I shall never forget that eveningI walked with him in the gardenI was lonesome and full of sorrow, and he was so kind and gentle to me; and he told me that he had seen me before I went to the convent, and that he had loved me a great while, and that he would be my friend and protector;?in short, though he didn?t tell me, he had paid two thousand dollars for me, and I was his property,?I became his willingly, for I loved himLoved!? said the woman, stopping?O, how I did love that man! How I love him now,?and always shall, while I breathe! He was so beautiful, so high, so noble! He put me into a beautiful house, with servants, horses, and carriages, and furniture, and dressesEverything that money could buy, he gave me; but I didn?t set any value on all that,?I only cared for himI loved him better than my God and my own soul, and, if I tried, I couldn?t do any other way from what he wanted me to ?I wanted only one thing?I did want him to marry meI thought, if he loved me as he said he did, and if I was what he seemed to think I was, he would be willing to marry me and set me freeBut he convinced me that it would be impossible; and he told me that, if we were only faithful to each other, it was marriage before GodIf that is true, wasn?t I that man?s wife? Wasn?t I faithful? For seven years, didn?t I study every look and motion, and only live and breathe to please him? He had the yellow fever, and for twenty days and nights I watched with himI alone,?and gave him all his medicine, and did everything for him; and then he called me his good angel, and said I?d saved his lifeWe had two beautiful childrenThe first was a boy, and we called him HenryHe was the image of his father,?he had such beautiful eyes, such a forehead, and his hair hung all in curls around it; and he had all his father?s spirit, and his talent, tooLittle Elise, he said, looked like meHe used to tell me that I was the most beautiful woman in Louisiana, he was so proud of me and the childrenHe used to love to have me dress them up, and take them and me about in an open carriage, and hear the remarks that people would make on us; and he used to fill my ears constantly with the fine things that were said in praise of me and the childrenO, those were happy days! I thought I was as happy as any one could be; but then there came evil timesHe had a cousin come to New Orleans, who was his particular friend,?he thought all the world of him;?but, from the first time I saw him, I couldn?t tell why, I dreaded him; for I felt sure he was going to bring misery on usHe got Henry to going out with him, and often he would not come home nights till two or three o?clockI did not dare say a word; for Henry was so high spirited, I was afraid toHe got him to the gaming-houses; and he was one of the sort that, when he once got a going there, there was no holding backAnd then he introduced him to another lady, and I saw soon that his heart was gone from meHe never told me, but I saw it,?I knew it, day after day,?I felt my heart breaking, but I could not say a word! At this, the wretch offered to buy me and the children of Henry, to clear off his gamblng debts, which stood in the way of his marrying as he wished;?and he sold usHe told me, one day, that he had business in the country, and should be gone two or three weeksHe spoke kinder than usual, and said he should come back; but it didn?t deceive meI knew that the time had come; I was just like one turned into stone; I couldn?t speak, nor shed a tearHe kissed me and kissed the children, a good many times, and went outI saw him get on his horse, and I watched him till he was quite out of sight; and then I fell down, and fainted ?Then he came, the cursed wretch! he came to take possessionHe told me that he had bought me and my children; and showed me the papersI cursed him before God, and told him I?d die sooner than live with him ??Just as you please,? said he; ?but, if you don?t behave reasonably, I?ll sell both the children, where you shall never see them again He told me that he always had meant to have me, from the first time he saw me; and that he had drawn Henry on, and got him in debt, on purpose to make him willing to sell meThat he got him in love with another woman; and that I might know, after all that, that he should not give up for a few airs and tears, and things of that sort ?I gave up, for my hands were tiedHe had my children;?whenever I resisted his will anywhere, he would talk about selling them, and he made me as submissive as he desiredO, what a life it was! to live with my heart breaking, every day,?to keep on, on, on, loving, when it was only misery; and to be bound, body and soul, to one I hatedI used to love to read to Henry, to play to him, to waltz with him, and sing to him; but everything I did for this one was a perfect drag,?yet I was afraid to refuse shop anything

Great big fat ones with steel and sapphire on their wingsAnd big moths, in the night, with skull and cross-bones on their backs Van Helsing nodded to him as he whispered to me unconsciously, "The Acherontia Atropos of the Sphinges, what you call the 'Death's-head Moth'?" The patient went on without stopping, "Then he began to whisper'Rats, rats, rats! Hundreds, thousands, millions of them, and every one a lifeAnd dogs to eat them, and cats tooAll lives! All red blood, with years of life in it, and not merely buzzing flies!' I laughed at him, for I wanted to see what he could doThen the dogs howled, away beyond the dark trees in His houseHe beckoned me to the windowI got up and looked out, and He raised his hands, and seemed to call out without using any wordsA dark mass spread over the grass, coming on like the shape of a flame of fireAnd then He moved the mist to the right and left, and I could see that there were thousands of rats with their eyes blazing red, like His only smallerHe held up his hand, and they all stopped, and I thought he seemed to be saying, 'All these lives will I give you, ay, and many more and greater, through countless ages, if you will fall down and worship me!' And then a red cloud, like the colour of blood, seemed to close over my eyes, and before I knew what I was doing, I found myself opening the sash and saying to Him, 'Come in, Lord and Master!' The rats were all gone, but He slid into the room through the sash, though it was only open an inch wide, just as the Moon herself has often come in through the tiniest crack and has stood before me in all her size and splendour His voice was weaker, so I moistened his lips with the brandy again, and he continued, but it seemed as though his memory had gone on working in the interval for his story was further advancedI was about to call him back to the point, but Van Helsing whispered to me, "Let him go onHe cannot go back, and maybe could not proceed at all if once he lost the thread of his thought He proceeded, "All day I waited to hear from him, but he did not send me anything, not even a blowfly, and when the moon got up I was pretty angry with himWhen he did slide in through the window, though it was shut, and did not even knock, I got mad with himHe sneered at me, and his white face looked out of the mist with his red eyes gleaming, and he went on as though he owned the whole place, and I was no oneHe didn't even smell the same as he went by meI thought that, somehow, MrsHarker had come into the room The two men sitting on the bed stood up and came over, standing behind him so that he could not see them, but where they could hear betterThey were both silent, but the Professor started and quiveredHis face, however, grew grimmer and sterner stillRenfield went on without noticing, "When MrsHarker came in to see me this afternoon she wasn't the sameIt was like tea after the teapot has been watered Here we all moved, but no one said a word He went on, "I didn't know that she was here till she spoke, and she didn't look the sameI don't care for the pale peopleI like them with lots of blood in them, and hers all seemed to have run outI didn't think of it at the time, but when she went away I began to think, and it made me mad to know that He had been taking the life out of her I could feel that the rest quivered, as I did; but we remained otherwise still"So when He came tonight I was ready for HimI saw the mist stealing in, and I grabbed it tightI had heard that madmen have unnatural strengthAnd as I knew I was a madman, at times anyhow, I resolved to use my powerAy, and He felt it too, for He had to come out of the mist to struggle with meI held tight, and I thought I was going to win, for I didn't mean Him to take any more of her life, till I saw His eyesThey burned into me, and my strength became like shop water

Here was my own pet lunatic, the most pronounced of his type that I had ever met with, talking elemental philosophy, and with the manner of a polished gentlemanI wonder if it was MrsHarker's presence which had touched some chord in his memoryIf this new phase was spontaneous, or in any way due to her unconscious influence, she must have some rare gift or power We continued to talk for some time, and seeing that he was seemingly quite reasonable, she ventured, looking at me questioningly as she began, to lead him to his favourite topicI was again astonished, for he addressed himself to the question with the impartiality of the completest sanityHe even took himself as an example when he mentioned certain things "Why, I myself am an instance of a man who had a strange beliefIndeed, it was no wonder that my friends were alarmed, and insisted on my being put under controlI used to fancy that life was a positive and perpetual entity, and that by consuming a multitude of live things, no matter how low in the scale of creation, one might indefinitely prolong lifeAt times I held the belief so strongly that I actually tried to take human lifeThe doctor here will bear me out that on one occasion I tried to kill him for the purpose of strengthening my vital powers by the assimilation with my own body of his life through the medium of his blood, relying of course, upon the Scriptural phrase, 'For the blood is the life' Though, indeed, the vendor of a certain nostrum has vulgarized the truism to the very point of contemptIsn't that true, doctor?" I nodded assent, for I was so amazed that I hardly knew what to either think or say, it was hard to imagine that I had seen him eat up his spiders and flies not five minutes beforeLooking at my watch, I saw that I should go to the station to meet Van Helsing, so I told MrsHarker that it was time to leave She came at once, after saying pleasantly to MrRenfield, "Goodbye, and I hope I may see you often, under auspices pleasanter to yourself To which, to my astonishment, he replied, "Goodbye, my dearI pray God I may never see your sweet face againMay He bless and keep you!" When I went to the station to meet Van Helsing I left the boys behind mePoor Art seemed more cheerful than he has been since Lucy first took ill, and Quincey is more like his own bright self than he has been for many a long day Van Helsing stepped from the carriage with the eager nimbleness of a boyHe saw me at once, and rushed up to me, saying, "Ah, friend John, how goes all? Well? So! I have been busy, for I come here to stay if need beAll affairs are settled with me, and I have much to tellMadam Mina is with you? YesAnd her so fine husband? And Arthur and my friend Quincey, they are with you, too? Good!" As I drove to the house I told him of what had passed, and of how my own diary had come to be of some use through MrsHarker's suggestion, at which the Professor interrupted me "Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina! She has man's brain, a brain that a man should have were he much gifted, and a woman's heartThe good God fashioned her for a purpose, believe me, when He made that so good combinationFriend John, up to now fortune has made that woman of help to us, after tonight she must not have to do with this so terrible affairIt is not good that she run a risk so greatWe men are determined, nay, are we not pledged, to destroy this monster? But it is no part for a womanEven if she be not harmed, her heart may fail her in so much and so many horrors and hereafter she may suffer, both in waking, from her nerves, and in sleep, from her dreamsAnd, besides, she is young woman and not so long married, there may be other things to think of some time, if not nowYou tell me she has wrote all, then she must consult with us, but tomorrow she say goodbye to this work, and we go alone I agreed heartily with him, and then I told him what we had found in his absence, that the house which Dracula had bought was the very next one to my ownHe was amazed, and a great concern seemed to come on him "Oh that we had known it before!" he said, "for then we might have reached him in time to save poor LucyHowever, 'the milk that is spilt cries not out afterwards,' as you shop say

As yet I have not had the chance of looking at the papers which Van Helsing left with me, though they lie open before meI must get her interested in something, so that I may have an opportunity of reading themShe does not know how precious time is, or what a task we have in handI must be careful not to frighten herHere she is! MINA HARKER'S JOURNAL 29 September-After I had tidied myself, I went down to DrAt the door I paused a moment, for I thought I heard him talking with some oneAs, however, he had pressed me to be quick, I knocked at the door, and on his calling out, "Come in," I entered To my intense surprise, there was no one with himHe was quite alone, and on the table opposite him was what I knew at once from the description to be a phonographI had never seen one, and was much interested "I hope I did not keep you waiting," I said, "but I stayed at the door as I heard you talking, and thought there was someone with you "Oh," he replied with a smile, "I was only entering my diary "Your diary?" I asked him in surprise "Yes," he answered As he spoke he laid his hand on the phonographI felt quite excited over it, and blurted out, "Why, this beats even shorthand! May I hear it say something?" "Certainly," he replied with alacrity, and stood up to put it in train for speakingThen he paused, and a troubled look overspread his face "The fact is," he began awkwardly, "I only keep my diary in it, and as it is entirely, almost entirely, about my cases it may be awkward, that is, I mean?" He stopped, and I tried to help him out of his embarrassment "You helped to attend dear Lucy at the endLet me hear how she died, for all that I know of her, I shall be very gratefulShe was very, very dear to me To my surprise, he answered, with a horrorstruck look in his face, "Tell you of her death? Not for the wide world!" "Why not?" I asked, for some grave, terrible feeling was coming over me Again he paused, and I could see that he was trying to invent an excuseAt length, he stammered out, "You see, I do not know how to pick out any particular part of the diary Even while he was speaking an idea dawned upon him, and he said with unconscious simplicity, in a different voice, and with the naivete of a child, "that's quite true, upon my honourHonest Indian!" I could not but smile, at which he grimaced"I gave myself away that time!" he said"But do you know that, although I have kept the diary for months past, it never once struck me how I was going to find any particular part of it in case I wanted to look it up?" By this time my mind was made up that the diary of a doctor who attended Lucy might have something to add to the sum of our knowledge of that terrible Being, and I said boldly, "Then, DrSeward, you had better let me copy it out for you on my typewriter He grew to a positively deathly pallor as he said, "No! No! No! For all the worldI wouldn't let you know that terrible story!" Then it was terribleMy intuition was right! For a moment, I thought, and as my eyes ranged the room, unconsciously looking for something or some opportunity to aid me, they lit on a great batch of typewriting on the tableHis eyes caught the look in mine, and without his thinking, followed their directionAs they saw the parcel he realized my meaning "You do not know me," I said"When you have read those papers, my own diary and my husband's also, which I have typed, you will know me betterI have not faltered in giving every thought of my own heart in this causeBut, of course, you do not know me, yet, and I must not expect you to trust me so far He is certainly a man of noble shop nature

The trader turned away in silence ?I say, now,? said the drover, touching his elbow, ?there?s differences in parsons, an?t there? ?Cussed be Canaan? don?t seem to go down with this ?un, does it?? Haley gave an uneasy growl ?And that ar an?t the worst on ?t,? said John; ?mabbee it won?t go down with the Lord, neither, when ye come to settle with Him, one o? these days, as all on us must, I reckon Haley walked reflectively to the other end of the boat ?If I make pretty handsomely on one or two next gangs,? he thought, ?I reckon I?ll stop off this yer; it?s really getting dangerous And he took out his pocket-book, and began adding over his accounts,?a process which many gentlemen besides MrHaley have found a specific for an uneasy conscience The boat swept proudly away from the shore, and all went on merrily, as beforeMen talked, and loafed, and read, and smokedWomen sewed, and children played, and the boat passed on her way One day, when she lay to for a while at a small town in Kentucky, Haley went up into the place on a little matter of business Tom, whose fetters did not prevent his taking a moderate circuit, had drawn near the side of the boat, and stood listlessly gazing over the railingAfter a time, he saw the trader returning, with an alert step, in company with a colored woman, bearing in her arms a young childShe was dressed quite respectably, and a colored man followed her, bringing along a small trunkThe woman came cheerfully onward, talking, as she came, with the man who bore her trunk, and so passed up the plank into the boatThe bell rung, the steamer whizzed, the engine groaned and coughed, and away swept the boat down the river The woman walked forward among the boxes and bales of the lower deck, and, sitting down, busied herself with chirruping to her baby Haley made a turn or two about the boat, and then, coming up, seated himself near her, and began saying something to her in an indifferent undertone Tom soon noticed a heavy cloud passing over the woman?s brow; and that she answered rapidly, and with great vehemence ?I don?t believe it,?I won?t believe it!? he heard her say?You?re jist a foolin with me ?If you won?t believe it, look here!? said the man, drawing out a paper; ?this yer?s the bill of sale, and there?s your master?s name to it; and I paid down good solid cash for it, too, I can tell you,?so, now!? ?I don?t believe Mas?r would cheat me so; it can?t be true!? said the woman, with increasing agitation ?You can ask any of these men here, that can read writingHere!? he said, to a man that was passing by, ?jist read this yer, won?t you! This yer gal won?t believe me, when I tell her what ?t is ?Why, it?s a bill of sale, signed by John Fosdick,? said the man, ?making over to you the girl Lucy and her childIt?s all straight enough, for aught I see The woman?s passionate exclamations collected a crowd around her, and the trader briefly explained to them the cause of the agitation ?He told me that I was going down to Louisville, to hire out as cook to the same tavern where my husband works,?that?s what Mas?r told me, his own self; and I can?t believe he?d lie to me,? said the woman ?But he has sold you, my poor woman, there?s no doubt about it,? said a good-natured looking man, who had been examining the papers; ?he has done it, and no mistake ?Then it?s no account talking,? said the woman, suddenly growing quite calm; and, clasping her child tighter in her arms, she sat down on her box, turned her back round, and gazed listlessly into the river ?Going to take it easy, after all!? said the trader?Gal?s got grit, I see The woman looked calm, as the boat went on; and a beautiful soft summer breeze passed like a compassionate spirit over her head,?the gentle breeze, that never inquires whether the brow is dusky or fair that it fansAnd she saw sunshine sparkling on the water, in golden ripples, and heard gay voices, full of ease and pleasure, talking around her everywhere; but her heart lay as if a great stone had fallen on itHer baby raised himself up against her, and stroked her cheeks with his little hands; and, springing up and down, crowing and chatting, seemed determined to arouse herShe strained him suddenly and tightly in her arms, and slowly one tear after another fell on his wondering, unconscious face; and gradually she seemed, and little by little, to grow calmer, and busied herself with tending and nursing him The child, a boy of ten months, was uncommonly large and strong of his age, and very vigorous in his limbsNever, for a moment, still, he kept his mother constantly busy in holding him, and guarding his springing activity ?That?s a fine chap!? said a man, suddenly stopping opposite to him, with his hands in his pockets?How old is he?? ?Ten months and a half,? said the shop mother