Dracula: Up the River

At Galatz the ship’s captain told them it had been the fastest voyage of his life, with fog following the ship all the way.The sailors had been so afraid of the big box that they had wanted to throw it into the river.But it had already been collected by a merchant, who handed it to a man named Petrof Skinsky.

When they went looking for Skinsky, they learned that he had been found dead in a churchyard that morning.The Count had no more use for him, and the trail seemed to end there.That night Mina studied the maps and the papers and worked out the answer: the box was going home by river.

Boatmen could carry it up the Sereth and then the Bistritza, a river that runs close to the Borgo Pass.“He cannot leave his box while it floats on running water,” said Van Helsing. “He is a prisoner there, and we must catch him before he reaches land.”So they split into three groups.

Arthur and Jonathan would chase the boat up the river in a small steam launch.Dr. Seward and Quincey would ride along the bank with rifles, in case the Count was carried ashore.Van Helsing and Mina would go by train and carriage to the Borgo Pass and the castle itself.

Jonathan was horrified at the idea of taking Mina so close to that terrible place.“It is to save her that I go,” said Van Helsing gently. “There is work in that castle that must be done before she can be safe.”As the launch steamed away into the dark, snow began to fall on the mountains ahead.