her in the night, and what with his gorge and the vein left open, there
wasn t enough blood in her to let her stand up, and I had to put a
bullet through her as she lay. Jack, if you may tell me without
betraying confidence, Arthur was the first, is not that so? As he spoke
the poor fellow looked terribly anxious. He was in a torture of suspense
regarding the woman he loved, and his utter ignorance of the terrible
mystery which seemed to surround her intensified his pain. His very
heart was bleeding, and it took all the manhood of him--and there was a
royal lot of it, too--to keep him from breaking down. I paused before
answering, for I felt that I must not betray anything which the
Professor wished kept secret; but already he knew so much, and guessed
so much, that there could be no reason for not answering, so I answered
in the same phrase: That s so.
And how long has this been going on?
About ten days.
Ten days! Then I guess, Jack Seward, that that poor pretty creature
that we all love has had put into her veins within that time the blood
of four strong men. Man alive, her whole body wouldn t hold it. Then,
coming close to me, he spoke in a fierce half-whisper: What took it
out?
I shook my head. That, I said, is the crux. Van Helsing is simply
frantic about it, and I am at my wits end. I can t even hazard a guess.
There has been a series of little circumstances which have thrown out
all our calculations as to Lucy being properly watched. But these shall
not occur again. Here we stay until all be well--or ill. Quincey held
out his hand. Count me in, he said. You and the Dutchman will tell me
what to do, and I ll do it.
When she woke late in the afternoon, Lucy s first movement was to feel
in her breast, and, to my surprise, produced the paper which Van Helsing
had given me to read. The careful Professor had replaced it where it had
come from, lest on waking she should be alarmed. Her eye then lit on Van
Helsing and on me too, and gladdened. Then she looked around the room,
and seeing where she was, shuddered; she gave a loud cry, and put her
poor thin hands before her pale face. We both understood what that
meant--that she had realised to the full her mother s death; so we tried
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