n eternity, she remained
between the lifted crucifix and the sacred closing of her means of
entry.

Van Helsing broke the silence by asking Arthur, "Answer me, oh my
friend! Am I to proceed in my work?"

"Do as you will, friend. Do as you will. There can be no horror like
this ever any more." And he groaned in spirit.

Quincey and I simultaneously moved towards him, and took his arms. We
could hear the click of the closing lantern as Van Helsing held it
down. Coming close to the tomb, he began to remove from the chinks
some of the sacred emblem which he had placed there. We all looked on
with horrified amazement as we saw, when he stood back, the woman,
with a corporeal body as real at that moment as our own, pass through
the interstice where scarce a knife blade could have gone. We all
felt a glad sense of relief when we saw the Professor calmly restoring
the strings of putty to the edges of the door.

When this was done, he lifted the child and said, "Come now, my
friends. We can do no more till tomorrow. There is a funeral at
noon, so here we shall all come before long after that. The friends
of the dead will all be gone by two, and when the sexton locks the
gate we shall remain. Then there is more to do, but not like this of
tonight. As for this little one, he is not much harmed, and by
tomorrow night he shall be well. We shall leave him where the police
will find him, as on the other night, and then to home."

Coming close to Arthur, he said, "My friend Arthur, you have had a sore
trial, but after, when you look back, you will see how it was
necessary. You are now in the bitter waters, my child. By this time
tomorrow you will, please God, have passed them, and have drunk of the
sweet waters. So do not mourn over-much. Till then I shall not ask
you to forgive me."

Arthur and Quincey came home with me, and we tried to cheer each other
on the way. We had left behind the child in safety, and were tired.
So we all slept with more or less reality of sleep.

29 September, night.--A little before twelve o'clock we three, Arthur,
Quincey Morris, and myself, called for the Professor. It was odd to
notice that by common consent we had all put on black clothes. Of
course, Arthur wore black, for he was in deep mourning, but the rest
of us wore it by instinct. We got to the graveyard by half-past one,
and strolled about, keeping out of official observation, so that when
the gravediggers had comp