| We found Hildesheim in his office, a Hebrew of... 734 |
[Jan. 29th, 2010|07:23 am] |
We found Hildesheim in his office, a Hebrew of rather the Adelphi Theatre type, with a nose like a sheep, and a fezHis arguments were pointed with specie, we doing the punctuation, and with a little bargaining he told us what he knewThis turned out to be simple but importantHe had received a letter from Mrde Ville of London, telling him to receive, if possible before sunrise so as to avoid customs, a box which would arrive at Galatz in the Czarina CatherineThis he was to give in charge to a certain Petrof Skinsky, who dealt with the Slovaks who traded down the river to the portHe had been paid for his work by an English bank note, which had been duly cashed for gold at the Danube International BankWhen Skinsky had come to him, he had taken him to the ship and handed over the box, so as to save porterage
We then sought for Skinsky, but were unable to find himOne of his neighbors, who did not seem to bear him any affection, said that he had gone away two days before, no one knew whitherThis was corroborated by his landlord, who had received by messenger the key of the house together with the rent due, in English moneyThis had been between ten and eleven o'clock last nightWe were at a standstill again
Whilst we were talking one came running and breathlessly gasped out that the body of Skinsky had been found inside the wall of the churchyard of StPeter, and that the throat had been torn open as if by some wild animalThose we had been speaking with ran off to see the horror, the women crying out"This is the work of a Slovak!" We hurried away lest we should have been in some way drawn into the affair, and so detained
As we came home we could arrive at no definite conclusionWe were all convinced that the box was on its way, by water, to somewhere, but where that might be we would have to discoverWith heavy hearts we came home to the hotel to Mina
When we met together, the first thing was to consult as to taking Mina again into our confidenceThings are getting desperate, and it is at least a chance, though a hazardous oneAs a preliminary step, I was released from my promise to her
MINA HARKER'S JOURNAL
30 October, evening-They were so tired and worn out and dispirited that there was nothing to be done till they had some rest, so I asked them all to lie down for half an hour whilst I should enter everything up to the momentI feel so grateful to the man who invented the "Traveller's" typewriter, and to MrMorris for getting this one for meI should have felt quite astray doing the work if I had to write with a pen?
It is all donePoor dear, dear Jonathan, what he must have suffered, what he must be suffering nowHe lies on the sofa hardly seeming to breathe, and his whole body appears in collapseHis face is drawn with painPoor fellow, maybe he is thinking, and I can see his face all wrinkled up with the concentration of his thoughtsOh! if I could only help at allI shall do what I canVan Helsing, and he has got me all the papers that I have not yet seenWhilst they are resting, I shall go over all carefully, and perhaps I may arrive at some conclusionI shall try to follow the Professor's example, and think without prejudice on the facts before me?
I do believe that under God's providence I have made a discoveryI shall get the maps and look over them
I am more than ever sure that I am rightMy new conclusion is ready, so I shall get our party together and read |
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