"Bram Stoker - Dracula's Guest" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stoker Bram)

overhead. Presently the blackness of the storm had become mer-
ged in the darkness of the night. By-and-by the storm seemed
to be passing away,it now only came in fierce puffs or blasts.
At such moments the weird sound of the wolf appeared to be
echoed by many similar sounds around me.

Now and again, through the black mass of drifting cloud,
came a straggling ray of moonlight which lit up the expanse
and showed me that I was at the edge of a dense mass of cyp-
ress and yew trees. As the snow had ceased to fall, I walked
out from the shelter and began to investigate more closely.
It appeared to me that, amongst so many old foundations as I
had passed, there might be still standing a house in which,
though in ruins,I could find some sort of shelter for a while.
As I skirted the edge of the copse, I found that a low wall
encircled it, and following this I presently found an opening.
Here the cypresses formed an alley leading up to a square
mass of some kind of building. Just as I caught sight of this,
however, the drifting clouds obscured the moon, and I passed
up the path in darkness. The wind must have grown colder, for
I felt myself shiver as I walked; but there was hope of shel-
ter, and I groped my way blindly on.

I stopped, for there was a sudden stillness. The storm had
passed; and, perhaps in sympathy with nature's silence, my
heart seemed to cease to beat. But this was only momentarily;
for suddenly the moonlight broke through the clouds showing
me that I was in a graveyard and that the square object before
me was a great massive tomb of marble, as white as the snow
that lay on and all around it. With the moonlight there came
a fierce sigh of the storm which appeared to resume its
course with a long, low howl, as of many dogs or wolves.I was
awed and shocked, and I felt the cold perceptibly grow upon
me till it seemed to grip me by the heart. Then while the
flood of moonlight still fell on the marble tomb, the storm
gave further evidence of renewing, as though it were return-
ing on its track. Impelled by some sort of fascination, I app-
roached the sepulchre to see what it was and why such a thing
stood alone in such a place.I walked around it and read, over
the Doric door, in German--

COUNTESS DOLINGEN OF GRATZ

IN STYRIA

SOUGHT AND FOUND DEATH

1801

On the top of the tomb, seemingly driven through the solid