whole of the
window sashes reeked with it, and round Lucy's neck, over the silk
handkerchief which Van Helsing made her keep on, was a rough chaplet
of the same odorous flowers.

Lucy was breathing somewhat stertorously, and her face was at its
worst, for the open mouth showed the pale gums. Her teeth, in the
dim, uncertain light, seemed longer and sharper than they had been in
the morning. In particular, by some trick of the light, the canine
teeth looked longer and sharper than the rest.

I sat down beside her, and presently she moved uneasily. At the same
moment there came a sort of dull flapping or buffeting at the window.
I went over to it softly, and peeped out by the corner of the blind.
There was a full moonlight, and I could see that the noise was made by
a great bat, which wheeled around, doubtless attracted by the light,
although so dim, and every now and again struck the window with its
wings. When I came back to my seat, I found that Lucy had moved
slightly, and had torn away the garlic flowers from her throat. I
replaced them as well as I could, and sat watching her.

Presently she woke, and I gave her food, as Van Helsing had
prescribed. She took but a little, and that languidly. There did not
seem to be with her now the unconscious struggle for life and strength
that had hitherto so marked her illness. It struck me as curious that
the moment she became conscious she pressed the garlic flowers close
to her. It was certainly odd that whenever she got into that
lethargic state, with the stertorous breathing, she put the flowers
from her, but that when she waked she clutched them close. There was
no possibility of making any mistake about this, for in the long hours
that followed, she had many spells of sleeping and waking and repeated
both actions many times.

At six o'clock Van Helsing came to relieve me. Arthur had then fallen
into a doze, and he mercifully let him sleep on. When he saw Lucy's
face I could hear the hissing indraw of breath, and he said to me in a
sharp whisper. "Draw up the blind. I want light!" Then he bent down,
and, with his face almost touching Lucy's, examined her carefully. He
removed the flowers and lifted the silk handkerchief from her throat.
As he did so he started back and I could hear his ejaculation, "Mein
Gott!" as it was smothered in his throat. I bent over and looked,
too, and as I noticed some queer chill came over me. The wounds on
the throat had a