| CHAPTER 17
DRSEWARD'S DIARY--cont
When we... 877 |
[Jan. 27th, 2010|02:08 am] |
CHAPTER 17
DRSEWARD'S DIARY--cont
When we arrived at the Berkely Hotel, Van Helsing found a telegram waiting for him
"Am coming up by train
The Professor was delighted"Ah, that wonderful Madam Mina," he said, "pearl among women! She arrive, but I cannot stayShe must go to your house, friend JohnYou must meet her at the stationTelegraph her en route so that she may be prepared
When the wire was dispatched he had a cup of teaOver it he told me of a diary kept by Jonathan Harker when abroad, and gave me a typewritten copy of it, as also of MrsHarker's diary at Whitby"Take these," he said, "and study them wellWhen I have returned you will be master of all the facts, and we can then better enter on our inquisitionKeep them safe, for there is in them much of treasureYou will need all your faith, even you who have had such an experience as that of todayWhat is here told," he laid his hand heavily and gravely on the packet of papers as he spoke, "may be the beginning of the end to you and me and many another, or it may sound the knell of the UnDead who walk the earthRead all, I pray you, with the open mind, and if you can add in any way to the story here told do so, for it is all importantYou have kept a diary of all these so strange things, is it not so? Yes! Then we shall go through all these together when we meet He then made ready for his departure and shortly drove off to Liverpool StreetI took my way to Paddington, where I arrived about fifteen minutes before the train came in
The crowd melted away, after the bustling fashion common to arrival platforms, and I was beginning to feel uneasy, lest I might miss my guest, when a sweet-faced, dainty looking girl stepped up to me, and after a quick glance said, "DrSeward, is it not?"
"And you are MrsHarker!" I answered at once, whereupon she held out her hand
"I knew you from the description of poor dear Lucy, but?" She stopped suddenly, and a quick blush overspread her face
The blush that rose to my own cheeks somehow set us both at ease, for it was a tacit answer to her ownI got her luggage, which included a typewriter, and we took the Underground to Fenchurch Street, after I had sent a wire to my housekeeper to have a sitting room and a bedroom prepared at once for Mrs
In due time we arrivedShe knew, of course, that the place was a lunatic asylum, but I could see that she was unable to repress a shudder when we entered
She told me that, if she might, she would come presently to my study, as she had much to saySo here I am finishing my entry in my phonograph diary whilst I await herAs 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 |
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