?As to Dolph, the case is this: that he has so long been engaged in imitating my graces and perfections, that he has, at last, really mistaken himself for his master; and I have been obliged to give him a little insight into his mistake ?Why, I was obliged to let him understand explicitly that I preferred to keep some of my clothes for my own personal wearing; also, I put his magnificence upon an allowance of cologne-water, and actually was so cruel as to restrict him to one dozen of my cambric handkerchiefsDolph was particularly huffy about it, and I had to talk to him like a father, to bring him roundClare, when will you learn how to treat your servants? It?s abominable, the way you indulge them!? said Marie ?Why, after all, what?s the harm of the poor dog?s wanting to be like his master; and if I haven?t brought him up any better than to find his chief good in cologne and cambric handkerchiefs, why shouldn?t I give them to him?? ?And why haven?t you brought him up better?? said Miss Ophelia, with blunt determination ?Too much trouble,?laziness, cousin, laziness,?which ruins more souls than you can shake a stick atIf it weren?t for laziness, I should have been a perfect angel, myselfI?m inclined to think that laziness is what your old DrBotherem, up in Vermont, used to call the ?essence of moral evil It?s an awful consideration, certainly ?I think you slaveholders have an awful responsibility upon you,? said Miss Ophelia?I wouldn?t have it, for a thousand worldsYou ought to educate your slaves, and treat them like reasonable creatures,?like immortal creatures, that you?ve got to stand before the bar of God withThat?s my mind,? said the good lady, breaking suddenly out with a tide of zeal that had been gaining strength in her mind all the morning ?O! come, come,? said StClare, getting up quickly; ?what do you know about us?? And he sat down to the piano, and rattled a lively piece of musicClare had a decided genius for musicHis touch was brilliant and firm, and his fingers flew over the keys with a rapid and bird-like motion, airy, and yet decidedHe played piece after piece, like a man who is trying to play himself into a good humorAfter pushing the music aside, he rose up, and said, gayly, ?Well, now, cousin, you?ve given us a good talk and done your duty; on the whole, I think the better of you for itI make no manner of doubt that you threw a very diamond of truth at me, though you see it hit me so directly in the face that it wasn?t exactly appreciated, at first ?For my part, I don?t see any use in such sort of talk,? said Marie?I?m sure, if anybody does more for servants than we do, I?d like to know who; and it don?t do ?em a bit good,?not a particle,?they get worse and worseAs to talking to them, or anything like that, I?m sure I have talked till I was tired and hoarse, telling them their duty, and all that; and I?m sure they can go to church when they like, though they don?t understand a word of the sermon, more than so many pigs,?so it isn?t of any great use for them to go, as I see; but they do go, and so they have every chance; but, as I said before, they are a degraded race, and always will be, and there isn?t any help for them; you can?t make anything of them, if you tryYou see, Cousin Ophelia, I?ve tried, and you haven?t; I was born and bred among them, and I know Miss Ophelia thought she had said enough, and therefore sat silentClare whistled a tuneClare, I wish you wouldn?t whistle,? said Marie; ?it makes my head worse?Is there anything else you wouldn?t wish me to do?? ?I wish you would have some kind of sympathy for my trials; you never have any feeling for me ?My dear accusing angel!? said St ?It?s provoking to be talked to in that way ?Then, how will you be talked to? I?ll talk to order,?any way you?ll mention,?only to give satisfaction A gay laugh from the court rang through the silken curtains of the verandahClare stepped out, and lifting up the curtain, laughed too ?What is it?? said Miss Ophelia, coming to the railing There sat Tom, on a little mossy seat in the court, every one of his button-holes stuck full of cape jessamines, and Eva, gayly laughing, was hanging a wreath of roses round his neck; and then she sat down on his knee, like a chip-sparrow, still laughing ?O, Tom, you look so funny!? Tom had a sober, benevolent smile, and seemed, in his quiet way, to be enjoying the fun quite as much as his little mistressHe lifted his eyes, when he saw his master, with a half-deprecating, apologetic air ?How can you let her?? said Miss Ophelia ?Why, I don?t know, it seems so dreadful!? ?You would think no harm in a child?s caressing a large dog, even if he was black; but a creature that can think, and reason, and feel, and is immortal, you shudder at; confess it, shop cousin

She shall love you none the less for what you have done When Arthur had gone I went back to the roomLucy was sleeping gently, but her breathing was strongerI could see the counterpane move as her breast heavedBy the bedside sat Van Helsing, looking at her intentlyThe velvet band again covered the red markI asked the Professor in a whisper, "What do you make of that mark on her throat?" "What do you make of it?" "I have not examined it yet," I answered, and then and there proceeded to loose the bandJust over the external jugular vein there were two punctures, not large, but not wholesome lookingThere was no sign of disease, but the edges were white and worn looking, as if by some triturationIt at once occurred to me that that this wound, or whatever it was, might be the means of that manifest loss of bloodBut I abandoned the idea as soon as it formed, for such a thing could not beThe whole bed would have been drenched to a scarlet with the blood which the girl must have lost to leave such a pallor as she had before the transfusion "Well?" said Van Helsing"I can make nothing of it The Professor stood up"I must go back to Amsterdam tonight," he said "There are books and things there which I wantYou must remain here all night, and you must not let your sight pass from her "Shall I have a nurse?" I asked "We are the best nurses, you and IYou keep watch all nightSee that she is well fed, and that nothing disturbs herYou must not sleep all the nightLater on we can sleep, you and II shall be back as soon as possibleAnd then we may begin "May begin?" I said"What on earth do you mean?" "We shall see!" he answered, as he hurried outHe came back a moment later and put his head inside the door and said with a warning finger held up, "Remember, she is your chargeIf you leave her, and harm befall, you shall not sleep easy hereafter!" DRSEWARD'S DIARY--CONTINUED 8 September-I sat up all night with LucyThe opiate worked itself off towards dusk, and she waked naturallyShe looked a different being from what she had been before the operationHer spirits even were good, and she was full of a happy vivacity, but I could see evidences of the absolute prostration which she had undergoneVan Helsing had directed that I should sit up with her, she almost pooh-poohed the idea, pointing out her daughter's renewed strength and excellent spiritsI was firm, however, and made preparations for my long vigilWhen her maid had prepared her for the night I came in, having in the meantime had supper, and took a seat by the bedside She did not in any way make objection, but looked at me gratefully whenever I caught her eyeAfter a long spell she seemed sinking off to sleep, but with an effort seemed to pull herself together and shook it offIt was apparent that she did not want to sleep, so I tackled the subject at shop once

I shall tell her all when she is wellShe shall love you none the less for what you have done When Arthur had gone I went back to the roomLucy was sleeping gently, but her breathing was strongerI could see the counterpane move as her breast heavedBy the bedside sat Van Helsing, looking at her intentlyThe velvet band again covered the red markI asked the Professor in a whisper, "What do you make of that mark on her throat?" "What do you make of it?" "I have not examined it yet," I answered, and then and there proceeded to loose the bandJust over the external jugular vein there were two punctures, not large, but not wholesome lookingThere was no sign of disease, but the edges were white and worn looking, as if by some triturationIt at once occurred to me that that this wound, or whatever it was, might be the means of that manifest loss of bloodBut I abandoned the idea as soon as it formed, for such a thing could not beThe whole bed would have been drenched to a scarlet with the blood which the girl must have lost to leave such a pallor as she had before the transfusion "Well?" said Van Helsing"I can make nothing of it The Professor stood up"I must go back to Amsterdam tonight," he said "There are books and things there which I wantYou must remain here all night, and you must not let your sight pass from her "Shall I have a nurse?" I asked "We are the best nurses, you and IYou keep watch all nightSee that she is well fed, and that nothing disturbs herYou must not sleep all the nightLater on we can sleep, you and II shall be back as soon as possibleAnd then we may begin "May begin?" I said"What on earth do you mean?" "We shall see!" he answered, as he hurried outHe came back a moment later and put his head inside the door and said with a warning finger held up, "Remember, she is your chargeIf you leave her, and harm befall, you shall not sleep easy hereafter!" DRSEWARD'S DIARY--CONTINUED 8 September-I sat up all night with LucyThe opiate worked itself off towards dusk, and she waked naturallyShe looked a different being from what she had been before the operationHer spirits even were good, and she was full of a happy vivacity, but I could see evidences of the absolute prostration which she had undergoneVan Helsing had directed that I should sit up with her, she almost pooh-poohed the idea, pointing out her daughter's renewed strength and excellent spiritsI was firm, however, and made preparations for my long vigilWhen her maid had prepared her for the night I came in, having in the meantime had supper, and took a seat by the bedside She did not in any way make objection, but looked at me gratefully whenever I caught her eyeAfter a long spell she seemed sinking off to sleep, but with an effort seemed to pull herself together and shook it shop off

VAN HELSING'S MEMORANDUM 5 November, afternoonThank God for that mercy at all events, though the proving it has been dreadfulWhen I left Madam Mina sleeping within the Holy circle, I took my way to the castleThe blacksmith hammer which I took in the carriage from Veresti was useful, though the doors were all open I broke them off the rusty hinges, lest some ill intent or ill chance should close them, so that being entered I might not get outJonathan's bitter experience served me hereBy memory of his diary I found my way to the old chapel, for I knew that here my work layThe air was oppressiveIt seemed as if there was some sulphurous fume, which at times made me dizzyEither there was a roaring in my ears or I heard afar off the howl of wolvesThen I bethought me of my dear Madam Mina, and I was in terrible plightThe dilemma had me between his horns Her, I had not dare to take into this place, but left safe from the Vampire in that Holy circleAnd yet even there would be the wolf! I resolve me that my work lay here, and that as to the wolves we must submit, if it were God's willAt any rate it was only death and freedom beyondSo did I choose for herHad it but been for myself the choice had been easy, the maw of the wolf were better to rest in than the grave of the Vampire! So I make my choice to go on with my work I knew that there were at least three graves to find, graves that are inhabitSo I search, and search, and I find one of themShe lay in her Vampire sleep, so full of life and voluptuous beauty that I shudder as though I have come to do murderAh, I doubt not that in the old time, when such things were, many a man who set forth to do such a task as mine, found at the last his heart fail him, and then his nerveSo he delay, and delay, and delay, till the mere beauty and the fascination of the wanton Undead have hypnotize himAnd he remain on and on, till sunset come, and the Vampire sleep be overThen the beautiful eyes of the fair woman open and look love, and the voluptuous mouth present to a kiss, and the man is weakAnd there remain one more victim in the Vampire foldOne more to swell the grim and grisly ranks of the Undead!? There is some fascination, surely, when I am moved by the mere presence of such an one, even lying as she lay in a tomb fretted with age and heavy with the dust of centuries, though there be that horrid odour such as the lairs of the Count have hadI, Van Helsing, with all my purpose and with my motive for hateI was moved to a yearning for delay which seemed to paralyze my faculties and to clog my very soulIt may have been that the need of natural sleep, and the strange oppression of the air were beginning to overcome meCertain it was that I was lapsing into sleep, the open eyed sleep of one who yields to a sweet fascination, when there came through the snow-stilled air a long, low wail, so full of woe and pity that it woke me like the sound of a clarionFor it was the voice of my dear Madam Mina that I heard Then I braced myself again to my horrid task, and found by wrenching away tomb tops one other of the sisters, the other dark oneI dared not pause to look on her as I had on her sister, lest once more I should begin to be enthrallBut I go on searching until, presently, I find in a high great tomb as if made to one much beloved that other fair sister which, like Jonathan I had seen to gather herself out of the atoms of the mistShe was so fair to look on, so radiantly beautiful, so exquisitely voluptuous, that the very instinct of man in me, which calls some of my sex to love and to protect one of hers, made my head whirl with new emotionBut God be thanked, that soul wail of my dear Madam Mina had not died out of my earsAnd, before the spell could be wrought further upon me, I had nerved myself to my wild workBy this time I had searched all the tombs in the chapel, so far as I could tellAnd as there had been only three of these Undead phantoms around us in the night, I took it that there were no more of active Undead existentThere was one great tomb more lordly than all the restHuge it was, and nobly shop proportioned

"Why not now?" I askedWe may arrive at some decision He looked at me and said, "My friend John, when the corn is grown, even before it has ripened, while the milk of its mother earth is in him, and the sunshine has not yet begun to paint him with his gold, the husbandman he pull the ear and rub him between his rough hands, and blow away the green chaff, and say to you, 'Look! He's good corn, he will make a good crop when the time comes'" I did not see the application and told him soFor reply he reached over and took my ear in his hand and pulled it playfully, as he used long ago to do at lectures, and said, "The good husbandman tell you so then because he knows, but not till thenBut you do not find the good husbandman dig up his planted corn to see if he growThat is for the children who play at husbandry, and not for those who take it as of the work of their lifeSee you now, friend John? I have sown my corn, and Nature has her work to do in making it sprout, if he sprout at all, there's some promise, and I wait till the ear begins to swell He broke off, for he evidently saw that I understoodThen he went on gravely, "You were always a careful student, and your case book was ever more full than the restAnd I trust that good habit have not failRemember, my friend, that knowledge is stronger than memory, and we should not trust the weakerEven if you have not kept the good practice, let me tell you that this case of our dear miss is one that may be, mind, I say may be, of such interest to us and others that all the rest may not make him kick the beam, as your people sayTake then good note of itI counsel you, put down in record even your doubts and surmisesHereafter it may be of interest to you to see how true you guessWe learn from failure, not from success!" When I described Lucy's symptoms, the same as before, but infinitely more marked, he looked very grave, but said nothingHe took with him a bag in which were many instruments and drugs, "the ghastly paraphernalia of our beneficial trade," as he once called, in one of his lectures, the equipment of a professor of the healing craft When we were shown in, MrsShe was alarmed, but not nearly so much as I expected to find herNature in one of her beneficient moods has ordained that even death has some antidote to its own terrorsHere, in a case where any shock may prove fatal, matters are so ordered that, from some cause or other, the things not personal, even the terrible change in her daughter to whom she is so attached, do not seem to reach herIt is something like the way dame Nature gathers round a foreign body an envelope of some insensitive tissue which can protect from evil that which it would otherwise harm by contactIf this be an ordered selfishness, then we should pause before we condemn any one for the vice of egoism, for there may be deeper root for its causes than we have knowledge of I used my knowledge of this phase of spiritual pathology, and set down a rule that she should not be present with Lucy, or think of her illness more than was absolutely requiredShe assented readily, so readily that I saw again the hand of Nature fighting for lifeVan Helsing and I were shown up to Lucy's roomIf I was shocked when I saw her yesterday, I was horrified when I saw her today She was ghastly, chalkily paleThe red seemed to have gone even from her lips and gums, and the bones of her face stood out prominentlyHer breathing was painful to see or hearVan Helsing's face grew set as marble, and his eyebrows converged till they almost touched over his noseLucy lay motionless, and did not seem to have strength to speak, so for a while we were all silentThen Van Helsing beckoned to me, and we went gently out of the roomThe instant we had closed the door he stepped quickly along the passage to the next door, which was openThen he pulled me quickly in with him and closed the doorThere is not time to be lostShe will die for sheer want of blood to keep the heart's action as it should beThere must be a transfusion of blood at onceIs it you or me?" "I am younger and stronger, shop Professor