Tom stepped upon the block, gave a few anxious looks round; all seemed mingled in a common, indistinct noise,?the clatter of the salesman crying off his qualifications in French and English, the quick fire of French and English bids; and almost in a moment came the final thump of the hammer, and the clear ring on the last syllable of the word ?dollars,? as the auctioneer announced his price, and Tom was made overHe had a master! He was pushed from the block;?the short, bullet-headed man seizing him roughly by the shoulder, pushed him to one side, saying, in a harsh voice, ?Stand there, you!? Tom hardly realized anything; but still the bidding went on,?ratting, clattering, now French, now EnglishDown goes the hammer again,?Susan is sold! She goes down from the block, stops, looks wistfully back,?her daughter stretches her hands towards herShe looks with agony in the face of the man who has bought her,?a respectable middle-aged man, of benevolent countenance ?O, Mas?r, please do buy my daughter!? ?I?d like to, but I?m afraid I can?t afford it!? said the gentleman, looking, with painful interest, as the young girl mounted the block, and looked around her with a frightened and timid glance The blood flushes painfully in her otherwise colorless cheek, her eye has a feverish fire, and her mother groans to see that she looks more beautiful than she ever saw her beforeThe auctioneer sees his advantage, and expatiates volubly in mingled French and English, and bids rise in rapid succession ?I?ll do anything in reason,? said the benevolent-looking gentleman, pressing in and joining with the bidsIn a few moments they have run beyond his purseHe is silent; the auctioneer grows warmer; but bids gradually drop offIt lies now between an aristocratic old citizen and our bullet-headed acquaintanceThe citizen bids for a few turns, contemptuously measuring his opponent; but the bullet-head has the advantage over him, both in obstinacy and concealed length of purse, and the controversy lasts but a moment; the hammer falls,?he has got the girl, body and soul, unless God help her! Her master is MrLegree, who owns a cotton plantation on the Red riverShe is pushed along into the same lot with Tom and two other men, and goes off, weeping as she goes The benevolent gentleman is sorry; but, then, the thing happens every day! One sees girls and mothers crying, at these sales, always! it can?t be helped,

I was not so sleepy as I should have been, so before they went I asked DrSeward to give me a little opiate of some kind, as I had not slept well the night beforeHe very kindly made me up a sleeping draught, which he gave to me, telling me that it would do me no harm, as it was very mild? I have taken it, and am waiting for sleep, which still keeps aloofI hope I have not done wrong, for as sleep begins to flirt with me, a new fear comes: that I may have been foolish in thus depriving myself of the power of waking CHAPTER 20 JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL 1 October, evening-I found Thomas Snelling in his house at Bethnal Green, but unhappily he was not in a condition to remember anythingThe very prospect of beer which my expected coming had opened to him had proved too much, and he had begun too early on his expected debauchI learned, however, from his wife, who seemed a decent, poor soul, that he was only the assistant of Smollet, who of the two mates was the responsible personSo off I drove to Walworth, and found MrJoseph Smollet at home and in his shirtsleeves, taking a late tea out of a saucerHe is a decent, intelligent fellow, distinctly a good, reliable type of workman, and with a headpiece of his ownHe remembered all about the incident of the boxes, and from a wonderful dog-eared notebook, which he produced from some mysterious receptacle about the seat of his trousers, and which had hieroglyphical entries in thick, half-obliterated pencil, he gave me the destinations of the boxesThere were, he said, six in the cartload which he took from Carfax and left at 197 Chicksand Street, Mile End New Town, and another six which he deposited at Jamaica Lane, BermondseyIf then the Count meant to scatter these ghastly refuges of his over London, these places were chosen as the first of delivery, so that later he might distribute more fullyThe systematic manner in which this was done made me think that he could not mean to confine himself to two sides of LondonHe was now fixed on the far east on the northern shore, on the east of the southern shore, and on the southThe north and west were surely never meant to be left out of his diabolical scheme, let alone the City itself and the very heart of fashionable London in the south-west and westI went back to Smollet, and asked him if he could tell us if any other boxes had been taken from Carfax He replied, "Well guv'nor, you've treated me very 'an'some", I had given him half a sovereign, "an I'll tell yer all I knowI heard a man by the name of Bloxam say four nights ago in the 'Are an' 'Ounds, in Pincher's Alley, as 'ow he an' his mate 'ad 'ad a rare dusty job in a old 'ouse at PurfleetThere ain't a many such jobs as this 'ere, an' I'm thinkin' that maybe Sam Bloxam could tell ye summut I asked if he could tell me where to find himI told him that if he could get me the address it would be worth another half sovereign to himSo he gulped down the rest of his tea and stood up, saying that he was going to begin the search then and there At the door he stopped, and said, "Look 'ere, guv'nor, there ain't no sense in me a keepin' you 'ereI may find Sam soon, or I mayn't, but anyhow he ain't like to be in a way to tell ye much tonightSam is a rare one when he starts on the boozeIf you can give me a envelope with a stamp on it, and put yer address on it, I'll find out where Sam is to be found and post it ye tonightBut ye'd better be up arter 'im soon in the mornin', never mind the booze the night afore This was all practical, so one of the children went off with a penny to buy an envelope and a sheet of paper, and to keep the changeWhen she came back, I addressed the envelope and stamped it, and when Smollet had again faithfully promised to post the address when found, I took my way to homeWe're on the track anyhowI am tired tonight, and I want to sleepMina is fast asleep, and looks a little too paleHer eyes look as though she had been cryingPoor dear, I've no doubt it frets her to be kept in the dark, and it may make her doubly anxious about me and the othersBut it is best as it isIt is better to be disappointed and worried in such a way now than to have her nerve brokenThe doctors were quite right to insist on her being kept out of this dreadful businessI must be firm, for on me this particular burden of silence must shop rest

2 November, morning-I was successful, and we took turns driving all nightNow the day is on us, bright though coldThere is a strange heaviness in the airI say heaviness for want of a better wordI mean that it oppresses us bothIt is very cold, and only our warm furs keep us comfortableAt dawn Van Helsing hypnotized meHe says I answered "darkness, creaking wood and roaring water," so the river is changing as they ascendI do hope that my darling will not run any chance of danger, more than need be, but we are in God's hands 2 November, night-All day long drivingThe country gets wilder as we go, and the great spurs of the Carpathians, which at Veresti seemed so far from us and so low on the horizon, now seem to gather round us and tower in frontWe both seem in good spiritsI think we make an effort each to cheer the other, in the doing so we cheer ourselvesVan Helsing says that by morning we shall reach the Borgo PassThe houses are very few here now, and the Professor says that the last horse we got will have to go on with us, as we may not be able to changeHe got two in addition to the two we changed, so that now we have a rude four-in-handThe dear horses are patient and good, and they give us no troubleWe are not worried with other travellers, and so even I can driveWe shall get to the Pass in daylightWe do not want to arrive beforeSo we take it easy, and have each a long rest in turnOh, what will tomorrow bring to us? We go to seek the place where my poor darling suffered so muchGod grant that we may be guided aright, and that He will deign to watch over my husband and those dear to us both, and who are in such deadly perilAs for me, I am not worthy in His sightAlas! I am unclean to His eyes, and shall be until He may deign to let me stand forth in His sight as one of those who have not incurred His wrath MEMORANDUM BY ABRAHAM VAN HELSING 4 November-This to my old and true friend John Seward, M of Purfleet, London, in case I may not see himIt is morning, and I write by a fire which all the night I have kept alive, Madam Mina aiding meSo cold that the grey heavy sky is full of snow, which when it falls will settle for all winter as the ground is hardening to receive itIt seems to have affected Madam MinaShe has been so heavy of head all day that she was not like herselfShe sleeps, and sleeps, and sleeps! She who is usual so alert, have done literally nothing all the dayShe even have lost her appetiteShe make no entry into her little diary, she who write so faithful at every pauseSomething whisper to me that all is not wellHowever, tonight she is more vifHer long sleep all day have refresh and restore her, for now she is all sweet and bright as shop ever

Now, a nigger, you see, what?s got to be hacked and tumbled round the world, and sold to Tom, and Dick, and the Lord knows who, ?tan?t no kindness to be givin? on him notions and expectations, and bringin? on him up too well, for the rough and tumble comes all the harder on him arterNow, I venture to say, your niggers would be quite chop-fallen in a place where some of your plantation niggers would be singing and whooping like all possessedEvery man, you know, MrShelby, naturally thinks well of his own ways; and I think I treat niggers just about as well as it?s ever worth while to treat ?em ?It?s a happy thing to be satisfied,? said MrShelby, with a slight shrug, and some perceptible feelings of a disagreeable nature ?Well,? said Haley, after they had both silently picked their nuts for a season, ?what do you say?? ?I?ll think the matter over, and talk with my wife,? said Mr?Meantime, Haley, if you want the matter carried on in the quiet way you speak of, you?d best not let your business in this neighborhood be knownIt will get out among my boys, and it will not be a particularly quiet business getting away any of my fellows, if they know it, I?ll promise you ?O! certainly, by all means, mum! of courseI?m in a devil of a hurry, and shall want to know, as soon as possible, what I may depend on,? said he, rising and putting on his overcoat ?Well, call up this evening, between six and seven, and you shall have my answer,? said MrShelby, and the trader bowed himself out of the apartment ?I?d like to have been able to kick the fellow down the steps,? said he to himself, as he saw the door fairly closed, ?with his impudent assurance; but he knows how much he has me at advantageIf anybody had ever said to me that I should sell Tom down south to one of those rascally traders, I should have said, ?Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing?? And now it must come, for aught I seeAnd Eliza?s child, too! I know that I shall have some fuss with wife about that; and, for that matter, about Tom, tooSo much for being in debt,?heigho! The fellow sees his advantage, and means to push it Perhaps the mildest form of the system of slavery is to be seen in the State of KentuckyThe general prevalence of agricultural pursuits of a quiet and gradual nature, not requiring those periodic seasons of hurry and pressure that are called for in the business of more southern districts, makes the task of the negro a more healthful and reasonable one; while the master, content with a more gradual style of acquisition, has not those temptations to hardheartedness which always overcome frail human nature when the prospect of sudden and rapid gain is weighed in the balance, with no heavier counterpoise than the interests of the helpless and unprotected Whoever visits some estates there, and witnesses the good-humored indulgence of some masters and mistresses, and the affectionate loyalty of some slaves, might be tempted to dream the oft-fabled poetic legend of a patriarchal institution, and all that; but over and above the scene there broods a portentous shadow?the shadow of lawSo long as the law considers all these human beings, with beating hearts and living affections, only as so many things belonging to a master,?so long as the failure, or misfortune, or imprudence, or death of the kindest owner, may cause them any day to exchange a life of kind protection and indulgence for one of hopeless misery and toil,?so long it is impossible to make anything beautiful or desirable in the best regulated administration of slaveryShelby was a fair average kind of man, good-natured and kindly, and disposed to easy indulgence of those around him, and there had never been a lack of anything which might contribute to the physical comfort of the negroes on his estateHe had, however, speculated largely and quite loosely; had involved himself deeply, and his notes to a large amount had come into the hands of Haley; and this small piece of information is the key to the preceding conversation Now, it had so happened that, in approaching the door, Eliza had caught enough of the conversation to know that a trader was making offers to her master for somebody She would gladly have stopped at the door to listen, as she came out; but her mistress just then calling, she was obliged to hasten away Still she thought she heard the trader make an offer for her boy;?could she be mistaken? Her heart swelled and throbbed, and she involuntarily strained him so tight that the little fellow looked up into her face in astonishment ?Eliza, girl, what ails you today?? said her mistress, when Eliza had upset the wash-pitcher, knocked down the workstand, and finally was abstractedly offering her mistress a long nightgown in place of the silk dress she had ordered her to bring from the wardrobe?O, missis!? she said, raising her eyes; then, bursting into tears, she sat down in a chair, and began sobbing ?Why, Eliza child, what ails you?? said her mistress ?O! missis, missis,? said Eliza, ?there?s been a trader talking with master in the parlor! I heard him ?Well, silly child, suppose there has ?O, missis, do you suppose mas?r would sell my Harry?? And the poor creature threw herself into a chair, and sobbed convulsively ?Sell him! No, you foolish girl! You know your master never deals with those southern traders, and never means to sell any of his servants, as long as they behave wellWhy, you silly child, who do you think would want to buy your Harry? Do you think all the world are set on him as you are, you goosie? Come, cheer up, and hook my dressThere now, put my back hair up in that pretty braid you learnt the other day, and don?t go listening at doors any more ?Well, but, missis, you never would give your consent?to?to?? ?Nonsense, child! to be sure, I shouldn?tWhat do you talk so for? I would as soon have one of my own children soldBut really, Eliza, you are getting altogether too proud of that little fellowA man can?t put his nose into the door, but you think he must be coming to buy him Reassured by her mistress? confident tone, Eliza proceeded nimbly and adroitly with her toilet, laughing at her own fears, as she shop proceeded

' But Miss Pao wasn't exactly without a stitch on, so they revised her name to 'Partial Truth'" (pRhetorically, the narrator takes a great deal of delight in word playHis penchant for definitions is seen in the following two examples: "It is said that 'girl friend' is the scientific term for sweetheart, making it sound more dignified, just as the biological term for rose is 'rosaceae dicotyledonous,' or the legal term for divorcing one's wife is 'negotiated separation by consent'" (pIn another case, he writes, "Kao Sung-nien, the president of San Lu University, was an 'old science scholar' The word 'old' here is quite bothersomeIt could describe science or it could just as well be describing a scientistUnfortunately, there is a world of difference between a scientist and scienceA scientist is like wineThe older he gets, the more valuable he is, while science is like a womanWhen she gets old, she's worthless" (p The author's knowledge of Chinese classics and Pidgin English unquestionably helps him to better caricature MrFang Tung-weng, the protagonist's father, and MrJimmy Chang, a Shanghai compradorIn the case of the former, his every thought is an allusion, a proverb, or a quote from the classics, as evidenced in the following letter advising his son to pay more attention to school work: I did not begrudge the expense of sending you hundreds of miles away to studyIf you devoted yourself to your studies as you should, would you still have the leisure to look in a mirror? You are not a woman, so what need do you have of a mirror? That sort of thing is for actors onlyA real man who gazes at himself in the mirror will only be scorned by societyNever had I thought once you parted from me that you would pick up such base habitsMost deplorable and disgusting! Moreover, it is said that "When one's parents are still living, a son should not speak of getting old You have no consideration for your parents, who hold you dearly in their hearts, but frighten them with the talk of deathThis is certainly neglect of filial duties to the extreme! It can only be the result of your attending a coeducational school?seeing women around has put ideas in your headThe sight of girls has made you think of changeThough you make excuses about "autumnal melancholy," I know full well that what ails you are the "yearnings of springtime9?10) Fang Tung-weng's style of writing is the man himself: allusive, self- righteous, prejudiced, traditional, and pedanticThe success of the portrait of Fang Tung-weng is due, to a large extent, to the author's understanding of the empty posturings of the traditional country squire whose ideas are those of the imperial past though he lives in the modern twentieth century On the other hand, Ch'ien Chung-shu's portrait of Jimmy Chang is preciseThe following is a description of Fang Hung-chien's visit with Jimmy (the words in italics are in English in the original): As MrChang shook hands with Hung-chien, he asked him if he had to go downtown every dayWhen the pleasantries were over, Hung-chien noticed a glass cupboard filled with bowls, jars, and plates and asked, "Do you collect porcelain, MrChang?" 1 THE RED SEA had long since been crossed, and the ship was now on its way over the Indian Ocean; but as always the sun mercilessly rose early and set late, encroaching upon the better part of the nightThe night, like paper soaked in oil, had become translucentLocked in the embrace of the sun, the night's own form was indiscerniblePerhaps it had become intoxicated by the sun, which would explain why the night sky remained flushed long after the gradual fading of the rosy sunsetBy the time the ruddi ness dissipated and the night itself awoke from its stupor, the passengers in their cabins had awakened, glistening with sweat; after bathing, they hurried out on deck to catch the ocean breezeAnother day had begun It was toward the end of July, equivalent to the "san-fu" period of the lunar calendar-the hottest days of the yearIn China the heat was even more oppressive than usualLater everyone a greed the unusual heat was a portent of troops and arms, for it was the twenty-sixth year of the Republic (1937)The French liner, the Vicomte de Th-agelonne, was on its way to ChinaSome time after eight in the morning, the third-class deck, still damp from swabbing, was already filled with passengers standing and sitting about-the French, Jewish refugees from Germany, the Indians, the Vietnamese, and needless to say, the ChineseThe ocean breeze carried with it an arid heat; the scorching wind blew dry the bodies of fat people and covered them with a frosty layer of salt congealed with sweat, as though fresh from a bath in the Dead Sea in shop Palestine