Chapter 26
Seward's diary: They are traveling to Galatz, prepared for the change in plan. They are tracking Dracula north now, as he has gotten past them on the Black Sea and is somewhere unexpected. Mina, hypnotized, hears no waves but hears water, oars and chains. She sees light. Van Helsing surmises that he has left his box and is near land. They calculate that they still have time. The following day, in her rapidly diminishing window of hypnosis, she still hears water but also hears wolves and cattle.
They arrive at Galatz and divide up the tasks. Jonathan writes about his tracking down where the box has gone. He, Van Helsing and Seward find that it has wound up in the care of an agent, who gave it to a trader, who has just been found murdered, his throat torn open. The men decide to begin telling Mina again what they have found.
Once Mina looks over the new information, she figures out where Dracula is going. As he must want to go home, he can go by road, rail or water. He does not want to be seen, but he wants to be safe. Water makes the most sense, as it has the fewest officials and he has the most control. The waterway that gets him closest to his home is the Sereth.
They make new plans. Godalming will hire a steamboat; Morris will hire horses. Seward will go with Morris, as they have hunted together and will make a good team in the face of Slovak forces or of Dracula himself. Jonathan agrees to leave Mina and go with Arthur, as the boat will probably catch the Count and Jonathan has the most right to kill him. Van Helsing will accompany Mina, but he insists on going with her by train to the castle, because if they do not marshal all of their forces then they do not stand a chance, and Mina is a lost soul if they lose. Three hours later, they leave.
Jonathan, Seward and Mina each write of their respective trips. All the journeys are days of cold and danger. All of them have a feeling of adventure.
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