With the tools which we had brought with us we opened them, one by one, and treated them as we had treated those others in the old chapelIt was evident to us that the Count was not at present in the house, and we proceeded to search for any of his effects
After a cursory glance at the rest of the rooms, from basement to attic, we came to the conclusion that the dining room contained any effects which might belong to the CountAnd so we proceeded to minutely examine themThey lay in a sort of orderly disorder on the great dining room table
There were title deeds of the Piccadilly house in a great bundle, deeds of the purchase of the houses at Mile End and Bermondsey, notepaper, envelopes, and pens and inkAll were covered up in thin wrapping paper to keep them from the dustThere were also a clothes brush, a brush and comb, and a jug and basinThe latter containing dirty water which was reddened as if with bloodLast of all was a little heap of keys of all sorts and sizes, probably those belonging to the other houses
When we had examined this last find, Lord Godalming and Quincey Morris taking accurate notes of the various addresses of the houses in the East and the South, took with them the keys in a great bunch, and set out to destroy the boxes in these placesThe rest of us are, with what patience we can, waiting their return, or the coming of the Count
CHAPTER 23
DRSEWARD'S DIARY
3 October-The time seemed terribly long whilst we were waiting for the coming of Godalming and Quincey MorrisThe Professor tried to keep our minds active by using them all the timeI could see his beneficent purpose, by the side glances which he threw from time to time at HarkerThe poor fellow is overwhelmed in a misery that is appalling to seeLast night he was a frank, happy-looking man, with strong, youthful face, full of energy, and with dark brown hairToday he is a drawn, haggard old man, whose white hair matches well with the hollow burning eyes and grief-written lines of his faceHis energy is still intactIn fact, he is like a living flameThis may yet be his salvation, for if all go well, it will tide him over the despairing periodHe will then, in a kind of way, wake again to the realities of lifePoor fellow, I thought my own trouble was bad enough, but his? !
The Professor knows this well enough, and is doing his best to keep his mind activeWhat he has been saying was, under the circumstances, of absorbing interestSo well as I can remember, here it is:
"I have studied, over and over again since they came into my hands, all the papers relating to this monster, and the more I have studied, the greater seems the necessity to utterly stamp him outAll through there are signs of his advanceNot only of his power, but of his knowledge of itAs I learned from the researches of my friend Arminius of Buda-Pesth, he was in life a most wonderful manSoldier, statesman, and alchemist--which latter was the highest development of the science knowledge of his timeHe had a mighty brain, a learning beyond compare, and a heart that knew no fear and no remorseHe dared even to attend the Scholomance, and there was no branch of knowledge of his time that he did not essay
"Well, in him the brain powers survived the physical deathThough it would seem that memory was not all completeIn some faculties of mind he has been, and is, only a childBut he is growing, and some things that were childish at the first are now of man's statureHe is experimenting, and doing it wellAnd if it had not been that we have crossed his path he would be yet, he may be yet if we fail, the father or furtherer of a new order of beings, whose road must lead through Death, not Life
Harker groaned and said, "And this is all arrayed against my darling! But how is he experimenting? The knowledge may help us to defeat him!"
"He has all along, since his coming, been trying his power, slowly but
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