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I shouted and beat the side of the calèche , hoping by the noise to scare the wolves from that side , so as to give him a chance of reaching the trap . How he came there , I know not , but I heard his voice raised in a tone of imperious command , and looking towards the sound , saw him stand in the roadway . As he swept his long arms , as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle , the wolves fell back and back further still . Just then a heavy cloud passed across the face of the moon , so that we were again in darkness . When I could see again the driver was climbing into the calèche , and the wolves had disappeared . This was all so strange and uncanny that a dreadful fear came upon me , and I was afraid to speak or move . The time seemed interminable as we swept on our way , now in almost complete darkness , for the rolling clouds obscured the moon . We kept on ascending , with occasional periods of quick descent , but in the main always ascending . Suddenly , I became conscious of the fact that the driver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle , from whose tall black windows came no ray of light , and whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the moonlit sky . CHAPTER II JONATHAN HARKER’S JOURNAL — continued 5 May . — I must have been asleep , for certainly if I had been fully awake I must have noticed the approach of such a remarkable place . In the gloom the courtyard looked of considerable size , and as several dark ways led from it under great round arches , it perhaps seemed bigger than it really is . I have not yet been able to see it by daylight . When the calèche stopped , the driver jumped down and held out his hand to assist me to alight . Again I could not but notice his prodigious strength . His hand actually seemed like a steel vice that could have crushed mine if he had chosen . Then he took out my traps , and placed them on the ground beside me as I stood close to a great door , old and studded with large iron nails , and set in a projecting doorway of massive stone . I could see even in the dim light that the stone was massively carved , but that the carving had been much worn by time and weather . As I stood , the driver jumped again into his seat and shook the reins ; the horses started forward , and trap and all disappeared down one of the dark openings . I stood in silence where I was , for I did not know what to do . Of bell or knocker there was no sign ; through these frowning walls and dark window openings it was not likely that my voice could penetrate . The time I waited seemed endless , and I felt doubts and fears crowding upon me . What sort of place had I come to , and among what kind of people ?
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