The conversation was here interrupted by a busy hum in the audience; and the auctioneer, a short, bustling, important fellow, elbowed his way into the crowdThe old woman drew in her breath, and caught instinctively at her son ?Keep close to yer mammy, Albert,?close,?dey?ll put us up togedder,? she said ?O, mammy, I?m feard they won?t,? said the boy ?Dey must, child; I can?t live, no ways, if they don?t? said the old creature, vehemently The stentorian tones of the auctioneer, calling out to clear the way, now announced that the sale was about to commenceA place was cleared, and the bidding beganThe different men on the list were soon knocked off at prices which showed a pretty brisk demand in the market; two of them fell to Haley ?Come, now, young un,? said the auctioneer, giving the boy a touch with his hammer, ?be up and show your springs, now ?Put us two up togedder, togedder,?do please, Mas?r,? said the old woman, holding fast to her boy ?Be off,? said the man, gruffly, pushing her hands away; ?you come lastNow, darkey, spring;? and, with the word, he pushed the boy toward the block, while a deep, heavy groan rose behind himThe boy paused, and looked back; but there was no time to stay, and, dashing the tears from his large, bright eyes, he was up in a moment His fine figure, alert limbs, and bright face, raised an instant competition, and half a dozen bids simultaneously met the ear of the auctioneerAnxious, half-frightened, he looked from side to side, as he heard the clatter of contending bids,?now here, now there,?till the hammer fellHe was pushed from the block toward his new master, but stopped one moment, and looked back, when his poor old mother, trembling in every limb, held out her shaking hands toward him ?Buy me too, Mas?r, for de dear Lord?s sake!?buy me,?I shall die if you don?t!? ?You?ll die if I do, that?s the kink of it,? said Haley,??no!? And he turned on his heel The bidding for the poor old creature was summaryThe man who had addressed Haley, and who seemed not destitute of compassion, bought her for a trifle, and the spectators began to disperse The poor victims of the sale, who had been brought up in one place together for years, gathered round the despairing old mother, whose agony was pitiful to see ?Couldn?t dey leave me one? Mas?r allers said I should have one,?he did,? she repeated over and over, in heart-broken tones ?Trust in the Lord, Aunt Hagar,? said the oldest of the men, sorrowfully ?What good will it do?? said she, sobbing passionately ?Mother, mother,?don?t! don?t!? said the boy?They say you ?s got a good master ?I don?t care,?I don?t careO, Albert! oh, my boy! you ?s my last babyLord, how ken I?? ?Come, take her off, can?t some of ye?? said Haley, dryly; ?don?t do no good for her to go on that ar way The old men of the company, partly by persuasion and partly by force, loosed the poor creature?s last despairing hold, and, as they led her off to her new master?s wagon, strove to comfort her ?Now!? said Haley, pushing his three purchases together, and producing a bundle of handcuffs, which he proceeded to put on their wrists; and fastening each handcuff to a long chain, he drove them before him to the jail A few days saw Haley, with his possessions, safely deposited on one of the Ohio boatsIt was the commencement of his gang, to be augmented, as the boat moved on, by various other merchandise of the same kind, which he, or his agent, had stored for him in various points along shore The La Belle Riviere, as brave and beautiful a boat as ever walked the waters of her namesake river, was floating gayly down the stream, under a brilliant sky, the stripes and stars of free America waving and fluttering over head; the guards crowded with well-dressed ladies and gentlemen walking and enjoying the delightful dayAll was full of life, buoyant and rejoicing;?all but Haley?s gang, who were stored, with other freight, on the lower deck, and who, somehow, did not seem to appreciate their various privileges, as they sat in a knot, talking to each other in low tones ?Boys,? said Haley, coming up, briskly, ?I hope you keep up good heart, and are cheerfulNow, no sulks, ye see; keep stiff upper lip, boys; do well by me, and I?ll do well by you The boys addressed responded the invariable ?Yes, Mas?r,? for ages the watchword of poor Africa; but it?s to be owned they did not look particularly cheerful; they had their various little prejudices in favor of wives, mothers, sisters, and children, seen for the last time,?and though ?they that wasted them required of them mirth,? it was not instantly forthcoming ?I?ve got a wife,? spoke out the article enumerated as ?John, aged thirty,? and he laid his chained hand on Tom?s knee,??and she don?t know a word about this, poor girl!? ?Where does she live?? said Tom ?In a tavern a piece down here,? said John; ?I wish, now, I could see her once more in this world,? he added Poor John! It was rather natural; and the tears that fell, as he spoke, came as naturally as if he had been a white shop man

Praised men for work in bad weatherPassed Gibraltar and out through Straits-There seems some doom over this shipAlready a hand short, and entering the Bay of Biscay with wild weather ahead, and yet last night another man lost, disappearedLike the first, he came off his watch and was not seen againMen all in a panic of fear, sent a round robin, asking to have double watch, as they fear to be aloneFear there will be some trouble, as either he or the men will do some violence-Four days in hell, knocking about in a sort of maelstrom, and the wind a tempestHardly know how to set a watch, since no one fit to go onSecond mate volunteered to steer and watch, and let men snatch a few hours sleepWind abating, seas still terrific, but feel them less, as ship is steadierHad single watch tonight, as crew too tired to doubleWhen morning watch came on deck could find no one except steersmanRaised outcry, and all came on deck Thorough search, but no one foundAre now without second mate, and crew in a panicMate and I agreed to go armed henceforth and wait for any sign of causeRejoiced we are nearing EnglandWeather fine, all sails setRetired worn out, slept soundly, awakened by mate telling me that both man of watch and steersman missing Only self and mate and two hands left to work ship-Two days of fog, and not a sail sightedHad hoped when in the English Channel to be able to signal for help or get in somewhereNot having power to work sails, have to run before windDare not lower, as could not raise them againWe seem to be drifting to some terrible doomMate now more demoralised than either of menHis stronger nature seems to have worked inwardly against himselfMen are beyond fear, working stolidly and patiently, with minds made up to worstThey are Russian, he Roumanian 2 August, midnight-Woke up from few minutes sleep by hearing a cry, seemingly outside my portCould see nothing in fogRushed on deck, and ran against mateTells me he heard cry and ran, but no sign of man on watchLord, help us! Mate says we must be past Straits of Dover, as in a moment of fog lifting he saw North Foreland, just as he heard the man cry out If so we are now off in the North Sea, and only God can guide us in the fog, which seems to move with us, and God seems to have deserted us-At midnight I went to relieve the man at the wheel and when I got to it found no one thereThe wind was steady, and as we ran before it there was no yawingI dared not leave it, so shouted for the shop mate

-There seems some doom over this shipAlready a hand short, and entering the Bay of Biscay with wild weather ahead, and yet last night another man lost, disappearedLike the first, he came off his watch and was not seen againMen all in a panic of fear, sent a round robin, asking to have double watch, as they fear to be aloneFear there will be some trouble, as either he or the men will do some violence-Four days in hell, knocking about in a sort of maelstrom, and the wind a tempestHardly know how to set a watch, since no one fit to go onSecond mate volunteered to steer and watch, and let men snatch a few hours sleepWind abating, seas still terrific, but feel them less, as ship is steadierHad single watch tonight, as crew too tired to doubleWhen morning watch came on deck could find no one except steersmanRaised outcry, and all came on deck Thorough search, but no one foundAre now without second mate, and crew in a panicMate and I agreed to go armed henceforth and wait for any sign of causeRejoiced we are nearing EnglandWeather fine, all sails setRetired worn out, slept soundly, awakened by mate telling me that both man of watch and steersman missing Only self and mate and two hands left to work ship-Two days of fog, and not a sail sightedHad hoped when in the English Channel to be able to signal for help or get in somewhereNot having power to work sails, have to run before windDare not lower, as could not raise them againWe seem to be drifting to some terrible doomMate now more demoralised than either of menHis stronger nature seems to have worked inwardly against himselfMen are beyond fear, working stolidly and patiently, with minds made up to worstThey are Russian, he Roumanian 2 August, midnight-Woke up from few minutes sleep by hearing a cry, seemingly outside my portCould see nothing in fogRushed on deck, and ran against mateTells me he heard cry and ran, but no sign of man on watchLord, help us! Mate says we must be past Straits of Dover, as in a moment of fog lifting he saw North Foreland, just as he heard the man cry out If so we are now off in the North Sea, and only God can guide us in the fog, which seems to move with us, and God seems to have deserted us-At midnight I went to relieve the man at the wheel and when I got to it found no one thereThe wind was steady, and as we ran before it there was no yawingI dared not leave it, so shouted for the mateAfter a few seconds, he rushed up on deck in his flannelsHe looked wild-eyed and haggard, and I greatly fear his reason has given shop way

There was no door near them, and they could not have passed me without my noticingThey simply seemed to fade into the rays of the moonlight and pass out through the window, for I could see outside the dim, shadowy forms for a moment before they entirely faded away Then the horror overcame me, and I sank down unconscious CHAPTER 4 Jonathan Harker's Journal Continued I awoke in my own bedIf it be that I had not dreamt, the Count must have carried me hereI tried to satisfy myself on the subject, but could not arrive at any unquestionable resultTo be sure, there were certain small evidences, such as that my clothes were folded and laid by in a manner which was not my habitMy watch was still unwound, and I am rigorously accustomed to wind it the last thing before going to bed, and many such detailsBut these things are no proof, for they may have been evidences that my mind was not as usual, and, for some cause or another, I had certainly been much upsetI must watch for proofOf one thing I am gladIf it was that the Count carried me here and undressed me, he must have been hurried in his task, for my pockets are intactI am sure this diary would have been a mystery to him which he would not have brookedHe would have taken or destroyed itAs I look round this room, although it has been to me so full of fear, it is now a sort of sanctuary, for nothing can be more dreadful than those awful women, who were, who are, waiting to suck my blood-I have been down to look at that room again in daylight, for I must know the truthWhen I got to the doorway at the top of the stairs I found it closedIt had been so forcibly driven against the jamb that part of the woodwork was splinteredI could see that the bolt of the lock had not been shot, but the door is fastened from the insideI fear it was no dream, and must act on this surmise-I am surely in the toilsLast night the Count asked me in the suavest tones to write three letters, one saying that my work here was nearly done, and that I should start for home within a few days, another that I was starting on the next morning from the time of the letter, and the third that I had left the castle and arrived at BistritzI would fain have rebelled, but felt that in the present state of things it would be madness to quarrel openly with the Count whilst I am so absolutely in his powerAnd to refuse would be to excite his suspicion and to arouse his angerHe knows that I know too much, and that I must not live, lest I be dangerous to himMy only chance is to prolong my opportunitiesSomething may occur which will give me a chance to escapeI saw in his eyes something of that gathering wrath which was manifest when he hurled that fair woman from himHe explained to me that posts were few and uncertain, and that my writing now would ensure ease of mind to my friendsAnd he assured me with so much impressiveness that he would countermand the later letters, which would be held over at Bistritz until due time in case chance would admit of my prolonging my stay, that to oppose him would have been to create new suspicionI therefore pretended to fall in with his views, and asked him what dates I should put on the letters He calculated a minute, and then said, "The first should be June 12, the second June 19, and the third June 29 I know now the span of my lifeGod help me! 28 May-There is a chance of escape, or at any rate of being able to send word homeA band of Szgany have come to the castle, and are encamped in the courtyardI have notes of them in my bookThey are peculiar to this part of the world, though allied to the ordinary gipsies all the world overThere are thousands of them in Hungary and Transylvania, who are almost outside all lawThey attach themselves as a rule to some great noble or boyar, and call themselves by his shop name

?Then he came, the cursed wretch! he came to take possessionHe told me that he had bought me and my children; and showed me the papersI cursed him before God, and told him I?d die sooner than live with him ??Just as you please,? said he; ?but, if you don?t behave reasonably, I?ll sell both the children, where you shall never see them again He told me that he always had meant to have me, from the first time he saw me; and that he had drawn Henry on, and got him in debt, on purpose to make him willing to sell meThat he got him in love with another woman; and that I might know, after all that, that he should not give up for a few airs and tears, and things of that sort ?I gave up, for my hands were tiedHe had my children;?whenever I resisted his will anywhere, he would talk about selling them, and he made me as submissive as he desiredO, what a life it was! to live with my heart breaking, every day,?to keep on, on, on, loving, when it was only misery; and to be bound, body and soul, to one I hatedI used to love to read to Henry, to play to him, to waltz with him, and sing to him; but everything I did for this one was a perfect drag,?yet I was afraid to refuse anythingHe was very imperious, and harsh to the childrenElise was a timid little thing; but Henry was bold and high-spirited, like his father, and he had never been brought under, in the least, by any oneHe was always finding fault, and quarrelling with him; and I used to live in daily fear and dreadI tried to make the child respectful;?I tried to keep them apart, for I held on to those children like death; but it did no goodHe sold both those childrenHe took me to ride, one day, and when I came home, they were nowhere to be found! He told me he had sold them; he showed me the money, the price of their bloodThen it seemed as if all good forsook meI raved and cursed,?cursed God and man; and, for a while, I believe, he really was afraid of meBut he didn?t give up soHe told me that my children were sold, but whether I ever saw their faces again, depended on him; and that, if I wasn?t quiet, they should smart for itWell, you can do anything with a woman, when you?ve got her childrenHe made me submit; he made me be peaceable; he flattered me with hopes that, perhaps, he would buy them back; and so things went on, a week or twoOne day, I was out walking, and passed by the calaboose; I saw a crowd about the gate, and heard a child?s voice,?and suddenly my Henry broke away from two or three men who were holding the poor boy screamed and looked into my face, and held on to me, until, in tearing him off, they tore the skirt of my dress half away; and they carried him in, screaming ?Mother! mother! mother!? There was one man stood there seemed to pity meI offered him all the money I had, if he?d only interfereHe shook his head, and said that the boy had been impudent and disobedient, ever since he bought him; that he was going to break him in, once for allI turned and ran; and every step of the way, I thought that I heard him screamI got into the house; ran, all out of breath, to the parlor, where I found ButlerI told him, and begged him to go and interfereHe only laughed, and told me the boy had got his desertsHe?d got to be broken in,?the sooner the better; ?what did I expect?? he asked ?It seemed to me something in my head snapped, at that momentI felt dizzy and furiousI remember seeing a great sharp bowie-knife on the table; I remember something about catching it, and flying upon him; and then all grew dark, and I didn?t know any more,?not for days and days ?When I came to myself, I was in a nice room,?but not mineAn old black woman tended me; and a doctor came to see me, and there was a great deal of care taken of meAfter a while, I found that he had gone away, and left me at this house to be sold; and that?s why they took such pains with me ?I didn?t mean to get well, and hoped I shouldn?t; but, in spite of me the fever went off and I grew healthy, and finally got upThen, they made me dress up, every day; and gentlemen used to come in and stand and smoke their cigars, and look at me, and ask questions, and debate my priceI was so gloomy and silent, that none of them wanted meThey threatened to whip me, if I wasn?t gayer, and didn?t take some pains to make myself shop agreeable