom, each in his own way, we loved; and we prayed for help
and guidance in the terrible task which lay before us.

It was then time to start. So I said farewell to Mina, a parting which
neither of us shall forget to our dying day; and we set out.

To one thing I have made up my mind: if we find out that Mina must be a
vampire in the end, then she shall not go into that unknown and terrible
land alone. I suppose it is thus that in old times one vampire meant
many; just as their hideous bodies could only rest in sacred earth, so
the holiest love was the recruiting sergeant for their ghastly ranks.

We entered Carfax without trouble and found all things the same as on
the first occasion. It was hard to believe that amongst so prosaic
surroundings of neglect and dust and decay there was any ground for such
fear as already we knew. Had not our minds been made up, and had there
not been terrible memories to spur us on, we could hardly have proceeded
with our task. We found no papers, or any sign of use in the house; and
in the old chapel the great boxes looked just as we had seen them last.
Dr. Van Helsing said to us solemnly as we stood before them:--

"And now, my friends, we have a duty here to do. We must sterilise this
earth, so sacred of holy memories, that he has brought from a far
distant land for such fell use. He has chosen this earth because it has
been holy. Thus we defeat him with his own weapon, for we make it more
holy still. It was sanctified to such use of man, now we sanctify it to
God." As he spoke he took from his bag a screwdriver and a wrench, and
very soon the top of one of the cases was thrown open. The earth smelled
musty and close; but we did not somehow seem to mind, for our attention
was concentrated on the Professor. Taking from his box a piece of the
Sacred Wafer he laid it reverently on the earth, and then shutting down
the lid began to screw it home, we aiding him as he worked.

One by one we treated in the same way each of the great boxes, and left
them as we had found them to all appearance; but in each was a portion
of the Host.

When we closed the door behind us, the Professor said solemnly:--

"So much is already done. If it may be that with all the others we can
be so successful, then the sunset of this evening may shine on Madam
Mina's forehead all white as ivory and with no stain!"

As we passed across the lawn on our way to the station to catch our
train we could see the front of the asylum. I looked eagerly, and in the
window of my own room saw Mina. I waved my hand to her, and nodded to
tell that our work there was successfully accomplished. She nodded in
reply to show that she understood. The last I saw, she was waving her
hand in farewell. It was with a heavy heart that we sought the station
and just caught the train, which was steaming in as we reached the
platform.

I have written this in the train.

       *       *       *       *       *

_Piccadilly, 12:30 o'clock._--Just before we reached Fenchurch Street
Lord Godalming said to me:--

"Quincey and I will find a locksmith. You had better not come with us in
case there should be any difficulty; for under the circumstances it
wouldn't seem so bad for us to break into an empty house. But you are a
solicitor and the Incorporated Law Society might tell you that you
should have known better." I demurred as to my not sharing any danger
even of odium, but he went on: "Besides, it will attract less attention
if there are not too many of us. My title will make it all right with
the locksmith, and with any policeman that may come along. You had
better go with Jack and the Professor and stay in the Green Park,
somewhere in sight of the house; and when you see the door opened and
the smith has gone away, do you all come across. We shall be on the
lookout for you, and shall let you in."

"The advice is good!" said Van Helsing, so we said no more. Godalming
and Morris hurried off in a cab, we following in another. At the corner
of Arlington Street our contingent got out and strolled into the Green
Park. My heart beat as I saw the house on which so much of our hope was
centred, looming up grim and silent in its deserted condition amongst
its more lively and spruce-looking neighbours. We sat down on a bench
within good view, and began to smoke cigars so as to attract as little
attention as possible. The minutes seemed to pass with leaden feet as we
waited for the coming of the others.

At length we saw a four-wheeler drive up. Out of it, in leisurely
fashion, got Lord Godalming and Morris; and down from the box descended
a thick-set working man with his rush-woven basket of tools. Morris paid
the cabman, who touched his hat and drove away. Together the two
ascended the steps, and Lord Godalming pointed out what he wanted done.
The workman took off his coat leisurely and hung it on one of the spikes
of the rail, saying something to a policeman who just then sauntered
along. The policeman nodded acquiescence, and the man kneeling down
placed his bag beside him. After searching through it, he took out a
selection of tools which he produced to lay beside him in orderly
fashion. Then he stood up, looked into the keyhole, blew into it, and
turning to his employers, made some remark. Lord Godalming smiled, and
the man lifted a good-sized bunch of keys; selecting one of them, he
began to probe the lock, as if feeling his way with it. After fumbling
about for a bit he tried a second, and then a third. All at once the
door opened under a slight push from him, and he and the two others
entered the hall. We sat still; my own cigar burnt furiously, but Van
Helsing's went cold altogether. We waited patiently as we saw the
workman come out and bring in his bag. Then he held the door partly
open, steadying it with his knees, whilst he fitted a key to the lock.
This he finally handed to Lord Godalming, who took out his purse and
gave him something. The man touched his hat, took his bag, put on his
coat and departed; not a soul took the slightest notice of the whole
transaction.

When the man had fairly gone, we three crossed the street and knocked at
the door. It was immediately opened by Quincey Morris, beside whom stood
Lord Godalming lighting a cigar.

"The place smells so vilely," said the latter as we came in. It did
indeed smell vilely--like the old chapel at Carfax--and with our
previous experience it was plain to us that the Count had been using the
place pretty freely. We moved to explore the house, all keeping together
in case of attack; for we knew we had a strong and wily enemy to deal
with, and as yet we did not know whether the Count might not be in the
house. In the dining-room, which lay at the back of the hall, we found
eight boxes of earth. Eight boxes only out of the nine, which we sought!
Our work was not over, and would never be until we should have found the
missing box. First we opened the shutters of the window which looked out
across a narrow stone-flagged yard at the blank face of a stable,
pointed to look like the front of a miniature house. There were no
windows in it, so we were not afraid of being over-looked. We did not
lose any time in examining the chests. With the tools which we had
brought with us we opened them, one by one, and treated them as we had
treated those others in the old chapel. It was evident to us that the
Count was not at present in the house, and we proceeded to search for
any of his effects.

After a cursory glance at the rest of the rooms, from basement to attic,
we came to the conclusion that the dining-room contained any effects
which might belong to the Count; and so we proceeded to minutely examine
them. They lay in a sort of orderly disorder on the great dining-room
table. There were title deeds of the Piccadilly house in a great bundle;
deeds of the purchase of the houses at Mile End and Bermondsey;
note-paper, envelopes, and pens and ink. All were covered up in thin
wrapping paper to keep them from the dust. There were also a clothes
brush, a brush and comb, and a jug and basin--the latter containing
dirty water which was reddened as if with blood. Last of all was a
little heap of keys of all sorts and sizes, probably those belonging to
the other houses. When we had examined this last find, Lord Godalming
and Quincey Morris taking accurate notes of the various addresses of the
houses in the East and the South, took with them the keys in a great
bunch, and set out to destroy the boxes in these places. The rest of us
are, with what patience we can, waiting their return--or the coming of
the Count.

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: Jonathan Harker continues to write his journal. He tries to make himself busy, or he feels he will go mad. Van Helsing tries to talk to Mina and console her. He tells her to be strong and resist being an Un-dead. Van Helsing puts the wafer on Minas head. She gives an agonizing yell and the wafer makes a mark on her forehead. They go to rest of the houses of Dracula and destroy the boxes and seal off the houses.


prompt:
Chapter: _3 October._--The time seemed terrible long whilst we were waiting for
the coming of Godalming and Quincey Morris. The Professor tried to keep
our minds active by using them all the time. I could see his beneficent
purpose, by the side glances which he threw from time to time at Harker.
The poor fellow is overwhelmed in a misery that is appalling to see.
Last night he was a frank, happy-looking man, with strong, youthful
face, full of energy, and with dark brown hair. To-day he is a drawn,
haggard old man, whose white hair matches well with the hollow burning
eyes and grief-written lines of his face. His energy is still intact; in
fact, he is like a living flame. This may yet be his salvation, for, if
all go well, it will tide him over the despairing period; he will then,
in a kind of way, wake again to the realities of life. Poor fellow, I
thought my own trouble was bad enough, but his----! The Professor knows
this well enough, and is doing his best to keep his mind active. What he
has been saying was, under the circumstances, of absorbing interest. So
well as I can remember, here it is:--

"I have studied, over and over again since they came into my hands, all
the papers relating to this monster; and the more I have studied, the
greater seems the necessity to utterly stamp him out. All through there
are signs of his advance; not only of his power, but of his knowledge of
it. As I learned from the researches of my friend Arminus of Buda-Pesth,
he was in life a most wonderful man. Soldier, statesman, and
alchemist--which latter was the highest development of the
science-knowledge of his time. He had a mighty brain, a learning beyond
compare, and a heart that knew no fear and no remorse. He dared even to
attend the Scholomance, and there was no branch of knowledge of his time
that he did not essay. Well, in him the brain powers survived the
physical death; though it would seem that memory was not all complete.
In some faculties of mind he has been, and is, only a child; but he is
growing, and some things that were childish at the first are now of
man's stature. He is experimenting, and doing it well; and if it had not
been that we have crossed his path he would be yet--he may be yet if we
fail--the father or furtherer of a new order of beings, whose road must
lead through Death, not Life."

Harker groaned and said, "And this is all arrayed against my darling!
But how is he experimenting? The knowledge may help us to defeat him!"

"He has all along, since his coming, been trying his power, slowly but
surely; that big child-brain of his is working. Well for us, it is, as
yet, a child-brain; for had he dared, at the first, to attempt certain
things he would long ago have been beyond our power. However, he means
to succeed, and a man who has centuries before him can afford to wait
and to go slow. _Festina lente_ may well be his motto."

"I fail to understand," said Harker wearily. "Oh, do be more plain to
me! Perhaps grief and trouble are dulling my brain."

The Professor laid his hand tenderly on his shoulder as he spoke:--

"Ah, my child, I will be plain. Do you not see how, of late, this
monster has been creeping into knowledge experimentally. How he has been
making use of the zooephagous patient to effect his entry into friend
John's home; for your Vampire, though in all afterwards he can come when
and how he will, must at the first make entry only when asked thereto by
an inmate. But these are not his most important experiments. Do we not
see how at the first all these so great boxes were moved by others. He
knew not then but that must be so. But all the time that so great
child-brain of his was growing, and he began to consider whether he
might not himself move the box. So he began to help; and then, when he
found that this be all-right, he try to move them all alone. And so he
progress, and he scatter these graves of him; and none but he know where
they are hidden. He may have intend to bury them deep in the ground. So
that he only use them in the night, or at such time as he can change his
form, they do him equal well; and none may know these are his
hiding-place! But, my child, do not despair; this knowledge come to him
just too late! Already all of his lairs but one be sterilise as for him;
and before the sunset this shall be so. Then he have no place where he
can move and hide. I delayed this morning that so we might be sure. Is
there not more at stake for us than for him? Then why we not be even
more careful than him? By my clock it is one hour and already, if all be
well, friend Arthur and Quincey are on their way to us. To-day is our
day, and we must go sure, if slow, and lose no chance. See! there are
five of us when those absent ones return."

Whilst he was speaking we were startled by a knock at the hall door, the
double postman's knock of the telegraph boy. We all moved out to the
hall with one impulse, and Van Helsing, holding up his hand to us to
keep silence, stepped to the door and opened it. The boy handed in a
despatch. The Professor closed the door again, and, after looking at the
direction, opened it and read aloud.

"Look out for D. He has just now, 12:45, come from Carfax hurriedly and
hastened towards the South. He seems to be going the round and may want
to see you: Mina."

There was a pause, broken by Jonathan Harker's voice:--

"Now, God be thanked, we shall soon meet!" Van Helsing turned to him
quickly and said:--

"God will act in His own way and time. Do not fear, and do not rejoice
as yet; for what we wish for at the moment may be our undoings."

"I care for nothing now," he answered hotly, "except to wipe out this
brute from the face of creation. I would sell my soul to do it!"

"Oh, hush, hush, my child!" said Van Helsing. "God does not purchase
souls in this wise; and the Devil, though he may purchase, does not keep
faith. But God is merciful and just, and knows your pain and your
devotion to that dear Madam Mina. Think you, how her pain would be
doubled, did she but hear your wild words. Do not fear any of us, we are
all devoted to this cause, and to-day shall see the end. The time is
coming for action; to-day this Vampire is limit to the powers of man,
and till sunset he may not change. It will take him time to arrive
here--see, it is twenty minutes past one--and there are yet some times
before he can hither come, be he never so quick. What we must hope for
is that my Lord Arthur and Quincey arrive first."

About half an hour after we had received Mrs. Harker's telegram, there
came a quiet, resolute knock at the hall door. It was just an ordinary
knock, such as is given hourly by thousands of gentlemen, but it made
the Professor's heart and mine beat loudly. We looked at each other, and
together moved out into the hall; we each held ready to use our various
armaments--the spiritual in the left hand, the mortal in the right. Van
Helsing pulled back the latch, and, holding the door half open, stood
back, having both hands ready for action. The gladness of our hearts
must have shown upon our faces when on the step, close to the door, we
saw Lord Godalming and Quincey Morris. They came quickly in and closed
the door behind them, the former saying, as they moved along the
hall:--

"It is all right. We found both places; six boxes in each and we
destroyed them all!"

"Destroyed?" asked the Professor.

"For him!" We were silent for a minute, and then Quincey said:--

"There's nothing to do but to wait here. If, however, he doesn't turn up
by five o'clock, we must start off; for it won't do to leave Mrs. Harker
alone after sunset."

"He will be here before long now," said Van Helsing, who had been
consulting his pocket-book. "_Nota bene_, in Madam's telegram he went
south from Carfax, that means he went to cross the river, and he could
only do so at slack of tide, which should be something before one
o'clock. That he went south has a meaning for us. He is as yet only
suspicious; and he went from Carfax first to the place where he would
suspect interference least. You must have been at Bermondsey only a
short time before him. That he is not here already shows that he went to
Mile End next. This took him some time; for he would then have to be
carried over the river in some way. Believe me, my friends, we shall not
have long to wait now. We should have ready some plan of attack, so that
we may throw away no chance. Hush, there is no time now. Have all your
arms! Be ready!" He held up a warning hand as he spoke, for we all could
hear a key softly inserted in the lock of the hall door.

I could not but admire, even at such a moment, the way in which a
dominant spirit asserted itself. In all our hunting parties and
adventures in different parts of the world, Quincey Morris had always
been the one to arrange the plan of action, and Arthur and I had been
accustomed to obey him implicitly. Now, the old habit seemed to be
renewed instinctively. With a swift glance around the room, he at once
laid out our plan of attack, and, without speaking a word, with a
gesture, placed us each in position. Van Helsing, Harker, and I were
just behind the door, so that when it was opened the Professor could
guard it whilst we two stepped between the incomer and the door.
Godalming behind and Quincey in front stood just out of sight ready to
move in front of the window. We waited in a suspense that made the
seconds pass with nightmare slowness. The slow, careful steps came along
the hall; the Count was evidently prepared for some surprise--at least
he feared it.

Suddenly with a single bound he leaped into the room, winning a way past
us before any of us could raise a hand to stay him. There was something
so panther-like in the movement--something so unhuman, that it seemed
to sober us all from the shock of his coming. The first to act was
Harker, who, with a quick movement, threw himself before the door
leading into the room in the front of the house. As the Count saw us, a
horrible sort of snarl passed over his face, showing the eye-teeth long
and pointed; but the evil smile as quickly passed into a cold stare of
lion-like disdain. His expression again changed as, with a single
impulse, we all advanced upon him. It was a pity that we had not some
better organised plan of attack, for even at the moment I wondered what
we were to do. I did not myself know whether our lethal weapons would
avail us anything. Harker evidently meant to try the matter, for he had
ready his great Kukri knife and made a fierce and sudden cut at him. The
blow was a powerful one; only the diabolical quickness of the Count's
leap back saved him. A second less and the trenchant blade had shorne
through his heart. As it was, the point just cut the cloth of his coat,
making a wide gap whence a bundle of bank-notes and a stream of gold
fell out. The expression of the Count's face was so hellish, that for a
moment I feared for Harker, though I saw him throw the terrible knife
aloft again for another stroke. Instinctively I moved forward with a
protective impulse, holding the Crucifix and Wafer in my left hand. I
felt a mighty power fly along my arm; and it was without surprise that I
saw the monster cower back before a similar movement made spontaneously
by each one of us. It would be impossible to describe the expression of
hate and baffled malignity--of anger and hellish rage--which came over
the Count's face. His waxen hue became greenish-yellow by the contrast
of his burning eyes, and the red scar on the forehead showed on the
pallid skin like a palpitating wound. The next instant, with a sinuous
dive he swept under Harker's arm, ere his blow could fall, and, grasping
a handful of the money from the floor, dashed across the room, threw
himself at the window. Amid the crash and glitter of the falling glass,
he tumbled into the flagged area below. Through the sound of the
shivering glass I could hear the "ting" of the gold, as some of the
sovereigns fell on the flagging.

We ran over and saw him spring unhurt from the ground. He, rushing up
the steps, crossed the flagged yard, and pushed open the stable door.
There he turned and spoke to us:--

"You think to baffle me, you--with your pale faces all in a row, like
sheep in a butcher's. You shall be sorry yet, each one of you! You think
you have left me without a place to rest; but I have more. My revenge is
just begun! I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side. Your
girls that you all love are mine already; and through them you and
others shall yet be mine--my creatures, to do my bidding and to be my
jackals when I want to feed. Bah!" With a contemptuous sneer, he passed
quickly through the door, and we heard the rusty bolt creak as he
fastened it behind him. A door beyond opened and shut. The first of us
to speak was the Professor, as, realising the difficulty of following
him through the stable, we moved toward the hall.

"We have learnt something--much! Notwithstanding his brave words, he
fears us; he fear time, he fear want! For if not, why he hurry so? His
very tone betray him, or my ears deceive. Why take that money? You
follow quick. You are hunters of wild beast, and understand it so. For
me, I make sure that nothing here may be of use to him, if so that he
return." As he spoke he put the money remaining into his pocket; took
the title-deeds in the bundle as Harker had left them, and swept the
remaining things into the open fireplace, where he set fire to them with
a match.

Godalming and Morris had rushed out into the yard, and Harker had
lowered himself from the window to follow the Count. He had, however,
bolted the stable door; and by the time they had forced it open there
was no sign of him. Van Helsing and I tried to make inquiry at the back
of the house; but the mews was deserted and no one had seen him depart.

It was now late in the afternoon, and sunset was not far off. We had to
recognise that our game was up; with heavy hearts we agreed with the
Professor when he said:--

"Let us go back to Madam Mina--poor, poor dear Madam Mina. All we can do
just now is done; and we can there, at least, protect her. But we need
not despair. There is but one more earth-box, and we must try to find
it; when that is done all may yet be well." I could see that he spoke as
bravely as he could to comfort Harker. The poor fellow was quite broken
down; now and again he gave a low groan which he could not suppress--he
was thinking of his wife.

With sad hearts we came back to my house, where we found Mrs. Harker
waiting us, with an appearance of cheerfulness which did honour to her
bravery and unselfishness. When she saw our faces, her own became as
pale as death: for a second or two her eyes were closed as if she were
in secret prayer; and then she said cheerfully:--

"I can never thank you all enough. Oh, my poor darling!" As she spoke,
she took her husband's grey head in her hands and kissed it--"Lay your
poor head here and rest it. All will yet be well, dear! God will protect
us if He so will it in His good intent." The poor fellow groaned. There
was no place for words in his sublime misery.

We had a sort of perfunctory supper together, and I think it cheered us
all up somewhat. It was, perhaps, the mere animal heat of food to hungry
people--for none of us had eaten anything since breakfast--or the sense
of companionship may have helped us; but anyhow we were all less
miserable, and saw the morrow as not altogether without hope. True to
our promise, we told Mrs. Harker everything which had passed; and
although she grew snowy white at times when danger had seemed to
threaten her husband, and red at others when his devotion to her was
manifested, she listened bravely and with calmness. When we came to the
part where Harker had rushed at the Count so recklessly, she clung to
her husband's arm, and held it tight as though her clinging could
protect him from any harm that might come. She said nothing, however,
till the narration was all done, and matters had been brought right up
to the present time. Then without letting go her husband's hand she
stood up amongst us and spoke. Oh, that I could give any idea of the
scene; of that sweet, sweet, good, good woman in all the radiant beauty
of her youth and animation, with the red scar on her forehead, of which
she was conscious, and which we saw with grinding of our
teeth--remembering whence and how it came; her loving kindness against
our grim hate; her tender faith against all our fears and doubting; and
we, knowing that so far as symbols went, she with all her goodness and
purity and faith, was outcast from God.

"Jonathan," she said, and the word sounded like music on her lips it was
so full of love and tenderness, "Jonathan dear, and you all my true,
true friends, I want you to bear something in mind through all this
dreadful time. I know that you must fight--that you must destroy even as
you destroyed the false Lucy so that the true Lucy might live hereafter;
but it is not a work of hate. That poor soul who has wrought all this
misery is the saddest case of all. Just think what will be his joy when
he, too, is destroyed in his worser part that his better part may have
spiritual immortality. You must be pitiful to him, too, though it may
not hold your hands from his destruction."

As she spoke I could see her husband's face darken and draw together, as
though the passion in him were shrivelling his being to its core.
Instinctively the clasp on his wife's hand grew closer, till his
knuckles looked white. She did not flinch from the pain which I knew she
must have suffered, but looked at him with eyes that were more appealing
than ever. As she stopped speaking he leaped to his feet, almost tearing
his hand from hers as he spoke:--

"May God give him into my hand just for long enough to destroy that
earthly life of him which we are aiming at. If beyond it I could send
his soul for ever and ever to burning hell I would do it!"

"Oh, hush! oh, hush! in the name of the good God. Don't say such things,
Jonathan, my husband; or you will crush me with fear and horror. Just
think, my dear--I have been thinking all this long, long day of it--that
... perhaps ... some day ... I, too, may need such pity; and that some
other like you--and with equal cause for anger--may deny it to me! Oh,
my husband! my husband, indeed I would have spared you such a thought
had there been another way; but I pray that God may not have treasured
your wild words, except as the heart-broken wail of a very loving and
sorely stricken man. Oh, God, let these poor white hairs go in evidence
of what he has suffered, who all his life has done no wrong, and on whom
so many sorrows have come."

We men were all in tears now. There was no resisting them, and we wept
openly. She wept, too, to see that her sweeter counsels had prevailed.
Her husband flung himself on his knees beside her, and putting his arms
round her, hid his face in the folds of her dress. Van Helsing beckoned
to us and we stole out of the room, leaving the two loving hearts alone
with their God.

Before they retired the Professor fixed up the room against any coming
of the Vampire, and assured Mrs. Harker that she might rest in peace.
She tried to school herself to the belief, and, manifestly for her
husband's sake, tried to seem content. It was a brave struggle; and was,
I think and believe, not without its reward. Van Helsing had placed at
hand a bell which either of them was to sound in case of any emergency.
When they had retired, Quincey, Godalming, and I arranged that we should
sit up, dividing the night between us, and watch over the safety of the
poor stricken lady. The first watch falls to Quincey, so the rest of us
shall be off to bed as soon as we can. Godalming has already turned in,
for his is the second watch. Now that my work is done I, too, shall go
to bed.

_Jonathan Harker's Journal._

_3-4 October, close to midnight._--I thought yesterday would never end.
There was over me a yearning for sleep, in some sort of blind belief
that to wake would be to find things changed, and that any change must
now be for the better. Before we parted, we discussed what our next step
was to be, but we could arrive at no result. All we knew was that one
earth-box remained, and that the Count alone knew where it was. If he
chooses to lie hidden, he may baffle us for years; and in the
meantime!--the thought is too horrible, I dare not think of it even now.
This I know: that if ever there was a woman who was all perfection, that
one is my poor wronged darling. I love her a thousand times more for her
sweet pity of last night, a pity that made my own hate of the monster
seem despicable. Surely God will not permit the world to be the poorer
by the loss of such a creature. This is hope to me. We are all drifting
reefwards now, and faith is our only anchor. Thank God! Mina is
sleeping, and sleeping without dreams. I fear what her dreams might be
like, with such terrible memories to ground them in. She has not been so
calm, within my seeing, since the sunset. Then, for a while, there came
over her face a repose which was like spring after the blasts of March.
I thought at the time that it was the softness of the red sunset on her
face, but somehow now I think it has a deeper meaning. I am not sleepy
myself, though I am weary--weary to death. However, I must try to sleep;
for there is to-morrow to think of, and there is no rest for me
until....

       *       *       *       *       *

_Later._--I must have fallen asleep, for I was awaked by Mina, who was
sitting up in bed, with a startled look on her face. I could see easily,
for we did not leave the room in darkness; she had placed a warning hand
over my mouth, and now she whispered in my ear:--

"Hush! there is someone in the corridor!" I got up softly, and crossing
the room, gently opened the door.

Just outside, stretched on a mattress, lay Mr. Morris, wide awake. He
raised a warning hand for silence as he whispered to me:--

"Hush! go back to bed; it is all right. One of us will be here all
night. We don't mean to take any chances!"

His look and gesture forbade discussion, so I came back and told Mina.
She sighed and positively a shadow of a smile stole over her poor, pale
face as she put her arms round me and said softly:--

"Oh, thank God for good brave men!" With a sigh she sank back again to
sleep. I write this now as I am not sleepy, though I must try again.

       *       *       *       *       *

_4 October, morning._--Once again during the night I was wakened by
Mina. This time we had all had a good sleep, for the grey of the coming
dawn was making the windows into sharp oblongs, and the gas flame was
like a speck rather than a disc of light. She said to me hurriedly:--

"Go, call the Professor. I want to see him at once."

"Why?" I asked.

"I have an idea. I suppose it must have come in the night, and matured
without my knowing it. He must hypnotise me before the dawn, and then I
shall be able to speak. Go quick, dearest; the time is getting close." I
went to the door. Dr. Seward was resting on the mattress, and, seeing
me, he sprang to his feet.

"Is anything wrong?" he asked, in alarm.

"No," I replied; "but Mina wants to see Dr. Van Helsing at once."

"I will go," he said, and hurried into the Professor's room.

In two or three minutes later Van Helsing was in the room in his
dressing-gown, and Mr. Morris and Lord Godalming were with Dr. Seward at
the door asking questions. When the Professor saw Mina a smile--a
positive smile ousted the anxiety of his face; he rubbed his hands as he
said:--

"Oh, my dear Madam Mina, this is indeed a change. See! friend Jonathan,
we have got our dear Madam Mina, as of old, back to us to-day!" Then
turning to her, he said, cheerfully: "And what am I do for you? For at
this hour you do not want me for nothings."

"I want you to hypnotise me!" she said. "Do it before the dawn, for I
feel that then I can speak, and speak freely. Be quick, for the time is
short!" Without a word he motioned her to sit up in bed.

Looking fixedly at her, he commenced to make passes in front of her,
from over the top of her head downward, with each hand in turn. Mina
gazed at him fixedly for a few minutes, during which my own heart beat
like a trip hammer, for I felt that some crisis was at hand. Gradually
her eyes closed, and she sat, stock still; only by the gentle heaving of
her bosom could one know that she was alive. The Professor made a few
more passes and then stopped, and I could see that his forehead was
covered with great beads of perspiration. Mina opened her eyes; but she
did not seem the same woman. There was a far-away look in her eyes, and
her voice had a sad dreaminess which was new to me. Raising his hand to
impose silence, the Professor motioned to me to bring the others in.
They came on tip-toe, closing the door behind them, and stood at the
foot of the bed, looking on. Mina appeared not to see them. The
stillness was broken by Van Helsing's voice speaking in a low level tone
which would not break the current of her thoughts:--

"Where are you?" The answer came in a neutral way:--

"I do not know. Sleep has no place it can call its own." For several
minutes there was silence. Mina sat rigid, and the Professor stood
staring at her fixedly; the rest of us hardly dared to breathe. The room
was growing lighter; without taking his eyes from Mina's face, Dr. Van
Helsing motioned me to pull up the blind. I did so, and the day seemed
just upon us. A red streak shot up, and a rosy light seemed to diffuse
itself through the room. On the instant the Professor spoke again:--

"Where are you now?" The answer came dreamily, but with intention; it
were as though she were interpreting something. I have heard her use the
same tone when reading her shorthand notes.

"I do not know. It is all strange to me!"

"What do you see?"

"I can see nothing; it is all dark."

"What do you hear?" I could detect the strain in the Professor's patient
voice.

"The lapping of water. It is gurgling by, and little waves leap. I can
hear them on the outside."

"Then you are on a ship?" We all looked at each other, trying to glean
something each from the other. We were afraid to think. The answer came
quick:--

"Oh, yes!"

"What else do you hear?"

"The sound of men stamping overhead as they run about. There is the
creaking of a chain, and the loud tinkle as the check of the capstan
falls into the rachet."

"What are you doing?"

"I am still--oh, so still. It is like death!" The voice faded away into
a deep breath as of one sleeping, and the open eyes closed again.

By this time the sun had risen, and we were all in the full light of
day. Dr. Van Helsing placed his hands on Mina's shoulders, and laid her
head down softly on her pillow. She lay like a sleeping child for a few
moments, and then, with a long sigh, awoke and stared in wonder to see
us all around her. "Have I been talking in my sleep?" was all she said.
She seemed, however, to know the situation without telling, though she
was eager to know what she had told. The Professor repeated the
conversation, and she said:--

"Then there is not a moment to lose: it may not be yet too late!" Mr.
Morris and Lord Godalming started for the door but the Professor's calm
voice called them back:--

"Stay, my friends. That ship, wherever it was, was weighing anchor
whilst she spoke. There are many ships weighing anchor at the moment in
your so great Port of London. Which of them is it that you seek? God be
thanked that we have once again a clue, though whither it may lead us we
know not. We have been blind somewhat; blind after the manner of men,
since when we can look back we see what we might have seen looking
forward if we had been able to see what we might have seen! Alas, but
that sentence is a puddle; is it not? We can know now what was in the
Count's mind, when he seize that money, though Jonathan's so fierce
knife put him in the danger that even he dread. He meant escape. Hear
me, ESCAPE! He saw that with but one earth-box left, and a pack of men
following like dogs after a fox, this London was no place for him. He
have take his last earth-box on board a ship, and he leave the land. He
think to escape, but no! we follow him. Tally Ho! as friend Arthur would
say when he put on his red frock! Our old fox is wily; oh! so wily, and
we must follow with wile. I, too, am wily and I think his mind in a
little while. In meantime we may rest and in peace, for there are waters
between us which he do not want to pass, and which he could not if he
would--unless the ship were to touch the land, and then only at full or
slack tide. See, and the sun is just rose, and all day to sunset is to
us. Let us take bath, and dress, and have breakfast which we all need,
and which we can eat comfortably since he be not in the same land with
us." Mina looked at him appealingly as she asked:--

"But why need we seek him further, when he is gone away from us?" He
took her hand and patted it as he replied:--

"Ask me nothings as yet. When we have breakfast, then I answer all
questions." He would say no more, and we separated to dress.

After breakfast Mina repeated her question. He looked at her gravely for
a minute and then said sorrowfully:--

"Because my dear, dear Madam Mina, now more than ever must we find him
even if we have to follow him to the jaws of Hell!" She grew paler as
she asked faintly:--

"Why?"

"Because," he answered solemnly, "he can live for centuries, and you are
but mortal woman. Time is now to be dreaded--since once he put that mark
upon your throat."

I was just in time to catch her as she fell forward in a faint.

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: Dr. Sewards diary continues to record the happenings. On the 3rd October, he tells about the appalling changes in Jonathan. Minas plight has made him haggard and desolate. Quincey Morris and Arthur come in and report that they have destroyed the other boxes. Dracula is at Carfax. He leaps out saying, "All your girls are mine." Taking gold with him, he rushes off Mina. In the meantime, he asks Van Helsing to hypnotize her. Through her they find out Dracula is in the sea. They decide to follow pursuit immediately for Minas sake as he can live for centuries and she is a mortal woman.


prompt:
Chapter: This to Jonathan Harker.

You are to stay with your dear Madam Mina. We shall go to make our
search--if I can call it so, for it is not search but knowing, and we
seek confirmation only. But do you stay and take care of her to-day.
This is your best and most holiest office. This day nothing can find him
here. Let me tell you that so you will know what we four know already,
for I have tell them. He, our enemy, have gone away; he have gone back
to his Castle in Transylvania. I know it so well, as if a great hand of
fire wrote it on the wall. He have prepare for this in some way, and
that last earth-box was ready to ship somewheres. For this he took the
money; for this he hurry at the last, lest we catch him before the sun
go down. It was his last hope, save that he might hide in the tomb that
he think poor Miss Lucy, being as he thought like him, keep open to him.
But there was not of time. When that fail he make straight for his last
resource--his last earth-work I might say did I wish _double entente_.
He is clever, oh, so clever! he know that his game here was finish; and
so he decide he go back home. He find ship going by the route he came,
and he go in it. We go off now to find what ship, and whither bound;
when we have discover that, we come back and tell you all. Then we will
comfort you and poor dear Madam Mina with new hope. For it will be hope
when you think it over: that all is not lost. This very creature that we
pursue, he take hundreds of years to get so far as London; and yet in
one day, when we know of the disposal of him we drive him out. He is
finite, though he is powerful to do much harm and suffers not as we do.
But we are strong, each in our purpose; and we are all more strong
together. Take heart afresh, dear husband of Madam Mina. This battle is
but begun, and in the end we shall win--so sure as that God sits on high
to watch over His children. Therefore be of much comfort till we return.

VAN HELSING.

_Jonathan Harker's Journal._

_4 October._--When I read to Mina, Van Helsing's message in the
phonograph, the poor girl brightened up considerably. Already the
certainty that the Count is out of the country has given her comfort;
and comfort is strength to her. For my own part, now that his horrible
danger is not face to face with us, it seems almost impossible to
believe in it. Even my own terrible experiences in Castle Dracula seem
like a long-forgotten dream. Here in the crisp autumn air in the bright
sunlight----

Alas! how can I disbelieve! In the midst of my thought my eye fell on
the red scar on my poor darling's white forehead. Whilst that lasts,
there can be no disbelief. And afterwards the very memory of it will
keep faith crystal clear. Mina and I fear to be idle, so we have been
over all the diaries again and again. Somehow, although the reality
seems greater each time, the pain and the fear seem less. There is
something of a guiding purpose manifest throughout, which is comforting.
Mina says that perhaps we are the instruments of ultimate good. It may
be! I shall try to think as she does. We have never spoken to each other
yet of the future. It is better to wait till we see the Professor and
the others after their investigations.

The day is running by more quickly than I ever thought a day could run
for me again. It is now three o'clock.

_Mina Harker's Journal._

_5 October, 5 p. m._--Our meeting for report. Present: Professor Van
Helsing, Lord Godalming, Dr. Seward, Mr. Quincey Morris, Jonathan
Harker, Mina Harker.

Dr. Van Helsing described what steps were taken during the day to
discover on what boat and whither bound Count Dracula made his escape:--

"As I knew that he wanted to get back to Transylvania, I felt sure that
he must go by the Danube mouth; or by somewhere in the Black Sea, since
by that way he come. It was a dreary blank that was before us. _Omne
ignotum pro magnifico_; and so with heavy hearts we start to find what
ships leave for the Black Sea last night. He was in sailing ship, since
Madam Mina tell of sails being set. These not so important as to go in
your list of the shipping in the _Times_, and so we go, by suggestion of
Lord Godalming, to your Lloyd's, where are note of all ships that sail,
however so small. There we find that only one Black-Sea-bound ship go
out with the tide. She is the _Czarina Catherine_, and she sail from
Doolittle's Wharf for Varna, and thence on to other parts and up the
Danube. 'Soh!' said I, 'this is the ship whereon is the Count.' So off
we go to Doolittle's Wharf, and there we find a man in an office of wood
so small that the man look bigger than the office. From him we inquire
of the goings of the _Czarina Catherine_. He swear much, and he red face
and loud of voice, but he good fellow all the same; and when Quincey
give him something from his pocket which crackle as he roll it up, and
put it in a so small bag which he have hid deep in his clothing, he
still better fellow and humble servant to us. He come with us, and ask
many men who are rough and hot; these be better fellows too when they
have been no more thirsty. They say much of blood and bloom, and of
others which I comprehend not, though I guess what they mean; but
nevertheless they tell us all things which we want to know.

"They make known to us among them, how last afternoon at about five
o'clock comes a man so hurry. A tall man, thin and pale, with high nose
and teeth so white, and eyes that seem to be burning. That he be all in
black, except that he have a hat of straw which suit not him or the
time. That he scatter his money in making quick inquiry as to what ship
sails for the Black Sea and for where. Some took him to the office and
then to the ship, where he will not go aboard but halt at shore end of
gang-plank, and ask that the captain come to him. The captain come, when
told that he will be pay well; and though he swear much at the first he
agree to term. Then the thin man go and some one tell him where horse
and cart can be hired. He go there and soon he come again, himself
driving cart on which a great box; this he himself lift down, though it
take several to put it on truck for the ship. He give much talk to
captain as to how and where his box is to be place; but the captain like
it not and swear at him in many tongues, and tell him that if he like he
can come and see where it shall be. But he say 'no'; that he come not
yet, for that he have much to do. Whereupon the captain tell him that he
had better be quick--with blood--for that his ship will leave the
place--of blood--before the turn of the tide--with blood. Then the thin
man smile and say that of course he must go when he think fit; but he
will be surprise if he go quite so soon. The captain swear again,
polyglot, and the thin man make him bow, and thank him, and say that he
will so far intrude on his kindness as to come aboard before the
sailing. Final the captain, more red than ever, and in more tongues tell
him that he doesn't want no Frenchmen--with bloom upon them and also
with blood--in his ship--with blood on her also. And so, after asking
where there might be close at hand a ship where he might purchase ship
forms, he departed.

"No one knew where he went 'or bloomin' well cared,' as they said, for
they had something else to think of--well with blood again; for it soon
became apparent to all that the _Czarina Catherine_ would not sail as
was expected. A thin mist began to creep up from the river, and it grew,
and grew; till soon a dense fog enveloped the ship and all around her.
The captain swore polyglot--very polyglot--polyglot with bloom and
blood; but he could do nothing. The water rose and rose; and he began to
fear that he would lose the tide altogether. He was in no friendly mood,
when just at full tide, the thin man came up the gang-plank again and
asked to see where his box had been stowed. Then the captain replied
that he wished that he and his box--old and with much bloom and
blood--were in hell. But the thin man did not be offend, and went down
with the mate and saw where it was place, and came up and stood awhile
on deck in fog. He must have come off by himself, for none notice him.
Indeed they thought not of him; for soon the fog begin to melt away, and
all was clear again. My friends of the thirst and the language that was
of bloom and blood laughed, as they told how the captain's swears
exceeded even his usual polyglot, and was more than ever full of
picturesque, when on questioning other mariners who were on movement up
and down on the river that hour, he found that few of them had seen any
of fog at all, except where it lay round the wharf. However, the ship
went out on the ebb tide; and was doubtless by morning far down the
river mouth. She was by then, when they told us, well out to sea.

"And so, my dear Madam Mina, it is that we have to rest for a time, for
our enemy is on the sea, with the fog at his command, on his way to the
Danube mouth. To sail a ship takes time, go she never so quick; and when
we start we go on land more quick, and we meet him there. Our best hope
is to come on him when in the box between sunrise and sunset; for then
he can make no struggle, and we may deal with him as we should. There
are days for us, in which we can make ready our plan. We know all about
where he go; for we have seen the owner of the ship, who have shown us
invoices and all papers that can be. The box we seek is to be landed in
Varna, and to be given to an agent, one Ristics who will there present
his credentials; and so our merchant friend will have done his part.
When he ask if there be any wrong, for that so, he can telegraph and
have inquiry made at Varna, we say 'no'; for what is to be done is not
for police or of the customs. It must be done by us alone and in our own
way."

When Dr. Van Helsing had done speaking, I asked him if he were certain
that the Count had remained on board the ship. He replied: "We have the
best proof of that: your own evidence, when in the hypnotic trance this
morning." I asked him again if it were really necessary that they should
pursue the Count, for oh! I dread Jonathan leaving me, and I know that
he would surely go if the others went. He answered in growing passion,
at first quietly. As he went on, however, he grew more angry and more
forceful, till in the end we could not but see wherein was at least some
of that personal dominance which made him so long a master amongst
men:--

"Yes, it is necessary--necessary--necessary! For your sake in the first,
and then for the sake of humanity. This monster has done much harm
already, in the narrow scope where he find himself, and in the short
time when as yet he was only as a body groping his so small measure in
darkness and not knowing. All this have I told these others; you, my
dear Madam Mina, will learn it in the phonograph of my friend John, or
in that of your husband. I have told them how the measure of leaving his
own barren land--barren of peoples--and coming to a new land where life
of man teems till they are like the multitude of standing corn, was the
work of centuries. Were another of the Un-Dead, like him, to try to do
what he has done, perhaps not all the centuries of the world that have
been, or that will be, could aid him. With this one, all the forces of
nature that are occult and deep and strong must have worked together in
some wondrous way. The very place, where he have been alive, Un-Dead for
all these centuries, is full of strangeness of the geologic and chemical
world. There are deep caverns and fissures that reach none know whither.
There have been volcanoes, some of whose openings still send out waters
of strange properties, and gases that kill or make to vivify. Doubtless,
there is something magnetic or electric in some of these combinations of
occult forces which work for physical life in strange way; and in
himself were from the first some great qualities. In a hard and warlike
time he was celebrate that he have more iron nerve, more subtle brain,
more braver heart, than any man. In him some vital principle have in
strange way found their utmost; and as his body keep strong and grow and
thrive, so his brain grow too. All this without that diabolic aid which
is surely to him; for it have to yield to the powers that come from,
and are, symbolic of good. And now this is what he is to us. He have
infect you--oh, forgive me, my dear, that I must say such; but it is for
good of you that I speak. He infect you in such wise, that even if he do
no more, you have only to live--to live in your own old, sweet way; and
so in time, death, which is of man's common lot and with God's sanction,
shall make you like to him. This must not be! We have sworn together
that it must not. Thus are we ministers of God's own wish: that the
world, and men for whom His Son die, will not be given over to monsters,
whose very existence would defame Him. He have allowed us to redeem one
soul already, and we go out as the old knights of the Cross to redeem
more. Like them we shall travel towards the sunrise; and like them, if
we fall, we fall in good cause." He paused and I said:--

"But will not the Count take his rebuff wisely? Since he has been driven
from England, will he not avoid it, as a tiger does the village from
which he has been hunted?"

"Aha!" he said, "your simile of the tiger good, for me, and I shall
adopt him. Your man-eater, as they of India call the tiger who has once
tasted blood of the human, care no more for the other prey, but prowl
unceasing till he get him. This that we hunt from our village is a
tiger, too, a man-eater, and he never cease to prowl. Nay, in himself he
is not one to retire and stay afar. In his life, his living life, he go
over the Turkey frontier and attack his enemy on his own ground; he be
beaten back, but did he stay? No! He come again, and again, and again.
Look at his persistence and endurance. With the child-brain that was to
him he have long since conceive the idea of coming to a great city. What
does he do? He find out the place of all the world most of promise for
him. Then he deliberately set himself down to prepare for the task. He
find in patience just how is his strength, and what are his powers. He
study new tongues. He learn new social life; new environment of old
ways, the politic, the law, the finance, the science, the habit of a new
land and a new people who have come to be since he was. His glimpse that
he have had, whet his appetite only and enkeen his desire. Nay, it help
him to grow as to his brain; for it all prove to him how right he was at
the first in his surmises. He have done this alone; all alone! from a
ruin tomb in a forgotten land. What more may he not do when the greater
world of thought is open to him. He that can smile at death, as we know
him; who can flourish in the midst of diseases that kill off whole
peoples. Oh, if such an one was to come from God, and not the Devil,
what a force for good might he not be in this old world of ours. But we
are pledged to set the world free. Our toil must be in silence, and our
efforts all in secret; for in this enlightened age, when men believe not
even what they see, the doubting of wise men would be his greatest
strength. It would be at once his sheath and his armour, and his weapons
to destroy us, his enemies, who are willing to peril even our own souls
for the safety of one we love--for the good of mankind, and for the
honour and glory of God."

After a general discussion it was determined that for to-night nothing
be definitely settled; that we should all sleep on the facts, and try to
think out the proper conclusions. To-morrow, at breakfast, we are to
meet again, and, after making our conclusions known to one another, we
shall decide on some definite cause of action.

       *       *       *       *       *

I feel a wonderful peace and rest to-night. It is as if some haunting
presence were removed from me. Perhaps ...

My surmise was not finished, could not be; for I caught sight in the
mirror of the red mark upon my forehead; and I knew that I was still
unclean.

_Dr. Seward's Diary._

_5 October._--We all rose early, and I think that sleep did much for
each and all of us. When we met at early breakfast there was more
general cheerfulness than any of us had ever expected to experience
again.

It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature. Let
any obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way--even by
death--and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment. More
than once as we sat around the table, my eyes opened in wonder whether
the whole of the past days had not been a dream. It was only when I
caught sight of the red blotch on Mrs. Harker's forehead that I was
brought back to reality. Even now, when I am gravely revolving the
matter, it is almost impossible to realise that the cause of all our
trouble is still existent. Even Mrs. Harker seems to lose sight of her
trouble for whole spells; it is only now and again, when something
recalls it to her mind, that she thinks of her terrible scar. We are to
meet here in my study in half an hour and decide on our course of
action. I see only one immediate difficulty, I know it by instinct
rather than reason: we shall all have to speak frankly; and yet I fear
that in some mysterious way poor Mrs. Harker's tongue is tied. I _know_
that she forms conclusions of her own, and from all that has been I can
guess how brilliant and how true they must be; but she will not, or
cannot, give them utterance. I have mentioned this to Van Helsing, and
he and I are to talk it over when we are alone. I suppose it is some of
that horrid poison which has got into her veins beginning to work. The
Count had his own purposes when he gave her what Van Helsing called "the
Vampire's baptism of blood." Well, there may be a poison that distils
itself out of good things; in an age when the existence of ptomaines is
a mystery we should not wonder at anything! One thing I know: that if my
instinct be true regarding poor Mrs. Harker's silences, then there is a
terrible difficulty--an unknown danger--in the work before us. The same
power that compels her silence may compel her speech. I dare not think
further; for so I should in my thoughts dishonour a noble woman!

Van Helsing is coming to my study a little before the others. I shall
try to open the subject with him.

       *       *       *       *       *

_Later._--When the Professor came in, we talked over the state of
things. I could see that he had something on his mind which he wanted to
say, but felt some hesitancy about broaching the subject. After beating
about the bush a little, he said suddenly:--

"Friend John, there is something that you and I must talk of alone, just
at the first at any rate. Later, we may have to take the others into our
confidence"; then he stopped, so I waited; he went on:--

"Madam Mina, our poor, dear Madam Mina is changing." A cold shiver ran
through me to find my worst fears thus endorsed. Van Helsing
continued:--

"With the sad experience of Miss Lucy, we must this time be warned
before things go too far. Our task is now in reality more difficult than
ever, and this new trouble makes every hour of the direst importance. I
can see the characteristics of the vampire coming in her face. It is now
but very, very slight; but it is to be seen if we have eyes to notice
without to prejudge. Her teeth are some sharper, and at times her eyes
are more hard. But these are not all, there is to her the silence now
often; as so it was with Miss Lucy. She did not speak, even when she
wrote that which she wished to be known later. Now my fear is this. If
it be that she can, by our hypnotic trance, tell what the Count see and
hear, is it not more true that he who have hypnotise her first, and who
have drink of her very blood and make her drink of his, should, if he
will, compel her mind to disclose to him that which she know?" I nodded
acquiescence; he went on:--

"Then, what we must do is to prevent this; we must keep her ignorant of
our intent, and so she cannot tell what she know not. This is a painful
task! Oh, so painful that it heart-break me to think of; but it must be.
When to-day we meet, I must tell her that for reason which we will not
to speak she must not more be of our council, but be simply guarded by
us." He wiped his forehead, which had broken out in profuse perspiration
at the thought of the pain which he might have to inflict upon the poor
soul already so tortured. I knew that it would be some sort of comfort
to him if I told him that I also had come to the same conclusion; for at
any rate it would take away the pain of doubt. I told him, and the
effect was as I expected.

It is now close to the time of our general gathering. Van Helsing has
gone away to prepare for the meeting, and his painful part of it. I
really believe his purpose is to be able to pray alone.

       *       *       *       *       *

_Later._--At the very outset of our meeting a great personal relief was
experienced by both Van Helsing and myself. Mrs. Harker had sent a
message by her husband to say that she would not join us at present, as
she thought it better that we should be free to discuss our movements
without her presence to embarrass us. The Professor and I looked at each
other for an instant, and somehow we both seemed relieved. For my own
part, I thought that if Mrs. Harker realised the danger herself, it was
much pain as well as much danger averted. Under the circumstances we
agreed, by a questioning look and answer, with finger on lip, to
preserve silence in our suspicions, until we should have been able to
confer alone again. We went at once into our Plan of Campaign. Van
Helsing roughly put the facts before us first:--

"The _Czarina Catherine_ left the Thames yesterday morning. It will take
her at the quickest speed she has ever made at least three weeks to
reach Varna; but we can travel overland to the same place in three days.
Now, if we allow for two days less for the ship's voyage, owing to such
weather influences as we know that the Count can bring to bear; and if
we allow a whole day and night for any delays which may occur to us,
then we have a margin of nearly two weeks. Thus, in order to be quite
safe, we must leave here on 17th at latest. Then we shall at any rate
be in Varna a day before the ship arrives, and able to make such
preparations as may be necessary. Of course we shall all go armed--armed
against evil things, spiritual as well as physical." Here Quincey Morris
added:--

"I understand that the Count comes from a wolf country, and it may be
that he shall get there before us. I propose that we add Winchesters to
our armament. I have a kind of belief in a Winchester when there is any
trouble of that sort around. Do you remember, Art, when we had the pack
after us at Tobolsk? What wouldn't we have given then for a repeater
apiece!"

"Good!" said Van Helsing, "Winchesters it shall be. Quincey's head is
level at all times, but most so when there is to hunt, metaphor be more
dishonour to science than wolves be of danger to man. In the meantime we
can do nothing here; and as I think that Varna is not familiar to any of
us, why not go there more soon? It is as long to wait here as there.
To-night and to-morrow we can get ready, and then, if all be well, we
four can set out on our journey."

"We four?" said Harker interrogatively, looking from one to another of
us.

"Of course!" answered the Professor quickly, "you must remain to take
care of your so sweet wife!" Harker was silent for awhile and then said
in a hollow voice:--

"Let us talk of that part of it in the morning. I want to consult with
Mina." I thought that now was the time for Van Helsing to warn him not
to disclose our plans to her; but he took no notice. I looked at him
significantly and coughed. For answer he put his finger on his lips and
turned away.

_Jonathan Harker's Journal._

_5 October, afternoon._--For some time after our meeting this morning I
could not think. The new phases of things leave my mind in a state of
wonder which allows no room for active thought. Mina's determination not
to take any part in the discussion set me thinking; and as I could not
argue the matter with her, I could only guess. I am as far as ever from
a solution now. The way the others received it, too, puzzled me; the
last time we talked of the subject we agreed that there was to be no
more concealment of anything amongst us. Mina is sleeping now, calmly
and sweetly like a little child. Her lips are curved and her face beams
with happiness. Thank God, there are such moments still for her.

       *       *       *       *       *

_Later._--How strange it all is. I sat watching Mina's happy sleep, and
came as near to being happy myself as I suppose I shall ever be. As the
evening drew on, and the earth took its shadows from the sun sinking
lower, the silence of the room grew more and more solemn to me. All at
once Mina opened her eyes, and looking at me tenderly, said:--

"Jonathan, I want you to promise me something on your word of honour. A
promise made to me, but made holily in God's hearing, and not to be
broken though I should go down on my knees and implore you with bitter
tears. Quick, you must make it to me at once."

"Mina," I said, "a promise like that, I cannot make at once. I may have
no right to make it."

"But, dear one," she said, with such spiritual intensity that her eyes
were like pole stars, "it is I who wish it; and it is not for myself.
You can ask Dr. Van Helsing if I am not right; if he disagrees you may
do as you will. Nay, more, if you all agree, later, you are absolved
from the promise."

"I promise!" I said, and for a moment she looked supremely happy; though
to me all happiness for her was denied by the red scar on her forehead.
She said:--

"Promise me that you will not tell me anything of the plans formed for
the campaign against the Count. Not by word, or inference, or
implication; not at any time whilst this remains to me!" and she
solemnly pointed to the scar. I saw that she was in earnest, and said
solemnly:--

"I promise!" and as I said it I felt that from that instant a door had
been shut between us.

       *       *       *       *       *

_Later, midnight._--Mina has been bright and cheerful all the evening.
So much so that all the rest seemed to take courage, as if infected
somewhat with her gaiety; as a result even I myself felt as if the pall
of gloom which weighs us down were somewhat lifted. We all retired
early. Mina is now sleeping like a little child; it is a wonderful thing
that her faculty of sleep remains to her in the midst of her terrible
trouble. Thank God for it, for then at least she can forget her care.
Perhaps her example may affect me as her gaiety did to-night. I shall
try it. Oh! for a dreamless sleep.

       *       *       *       *       *

_6 October, morning._--Another surprise. Mina woke me early, about the
same time as yesterday, and asked me to bring Dr. Van Helsing. I thought
that it was another occasion for hypnotism, and without question went
for the Professor. He had evidently expected some such call, for I found
him dressed in his room. His door was ajar, so that he could hear the
opening of the door of our room. He came at once; as he passed into the
room, he asked Mina if the others might come, too.

"No," she said quite simply, "it will not be necessary. You can tell
them just as well. I must go with you on your journey."

Dr. Van Helsing was as startled as I was. After a moment's pause he
asked:--

"But why?"

"You must take me with you. I am safer with you, and you shall be safer,
too."

"But why, dear Madam Mina? You know that your safety is our solemnest
duty. We go into danger, to which you are, or may be, more liable than
any of us from--from circumstances--things that have been." He paused,
embarrassed.

As she replied, she raised her finger and pointed to her forehead:--

"I know. That is why I must go. I can tell you now, whilst the sun is
coming up; I may not be able again. I know that when the Count wills me
I must go. I know that if he tells me to come in secret, I must come by
wile; by any device to hoodwink--even Jonathan." God saw the look that
she turned on me as she spoke, and if there be indeed a Recording Angel
that look is noted to her everlasting honour. I could only clasp her
hand. I could not speak; my emotion was too great for even the relief of
tears. She went on:--

"You men are brave and strong. You are strong in your numbers, for you
can defy that which would break down the human endurance of one who had
to guard alone. Besides, I may be of service, since you can hypnotise me
and so learn that which even I myself do not know." Dr. Van Helsing said
very gravely:--

"Madam Mina, you are, as always, most wise. You shall with us come; and
together we shall do that which we go forth to achieve." When he had
spoken, Mina's long spell of silence made me look at her. She had fallen
back on her pillow asleep; she did not even wake when I had pulled up
the blind and let in the sunlight which flooded the room. Van Helsing
motioned to me to come with him quietly. We went to his room, and within
a minute Lord Godalming, Dr. Seward, and Mr. Morris were with us also.
He told them what Mina had said, and went on:--

"In the morning we shall leave for Varna. We have now to deal with a
new factor: Madam Mina. Oh, but her soul is true. It is to her an agony
to tell us so much as she has done; but it is most right, and we are
warned in time. There must be no chance lost, and in Varna we must be
ready to act the instant when that ship arrives."

"What shall we do exactly?" asked Mr. Morris laconically. The Professor
paused before replying:--

"We shall at the first board that ship; then, when we have identified
the box, we shall place a branch of the wild rose on it. This we shall
fasten, for when it is there none can emerge; so at least says the
superstition. And to superstition must we trust at the first; it was
man's faith in the early, and it have its root in faith still. Then,
when we get the opportunity that we seek, when none are near to see, we
shall open the box, and--and all will be well."

"I shall not wait for any opportunity," said Morris. "When I see the box
I shall open it and destroy the monster, though there were a thousand
men looking on, and if I am to be wiped out for it the next moment!" I
grasped his hand instinctively and found it as firm as a piece of steel.
I think he understood my look; I hope he did.

"Good boy," said Dr. Van Helsing. "Brave boy. Quincey is all man. God
bless him for it. My child, believe me none of us shall lag behind or
pause from any fear. I do but say what we may do--what we must do. But,
indeed, indeed we cannot say what we shall do. There are so many things
which may happen, and their ways and their ends are so various that
until the moment we may not say. We shall all be armed, in all ways; and
when the time for the end has come, our effort shall not be lack. Now
let us to-day put all our affairs in order. Let all things which touch
on others dear to us, and who on us depend, be complete; for none of us
can tell what, or when, or how, the end may be. As for me, my own
affairs are regulate; and as I have nothing else to do, I shall go make
arrangements for the travel. I shall have all tickets and so forth for
our journey."

There was nothing further to be said, and we parted. I shall now settle
up all my affairs of earth, and be ready for whatever may come....

       *       *       *       *       *

_Later._--It is all done; my will is made, and all complete. Mina if she
survive is my sole heir. If it should not be so, then the others who
have been so good to us shall have remainder.

It is now drawing towards the sunset; Mina's uneasiness calls my
attention to it. I am sure that there is something on her mind which the
time of exact sunset will reveal. These occasions are becoming harrowing
times for us all, for each sunrise and sunset opens up some new
danger--some new pain, which, however, may in God's will be means to a
good end. I write all these things in the diary since my darling must
not hear them now; but if it may be that she can see them again, they
shall be ready.

She is calling to me.

Q: Can you write an appropriate summary of the above paragraphs?
A:

completion: Dr. Sewards gives strict instructions, through Van Helsing, to Jonathan telling him to stay with Mina. Count Dracula, he informs, has gone back to Transylvania as the band has destroyed his last box so thats why he has been forced to flee. He has gone by ship but Van Helsing assures him that the battle has just begun and in the end they will win. Jonathan Harker in his journal records that when he read Van Helsings message to Mina, she was much happier. There is a red scar on Minas forehead. Dracula has the money, so he scatters it around. He has sailed Czarina Catherina, and he is on the sea. There is a change in Mina, the band notices. Draculas ship is going to take at least three weeks to reach Varna. So the band plans to travel overland in three days. They plan to leave on the 17th so that they reach one day before Draculas ship reaches. Mina asks Jonathan not to tell her about any of their plans. Then she asks Van Helsing to allow her to go with them.