LITMIR.BIZ

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draught of the open door. The old man motioned

      me in with his right hand vith a courtly gesture, saying in excel-

      lent English, but with a. strange intonation:

      «Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will!»*

      He made no motion of stepping to meet me, but stood like a

      statue, as though his gesture of welcome had fixed him into stone.

      The instant, however, that I had stepped over the threshold,

      he moved impulsively forward, and holding out his hand grasped

      mine with a strength which made me wince,.an effect which was

      not lessened by the fact. that it seemed as cold as ice more like

      the hand of a dead than a living man. Again he said:

      «Welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely; and leave

      something of the happiness you bring!» The strength of the

      handshake was so much akin to that which I had noticed in the

      driver, whose face I had not seen, that for a moment I doubted

      if it were not the same person to whom I was speaking; so to

      make sure, I said interrogatively:

      «Count Dracula? "He bowed in a courtly way as he replied:

      «I am Dracula; and I bid you welcome, Mr. Harker, to my

      house. Come in; the night air is chill, and you must need to eat

      and rest.» As he was speaking, he put the lamp on a bracket on

      the wall, and stepping out, took my luggage; he had carried it in

      before I could forestall him. I protested but he insisted:

      «Nay, sir, you are my guest. It is late, and my people are not

      available. Let me see to your comfort myself.» He insisted on

      carrying my traps along the passage, and then up a great wind-

      16 Dracula

      ing stair, and along another great passage, on whose stone floor

      our steps rang heavily. At the end of this he threw open a heavy

      door, and I rejoiced to see within a well-lit room in which a table

      was spread for supper, and on whose mighty hearth a great fire

      of logs, freshly replenished, flamed and flared.

      The Count halted, putting down my bags, closed the door,

      and crossing the room, opened another door, which led into a

      small octagonal room lit by a single lamp, and seemingly with-

      out a window of any sort. Passing through this, he opened an-

      other door, and motioned me to enter. It was a welcome sight;

      for here was a great bedroom well lighted and warmed with

      another log fire, also added to but lately, for the top logs were

      fresh which sent a hollow roar up the wide chimney. The Count

      himself left my luggage inside and withdrew, saying, before he

      closed the door:

      «You will need, after your journey, to refresh yourself by

      making your toilet. I trust you will find all you wish. When you

      are ready, come into the other room, where you will find your

      supper prepared.»

      The light and warmth and the Count’s courteous welcome

      seemed to have dissipated all my doubts and fears. Having then

      reached my normal state, I discovered that I was half famished

      with hunger; so making a hasty toilet, I went into the other room.

      I found supper already laid out. My host, who stood on one

      side of the great fireplace, leaning against the stonework, made

      a graceful wave of his hand to the table, and said:

      «I pray you, be seated and sup how you please. You will, I

      trust, excuse me that I do not join you; but I have dined already,

      and I do not sup.»

      I handed to him the sealed letter which Mr. Hawkins had en-

      trusted to me. He opened it and read it gravely; then, with a

      charming smile, he handed it to me to read. One passage of it.

      at least, gave me a thrill of pleasure.

      «I must regret that an attack of gout, from which malady 1

      am a constant sufferer, forbids absolutely any travelling on my

      part for some time to come; but I am happy to say I can send a

      sufficient substitute, one in whom I have every possible confi-

      dence. He is a young man, full of energy and talent in his own

      way, and of a very faithful disposition. He is discreet and silent,

      and has grown into manhood in my service. He shall be ready to

      attend on you when you will during his stay, and shall take your

      instructions in all matters.»

      The Count himself came forward and took off the cover of a

      Jonathan Harker’s Journal 17

      dish, and I fell to at once on an excellent roast chicken. This,

      with some cheese and a salad and a bottle of old Tokay, of which

      I had two glasses, was my supper. During the time I was eating

      it the Count asked me many questions as to my journey, and I

      told him by degrees all I had experienced.

      By this time I had finished my supper, and by my host’s de-

      sire had drawn up a chair by the fire and begun to smoke a cigaf

      which he offered me, at the same time excusing himself that he

      did not smoke. I had now an opportunity of observing him, and

      found him of a very marked physiognomy.

      His face was a strong a very strong aquiline, with high

      Bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils; with lofty

      domed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples

      but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost

      meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl

      in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I could see it under

      the heavy-jnDJUs^Ux^'^aj.^ecr’and ratheTTriiel-looking, with

      peculiarly sharp ~^bffiL&&pEKese protnifer"over the lips,

      whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a

      man of his years. For the rest, his ears were pale, and at the tops

      extremely pointed; the chin was broad and strong, and the

      cheeks firm though thin. The general effect was one of extraor-

      dinary pallor.

      Hitherto I had noticed the backs of his hands as they lay on

      his knees in the firelight, and they had seemed

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