The Frankenstein Papers

LETTER 8

February 22,1783 Along the English coast

Dear Sir—

I dispatch this letter knowing that if all goes well, I may reach your side as quickly as it does; and knowing, also, that it is entirely possible that all may not go well. Unlike my last to you, this message will be carried on the first leg of its journey by a comparatively common means of transportation.

My companion and myself are presently in a place of reasonably secure if uncomfortable shelter, waiting for nightfall, and the tide, when we are to risk a crossing of the Channel by one of the small private boats, a mode of transport with which I am by no means unfamiliar, after four years of almost regular use.

This crossing will be a new experience for my friend, but I am beginning to think that little else in the way of human adventure could possibly be new to him. I have whiled away the last hour or so in listening to some of his exploits, and find them almost incredible; they would be unbelieveable indeed, were it not for some of the things that I have already seen him do.

A little later_There are certain signs and portents along the coast, perceptible to an experienced eye, and indicating that a search for us is rapidly being organized; I am impressed by the power that Saville has evidently at his disposal, and by the speed with which he can call it into action. But all this is nothing new to me, or to my tall friend either.

I dispatch this in haste. God willing, it will get through to France, and so will we.

Hopefully, Your Son,

BF