Fjallkonan #51 | 19 December 1900

I WINCED AND HID BEHIND THE BOX IN A CROUCHING position, but after a few moments I got the courage to stand and lean over him and have another look. There could be no mistake. It was the Count, wearing the same clothes as the evening before.²⁶⁹ He looked stone dead; I couldn’t imagine anyone outlandish enough to rest there willingly. The Tatars—who had left earlier today—sprung to mind. Could it be that those wretches had killed my client and run away with as much of his fortune as they could gather? One couldn’t deny they’d make good suspects … But from my perspective the Count had been a prison guard for the last few weeks, so I could only feel relief at being free of his custody.

Was he dead or was he just sleeping heavily, as though he were dead? And if the latter, why had he chosen this place to rest?

He didn’t look as if he were truly dead, though. His features were as impressive and harsh-looking as usual, and although he was pale, it didn’t seem like a deathly pallor but merely the usual color of his complexion. I didn’t dare touch him, for I assumed he wouldn’t let me off unpunished for roaming around the castle without his permission.

After a short while I decided to go back to my bedroom and wait there until morning. If the Count had not returned by then, I would have a definite opportunity to try to escape from here.

If the Count were dead, I hoped I could find another way to flee the castle than take the more daring route I’d already found.

Before turning back, I noticed that the box lid had six strong iron hasps that could be hooked over staples on the inside of the box, closing it from within, so that it would appear as if the lid had been screwed on. This way it could be locked and opened from the inside. I was quite sure that this casket had been designed to conceal a person who wanted to stay hidden.

I went back up to my room but was ill at ease for the rest of the day.

Once twilight arrived I had finished preparing the books, but I’d become restless and unable to sit still. So I walked nervously across the floor, on pins and needles.

“Will he come or won’t he?” I thought to myself.

The clock was ticking: eight—, nine—, ten o’clock; nothing was heard.

I was just about to go down to the basement to check on the old man when suddenly the door opened and the Count entered. He was unusually high-spirited and looked as if he’d grown younger.

“Here I am, my friend,” he said cheerfully. “I hope you have not been bored today. I myself have been very busy. I am tired now and in need of rest, but first I wanted to find you to see how you are doing, and if you have come along nicely with your work. No—you are done. I thank you very much. If you could do me a favor tomorrow, by making an inventory of everything in that closet over there,” he said, “I’d really appreciate it.” He pointed out the middle compartments in the closet, where all kinds of tools were stored that seemed to be used for physical experiments. He said he couldn’t do the job himself as he had other obligations.

I stared at him, so stunned, in fact, that I didn’t answer. He seemed so unusually youthful to me now; it was as if fire itself sparked from his eyes²⁷⁰—or more accurately—they flashed with the ferocity of a beast that knows it has found its prey.

Then, with a deep sigh, I replied that I had no idea what most of the things in the closet were called, and thus could hardly make a list of them.

“Tools, my friend, nothing but tools a scientist uses to bring dead nature to life under his command,” he said. “You men from the West still have much to learn; you haven’t gotten much further than the antechamber to the sciences,²⁷¹ where life and death are still unsolved mysteries.²⁷² Well then, I shall do it myself, but I still bid you a good night for now. I need to rest. I also have plenty to do tomorrow and probably cannot come to you again until nightfall. May you be blessed—until next time,” he said, giving me his hand.

When he left he was still as energetic as when he’d entered. He was more like a young man running off to a rendezvous with his sweetheart than an old man going off to bed after finishing a day’s work. – – –