He came forward, bowing, and holding out something in a paper ?What?s that, you dog?? said Legree ?It?s a witch thing, Mas?r!? ?A what?? ?Something that niggers gets from witchesKeeps ?em from feelin? when they ?s floggedHe had it tied round his neck, with a black string Legree, like most godless and cruel men, was superstitiousHe took the paper, and opened it uneasily There dropped out of it a silver dollar, and a long, shining curl of fair hair,?hair which, like a living thing, twined itself round Legree?s fingers ?Damnation!? he screamed, in sudden passion, stamping on the floor, and pulling furiously at the hair, as if it burned him?Where did this come from? Take it off!?burn it up!?burn it up!? he screamed, tearing it off, and throwing it into the charcoal?What did you bring it to me for?? Sambo stood, with his heavy mouth wide open, and aghast with wonder; and Cassy, who was preparing to leave the apartment, stopped, and looked at him in perfect amazement ?Don?t you bring me any more of your devilish things!? said he, shaking his fist at Sambo, who retreated hastily towards the door; and, picking up the silver dollar, he sent it smashing through the window-pane, out into the darkness Sambo was glad to make his escapeWhen he was gone, Legree seemed a little ashamed of his fit of alarmHe sat doggedly down in his chair, and began sullenly sipping his tumbler of punch Cassy prepared herself for going out, unobserved by him; and slipped away to minister to poor Tom, as we have already related And what was the matter with Legree? and what was there in a simple curl of fair hair to appall that brutal man, familiar with every form of cruelty? To answer this, we must carry the reader backward in his historyHard and reprobate as the godless man seemed now, there had been a time when he had been rocked on the bosom of a mother,?cradled with prayers and pious hymns,?his now seared brow bedewed with the waters of holy baptismIn early childhood, a fair-haired woman had led him, at the sound of Sabbath bell, to worship and to prayFar in New England that mother had trained her only son, with long, unwearied love, and patient prayersBorn of a hard-tempered sire, on whom that gentle woman had wasted a world of unvalued love, Legree had followed in the steps of his fatherBoisterous, unruly, and tyrannical, he despised all her counsel, and would none of her reproof; and, at an early age, broke from her, to seek his fortunes at seaHe never came home but once, after; and then, his mother, with the yearning of a heart that must love something, and has nothing else to love, clung to him, and sought, with passionate prayers and entreaties, to win him from a life of sin, to his soul?s eternal good That was Legree?s day of grace; then good angels called him; then he was almost persuaded, and mercy held him by the handHis heart inly relented,?there was a conflict,?but sin got the victory, and he set all the force of his rough nature against the conviction of his conscienceHe drank and swore,?was wilder and more brutal than everAnd, one night, when his mother, in the last agony of her despair, knelt at his feet, he spurned her from him,?threw her senseless on the floor, and, with brutal curses, fled to his shipThe next Legree heard of his mother was, when, one night, as he was carousing among drunken companions, a letter was put into his handHe opened it, and a lock of long, curling hair fell from it, and twined about his fingersThe letter told him his mother was dead, and that, dying, she blest and forgave him There is a dread, unhallowed necromancy of evil, that turns things sweetest and holiest to phantoms of horror and affrightThat pale, loving mother,?her dying prayers, her forgiving love,?wrought in that demoniac heart of sin only as a damning sentence, bringing with it a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignationLegree burned the hair, and burned the letter; and when he saw them hissing and crackling in the flame, inly shuddered as he thought of everlasting firesHe tried to drink, and revel, and swear away the memory; but often, in the deep night, whose solemn stillness arraigns the bad soul in forced communion with herself, he had seen that pale mother rising by his bedside, and felt the soft twining of that hair around his fingers, till the cold sweat would roll down his face, and he would spring from his bed in horrorYe who have wondered to hear, in the same evangel, that God is love, and that God is a consuming fire, see ye not how, to the soul resolved in evil, perfect love is the most fearful torture, the seal and sentence of the direst despair? ?Blast it!? said Legree to himself, as he sipped his liquor; ?where did he get that? If it didn?t look just like?whoo! I thought I?d forgot thatCurse me, if I think there?s any such thing as forgetting anything, any how,?hang it! I?m lonesome! I mean to call EmShe hates me?the monkey! I don?t care,?I?ll make her come!? Legree stepped out into a large entry, which went up stairs, by what had formerly been a superb winding staircase; but the passage-way was dirty and dreary, encumbered with boxes and unsightly litterThe stairs, uncarpeted, seemed winding up, in the gloom, to nobody knew where! The pale moonlight streamed through a shattered fanlight over the door; the air was unwholesome and chilly, like that of a vault Legree stopped at the foot of the stairs, and heard a voice singingIt seemed strange and ghostlike in that dreary old house, perhaps because of the already tremulous state of his shop nerves

The Professor held up his golden crucifix, and said with wonderful calmness, "Do not fear, my dearWe are here, and whilst this is close to you no foul thing can approachYou are safe for tonight, and we must be calm and take counsel together She shuddered and was silent, holding down her head on her husband's breastWhen she raised it, his white nightrobe was stained with blood where her lips had touched, and where the thin open wound in the neck had sent forth dropsThe instant she saw it she drew back, with a low wail, and whispered, amidst choking sobs "Unclean, unclean! I must touch him or kiss him no moreOh, that it should be that it is I who am now his worst enemy, and whom he may have most cause to fear To this he spoke out resolutely, "Nonsense, MinaIt is a shame to me to hear such a wordI would not hear it of youAnd I shall not hear it from youMay God judge me by my deserts, and punish me with more bitter suffering than even this hour, if by any act or will of mine anything ever come between us!" He put out his arms and folded her to his breastAnd for a while she lay there sobbingHe looked at us over her bowed head, with eyes that blinked damply above his quivering nostrilsHis mouth was set as steel After a while her sobs became less frequent and more faint, and then he said to me, speaking with a studied calmness which I felt tried his nervous power to the utmostSeward, tell me all about itToo well I know the broad factTell me all that has been I told him exactly what had happened and he listened with seeming impassiveness, but his nostrils twitched and his eyes blazed as I told how the ruthless hands of the Count had held his wife in that terrible and horrid position, with her mouth to the open wound in his breastIt interested me, even at that moment, to see that whilst the face of white set passion worked convulsively over the bowed head, the hands tenderly and lovingly stroked the ruffled hairJust as I had finished, Quincey and Godalming knocked at the doorThey entered in obedience to our summonsVan Helsing looked at me questioninglyI understood him to mean if we were to take advantage of their coming to divert if possible the thoughts of the unhappy husband and wife from each other and from themselvesSo on nodding acquiescence to him he asked them what they had seen or doneTo which Lord Godalming answered "I could not see him anywhere in the passage, or in any of our roomsI looked in the study but, though he had been there, he had goneHe had, however?" He stopped suddenly, looking at the poor drooping figure on the bed Van Helsing said gravely, "Go on, friend ArthurWe want here no more concealmentsOur hope now is in knowing allTell freely!" So Art went on, "He had been there, and though it could only have been for a few seconds, he made rare hay of the placeAll the manuscript had been burned, and the blue flames were flickering amongst the white ashesThe cylinders of your phonograph too were thrown on the fire, and the wax had helped the flames Here I interrupted"Thank God there is the other copy in the safe!" His face lit for a moment, but fell again as he went on"I ran downstairs then, but could see no sign of shop him

Will you not have faith in me?" I took his hand, and promised himI held my door open as he went away, and watched him go to his room and close the doorAs I stood without moving, I saw one of the maids pass silently along the passage, she had her back to me, so did not see me, and go into the room where Lucy layDevotion is so rare, and we are so grateful to those who show it unasked to those we loveHere was a poor girl putting aside the terrors which she naturally had of death to go watch alone by the bier of the mistress whom she loved, so that the poor clay might not be lonely till laid to eternal rest I must have slept long and soundly, for it was broad daylight when Van Helsing waked me by coming into my roomHe came over to my bedside and said, "You need not trouble about the knives "Why not?" I askedFor his solemnity of the night before had greatly impressed me "Because," he said sternly, "it is too late, or too earlySee!" Here he held up the little golden crucifix "This was stolen in the night "How stolen," I asked in wonder, "since you have it now?" "Because I get it back from the worthless wretch who stole it, from the woman who robbed the dead and the livingHer punishment will surely come, but not through meShe knew not altogether what she did, and thus unknowing, she only stole He went away on the word, leaving me with a new mystery to think of, a new puzzle to grapple with The forenoon was a dreary time, but at noon the solicitor came, MrMarquand, of Wholeman, Sons, Marquand

I'm used to 'em!' "'Are you in the business yourself?' I says, tyking off my 'at, for a man what trades in wolves, anceterer, is a good friend to keepers "'Nom,' says he, 'not exactly in the business, but I 'ave made pets of several' And with that he lifts his 'at as perlite as a lord, and walks awayOld Bersicker kep' a-lookin' arter 'im till 'e was out of sight, and then went and lay down in a corner and wouldn't come hout the 'ole heveningWell, larst night, so soon as the moon was hup, the wolves here all began a-'owlingThere warn't nothing for them to 'owl atThere warn't no one near, except some one that was evidently a-callin' a dog somewheres out back of the gardings in the Park roadOnce or twice I went out to see that all was right, and it was, and then the 'owling stoppedJust before twelve o'clock I just took a look round afore turnin' in, an', bust me, but when I kem opposite to old Bersicker's cage I see the rails broken and twisted about and the cage emptyAnd that's all I know for certing "Did any one else see anything?" "One of our gard'ners was a-comin' 'ome about that time from a 'armony, when he sees a big gray dog comin' out through the garding 'edgesAt least, so he says, but I don't give much for it myself, for if he did 'e never said a word about it to his missis when 'e got 'ome, and it was only after the escape of the wolf was made known, and we had been up all night a-huntin' of the Park for Bersicker, that he remembered seein' anythingMy own belief was that the 'armony 'ad got into his 'eadBilder, can you account in any way for the escape of the wolf?" "Well, Sir," he said, with a suspicious sort of modesty, "I think I can, but I don't know as 'ow you'd be satisfied with the theory "Certainly I shallIf a man like you, who knows the animals from experience, can't hazard a good guess at any rate, who is even to try?" "Well then, Sir, I accounts for it this wayIt seems to me that 'ere wolf escaped--simply because he wanted to get out From the hearty way that both Thomas and his wife laughed at the joke I could see that it had done service before, and that the whole explanation was simply an elaborate sellI couldn't cope in badinage with the worthy Thomas, but I thought I knew a surer way to his heart, so I said, "Now, MrBilder, we'll consider that first half-sovereign worked off, and this brother of his is waiting to be claimed when you've told me what you think will happen "Right y'are, Sir," he said briskly"Ye'll excoose me, I know, for a-chaffin' of ye, but the old woman here winked at me, which was as much as telling me to go on "Well, I never!" said the old lady "My opinion is this: that 'ere wolf is a'idin' of, somewheresThe gard'ner wot didn't remember said he was a-gallopin' northward faster than a horse could go, but I don't believe him, for, yer see, Sir, wolves don't gallop no more nor dogs does, they not bein' built that wayWolves is fine things in a storybook, and I dessay when they gets in packs and does be chivyin' somethin' that's more afeared than they is they can make a devil of a noise and chop it up, whatever it isBut, Lor' bless you, in real life a wolf is only a low creature, not half so clever or bold as a good dog, and not half a quarter so much fight in 'imThis one ain't been used to fightin' or even to providin' for hisself, and more like he's somewhere round the Park a'hidin' an' a'shiverin' of, and if he thinks at all, wonderin' where he is to get his breakfast fromOr maybe he's got down some area and is in a coal cellarMy eye, won't some cook get a rum start when she sees his green eyes a-shinin' at her out of the dark! If he can't get food he's bound to look for it, and mayhap he may chance to light on a butcher's shop in timeIf he doesn't, and some nursemaid goes out walkin' or orf with a soldier, leavin' of the hinfant in the perambulator--well, then I shouldn't be surprised if the census is one babby the less I was handing him the half-sovereign, when something came bobbing up against the window, and MrBilder's face doubled its natural length with surprise "God bless me!" he said"If there ain't old Bersicker come back by 'isself!" He went to the door and opened it, a most unnecessary proceeding it seemed to meI have always thought that a wild animal never looks so well as when some obstacle of pronounced durability is between usA personal experience has intensified rather than diminished that idea After all, however, there is nothing like custom, for neither Bilder nor his wife thought any more of the wolf than I should of a dogThe animal itself was a peaceful and well-behaved as that father of all picture-wolves, Red Riding Hood's quondam friend, whilst moving her confidence in masquerade The whole scene was a unutterable mixture of comedy and shop pathos

My emotion was too great for even the relief of tears"You men are brave and strongYou are strong in your numbers, for you can defy that which would break down the human endurance of one who had to guard aloneBesides, I may be of service, since you can hypnotize me and so learn that which even I myself do not knowVan Helsing said gravely, "Madam Mina, you are, as always, most wiseYou shall with us comeAnd together we shall do that which we go forth to achieve When he had spoken, Mina's long spell of silence made me look at herShe had fallen back on her pillow asleepShe did not even wake when I had pulled up the blind and let in the sunlight which flooded the roomVan Helsing motioned to me to come with him quietlyWe went to his room, and within a minute Lord Godalming, DrMorris were with us also He told them what Mina had said, and went on"In the morning we shall leave for VarnaWe have now to deal with a new factor, Madam MinaOh, but her soul is trueIt is to her an agony to tell us so much as she has doneBut it is most right, and we are warned in timeThere must be no chance lost, and in Varna we must be ready to act the instant when that ship arrives "What shall we do exactly?" asked Mr The Professor paused before replying, "We shall at the first board that shipThen, when we have identified the box, we shall place a branch of the wild rose on itThis we shall fasten, for when it is there none can emerge, so that at least says the superstitionAnd to superstition must we trust at the firstIt was man's faith in the early, and it have its root in faith stillThen, when we get the opportunity that we seek, when none are near to see, we shall open the box, and? and all will be well "I shall not wait for any opportunity," said Morris"When I see the box I shall open it and destroy the monster, though there were a thousand men looking on, and if I am to be wiped out for it the next moment!" I grasped his hand instinctively and found it as firm as a piece of steelI think he understood my look "Good boy," said DrMy child, believe me none of us shall lag behind or pause from any fearI do but say what we may do? what we must doBut, indeed, indeed we cannot say what we may doThere are so many things which may happen, and their ways and their ends are so various that until the moment we may not sayWe shall all be armed, in all waysAnd when the time for the end has come, our effort shall not be lackNow let us today put all our affairs in orderLet all things which touch on others dear to us, and who on us depend, be completeFor none of us can tell what, or when, or how, the end may shop be