Even then he can only summon fog and storm and snow and his wolvesBut were he wrecked, the living water would engulf him, helpless, and he would indeed be lostHe could have the vessel drive to land, but if it were unfriendly land, wherein he was not free to move, his position would still be desperate
We know from the record that he was on the water, so what we have to do is to ascertain what water
The first thing is to realize exactly what he has done as yetWe may, then, get a light on what his task is to be-We must differentiate between what he did in London as part of his general plan of action, when he was pressed for moments and had to arrange as best he could-We must see, as well as we can surmise it from the facts we know of, what he has done here
As to the first, he evidently intended to arrive at Galatz, and sent invoice to Varna to deceive us lest we should ascertain his means of exit from EnglandHis immediate and sole purpose then was to escapeThe proof of this, is the letter of instructions sent to Immanuel Hildesheim to clear and take away the box before sunriseThere is also the instruction to Petrof SkinskyThese we must only guess at, but there must have been some letter or message, since Skinsky came to Hildesheim
That, so far, his plans were successful we knowThe Czarina Catherine made a phenomenally quick journeySo much so that Captain Donelson's suspicions were arousedBut his superstition united with his canniness played the Count's game for him, and he ran with his favouring wind through fogs and all till he brought up blindfold at GalatzThat the Count's arrangements were well made, has been provedHildesheim cleared the box, took it off, and gave it to SkinskySkinsky took it, and here we lose the trailWe only know that the box is somewhere on the water, moving alongThe customs and the octroi, if there be any, have been avoided
Now we come to what the Count must have done after his arrival, on land, at Galatz
The box was given to Skinsky before sunriseAt sunrise the Count could appear in his own formHere, we ask why Skinsky was chosen at all to aid in the work? In my husband's diary, Skinsky is mentioned as dealing with the Slovaks who trade down the river to the portAnd the man's remark, that the murder was the work of a Slovak, showed the general feeling against his classThe Count wanted isolation
My surmise is this, that in London the Count decided to get back to his castle by water, as the most safe and secret wayHe was brought from the castle by Szgany, and probably they delivered their cargo to Slovaks who took the boxes to Varna, for there they were shipped to LondonThus the Count had knowledge of the persons who could arrange this serviceWhen the box was on land, before sunrise or after sunset, he came out from his box, met Skinsky and instructed him what to do as to arranging the carriage of the box up some riverWhen this was done, and he knew that all was in train, he blotted out his traces, as he thought, by murdering his agent
I have examined the map and find that the river most suitable for the Slovaks to have ascended is either the Pruth or the SerethI read in the typescript that in my trance I heard cows low and water swirling level with my ears and the creaking of woodThe Count in his box, then, was on a river in an open boat, propelled probably either by oars or poles, for the banks are near and it is working against streamThere would be no such if floating down stream
Of course it may not be either the Sereth or the Pruth, but we may possibly investigate furtherNow of these two, the Pruth is the more easily navigated, but the Sereth is, at Fundu, joined by the Bistritza which runs up round the Borgo PassThe loop it makes is manifestly as close to Dracula's castle as can be got by
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