Tired of reading? Add this page to your Bookmarks or Favorites and finish it later.
|
|
Suddenly with a single bound he leaped into the room. Winning a way
past us before any of us could raise a hand to stay him. There was
something so pantherlike in the movement, something so unhuman, that
it seemed to sober us all from the shock of his coming. The first to
act was Harker, who with a quick movement, threw himself before the
door leading into the room in the front of the house. As the Count
saw us, a horrible sort of snarl passed over his face, showing the
eyeteeth long and pointed. But the evil smile as quickly passed into
a cold stare of lion-like disdain. His expression again changed as,
with a single impulse, we all advanced upon him. It was a pity that
we had not some better organized plan of attack, for even at the
moment I wondered what we were to do. I did not myself know whether
our lethal weapons would avail us anything.
Harker evidently meant to try the matter, for he had ready his great
Kukri knife and made a fierce and sudden cut at him. The blow was a
powerful one; only the diabolical quickness of the Count's leap back
saved him. A second less and the trenchant blade had shorn through
his heart. As it was, the point just cut the cloth of his coat,
making a wide gap whence a bundle of bank notes and a stream
of gold fell out. The expression of the Count's face was so hellish,
that for a moment I feared for Harker, though I saw him throw the
terrible knife aloft again for another stroke. Instinctively I moved
forward with a protective impulse, holding the Crucifix and Wafer in
my left hand. I felt a mighty power fly along my arm, and it was
without surprise that I saw the monster cower back before a similar
movement made spontaneously by each one of us. It would be impossible
to describe the expression of hate and baffled malignity, of anger and
hellish rage, which came over the Count's face. His waxen hue became
greenish-yellow by the contrast of his burning eyes, and the red scar
on the forehead showed on the pallid skin like a palpitating wound.
The next instant, with a sinuous dive he swept under Harker's arm, ere
his blow could fall, and grasping a handful of the money from the
floor, dashed across the room, threw himself at the window. Amid the
crash and glitter of the falling glass, he tumbled into the flagged
area below. Through the sound of the shivering glass I could hear the
"ting" of the gold, as some of the sovereigns fell on the flagging.
|