登陆注册
4709600000073

第73章

Everything is, however, now reopened, and what is to be the end God only knows. I have an idea that Van Helsing thinks he knows, too, but he will only let out enough at a time to whet curiosity.

He went to Exeter yesterday, and stayed there all night.

Today he came back, and almost bounded into the room at about half-past five o'clock, and thrust last night's "Westminster Gazette" into my hand.

"What do you think of that?" he asked as he stood back and folded his arms.

I looked over the paper, for I really did not know what he meant, but he took it from me and pointed out a paragraph about children being decoyed away at Hampstead. It did not convey much to me, until I reached a passage where it described small puncture wounds on their throats.

An idea struck me, and I looked up.

"Well?" he said.

"It is like poor Lucy's."

"And what do you make of it?"

"Simply that there is some cause in common. Whatever it was that injured her has injured them." I did not quite understand his answer.

"That is true indirectly, but not directly."

"How do you mean, Professor?" I asked. I was a little inclined to take his seriousness lightly, for, after all, four days of rest and freedom from burning, harrowing, anxiety does help to restore one's spirits, but when I saw his face, it sobered me.

Never, even in the midst of our despair about poor Lucy, had he looked more stern.

"Tell me!" I said. "I can hazard no opinion. I do not know what to think, and I have no data on which to found a conjecture."

"Do you mean to tell me, friend John, that you have no suspicion as to what poor Lucy died of, not after all the hints given, not only by events, but by me?"

"Of nervous prostration following a great loss or waste of blood."

"And how was the blood lost or wasted?" I shook my head.

He stepped over and sat down beside me, and went on, "You are a clever man, friend John. You reason well, and your wit is bold, but you are too prejudiced. You do not let your eyes see nor your ears hear, and that which is outside your daily life is not of account to you.

Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are, that some people see things that others cannot?

But there are things old and new which must not be contemplated by men's eyes, because they know, or think they know, some things which other men have told them. Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all, and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain.

But yet we see around us every day the growth of new beliefs, which think themselves new, and which are yet but the old, which pretend to be young, like the fine ladies at the opera. I suppose now you do not believe in corporeal transference. No? Nor in materialization. No? Nor in astral bodies. No? Nor in the reading of thought. No? Nor in hypnotism. . ."

"Yes," I said. "Charcot has proved that pretty well."

He smiled as he went on, "Then you are satisfied as to it. Yes? And of course then you understand how it act, and can follow the mind of the great Charcot, alas that he is no more, into the very soul of the patient that he influence. No? Then, friend John, am I to take it that you simply accept fact, and are satisfied to let from premise to conclusion be a blank? No? Then tell me, for I am a student of the brain, how you accept hypnotism and reject the thought reading. Let me tell you, my friend, that there are things done today in electrical science which would have been deemed unholy by the very man who discovered electricity, who would themselves not so long before been burned as wizards.

There are always mysteries in life. Why was it that Methuselah lived nine hundred years, and `Old Parr'one hundred and sixty-nine, and yet that poor Lucy, with four men's blood in her poor veins, could not live even one day? For, had she live one more day, we could save her. Do you know all the mystery of life and death?

同类推荐
  • 洞真太上八素真经修习功业妙诀

    洞真太上八素真经修习功业妙诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 海游记

    海游记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 喉舌备要秘旨

    喉舌备要秘旨

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说宝如来三昧经

    佛说宝如来三昧经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 西征石城记

    西征石城记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 星河大帝

    星河大帝

    少年江离安静平凡,家有天才弟弟众星捧月,校有高手班长虎视眈眈,他因怜爱流浪猫而获奇遇,生命力在短短十天内迅猛晋升!谁能料到,日后他需履行誓言、背上使命,凭一人之力挑战世界规则……大神新作,震撼归来!全新流派,不同视角,追寻长生的命题,道尽修行的真谛!
  • 如来成道经

    如来成道经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 丑颜弃妇闯情关

    丑颜弃妇闯情关

    现代某都市:“林夷如,我喜欢你,我们交往吧。”穿越千年庆云国:“平凡,激不起本王的半点兴趣,”她早就火冒三丈,正想一掌打过去,他靠近她的耳畔说的下一句话让她彻底呆了,“也不看看自己是什么货色,还想用这招;如果是个美人,本王还可以勉强,不过,你让我无比厌恶。”--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 会说话会办事的女人最聪明

    会说话会办事的女人最聪明

    其实,生活中有很多女人通过自己的努力获得了成功。她们不把自己当作生活中的弱者,不怨天尤人自暴自弃,不拿青春作为一辈子幸福的筹码,而是自己成为主宰自己命运的主人,通过不懈的努力和顽强的拼搏,最终功成名就,获得属于自己的一份幸福。这种女人才是聪明的女人,从她们身上我们可以看到智慧和优雅并存,美丽和气质共生。这种女人无论在生活中还是工作中都能够很好的运用自己的优势,善于取长补短,能够以柔克刚,说话口吐莲花,做事灵活百变。
  • 美好的人生

    美好的人生

    在人生的旅途上,可怕的不是荆棘遍布、充满坎坷,而是我们看不到生活中无处不在的美,学不会欣赏这无处不在的美。如果你只会抱怨,苦恼就会变成你生活的全部;如果你只感受到痛苦,痛苦也就成了你挥之不去的影子。其实,只要你袒开胸怀,去发现美、寻找美、容纳美,就会发现处处都是蓝天、白云,孩子的笑脸,老人的慈爱……
  • 重生修仙在都市

    重生修仙在都市

    【最热火爆】绝世强者,重生五百年前。唐易发誓,要将曾经的敌人踩在脚下,要将曾经的爱人揽入怀中。新书《我有无数鬼将》欢迎收看建了个群:二群:807137331一群:97347415(已满)
  • 影视表演艺术:创作理论与实用教程

    影视表演艺术:创作理论与实用教程

    本书以影视表演创作理论、影视表演教学研究、影视表演实用教程为主要内容。将影视表演专业理论知识融会贯通到具体的教学环节和教学实例中,形成了较为系统规范的影视表演教学体系。本书用生动鲜活的教学个案稀释复杂的专业理论,还原表演课堂的原貌,通过具体的、可见的环节展现教学理念,具有很强的可读性和操作性。
  • 录外经等目录

    录外经等目录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 黎先生的甜甜圈

    黎先生的甜甜圈

    【1v1宠文】上一世,她任性而为众叛亲离,伤害了最爱她的人,最后落得悲惨的结局。一朝重生,她只想为值得她的人而活,她负了他一世,就还他一生。在一次采访中,主持人问黎序之:您最喜欢做的事情?黎序之:宠温暖。主持人:您最欣赏的女性?黎序之:温暖。主持人:您小时的的梦想?黎序之:长大以后娶温暖。主持人:如果有一天温暖离开您呢?黎序之:我不会让她有这个机会。主持人:......温暖:......你够了!这是一个温暖的故事,纵然千回百转,身边有你就好QQ群:732234639
  • 恶魔首席霸道爱

    恶魔首席霸道爱

    迫不得已,她改名换姓,却迎来了他的强力出击。他害的她被赶出家门,害的她学业无成。每每闭上眼睛,她的眼前就会出现那噩梦一样的七天。因为爱她,他愿意付出一切,甚至自己的生命。因为爱她,所以监视她的行动,不让她遇到危险。要不到的答案,她选择不要。