"stoker-dracula-168" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stoker Bram)

was the main object of my search, I must make further examination,
or all my efforts would be in vain. It was open, and led through a
stone passage to a circular stairway, which went steeply down. I
descended, minding carefully where I went, for the stairs were dark,
being only lit by loopholes in the heavy masonry. At the bottom
there was a dark, tunnel-like passage, through which came a deathly,
sickly odour, the odour of old earth newly turned. As I went through
the passage the smell grew closer and heavier. At last I pulled open a
heavy door which stood a jar, and found myself in an old, ruined
chapel, which had evidently been used as a graveyard. The roof was
broken, and in two places were steps leading to vaults, but the ground
had recently been dug over, and the earth placed in great wooden
boxes, manifestly those which had been brought by the Slovaks. There
was nobody about, and I made search for any further outlet, but
there was none. Then I went over every inch of the ground, so as not
to lose a chance. I went down even into the vaults, where the dim
light struggled, although to do so was a dread to my very soul. Into
two of these I went, but saw nothing except fragments of old coffins
and piles of dust; in the third, however, I made a discovery.

There, in one of the great boxes, of which there were fifty in
all, on a pile of newly dug earth, lay the Count! He was either dead
or asleep, I could not say which- for the eyes were open and stony,
but without the glassiness of death- and the cheeks had the warmth
of life through all their pallor, the lips were as red as ever. But
there was no sign of movement, no pulse, no breath, no beating of
the heart. I bent over him, and tried to find any sign of life, but in
vain. He could not have lain there long, for the earthy smell would
have passed away in a few hours. By the side of the box was its cover,
pierced with holes here and there. I thought he might have the keys on
him, but when I went to search I saw the dead eyes, and in them,
dead though they were, such a look of hate, though unconscious of me
or my presence, that I fled from the place, and leaving the Count's
room by the window, crawled again up the castle wall. Regaining my
room chamber, I threw myself panting upon the bed and tried to
think...

29 June.- To-day is the date of my last letter, and the Count has
taken steps to prove that it was genuine, for again I saw him leave
the castle by the same window, and in my clothes. As he went down
the wall, lizard fashion, I wished I had a gun or some lethal
weapon, that I might destroy him; but I fear that no weapon wrought
alone by man's hand would have any effect on him. I dared not wait
to see him return, for I feared to see those weird sisters. I came
back to the library, and read there till I fell asleep.

I was awakened by the Count, who looked at me as grimly as a man can
look as he said:-

"To-morrow, my friend, we must part. You return to your beautiful