of the mountain ash? Bless that good, good woman who hung
26
Jonathan Harker’s Journal 27
the crucifix round my neck! for it is a comfort and a strength
to me whenever I touch it. It is odd that a thing which I have
been taught to regard with disfavour and as idolatrous should
in. a time of loneliness and trouble be of help. Is it that there is
something in the essence of the thing itself, or that it is a medium,
a tangible help, in conveying memories of sympathy and com-
fort? Some time, if it may be, I must examine this matter and try
to make up my mind about it. In the meantime I must find out
all I can about Count Dracula, as it may help me to understand.
To-night he may talk of himself, if I turn the conversation that
way. I must be very careful, however, not to awake his suspicion.
Midnight. I have had a long talk with the Count. I asked
him a few questions on Transylvania history, and he warmed
up to the subject wonderfully. In his speaking of things and
people, and especially of battles, he spoke as if he had been pres-
ent at them all. This he afterwards explained by saying that to
a boyar the pride of his house and name is his own pride, that
their glory is his glory, that their fate is his fate. Whenever he
spoke of his house he always said «we,» and spoke almost in the
plural, like a king speaking. I wish I could put down all he said
exactly as he said it, for to me it was most fascinating. It seemed
to have in it a whole history of the country. He grew excited as
he spoke, and walked about the room pulling his great white
moustache and grasping anything on which he laid his hands
as though he would crush it by main strength. One thing he said
which I shall put down as nearly as I can; for it tells in its way
the story of his race:
«We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows
the blood of many brave races who fought as the lion fights, for
lordship. Here, in the whirlpool of European races, the Ugric
tribe bore down from Iceland the fighting spirit which Thor
and Wodin gave them, which their Berserkers displayed to such
fell intent on the seaboards of Europe, ay, and of Asia and
Africa too, till the peoples thought that the were-wolves them-
selves had come. Here, too, when they came, they found the Huns,
whose warlike fury had swept the earth like a living flame, till
the dying peoples held that in their veins ran the blood of those
old witches, who, expelled from Scythia had mated with the
devils in the desert. Fools, fools! What devil or what witch was
ever so great as Attila, whose blood is in these veins? "He held
up his arms. «Is it a wonder that we were a conquering race;
that we were proud; that when the Magyar, the Lombard the
28 Dracula
Avar, the Bulgar, or the Turk poured his thousands on our
frontiers, we drove them back? Is it strange that when Arpad
and his legions swept through the Hungarian fatherland he
found us here when he reached the frontier; that the Honfoglalas
was completed there? And when the Hungarian flood swept east-
ward, the Szekelys were claimed as kindred by the victorious
Magyars, and to us for centuries was trusted the guarding of
the frontier of Turkey-land; ay, and more than that, endless
duty of the frontier guard, for, as the Turks say, ’water sleeps,
and enemy is sleepless. ' Who more gladly than we throughout
the Four Nations received the ' bloody sword, ' or at its warlike
call flocked quicker to the standard of the King? When was re-
deemed that great shame of my nation, the shame of Cassova,
when the flags of the Wallach and the Magyar went down be-
neath the Crescent? Who was it but one of my own race who as
Voivode crossed the Danube and beat the Turk on his own
ground? This was a Dracula indeed! Woe was it that his own
unworthy brother, when he had fallen, sold his people to the
Turk and brought the shame of slavery on them! Was it not this
Dracula, indeed, who inspired that other of his race who in a
later age again and again brought his forces over the great river
into Turkey-land; who, when he was beaten back, came again,
and again, and again, though he had to come alone from the
bloody field where his troops were being slaughtered, since he
knew that he alone could ultimately triumph! They said that he
thought only of himself. Bah! what good are peasants without a
leader? Where ends the war without a brain and heart to con-
duct it? Again, when, after the battle of Mohacs> we threw off
the Hungarian yoke, we of the Dracula blood were amongst
their leaders, for our spirit would not brook that we were not
free. Ah, young sir, the Szekelys and the Dracula as their
heart’s blood, their brains, and their swords can boast a rec-
ord that mushroom growths like the Hapsburgs and the Roman-
offs can never reach. The warlike days are over. Blood is too
precious a thing in these days of dishonourable peace; and the
glories of the great races are as a tale that is told.»
It was by this time close on morning, and we went to bed.
(Mem., this diary seems horribly like the beginning of the «Ara-
bian Nights,» for everything has to break off at cockcrow or
like the ghost of Hamlet’s father.)
12 May. Let me begin with facts bare, meagre facts, veri-
fied by books and figures, and of which there can be no doubt.
Jonathan Harker’s Journal 29
I must not confuse them with experiences which will have to
rest on my own observation, or my memory of them. Last eve-
ning when the Count came from his room he began by asking me
questions on legal matters and on the doing of certain kinds of
business. I had spent the day wearily over books, and, simply
to keep my mind occupied, went over some of the matters I
had been examined in at Lincoln’s Inn. There was a certain
method in the Count’s inquiries, so I shall try to put them down
in sequence; the knowledge may somehow or some time be useful
to me.
First, he asked if a man in England might have two solicitors
or more. I told him he might have a dozen if he wished, but that
it would not be wise to have more than one solicitor engaged in
one transaction, as only one could act at a time, and that to
change would be certain to militate against his interest. He
seemed thoroughly to understand, and went on to ask if there
would be any practical difficulty in having one man to attend,
say, to banking, and another to look after shipping, in case local
help were needed in a place far from the home of the banking
solicitor. I asked him to explain more fully, so that I might not
by any chance mislead him, so he said:
«I shall illustrate. Your friend and mine, Mr. Peter Hawkins,
from under the shadow of your beautiful cathedral at Exeter,,
which is far from London, buys for me through your good sell
my place at London. Good! Now here let me say frankly, lest
you should think it strange that I have sought the services oi
one so far off from London instead of some one resident therCj
that my motive was that no local interest might be served save
my wish only; and as one of London residence might, perhaps,
have some purpose of himself or friend to serve, I went thus
afield to seek my agent, whose labours should be only to my
interest. Now, suppose I, who have much of affairs, wish to ship
goods, say, to Newcastle, or Durham, or Harwich, or Dover,
might it not be that it could with more ease be done by con-
signing to one in these ports? "I answered that certainly it would
be most easy, but that we solicitors had a system of agency one
for the other, so that local work could be done locally on instruc-
tion from any solicitor, so that the client, simply placing himself
in the hands of one man, could have his wishes carried out by
him without further trouble.
«But,» said he, «I could be at liberty to direct myself. Is it
not so?»
«Of course,» I replied; and «such is often done by men of
30 Dracula
business, who do not like the whole of their affairs to be known
by any one person.»
«Good! "he said, and then went on to ask about the means of
making consignments and the forms to be gone through, and of
all sorts of difficulties which might arise, but by forethought
could be guarded against. I explained all these things to him to
the best of my ability, and he certainly left me under the im-
pression that he would have made a wonderful solicitor, for there
was nothing that he did not think of or foresee. For a man who
was never in the country, and who did not evidently do much in
the way of business, his knowledge and acumen were wonderful.
When he had satisfied himself on these points of which he had
spoken, and I had verified all as well as I could by the books
available, he suddenly stood up and said:
«Have you written since your first letter to our friend Mr.
Peter Hawkins, or to any other?» It was with some bitterness
in my heart that I answered that I had not, that as yet I had
not seen any opportunity of sending letters to anybody.
«Then write now, my young friend/' he said, laying a heavy
hand on my shoulder: «write to our friend and to any other;
and say, if it will please you, that you shall stay with me until
a month from now.»
«Do you wish me to stay so long?» I asked, for my heart
grew cold at the thought.
«I desire it much; nay, I will take no refusal. When your
master, employer, what you will, engaged that someone should
come on his behalf, it was understood that my needs only were
to be consulted. I have not stinted. Is it not so?»
What could I do but bow acceptance? It was Mr. Hawkins’s
interest, not mine, and I had to think of him, not myself; and
besides, while Count Dracula was speaking, there was that in
his eyes and in his bearing which made me remember that i
was a prisoner, and that if I wished it I could have no choice.
The Count saw his victory in my bow, and his mastery in the
trouble of my face, for he began at once to use them, but in his
own smooth, resistless way:
«I pray you, my good young friend, that you will not dis-
course of things other than business in your letters. It will doubt-
less please your friends to know that you are well, and that you
look forward to getting home to them. Is it not so? "As he spoke
he handed me three sheets of note-paper and three envelopes.
They were all of the thinnest foreign post, and looking at them,
then at him, and noticing his quiet smile, with the sharp, canine
Jonathan Harker’s Journal 31
teeth lying over the red underlip, I understood as well as if he
had spoken that I should be careful what I wrote, for he would
be able to read it. So I determined to write only formal notes
now, but to write fully to Mr. Hawkins in secret, and also to
Mina, for to her I could write in shorthand, which would puzzle
the Count, if he did see it. When I had written my two letters
I sat quiet, reading a book whilst the Count wrote several notes,
referring as he wrote them to some books on his table. Then he
took up my two and placed them with his own, and put by
his writing materials, after which, the instant the door had
closed behind him, I leaned over and looked at the letters, which
were face down on the table. I felt no compunction in doing so,
for under the circumstances I felt that I should protect myself
in every way I could.
One of the letters was directed to Samuel F. Billingtonj
No. 7, The Crescent, Whitby, another to Herr Leutner, Varna; the
third was to Coutts & Co., London, and the fourth to Herren
Klopstock & Billreuth, bankers, Buda-Pesth. The second and
fourth were unsealed. I was just about to look at them when
I saw the door-handle move. I sank back in my seat, having just
had time to replace the letters as they had been and to resume
my book before the Count, holding still another letter in his hand,
entered the room. He took up the letters on the table and
stamped them carefully, and then turning to me, said:
«I trust you will forgive me, but I have much work to do in
private this evening. You will, I hope, find all things as you
wish.» At the door he turned, and after a moment’s pause said:
«Let me advise you, my dear young friend nay, let me warn
you with all seriousness, that should you leave these rooms you
will not by any chance go to sleep in any other part of the castle.
It is old, and has many, memories, and there are bad dreams for
those who sleep unwisely. Be warned! Should sleep now or ever
overcome you, or be like to do, then haste to your own chamber
or to these rooms, for your rest will then be safe. But if you be
not careful in this respect, then» He finished his speecn.-in_a,
gruesome way, for he motioned with his hands as if he were
washing them. I quite understood; my only doubt was as to
whether any dream could be more terrible than the unnatural,
horrible net of gloom and mystery which seemed closing around
me.
Later. I endorse the last words written, but this time there
(s no doubt in question. I shall not fear to sleep in any place where
32 Dracula
he is not. I have placed the crucifix over the head of my bed I
imagine that my rest is thus freer from dreams; and there it
shall remain.
When he left me I went to my room. After a little while, not
hearing any sound, I came out and went up the stone stair to
where I could look out towards the South. There was some sense
of freedom in the vast expanse, inaccessible though it was to me,
as compared with the narrow darkness of the courtyard. Look-
ing out on this, I felt that I was indeed in prison, and I seemed
to want a breath of fresh air, though it were of the night. I am
beginning to feel this nocturnal existence tell on me. It is destroy-
ing my nerve. I start at my own shadow, and am full of all sorts
of horrible imaginings. God knows that there is ground for my
terrible fear in this accursed place! I looked out over the beau-
tiful expanse, bathed in soft yellow moonlight till it was al-
most as light as day. In the soft light the distant hills became
melted, and the shadows in the valleys and gorges of velvety
blackness. The mere beauty seemed to cheer me; there was peace
and comfort in every breath I drew. As I leaned from the win>
dow my eye was caught by something moving a storey below
me, and somewhat to my left, where I imagined, from the order
of the rooms, that the windows of the Count’s own room would
look out. The window at which I stood was tall and deep, stone-
mullioned, and though weatherworn, was still complete; but it
was evidently many a day since the case had been there. I drew
back behind the stonework, and looked carefully out.
What I saw was the Count’s head coming out from the win-
dow. I did not see the face, but I knew the man by the neck and
the movement of his back and arms. In any case I could not mis-
take the hands which I had had so many opportunities of study-
ing. I was at first interested and somewhat amused, for it is won-
derful how small a matter will interest and amuse a man when
he is a prisoner. But my very feelings changed to repulsion and
terror when I saw the whQle_maa_slowly. emerge_ from the win-
dow and begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful
abyss, face down with his cloak spreading out around him like
great wings. At first I could not believe my eyes. I thought it
was some trick of the moonlight, some weird effect of shadow; but
I kept looking, and it could be no delusion. I saw the fingers and
toes grasp the corners of the stones, worn clear of the mortar
by the stress of years, anr> by thus using every projection and
inequality move downwaius with considerable speed, just as a
lizard moves along a wall.
Jonathan Marker’s Journal 33