She was pleased with the prospect of anything to do, if "pleased" could be used in connection with so grim an interest As usual Van Helsing had thought ahead of everyone else, and was prepared with an exact ordering of our work "It is perhaps well," he said, "that at our meeting after our visit to Carfax we decided not to do anything with the earth boxes that lay thereHad we done so, the Count must have guessed our purpose, and would doubtless have taken measures in advance to frustrate such an effort with regard to the othersBut now he does not know our intentionsNay, more, in all probability, he does not know that such a power exists to us as can sterilize his lairs, so that he cannot use them as of old "We are now so much further advanced in our knowledge as to their disposition that, when we have examined the house in Piccadilly, we may track the very last of themToday then, is ours, and in it rests our hopeThe sun that rose on our sorrow this morning guards us in its courseUntil it sets tonight, that monster must retain whatever form he now hasHe is confined within the limitations of his earthly envelopeHe cannot melt into thin air nor disappear through cracks or chinks or cranniesIf he go through a doorway, he must open the door like a mortalAnd so we have this day to hunt out all his lairs and sterilize themSo we shall, if we have not yet catch him and destroy him, drive him to bay in some place where the catching and the destroying shall be, in time, sure Here I started up for I could not contain myself at the thought that the minutes and seconds so preciously laden with Mina's life and happiness were flying from us, since whilst we talked action was impossibleBut Van Helsing held up his hand warningly "Nay, friend Jonathan," he said, "in this, the quickest way home is the longest way, so your proverb sayWe shall all act and act with desperate quick, when the time has comeBut think, in all probable the key of the situation is in that house in PiccadillyThe Count may have many houses which he has boughtOf them he will have deeds of purchase, keys and other thingsHe will have paper that he write onHe will have his book of chequesThere are many belongings that he must have somewhereWhy not in this place so central, so quiet, where he come and go by the front or the back at all hours, when in the very vast of the traffic there is none to noticeWe shall go there and search that houseAnd when we learn what it holds, then we do what our friend Arthur call, in his phrases of hunt 'stop the earths' and so we run down our old fox, so? Is it not?" "Then let us come at once," I cried, "we are wasting the precious, precious time!" The Professor did not move, but simply said, "And how are we to get into that house in Piccadilly?" "Any way!" I cried"We shall break in if need be "And your police? Where will they be, and what will they say?" I was staggered, but I knew that if he wished to delay he had a good reason for itSo I said, as quietly as I could, "Don't wait more than need beYou know, I am sure, what torture I am in "Ah, my child, that I doAnd indeed there is no wish of me to add to your anguishBut just think, what can we do, until all the world be at movementThen will come our timeI have thought and thought, and it seems to me that the simplest way is the best of allNow we wish to get into the house, but we have no keyIs it not so?" I nodded "Now suppose that you were, in truth, the owner of that house, and could not still get shop in

Fang's cabinmate had already packed his things, while Fang lay in bed, thinking that since he and Miss Pao would never meet again, he would see her off with due courtesy, no matter whatAh Lix suddenly entered with a woeful look and asked for a tip "Why do you want money now?" asked Fang angrily "It'll be several days before we reach Shanghai Ah Lix explained in a hoarse voice that MrSun and the others playing mahjong had been too noisy and had been caught by the French who had 22 23 raised cainHe had lost his job and in a little while would have to pack his bedding2~ and get off the boat Fang secretly rejoiced at this piece of good fortune, then sent Ah Lix off with a tip During breakfast those disembarking were in low spiritsSun's eyes were red and swollen and the corners seemed saturated with tears; the y were like the dew on flower petals on a summer morning, and the slightest touch of the finger would cause them to dropMiss Pao noticed there was a new waiter on duty and asked where Ah Lix had gone, but no one answered her Fang asked Miss Pao, "You have a lot of luggageWould you like me to help you off the ship?" In a distant tone of voice she answered, "Thank you There's no need for you to botherLi is coming aboard to meet me Miss Six said, "You can introduce Mr Fang wished he could have crushed every bone in Miss Six's thin body to lime powderMiss Pao ignored Miss Six and, after drinking a glass of milk, rose hurriedly, saying she still hadn't finished packing Heedless of everyone's jesting remarks, Fang put down his glass and followed herMiss Pao didn't even glance around, and when he called her name, she said impatiently, "I'm busyI don't have time to talk with you He did not quite know how to show his angerJust at that moment Ah Lix appeared like a ghost and asked Miss Pao for a tipMiss Pao's eyes ex ploded with sparks as she said, "I tipped you yesterday for waiting on the tableWhat other tip do you want? You don't take care of my cabin Ah Lix silently reached his hand into his pocket and after a long time pulled out a hairpinIt was one of those Miss Pao had flung away the other dayWhile sweeping the floor he had found only one of the three At first Fang wanted to scold Ah Lix, but seeing how seriously Ah Lix had pulled out this magical object, he couldn't help laughing "You think it's funny?" Miss Pao snapped"If you think it's so funny, you give him some moneyI don't have a cent!" And with that she turned and strode off Afraid that a disgruntled Ah Lix might run his mouth off to DrLi, Fang gave Ah Liu some more money, charging it up to his bad luckFang then went on deck by himself and watched disconsolately as the ship drew up to the Kowloon wharfOther disembarking passengers, both Chinese and non- Chinese, also came upHe hid himself in a corner, not wishing to see Miss PaoOn the wharf, policemen, porters, and hotel agents who had come to greet passengers were clamoring noisily; a group of people were waving handkerchiefs at the ship or gesticulatingLi was among them and wanted a closer look at himFinally, the gangplank was lowered, and after the immigration procedures were completed, friends of departing passengers swarmed shop aboard

Fang's cabinmate had already packed his things, while Fang lay in bed, thinking that since he and Miss Pao would never meet again, he would see her off with due courtesy, no matter whatAh Lix suddenly entered with a woeful look and asked for a tip "Why do you want money now?" asked Fang angrily "It'll be several days before we reach Shanghai Ah Lix explained in a hoarse voice that MrSun and the others playing mahjong had been too noisy and had been caught by the French who had 22 23 raised cainHe had lost his job and in a little while would have to pack his bedding2~ and get off the boat Fang secretly rejoiced at this piece of good fortune, then sent Ah Lix off with a tip During breakfast those disembarking were in low spiritsSun's eyes were red and swollen and the corners seemed saturated with tears; the y were like the dew on flower petals on a summer morning, and the slightest touch of the finger would cause them to dropMiss Pao noticed there was a new waiter on duty and asked where Ah Lix had gone, but no one answered her Fang asked Miss Pao, "You have a lot of luggageWould you like me to help you off the ship?" In a distant tone of voice she answered, "Thank you There's no need for you to botherLi is coming aboard to meet me Miss Six said, "You can introduce Mr Fang wished he could have crushed every bone in Miss Six's thin body to lime powderMiss Pao ignored Miss Six and, after drinking a glass of milk, rose hurriedly, saying she still hadn't finished packing Heedless of everyone's jesting remarks, Fang put down his glass and followed herMiss Pao didn't even glance around, and when he called her name, she said impatiently, "I'm busyI don't have time to talk with you He did not quite know how to show his angerJust at that moment Ah Lix appeared like a ghost and asked Miss Pao for a tipMiss Pao's eyes ex ploded with sparks as she said, "I tipped you yesterday for waiting on the tableWhat other tip do you want? You don't take care of my cabin Ah Lix silently reached his hand into his pocket and after a long time pulled out a hairpinIt was one of those Miss Pao had flung away the other dayWhile sweeping the floor he had found only one of the three At first Fang wanted to scold Ah Lix, but seeing how seriously Ah Lix had pulled out this magical object, he couldn't help laughing "You think it's funny?" Miss Pao snapped"If you think it's so funny, you give him some moneyI don't have a cent!" And with that she turned and strode off Afraid that a disgruntled Ah Lix might run his mouth off to DrLi, Fang gave Ah Liu some more money, charging it up to his bad luckFang then went on deck by himself and watched disconsolately as the ship drew up to the Kowloon wharfOther disembarking passengers, both Chinese and non- Chinese, also came upHe hid himself in a corner, not wishing to see Miss PaoOn the wharf, policemen, porters, and hotel agents who had come to greet passengers were clamoring noisily; a group of people were waving handkerchiefs at the ship or gesticulatingLi was among them and wanted a closer look at himFinally, the gangplank was lowered, and after the immigration procedures were completed, friends of departing passengers swarmed shop aboard

There lay Lucy, seemingly just as we had seen her the night before her funeralShe was, if possible, more radiantly beautiful than ever, and I could not believe that she was deadThe lips were red, nay redder than before, and on the cheeks was a delicate bloom "Is this a juggle?" I said to him "Are you convinced now?" said the Professor, in response, and as he spoke he put over his hand, and in a way that made me shudder, pulled back the dead lips and showed the white teeth"See," he went on, "they are even sharper than beforeWith this and this," and he touched one of the canine teeth and that below it, "the little children can be bittenAre you of belief now, friend John?" Once more argumentative hostility woke within meI could not accept such an overwhelming idea as he suggestedSo, with an attempt to argue of which I was even at the moment ashamed, I said, "She may have been placed here since last night "Indeed? That is so, and by whom?" "I do not know "And yet she has been dead one weekMost peoples in that time would not look so I had no answer for this, so was silentVan Helsing did not seem to notice my silenceAt any rate, he showed neither chagrin nor triumphHe was looking intently at the face of the dead woman, raising the eyelids and looking at the eyes, and once more opening the lips and examining the teethThen he turned to me and said, "Here, there is one thing which is different from all recordedHere is some dual life that is not as the commonShe was bitten by the vampire when she was in a trance, sleep-walking, oh, you startYou do not know that, friend John, but you shall know it later, and in trance could he best come to take more bloodIn trance she dies, and in trance she is UnDead, tooSo it is that she differ from all otherUsually when the UnDead sleep at home," as he spoke he made a comprehensive sweep of his arm to designate what to a vampire was 'home', "their face show what they are, but this so sweet that was when she not UnDead she go back to the nothings of the common deadThere is no malign there, see, and so it make hard that I must kill her in her sleep This turned my blood cold, and it began to dawn upon me that I was accepting Van Helsing's theoriesBut if she were really dead, what was there of terror in the idea of killing her? He looked up at me, and evidently saw the change in my face, for he said almost joyously, "Ah, you believe now?" I answered, "Do not press me too hard all at onceI am willing to acceptHow will you do this bloody work?" "I shall cut off her head and fill her mouth with garlic, and I shall drive a stake through her body It made me shudder to think of so mutilating the body of the woman whom I had lovedAnd yet the feeling was not so strong as I had expectedI was, in fact, beginning to shudder at the presence of this being, this UnDead, as Van Helsing called it, and to loathe itIs it possible that love is all subjective, or all objective? I waited a considerable time for Van Helsing to begin, but he stood as if wrapped in thoughtPresently he closed the catch of his bag with a snap, and said, "I have been thinking, and have made up my mind as to what is bestIf I did simply follow my inclining I would do now, at this moment, what is to be doneBut there are other things to follow, and things that are thousand times more difficult in that them we do not knowShe have yet no life taken, though that is of time, and to act now would be to take danger from her foreverBut then we may have to want Arthur, and how shall we tell him of this? If you, who saw the wounds on Lucy's throat, and saw the wounds so similar on the child's at the hospital, if you, who saw the coffin empty last night and full today with a woman who have not change only to be more rose and more beautiful in a whole week, after she die, if you know of this and know of the white figure last night that brought the child to the churchyard, and yet of your own senses you did not believe, how then, can I expect Arthur, who know none of those things, to believe? "He doubted me when I took him from her kiss when she was dyingI know he has forgiven me because in some mistaken idea I have done things that prevent him say goodbye as he ought, and he may think that in some more mistaken idea this woman was buried alive, and that in most mistake of all we have killed herHe will then argue back that it is we, mistaken ones, that have killed her by our ideas, and so he will be much unhappy shop always

Quincey Morris was phlegmatic in the way of a man who accepts all things, and accepts them in the spirit of cool bravery, with hazard of all he has at stakeNot being able to smoke, he cut himself a good-sized plug of tobacco and began to chewAs to Van Helsing, he was employed in a definite wayFirst he took from his bag a mass of what looked like thin, wafer-like biscuit, which was carefully rolled up in a white napkinNext he took out a double handful of some whitish stuff, like dough or puttyHe crumbled the wafer up fine and worked it into the mass between his handsThis he then took, and rolling it into thin strips, began to lay them into the crevices between the door and its setting in the tombI was somewhat puzzled at this, and being close, asked him what it was that he was doingArthur and Quincey drew near also, as they too were curious He answered, "I am closing the tomb so that the UnDead may not enter "And is that stuff you have there going to do it?" "It is "What is that which you are using?" This time the question was by ArthurVan Helsing reverently lifted his hat as he answeredI brought it from Amsterdam It was an answer that appalled the most sceptical of us, and we felt individually that in the presence of such earnest purpose as the Professor's, a purpose which could thus use the to him most sacred of things, it was impossible to distrustIn respectful silence we took the places assigned to us close round the tomb, but hidden from the sight of any one approachingI pitied the others, especially ArthurI had myself been apprenticed by my former visits to this watching horror, and yet I, who had up to an hour ago repudiated the proofs, felt my heart sink within meNever did tombs look so ghastly whiteNever did cypress, or yew, or juniper so seem the embodiment of funeral gloomNever did tree or grass wave or rustle so ominouslyNever did bough creak so mysteriously, and never did the far-away howling of dogs send such a woeful presage through the night There was a long spell of silence, big, aching, void, and then from the Professor a keen "S-s-s-s!" He pointed, and far down the avenue of yews we saw a white figure advance, a dim white figure, which held something dark at its breastThe figure stopped, and at the moment a ray of moonlight fell upon the masses of driving clouds, and showed in startling prominence a dark-haired woman, dressed in the cerements of the graveWe could not see the face, for it was bent down over what we saw to be a fair-haired childThere was a pause and a sharp little cry, such as a child gives in sleep, or a dog as it lies before the fire and dreamsWe were starting forward, but the Professor's warning hand, seen by us as he stood behind a yew tree, kept us backAnd then as we looked the white figure moved forwards againIt was now near enough for us to see clearly, and the moonlight still heldMy own heart grew cold as ice, and I could hear the gasp of Arthur, as we recognized the features of Lucy WestenraLucy Westenra, but yet how changedThe sweetness was turned to adamantine, heartless cruelty, and the purity to voluptuous wantonness Van Helsing stepped out, and obedient to his gesture, we all advanced tooThe four of us ranged in a line before the door of the tombVan Helsing raised his lantern and drew the slideBy the concentrated light that fell on Lucy's face we could see that the lips were crimson with fresh blood, and that the stream had trickled over her chin and stained the purity of her lawn death-robe We shuddered with horrorI could see by the tremulous light that even Van Helsing's iron nerve had failedArthur was next to me, and if I had not seized his arm and held him up, he would have fallen When Lucy, I call the thing that was before us Lucy because it bore her shape, saw us she drew back with an angry snarl, such as a cat gives when taken unawares, then her eyes ranged over shop us