Lakhasly

‏As soon as the train left Budapest, Jonathan Harker
‏felt that he was leaving the West and entering the
‏East. He had never been out of England before, and
‏had found everything strange enough already. Now it
‏was even stranger: the food which made his mouth
‏feel as if it was on fire; the unknown languages; the
‏wide, open Danube country and the great river itself
‏The brightly dressed villagers at every station made
‏him feel in another world. There would be so much to
‏tell Mina, the girl he was going to marry.
‏Later, as the train moved north, everything changed
‏again. Here were mountains, thick forests and fast-
‏flowing rivers. Castles stood on rocks so high that
‏Jonathan could only look at them in wonder. He
‏hoped the castle he was going to would be like these.
‏It was nearly dark when he arrived at the pleasant
‏had spent travelling since Budapest, and he was tired.
‏So he was pleased that the Golden Crown, the hotel
‏where Count Dracula had arranged for him to stay,
‏had a comfortable, friendly appearance. The hotel
‏keeper led him up to a clean and pleasant room look-
‏ing over a large courtyard where a few fruit trees
‏grew.
‏Jonathan washed and went downstairs to eat. There
‏was a letter by his plate

Dear Mr Harker,
So you have arrived in Transylvania. I am expecting
you with pleasure. Sleep well tonight, and at three o'clock
tomorrow afternoon take the carriage for Bukovina. I have
ordered a place to be kept for you. At the highest point of
the road over the mountains my own carriage will wait
and bring you to me. I hope your journey from London
has been a happy one. I am sure you will enjoy your stay
in my beautiful land. Your friend,
Dracula
How kind!' said Jonathan. 'And how well he has
planned my journey!' But when he asked the hotel
keeper how the letter had arrived the man looked un-
comfortable and pretended not to understand his Ger-
man. And when Jonathan tried to find out more about
Castle Dracula the man seemed unwilling to talk; he
would only say that it was a long way from Bistritz,
and that he had never been there.
This was strange. But when Jonathan went down to
the carriage the following afternoon the hotel keeper's
wife behaved even more strangely. He was Just going
to take his place when she came up to him with a
frightened look on her face.
'Must you go?' she asked.
Jonathan looked at her in surprise. 'I have not come
here from England on holiday,
he replied. 'I am here
on business, and cannot please myself. Is there any
reason why I should not go?'
'Please,
she said, laying her hand on his arm.
There is danger.
Jonathan tried to smile, but the smile would not
come. 'What danger can I be in? I am only going to
visit your Count Dracula. At this she became very excited and changed from
German to a language he did not understand. Others
standing by joined in, and at last the woman took the
cross from round her neck and put it round Jonathan's.
She seemed so serious that he could not say no, al-
though it was unusual for Englishmen to wear cross-
es, and it felt strange to him.
He got into the carriage and the driver started off.
The crowd all moved their right hands in the shape of
the cross, and that was the last of Bistritz.
'Are we in so much danger that we need all these
blessings?' asked Jonathan with a smile.
"Some of us may need them,' replied another pas-
senger seriously.
For a time the unusual beauty of the country helped
Jonathan to forget all this strangeness. Count Dracula
was right to be proud of such a land. There were trees
in flower, bright green fields, wooden farmhouses,
running streams and always the dark, enclosing forest.
The road was bad, but the driver drove fast, as if he
wanted to finish the Journey as quickly as possible.
Later, when the road began to climb into the moun-
tains, he had to slow down. Jonathan wanted to get
out then and walk by the side of the carriage, but the
driver would not let him.
'No, no', he said. 'The wolves round here are dan-
gerous. As it grew dark the passengers became excited, and
the driver drove his horses even harder, stopping only
for a minute to light his lamps. At last the road
reached its highest point, going for some way neither
up nor down. Somewhere here must be the place,
thought Jonathan, where Count Dracula's carriage
would meet him.
Suddenly the other passengers began to bless him,
just like the people at the hotel. Was this usual, or was
there really danger? Then the carriage stopped. It
waited. Everybody was silent, watching the lamps
burning and the horses shaking themselves restlessly.
'There is no carriage here,'
said the driver after a
minute. 'The English gentleman is not expected. It is
better for him to come on into Bukovina and return
tomorrow. Or better the next day.'
'Or best not at all,' said a passenger.
'Yes, yes,' said another. 'To go on into Bukovina is
best.'
Just then the sound of another carriage was heard
behind them, and four black horses appeared, driven
by a tall man in a large, black hat. The hat hid most of
his face except for his eyes, which shone red in the
lamplight.
'You are early tonight, my friend,' he said in good
German.
The Bistritz driver did not reply. He was clearly
frightened.
"You are early tonight,' said the other again.
'The English gentleman was in a hurry. 'That is why you wanted to take him on into Buko.
vina, I suppose. You cannot hide your thoughts from
me, my friend.' He smiled unpleasantly, and the light
fell upon unusually white teeth.
Again the Bistritz driver said nothing, but jumped
down quickly and put Jonathan's bags in the other car.
riage. Jonathan also got down, and the new driver
helped him in. He did not like the feel of the strong,
thin fingers that dug deep into his arm.
The carriage from Bistritz disappeared into the
darkness, and Jonathan suddenly felt very much
alone.
'The night is cold,' said the driver, 'Here is some-
thing to cover you. My master told me to take good
care of you. There is a bottle under the seat if you
wish to drink. He said no more, but turned the car-
riage round and moved off along a side road which
Jonathan had not noticed before, and which led higher
up the mountain.
As they drove on into the night Jonathan could at
first see nothing. It was by then completely dark, and
the carriage did not have lamps. But he could hear all
the time the sound of wolves, first one and then an-
other, calling to each other across the valleys. As they
went on the noise became louder, until it seemed that
the wolves were all around them. As Jonathan stared
into the darkness he saw that they were all around
them, like a guard; a ring of red eyes moving along as
fast as the horses. The driver did not seem to mind,
but the horses were frightened, and when the wolves
came too close the driver shouted at them as one
might shout at one's dogs. It was like a long, bad dream, and only ended when
the changed sound of the carriage wheels showed that
they had passed into the courtyard of Castle Dracula.