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“So tonight we have nothing but this?” she asked

Count Dracula nodded his head yes; one of the girls leapt upon the bag with the passion of a hyena and opened it If my ears did not deceive

I turned away in infinite horror as the girls knelt down around the bag and ran off with it But they did not pass through the door; they siht Presently, I must have completely blacked out

CHAPTER IV

FROM AZMI BEY’S DIARY—continued

When I awoke I foundI had seen was not a nightht me here from that terrible room My clothes had been folded in a arded this room that I once despised, it appeared to me now a haven and a robust shelter For those terrible creatures I saw in that evil roo to suck et in here

18 May—I wanted to visit that rooain to learn the truth; but when I reached the door I found it locked from the inside Not only was it locked, but it had been pulled into the frath that part of the as splintered This means that what I saas not a dream; it was real…

19 May—No doubt I aht the Count told me to write three letters, since my work here was almost done; in the first letter I was to write thatthe castle in a few days; the second letter would say that I was leaving the next day; and the third would make it appear that I had arrived at the hotel in Bistriç I wanted to object; but inopenly with the Count would be insanity I was afraid of exciting his anger and suspicion He explained that the postal service in Transylvania was irregular and that I would ease the minds of my friends in Istanbul if I wrote to theave in and asked hiht, he said:

“The first letter will be June 12, the second will be June 19, and the third will be June 29!”

Oh! Now I kno long I shall live God, reat God!

28 May—Since the last tiined a thousand ways to escape and a thousand kinds of torment I wrote letters to inform those in Istanbul ofI discovered that all of , and the letters had disappeared Fortunately I have been carrying this notebook near es his , friendly talks In the ht we only h theofheavy, rectangular crates to their carriages I wanted to shout, to give then, but it is i insane What shall I do, what shall I do?

24 June, before sunrise—I aht the Count stayed with me for a while, then went up to his room and locked the door from the inside A few moments later I rose slowly from the table and went to thenear the spiral staircase to watch for the Count I saw so with shovels and pickaxes, and I wanted to discover as going on

As I looked out of theI saw the Count ee fro my travel clothes, taken fro that I saw that night, containing the small child whom those three women passionately and joyfully snatched and ran aith, was hanging around the Count’s neck!

Count Dracula again slid down the wall like a lizard and vanished I decided to wait for his return and an to watch the scenery outside, shiht But suddenly I felt a kind of awakening, and it was as if the scenery in front ofdust particles floated in the air and started to whirl round and gather in clusters outside the s These bright eddies took weird for hypnotized; with an almost superhuman effort I rose withan indescribable screa in those shapes!

I waited in my candle-lit roos Sometime later a noise issued fro that sounded like a muted, sharp cry Then fell a deep, horrible silence I wanted to run to the door and fling it open, but it was locked I was trapped here Exhausted, I sat down on the floor and cried like a baby