As to Van Helsing, he was employed in a definite way.

First he took from his bag a mass of what looked like thin, wafer-like biscuit, which was carefully rolled up in a white napkin.

Next he took out a double handful of some whitish stuff, like dough or putty.

He crumbled the wafer up fine and worked it into the mass between his hands.

This he then took, and rolling it into thin strips, began to lay them into the crevices between the door and its setting in the tomb.