 Chapter 77 of Varni, the Vampire, Volume 2 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by The Bodster Varni, the Vampire, Volume 2 by Thomas Prescott-Prest Chapter 77 Varni in the Garden The Communication of Dr. Chillingworth to the Admiral and Henry Kind reader, it was indeed Varni who had clambered over the Garden Wall and thus made his way into the Garden of Bannerworth Hall. And what filled those who looked at him with the most surprise was that he did not seem in any particular way to make a secret of his presence, but walked on with an air of boldness which either arose from a feeling of absolute impunity from his thinking there was no one there or from an audacity which none but he could have compassed. As for the little party that was there assembled and who looked upon him, they seemed thunder-stricken by his presence, and Henry, probably as well as the Admiral, would have burst out into some sudden exclamation had they not been restrained by Dr. Chillingworth, who suspecting that they might in some way give an alarm hastened to speak first, saying in a whisper, For heaven's sake, be still. Fortune, you see, favours us most strangely. Leave Varni alone. You have no other mode whatever of discovering what he really wants at Bannerworth Hall. I am glad you have spoken, said Henry, as he drew a long breath. If you had not, I feel convinced that in another moment I should have rushed forward and confronted this man who has been the very bane of my life. So should I, said the Admiral, although I protest against any harm being done to him on account of some sort of good feeling that he has displayed, after all, in releasing Charles from that dungeon in which Marchdale has perished. At the moment, said Henry, I had forgotten that, but I will own that his conduct has been tinctured by a strange and wild kind of generosity at times which would seem to be speak at the bottom of his heart some good feelings, the impulses of which were only quenched by circumstances. That is my firm impression of him, I can assure you, said Dr. Chillingworth. They watched Varni now from the leafy covert in which they were situated, and indeed had they been less effectively concealed it did not seem likely that the much-dreaded vampire would have perceived them. For not only did he make no effort at concealment himself, but he took no pains to see if anyone was watching him in his progress to the house. His footsteps were more rapid than they usually were, and there was altogether an air and manner about him, as if he were moved to some purpose which of itself was sufficiently important to submerge in its consequences all ordinary risks and all ordinary cautions. He tried several windows of the house along that terrace, of which we have more than once had occasion to speak before he found one that opened, but at length he did succeed and stepped at once into the hall leaving those who now for some moments in silence had regarded his movements to lose themselves in a fearful sea of conjecture as to what could possibly be his object. At all events, said the Admiral, I'm glad we are here. If the vampire should have a fight with that other fellow, that we heard doing such a lot of carpentering work in the house, we ought, I think, to see fair play. I, for one, said the Doctor, would not like to stand by and see the vampire murdered, but I am inclined to think he is a good match for any mortal opponent. You may depend he is, said Henry, but how long, Doctor, do you purpose that we should wait here in such a state of suspense as to what is going on within the house? I hope not long, but that something will occur to make us have food for action. Huck, what is that? There was a loud crash within the building as of broken glass. It sounded as if some window had been completely dashed in, but although they looked carefully over the front of the building, they could see no evidences of such a thing having happened, and were compelled, consequently, to come to the opinion that Vani and the other man must have met in one of the back rooms, and that the crash of glass had arisen from some personal conflict in which they had engaged. I cannot stand this, said Henry. Nay, nay, said the Doctor, be still, and I will tell you something, that which there can be no more fitting time than this to reveal. Refers it to the vampire? It does, it does. Be brief, then. I am in an agony of impatience. It is a circumstance concerning which I can be brief, for horrible as it is I have no wish to dress it in any adventitious colours. So Francis Vani, although under another name, is an old acquaintance of mine. Acquaintance, said Henry. Why, you don't mean to say you are a vampire, said the Admiral, or that he has visited you ever? No, but I knew him. From the first moment that I looked upon him in this neighbourhood, I thought I knew him. But the circumstances which induced me to think so was of so terrific a character that I made some efforts to chase it from my mind. It has, however, grown upon me day by day, and lately I have had proof sufficient to convince me of his identity, with one whom I first saw under most singular circumstances of romance. Say on, you are agitated. I am indeed. This revelation has several times within the last few days trembled on my lips, but now you shall have it. Because you ought to know all that it is possible for me to tell you of him, who has caused you so serious an amount of disturbance. You awaken, Doctor, said Henry, all my interest. And mine, too, remarked the Admiral. What can it be all about, and where, Doctor, did you first see this Varni the Vampire in his coffin? Both the Admiral and Henry gave starts of surprise, as with one accord they exclaimed. Did you say coffin? Yes, I tell you on my word of honour that the first time in my life I ever saw Sir Francis Varni was in his coffin. Then he is a vampire, and there can be no mistake, said the Admiral. Go on, I pray you, Doctor, go on, said Henry anxiously. I will. The reason why he became the inhabitant of a coffin was simply this. He had been hanged, executed at the Old Bailey in London, before ever I set eyes upon that strange countenance of his. You know that I was practicing surgery at the London schools some years ago, and that consequently, as I commenced the profession rather late in life, I was extremely anxious to do the most I could in a very short space of time. Yes, yes. Arrived then, with plenty of resources, which I did not, as the young men who affected to be studying the same classes as myself, spend in the pursuit of what they considered life in London, I was indifatigable in my professional labours, and there was nothing connected with them which I did not try to accomplish. At that period, the difficulty of getting a subject for anatomisation was very great, and all sorts of schemes had to be put into requisition to accomplish so desirable and indeed absolutely necessary a purpose. I became acquainted with the man who I have told you is in the hall, at present, and who then filled the unenviable post of public executioner. It so happened too that I had read a learned treatise by a Frenchman who had made a vast number of experiments with galvanic and other apparatus, upon which persons who had come to death in different ways, and in one case he asserted that he had actually recovered a man who had been hanged, and he had lived five weeks afterwards. Young as I then was, in comparison to what I am now, in my profession this inflamed my imagination, and nothing seemed to me so desirable as getting hold of someone who had only recently been put to death for the purpose of trying what I could do in the way of attempting a resuscitation of the subject. It was precisely for this reason that I sought out the public executioner and made his acquaintance whom everyone else shunned because I thought he might assist me by handing over to me the body of some condemned and executed man upon whom I could try my skill. I broached the subject to him and found him not averse. He said that if I would come forward and claim as next of kin the body of the criminal who was to be executed the first time from that period that he could give me a hint that I could have no real next of kin opponents. He would throw every facility in my way and allow the body to be removed to his house. This was just what I wanted and I believe I waited with impatience for some poor wretch to be hurried to his last account by the hands of my friend the public executioner. At length the circumstance occurred which favoured my designs most effectually. A man was apprehended for a highway robbery of a most aggravated character. He was tried and the evidence against him was so conclusive that the defense which was attempted by his counsel became a mere matter of form. He was convicted and sentenced. The judge told him not to flatter himself with the least notion that mercy would be extended to him. The crime of which he had been found guilty was on the increase. It was highly necessary to make some great public example to show evildoers that they could not with impunity thus trample upon the liberty of the subject and had suddenly just as it were in the very nick of time committed the very crime attended with all the aggravated circumstances which made it easy and desirable to hang him out of hand. He heard his sentence they tell me unmoved. I did not see him but he was represented to me as a man of a strong and well-knit frame with rather a strange but what some would have considered a handsome expression of countenance in as much as there was an expression of much haughty resolution depicted on it. I flew to my friend the executioner. Can you I said get me that man's body who is to be hanged for the highway robbery on Monday. Yes he said I see nothing to prevent it not one soul has offered to claim even common companionship with him far less kindred. I think if you and your claim as a cousin who will bear the expense of his decent burial you will have every chance of getting possession of the body. I did not hesitate but on the morning before the execution I called upon one of the sheriffs. I told him that the condemned man I regretted to say was related to me but as I knew nothing could be done to save him on the trial I had abstained from coming forward but that as I did not like the idea of being rudely interred by the authorities I had come forward to ask for the body after the execution should have taken place in order that I might at all events bestow upon it in some sequestered spot a decent burial with all the rights of the church. The sheriff was not a man overburdened with penetration. He applauded my pious feelings and actually gave me without inquiry a written order to receive the body from the hands of the hangman after it had hung the hour prescribed by the law. I did not as you may well suppose wish to appear more in the business than was absolutely necessary but I gave the execution of the sheriff's order for the body and he promised that he would get a shell ready to place it in and forced out men to carry it at once to his house when he should cut it down. Good I said and now as I am not a little anxious for the success of my experiment do you not think that you can manage so that the fall of the criminal shall not be so sudden as to break his neck? I have thought of that he said and I believe that I can manage to let him down gently so that he shall die of suffocation instead of having his neck put out of joint. I will do my best if you can succeed in that said I for I was quite in a state of mania upon the subject I shall be much indebted to you and I will double the amount of money which I have already promised. This was as I believe it would be a powerful stimulus to him to do all in his power to meet my wishes and he took no doubt active measures to accomplish all that I desired you can imagine with what intense impatience I waited the result he resided in an old ruinous looking house a short distance on the surrey side of the river and there I had arranged all my apparatus for making experiments upon the dead man in an apartment the windows of which commanded a view of the entrance I was completely ready by half past eight although a moment's consideration of course told me that at least another hour must elapse before there could be the least chance of my seeing him arrive for whom I so anxiously longed I can safely say so infatuated was I upon the subject that no fond lover ever looked with more nervous anxiety for the rival of the chosen object of his heart than I did for that dead body upon which I proposed to exert all the influences of professional skill to recall back the soul to its earthly dwelling place at length I heard the sound of wheels I found that my friend the hangman had procured a cart in which he brought the coffin that being a much quicker mode of conveyance than by bearers so that at about a quarter past nine o'clock the vehicle with its ghastly contents stopped at the door of his house in my impatience I ran downstairs to meet that which 99 men out of a hundred would have gone some distance to avoid the sight of namely the corpse livid and fresh from the gallows I however heralded it as a great gift and already in imagination I saw myself imitating the learned Frenchman who had published such an elaborate treatise on the mode of restoring life under all sorts of circumstances to those who were already pronounced by unscientific persons to be dead to be sure a sort of feeling had come over me at times knowing as I did that the French are a nation that do not scruple at all to sacrifice truth on the altar of vanity that it might be after all a mere rhodo-montade but however I could only ascertain so much by actually trying so the suspicion that such might by a possibility be the end of the adventure did not deter me I officially assisted in having the coffin brought into the room where I had prepared everything that was necessary in the conduction of my grand experiment and then when no one was there with me but my friend the executioner I with his help the one of us taking the head and the other the feet took the body from the coffin and lay it up upon the table hastily I placed my hand upon the region of the heart and to my great delight I found it still warm I drew off the cap that covered the face and then for the first time my eyes rested upon the countenance of him who now calls himself heaven only knows why so france is funny good god said Henry are you certain quite it may have been some other rascal like him said the admiral no I am quite sure now I have as I have before mentioned to you tried to get out of my own conviction upon the subject but I have been actually assured that he is the man by the very hangman himself go on go on your tail certainly is a strange one and I do not say it either to compliment you or to cast a doubt upon you but except from the lips of an old and valued friend such as yourself I should not believe it I am not surprised to hear you say that replied the doctor nor should I be offended even now if you were to entertain a belief that I might after all be mistaken no no you would not be so positive upon the subject I well know if there was the slightest possibility of an error indeed I should not let us have the sequel then it is this I was most anxious to affect an immediate resuscitation if it were possible over the hanged man a little manipulation soon convinced me the neck was not broken which left me at once everything to hope for the hangman was more prudent than I was and before I commenced my experiments he said doctor have you duly considered what you mean to do with this fellow in case you should be successful in restoring him to life not I said I well he said you can do as you like but I consider that it is really worth thinking of I was headstrong on the matter and could think of nothing but the success or the non-success in a physiological point of view of my plan for restoring the dead to life so I set about my experiments without any delay and with a completeness and a vigor that promised the most completely successful results if success could at all be an ingredient in what sober judgment would doubtless have denominated a mad headed and wild scheme for more than half an hour I tried in vain by the assistance of the hangman who acted under my directions not the least symptom of vitality presented itself and he had a smile upon his countenance as he said in a bantering tone I am afraid sir it is much easier to kill than to restore their patience with doctors before I could make him any reply for I felt that his observation had a good amount of truth in it joined to its sarcasm the hanged man uttered a loud scream and opened his eyes I must own I was myself rather startled but I for some moments longer continued the same means which had produced such an effect when suddenly he sprang up and laid hold of me at the same time exclaiming death death where is the treasure I had fully succeeded too fully and while the executioner looked on with horror depicted in his countenance I fled from the room and the house taking my way home as fast as I possibly could a dread came over me that the restored man would follow me if he should find out to whom it was he was indebted for the rather questionable boon of a new life I had packed up what articles I set the greatest store by bade adieu to London and never have I since set foot within that city and you never met the man you had so resuscitated not till I saw vani the vampire and as I tell you I am now certain that he is the man that is the strangest yarn I have ever heard said the admiral a most singular circumstance said Henry you may have noticed about his countenance said dr. chillingworth a strange distorted look yes yes well that has arisen from a spasmodic contraction of the muscles in consequence of his having been hanged he will never lose it and it has not a little contributed to give him the horrible look he has and to invest him with some of the seeming outward attributes of the vampire and that man who is now in the hall with him doctor said Henry is the very hangman who executed him the same he tells me that after I left he paid attention to the restored man and completed what I had nearly done he kept him in his house for a time and then made a bargain with him for a large sum of money per annum all of which he has regularly been paid although he tells me he has no more idea where vani gets it than the man in the moon it is very strange but hark do you not hear the sound of voices in angry altercation yes yes they have met let's approach the windows now we may chance to hear something of what they say to each other end of chapter 77 recording by the bodster that was chapter 77 of volume 2 of varni the vampire by thomas prescott pressed chapter 78 of varni the vampire volume 2 this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org recording by roger maline varni the vampire volume 2 by thomas prescott pressed chapter 78 the altercation between varni and the executioner in the hall the mutual agreement there was certainly a loud wrangling in the hall just as the doctor finished his most remarkable revelation concerning sir frances varni a revelation which by no means attacked the fact of his being a vampire or not but rather on the contrary had a tendency to confirm any opinion that might arise from the circumstance of his being restored to life after his execution favorable to that belief they all three now carefully approach the windows of the hall to listen to what was going on and after a few moments they distinctly heard the voice of the hangman saying in loud and rather angry accents i do not deny but that you have kept your word with me our bargain has been as you say a profitable one but still i cannot see why that circumstance should give you any sort of control over my actions but what do you hear said varni impatiently what do you cried the other nay to ask another question is not to answer mine i tell you that i have special and most important business in this house you can have no motive but curiosity can i not indeed what to if i have serious and important business here impossible well i may as easily use such a term as regards what you call important business but here i shall remain here you shall not remain and will you make the somewhat hazardous attempt to force me to leave yes much as i dislike lifting my hand against you i must do so i tell you that i must be alone in this house i have most special reasons reasons which concern my continued existence your continued existence you talk of tell me now how is it that you have acquired so frightful a reputation in this neighborhood go where i will the theme of conversation is varni the vampire and it is implicitly believed that you are one of those dreadful characters that feed upon the lifeblood of others only now and then revisiting the tomb to which you ought long since to have gone in peace indeed yes what in the name of all that's inexplicable has induced you to enact such a character enacted you say can you then from all you have heard of me and from all you know of me not conceive it possible that i am not enacting any such character why may it not be real look at me do i look like one of the inhabitants of the earth in soothe you do not and yet i am as you see upon it do not with an affected philosophy doubt all that may happen to be in any degree repugnant to your usual experiences i am not one disposed to do so nor am i prepared to deny that such dreadful beings may exist as vampires however whether or not you belong to so frightful a class of creatures i do not intend to leave here but i will make an agreement with you varni was silent and after a few moments pause the other explained there are people even now watching the place and no doubt you have been seen coming into it no no i was satisfied no one was here but you then you are wrong a doctor chilling worth of whom you know something is here and him you have said you would do no harm to even to save your life i do know him you told me that it was to him that i was mainly indebted for my mere existence and although i do not consider human life to be a great boon i cannot bring myself to raise my hand against the man who whatever might have been the motives for the deed at all events did snatch me from the grave upon my word whispered the admiral there is something about that fellow that i like after all hush said henry listen to them this would all have been unintelligible to us if you had not related to us what you have i have just told you in time said chilling worth it seems will you then said the hangman listen to proposals yes said varni come along then and i will show you what i have been about and i rather think you have already a shrewd guess as to my motive this way this way they moved off to some other part of the mansion and the sound of their voices gradually died away so that after all the friends had not got the least idea of what the motive was which still induced the vampire and the hangman rather than leave the other on the premises to make an agreement to stay with each other what's to be done now said henry wait said dr. chilling worth wait and watch still i see nothing else that can be done with any degree of safety but what are we to wait for said the admiral by waiting we shall perhaps find out was the doctor's reply but you may depend that we never shall by interfering well well be it so it seems we have no other resource and when either or both of those fellows make their appearance and seem about to leave what is to be done with them they must be seized then and in order that they may be done without any bloodshed we ought to have plenty of force here henry could you get your brother and charles if he be sufficiently recovered to come certainly and jack pringle no said the admiral no jack pringle for me i have done with him completely and i have made up my mind to strike him off the ship's books and have nothing more to do with him well well added the doctor we will not have him then and it is just as well for in all likelihood he would come drunk and we shall be let me see five strong without him which ought to be enough to take prisoners two men yes said henry although one of them may be a vampire that makes no difference said the admiral i'd as soon take a ship man with vampires as with frenchmen henry started off upon his errand certainly leaving the admiral and the doctor in rather a critical situation while he was gone for had varney the vampire and the hangman chosen they could certainly easily have overcome so inefficient a force the admiral would of course have fought and so might the doctor as far as his hands would permit him but if the others had really been intent upon mischief they could from their downright superior physical power have taken the lives of the two that were opposed to them but somehow the doctor appeared to have a great confidence in the affair whether that confidence arose from what the vampire had said with regard to him or from any hidden conviction of his own that they would not yet emerge from the hall we cannot say but certain it is he waited the course of events with great coolness no noise for some time came from the house but then the sounds as if workmen were busy within it were suddenly resumed and with more vigor than before it was nearly two hours before henry made the private signal which had been agreed upon as that which had proclaimed his return and then he and his brother with charles who when he heard of the matter would not withstanding the persuasions of flora to the contrary come got quietly over the fence at a part of the garden which was quite hidden from the house by abundant vegetation and the whole three of them took up a position that tolerably well commanded a view of the house while they were themselves extremely well hidden behind a dense mass of evergreens did you see that rascal jack pringle said the admiral yes said henry he is drunk ah to be sure and we had no difficulty in shaking him off he suspected where we were going but i think by being peremptory we got fairly rid of him the vagabond if he comes here i'll brain him i will the swab why lately he's done nothing but drink that's the way with him he'll go on sometimes for a year and more and not take more than enough to do him good and then all at once for about six or eight weeks he does nothing but drink well well we can do without him said henry without him i should think so you hear those fellows in the hall at work damn me if i haven't all of a sudden thought what the reason of it all is what what said the doctor anxiously why that rascal varni you know had his house burnt down yes well yes well i dare say he didn't think it well but however he no doubt wants another so you see my idea is that he's stealing the material from bannerworth hall oh is that your notion yes and a very natural one i think too master doctor whatever you may think of it come now have you a better oh dear no certainly not but i have a notion that something to eat would comfort the inward man much and so would something to drink blow me if it wouldn't said jack pringle suddenly making his appearance the admiral made a rush upon him but he was restrained by the others and jack with a look of triumph said why what's a mess with you now i ain't drunk now come come you have something dangerous in the wind i know so i've made up my mind to be in it so don't put yourself out of the way if you think i don't know all about it you are mistaken for i do the vampire is in the house yonder and i'm the fella to tackle him i believe you my boys good god said the doctor what shall we do nothing said jack as he took a bottle from his pocket and applied the neck of it to his lips nothing nothing at all there's something to begin with said the admiral as with his stick he gave the bottle a sudden blow that broke it and split all its contents leaving jack petrified with the bit of the neck of it still in his mouth my my admiral he said was that done like a british seaman my eye was that the trick of a lubber or of a thoroughgoing first raider my eye hold your noise will you you're not drunk yet and i was determined that you should not get so which you soon would with that rum bottle if i had not come with a broadside across it now you may stay but mark me you are on active service now and must do nothing without orders aye aye your honor said jack as he dropped the neck of the bottle and looked roofily upon the ground from whence arose the aroma of rum aye aye but it's a hard case take it how you will to have your grog stopped but damn it i never had it stopped yet when it was in my mouth henry and charles could not forbear a smile at jack's discomforture which however they were very glad of for they knew full well his failing and that in the course of another half hour he would have been drunk and incapable of being controlled except as on some former occasions by the exercise of brute force but jack was evidently displeased and considered himself to be grievously insulted which after all was the better in as much as while he was brooding over his wrongs he was quiet when otherwise it might have been a very difficult matter to make him so they partook of some refreshments and as the day advanced the brother's banner worth as well as charles holland began to get very anxious upon the subject of the proceedings of sir francis varney in the hall they conversed in low tones exhausting every as they considered possible conjecture to endeavor to account for his mysterious predilection for that abode but nothing occurred to them of a sufficiently probable motive to induce them to adopt it as a conclusion they more than suspected dr chillingworth because he was so silent and hazarded no conjecture at all of knowing something or of having formed to himself some highly probable hypothesis upon the subject but they could not get him to agree that such was the case when they challenged him upon the subject all he would say was my good friends you perceive that there is a great mystery somewhere and i do hope that tonight it will be cleared up satisfactorily with this they were compelled to be satisfied and now the soft and somber shades of evening began to creep over the scene enveloping all objects in the dimness and repose of early night the noise from the house had ceased and all was profoundly still but more than once henry fancied he heard footsteps outside the garden he mentioned his suspicions to charles holland who immediately said the same thing has come to my ears indeed then it must be so we cannot both of us have merely imagined such a thing you may depend that this place is beleaguered in some way and that tonight will be productive of events which will throw a great light upon the affairs connected with this vampire that have hitherto baffled conjecture hush said charles there again i am quite confident i heard a sound as of a broken twig outside the garden wall the doctor and the admiral are in deep discussion about something shall we tell them no let us listen as yet they bent all their attention to listening inclining their ears towards the ground and after a few moments they felt confident that more than one footstep was creeping along as cautiously as possible under the garden wall after a few moments consultation Henry made up his mind he being the best acquainted with the localities of the place to go and reconnoiter so he without saying anything to the doctor or the admiral glided from where he was in the direction of a part of the fence which he knew he could easily scale end of chapter 78 recording by roger mullin chapter 79 of varni the vampire volume two this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox dot org recording by nicole carl st louis missouri november 2008 varni the vampire volume two by thomas prescott oppressed chapter 79 the vampires danger the last refuge the ruse of henry banner worth yet knowing to what deeds of violence the passions of a lawless mob would sometimes lead them and having the experience of what had been attempted by the alarmed and infuriated populace on a former occasion against the hall henry banner worth was reasonably enough not without his fears that something might occur of a nature yet highly dangerous to the stability of his ancient house he did not actually surmount the fence but he crept so close to it that he could get over in a moment if he wished and if anyone should move or speak on the other side he should be quite certain to hear them for a few moments all was still and suddenly he heard someone say in a low voice did you hear what i did said another but i now i'm doubtful listen again what thought henry can be the motives of these men lying secret here it is most extraordinary what they can possibly want unless they are brewing danger for the whole most cautiously now he raised himself so that his eyes could just look over the fence and then indeed he was astonished he had expected to see two or three persons at the utmost what was his surprise to find a compact mass of men crouching down onto the garden wall as far as his eye could reach for a few moments he was so surprised that he continued to gaze on heedless of the danger there might be from a discovery that he was playing the part of the spy upon them when however his first sensations of surprise were over he cautiously moved to his former position and just as he did so he heard those who had before spoken again in low tones breaking the stillness of the night i am resolved upon it said one please god rid the country do not call him a man said the other well well it is a wrong name to apply to a vampire it is funny after all then said Henry Bannerworth to himself it is his life that they seek what can be done to save him for saved he shall be if i can encompass such an object i feel that there is yet a something in his character which is entitled to consideration and he shall not be savagely murdered while i have an arm to raise in his defense but if anything is now to be done it must be done by stratagem for the enemy are by far in too great force to be personally combated with Henry resolved to take the advice of his friends and with that view he went silently and quietly back to where they were and communicated to them the news that he had so unexpectedly discovered they were all much surprised and then the doctor said you may depend that since the disappointment of the mob and the destruction of this place they have their eye upon Vani he has been dug here by someone and then by degrees that assemblage has sought the spot he is a doomed man then remarked the admiral for what can save him from a determined number of persons who by main force will ever come us let us make what stand we may in his defense is there no hiding place in the house said Charles well you might after warning him of his danger conceal them there are plenty but of what avail would that be if they burn down the hall which in all probability they will none certainly there is but one chance said Henry and that is to throw them off the scent and induce them to think that he whom they seek is not here i think that may possibly be done by boldness but how i will go among them and make the effort he had once left his friends for he felt there might be no time to lose and hastening to the same part of the wall over which he had looked so short a time before he clambered over it and cried in a loud voice stop the vampire stop the vampire where where shouted a number of persons at once turning their eyes eagerly toward the spot where Henry stood there across the fields cried Henry i have lain in wait for him so long but he has alluded me and is making his way again towards the old ruins where i'm sure he has some hiding place that he thinks will allude or search there i see his dusty form speeding onwards come on cried silver to the ruins to the ruins we'll smoke him out if he will not come by fair means we must have him dead or alive yes to the ruins shouted a throng of persons who up to this time had preserved so cautious a silence and in a few moments more henry bannerworth had the satisfaction of finding that his ruse had been perfectly successful for bannerworth hall and its vicinity were completely deserted and the mob in a struggling mass went over hedge and ditch towards those ruins in which there was nothing to reward the exertions they might choose to make in the way of exploration of them but the dead body of the villain marchdale who had come there to so dreadful but so deserved a death end of chapter 79 chapter 80 of varni the vampire volume two this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox dot org varni the vampire volume two by thomas prescott pressed chapter 80 the discovery of the body of marchdale in the ruins by the mob the burning of the corpse the murder of the hangman the mob reached the ruins of bannerworth hall and crowded around it on all sides with the view of ascertaining if a human creature dead or alive were there various surmises were afloat and some were for considering that everybody but themselves or their friends must be nothing less than vampires indeed a strange man suddenly appearing among them would have caused a sensation and a ring would no doubt have been formed round him and then a hasty council held or what was more probable some shout or word uttered by someone behind who could not understand what was going on in front would have determined them to commit some desperate outrage and the sacrifice of life would have been the inevitable result of such an unfortunate concurrence of circumstances there was a pause before anyone ventured among the ruins the walls were carefully looked to and in more than one instance but they were found dangerous what were remaining some parts had been so completely destroyed that there was nothing but heaps of rubbish however curiosity was exerted to such an extraordinary pitch that it overcame the fear of danger in search of the horrible for they believed that if there were anyone in the ruins he must be a vampire of course and they were somewhat cautious in going near such a creature less than so doing they should meet with some accident and become vampires too this was a dreadful reflection and one that every now and then impressed itself upon the individuals composing the mob but at the same time any new impulse or a shout and they immediately became insensible to all fear and mere impulse is the dominant one and then all is forgotten the scene was an impressive one the beautiful house and grounds looked desolate and drear many of the trees were stripped and broken down and many scorched and burned while the gardens and flower beds the delight of the bannerworth family were rudely trodden underfoot by the rabble and all those little beauties so much admired and tended by the inhabitants were now utterly destroyed and in such a state that their sight could not even be detected by their former owners it was a sad sight to see such a sacrilege committed such violence done to private feelings as to have all these places thrown open to the scrutiny of the brutal and vulgar who are incapable of appreciating or understanding the pleasures of a refined taste the ruins presented a remarkable contrast to what the place had been but a very short time before and now the scene of desolation was complete there was no one spot in which the most wretched could find shelter to be sure under the lee of some broken and crumbling wall that tottered rather than stood a huddled wretch might have found shelter from the wind but it would have been at the risk of his life and not their complete the mob became quiet for some moments but was not so long indeed a mob of people which is in fact always composed of the most disorderly characters to be found in a place is not exactly the assembly that is most calculated for quietness somebody gave a shout and then somebody else shouted and the one wide throat of the whole concourse was opened and sent forth a mighty yell after this exhibition of power they began to run about like mad traverse the ground from one end to the other and then the ruins were in progress of being explored this was a tender affair and had to be done with some care and caution by those who were so engaged and they walked over crumbling and decayed masses in one or two places they saw what appeared to be large holes into which the building materials had been sunk by their own weight through the flooring that seemed as roofs to some cellars or dungeons seeing this they knew not how soon some other part might sink in and carry their precious bodies down with the mass of rubbish this gave an interest to the scene a little danger is a sort of salt to an adventure and enables those who have taken part in it to talk of their exploits and of their dangers which is pleasant to do and to hear in the ale house and by the inglenook in the winter however when a few had gone some distance others followed when they saw them enter the place in safety and at length the whole ruins were covered with living men and not a few women who seemed necessary to make up the elements of mischief in this case there were some shouting and hallowing from one to the other as they hurried about the ruins at length they had explored the ruins nearly all over when one man who had stood a few minutes upon a spot gazing intently upon something suddenly exclaimed hello here we are all together come on i've found him i've found recollect it's me and nobody else has found her ah then with a wild kind of frenzy he threw his hat up into the air as if to attract attention and call others round him to see what it was he had found what's the matter bill exclaimed one who came up to him who had been close at hand the matter why i've found him that's the matter old man replied the first what a whale no a vampire the blessed vampire there he is don't you see him under them air bricks oh that's not him he's got away i don't care replied the other who got away or who didn't i know this much that he's a vampire he wouldn't be there if he weren't this was an unanswerable argument and nobody could deny it consequently there was a cessation of talk and the people then came up as the two first were looking at the body who's is it inquired a dozen voices not sir francis varnies said the second speaker the closer not his no no not sir francis's but i tell you what mates said the first speaker that if it isn't sir francis varnies it is somebody else's as bad i dare say now he's a victim a what a victim to the vampire and if he sees the blessed moonlight he will be a vampire his self and so shall we be too if he puts his teeth into us so we shall so we shall said the mob and their flesh began to run cold and there was a feeling of horror creeping over the whole body of persons within hearing i tell you what it is our only plan will be to get him out of the ruins then remarked another what said one who's going to handle such cattle if you've a sore about you and his blood touches you who's to say you won't become a vampire too no no you won't said an old woman i won't try was the happy rejoinder i ain't going to carry a vampire on my two legs home to my wife and small family of seven children and another are coming there was a pause for a few moments and then one man more adventurous than the rest exclaimed well vampire and no vampire his dead body can harm no one so here goes to get it out help me who will once have it out and then we can prevent any evil by burning it and thus destroying the whole body hurrah shouted three or four more as they jumped down into the hole formed by the falling in of the materials which had crushed Marchdale to death for it was his body they had discovered they immediately set to work to displace such of the materials as lay on the body and then having cleared it of all super incumbent rubbish they proceeded to lift it up but found that it had gotten tangled as they called it with some chains with some trouble they got them off and the body was lifted out to a higher spot now what's to be done inquired one burn it said another hurrah shouted a female voice we've got the vampire run a stake through his body and then place him upon some dry wood there's plenty to be had about here i am sure and then burn him to a cinder that's right old woman that's right said a man nothing better the devil must be in him if he come to life after that i should say there might be something in that and the mob shouted its approbation as it was sure to do at anything stupid or senseless and the proposal might be said to have been carried by acclimation and it required only the execution this was soon done there were plenty of lathes and rafters and the adjoining wood furnished an abundant supply of dry sticks so there was no want of fuel there was a louch out as each session of sticks took place and as each individual threw his bundle into the heat each man felt all the self devotion to the task as the scottish chieftain who sacrificed himself and seven sons in the battle for his superior and when one son was cut down the man filled up his place with the exclamation another for hector until he himself fell as the last of his race soon now the heat became prodigious and it required an effort to get the mangled corpse upon his funeral beer but it was then a shout from the mob that rent the air announced both the fact and their satisfaction the next thing to be done was to light the pile this was no easy task but like all others it was accomplished and the dead body of the vampire's victim was thrown on to prevent that from becoming a vampire too in its turn there boys said one he'll not see the moonlight that's certain and the sooner we put a light to this the better for it may be the soldiers will be down upon us before we know anything of it so now who's got a light this was a question that required a deal of searching but at length one was found by one of the mob coming forward and after drawing his pipe vigorously for some moments he collected some scraps of paper upon which he emptied the contents of the pipe with the hope that they would take fire in this however he was doomed to disappointment for it produced nothing but a deal of smoke and the paper burned without producing any flame this act of disinterestedness however was not without its due consequences for there were several who had pipes and first with the hope of emulating the first projector of the scheme for raising the flame they joined together and putting the contents of their pipes together on some paper straw and chips they produced after some little trouble a flame then there was a shout and the burning mass was then placed in a favorable position near the pile of materials collected for burning and then in a few moments it began to take light one piece communicated the fire to another until the hole was in a blaze when the first flame fairly reached the top a loud and tremendous shout arose from the mob and the very welcome re-echoed with its fullness then the forked flames rushed through the wood and hissed and crackled as they flew throwing up huge masses of black smoke and casting a peculiar reflection around not a sound was heard save the hissing and roaring of the flames which seemed like the approaching of a furious whirlwind at length there was nothing to be seen but the blackened mass it was enveloped in one huge flame that threw out a great heat so much so that those nearest to it felt induced to retire from before it i reckon said one that he's pretty well done by this time he's had a warm birth of it up there yes said another farmer Watkins sheep he roasted whole at last harvest home hadn't such a fire as this i'll warrant there's no such fire in the county why it would prevent a frost i do believe it would so it would neighbor answered another yes replied a third but you'd want such a one corner of each field though there was much talk and joking going on among the men who stood around in the midst of which however they were disturbed by a loud shout and upon looking in the quarter once it came they saw stealing from among the ruins the form of a man he was a strange odd-looking man and at the time it was very doubtful among the mob as to who it was nobody could tell and more than one looked at the burning pile and then at the man who seemed to be so mysteriously present as if they almost imagined that the body had got away who is it exclaimed one dang divine nose said another looking very hard and very white at the same time i hope it ain't the chap what we've burned here just now no said the female that you may be sure of for he's had a stake through his body and as you said he can never get over that for as the stake is consumed so are his vitals and that's a sure sign he's done for yes yes she's right a vampire may live upon blood but cannot do without his inside this was so obvious to them all that it was at once conceded and a general impression pervaded the mob that it might be Sir Francis Varney a shout ensued her after him there's a vampire there he goes after him catch him burn him and a variety of other exclamations were uttered at the same time the victim of popular wrath seemed to be aware that he was now discovered and made off with all possible expedition towards some wood away went the mob in pursuit hooting and hallowing like demons and denouncing the unfortunate being with all the terrors that could be imagined and which naturally added greater speed to the unfortunate man however some among the mob seeing that there was every probability of the strangers escaping at a mere match of speed brought a little cunning to bear upon the matter and took a circuit round and thus intercepted him this was not accomplished without a desperate effort and by the best runners who thus reached the spot he made for before he could get there when the stranger saw himself thus intercepted he endeavored to fly in a different direction but was soon secured by the mob who made somewhat free with his person and commenced knocking him about have mercy on me said the stranger what do you want i'm not rich but take all i have what do you do here inquired twenty voices come tell us that what do you do here and who are you a stranger quite a stranger to these parts oh yes he's a stranger but that's all the worse for him he's a vampire there's no doubt about that good god said the man i am a living and breathing man like yourselves i have done no wrong and injured no man be merciful unto me i intend no harm of course not send him to the fire take him back to the ruins to the fire i and run a stake through his body and then he's safe for life i am sure he has something to do with the vampire and who knows if he ain't a vampire how soon he may become one ah that's very true bring him back to the fire and we'll try the effects of the fire upon his constitution i tell you what neighbor it's my opinion that as one fool makes many so one vampire makes many so it does there's much truth and reason in that neighbor i am decidedly of that opinion too come along then cried the mob cuffing and pulling the unfortunate stranger with them mercy mercy but it was useless to call for mercy to men whose superstitious feelings urged them on for when the demon of superstition is active no matter what form it may take it always results in cruelty and wickedness to all various were the shouts and menaces of the mob and the stranger who was certainly a somewhat odd and remarkable looking man and who appeared in their eyes the very impersonation of their notions of a vampire was thrust from one to the other kicked by one and then cuffed by the other as if he was doomed to run the gauntlet down with the vampire said the mob i am no vampire said the stranger i am new to these parts and i pray you have mercy upon me i have done you no wrong hear me i know nothing of these people of whom you speak that won't do you've come here to see what you can do i dare say and though you may have been hurt by the vampire and maybe only your misfortune and not your fault yet the mischief is as great as ever it was or can be you became in spite of yourself a vampire and do the same injury to others that has been done to you there's no help for you no help we can't help it shouted the mob he must die throw him on the pile put a stake through him first though exclaimed the humane female put a stake through him and then he's safe this horrible advice had an electric effect on the stranger who jumped up and eluded the grasp of several hands that were stretched forth to seize him throw him upon the burning wood shouted one and a stake through his body suggested the humane female again who seemed to have this one idea in her heart and no other and upon every available opportunity she seemed to be anxious to give utterance to the comfortable notion seize him exclaimed one never let him go said another we've gone too far to hang back now and if he escape he will visit us in our sleep were it only out of spite the stranger made a dash among the ruins and for a moment out stripped his pursuers but a few more adventurous than the rest succeeded in driving him into an angle formed by two walls and the consequence was he was compelled to come to a stand seize him seize him exclaimed all those at a distance the stranger seeing he was now nearly surrounded and had no chance of escape saved by some great effort seized a long piece of wood and struck two of his assailants down at once and then dashed through the opening he immediately made for another part of the ruins and succeeded in making his escape for some short distance but was unable to keep up the speed that was required for his great exertion before had nearly exhausted him and the fear of a cruel death before his eyes was not enough to give him strength or lend speed to his flight he had suffered too much from violence and though he ran with great speed yet those who followed were uninjured and fresher he had no chance they came very close upon him at the corner of a field which he endeavored to cross and had succeeded in doing and he made a desperate attempt to scramble up the bank that divided the field from the next but he slipped back almost exhausted into the ditch and the whole mob came up however he got on the bank and leaped into the next field and then he was immediately surrounded by those who pursued him and he was struck down down with the vampire kill him he's one of them run a stake through him were a few of the cries of the infuriated mob of people who were only infuriated because he attempted to escape their murderous intentions it was strange to see how they collected in a ring as the unfortunate man lay on the ground panting for breath and hardly able to speak their infuriated countenances plainly showing the mischief they were intent upon have mercy upon me he exclaimed as he lay on the earth I have no power to help myself the mob returned no answer but stood collecting their numbers as they came up have mercy on me it cannot be any pleasure to you to spill my blood I am unable to resist I am only one man among many you surely cannot wish to beat me to death we want to hurt no one except in our own defense and we won't be made vampires because you don't like to die no no we won't be vampires exclaimed the mob and there arose a great shout from the mob are you men fathers have you families if so I have the same ties as you have spare me for their sakes do not murder me you will leave one an orphan if you do besides what have I done I have injured no one I tell you what friends if we listen to him we shall all be vampires and all our children will all be vampires and orphans so we shall so we shall down with him the man attempted to get up but in doing so he received a heavy blow from a hedge stake wielded by the herculean arm of a peasant the sound of the blow was heard by those immediately around and the man fell dead there was a pause and those nearest apparently fearful of the consequences and hardly expecting the catastrophe began to disperse and the remainder did so very soon afterwards end of chapter 80 recorded by megan manley february 2009 at village farm and in punta gorda bullies chapter 81 of varni the vampire volume 2 this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox dot org varni the vampire volume 2 by thomas prescott pressed chapter 81 the vampires flight his danger and the last place of refuge leaving the disorderly and vicious mob who were thus sacrificing human life to their excited passions we return to the brother's banner worths and the doctor who together with admiral bell still held watch over the hall no indication of the coming forth of varni presented itself for some time longer and then at least they thought they heard a window open and turning their eyes in the direction whence the sound proceeded they could see the form of a man slowly and cautiously emerging from it as far as they could judge from the distance at which they were that form partook much of the appearance and the general aspect of sir francis varni and the more they looked and noticed its movements the more they felt convinced that such was the fact there comes your patient doctor said the admiral don't call him my patient said the doctor if you please why you know he is and you are in a manner of speaking bound to look after him well what is to be done he must not on any account said dr. chillingworth be allowed to leave the place believe me i have the very strongest reasons for saying so he shall not leave it then said henry even as he spoke henry bannerworth darted forward and sir francis varni dropped from the window out of which he had clambered close to his feet hold cried henry you are my prisoner with the most imperturbable coolness in the world sir francis varni turned upon him and replied and pray henry bannerworth what have i done to provoke your wrath what have you done have you not like a thief broken into my house can you ask what you have done i said the vampire like a thief per chance and yet no thief may i ask you what there is to steal in the house by the time this short dialogue had been uttered the rest of the party had come up and varni was so far as regarded numbers a prisoner well gentlemen he said with that strange contortion of countenance which now they all understood arose from the fact of his having been hanged and restored to life again well gentlemen now that you have beleaguered me in such a way may i ask you what it is about if you will step aside with me sir francis varni for a moment said dr. chillingworth i will make you a communication which will enable you to know what it is all about oh with pleasure said the vampire i am not ill at present but still sir i have no objection to hear what you have to say he stepped a few paces on one side with the doctor while the others waited not without some amount of impatience for the result of the communication all that they could hear was that varni said suddenly you are quite mistaken and then the doctor appeared to be insisting upon something which the vampire listened to patiently and at the end burst out with why doctor you must be dreaming at this doctor chillingworth at once left him and advancing to his friends he said so francis varni denies in todo all that i have related to you concerning him therefore i can say no more than that i earnestly recommend you before you let him go see that he takes nothing of value with him why what can you mean said varni search him said the doctor i will tell you why very shortly indeed indeed said sir francis varni now gentlemen i will give you a chance of behaving justly and quietly so saving yourself the danger of acting otherwise i have made repeated offers to take this house either as a tenant or as a purchaser all of which offers have been declined upon i dare say a common enough principle namely one which induces people to enhance the value of anything they have for disposal if it be unique by making it difficult to come at seeing that you had deserted the place i could make no doubt but that it was to be had so i came here to make a thorough examination of its interior to see if it would suit me i find that it will not therefore i have only to apologize for the intrusion and to wish you a remarkably good evening that won't do said the doctor what won't do sir this excuse will not do sir francis varni you are although you deny it the man who was hanged in london some years ago for a highway robbery varni laughed and held up his hands exclaiming alas alas our good friend the doctor has studied too hard his wits probably at the best of times none the clearest have become hopelessly entangled do you deny said henry then that you are that man most unequivocally i assert it said the doctor and now i will tell you all for i perceive you hesitate about searching sir francis varni i tell you all why it is that he has such an affection for bannerworth hall before you do said varni there is a pill for you which you may find more nauseous and harder of digestion than any your shop can furnish as varni uttered these words he suddenly drew from his pocket a pistol and leveling it at the unfortunate doctor he fired it full at him the act was so sudden so utterly unexpected and so stunning that it was done before anyone could move hand or foot to prevent it henry bannerworth and his brother were the furthest off from the vampire and unhappily in the rush which they as soon as possible made towards him they knocked down the admiral who impeded them much and before they could spring over or past him sir francis varni was gone so sudden too had been his departure that they had not the least idea in which direction he had gone so that to follow him would have been a work of the greatest possible difficulty not withstanding however both the difficulty and the danger for no doubt the vampire was well enough armed henry and his brother rushed after the murderer as they now believed him to be in the route they thought it was most probable he would take namely that which led towards the garden gate they reached that spot in a few moments but all was profoundly still not the least trace of anyone could be seen high or low and they were compelled after a cursory examination to admit that sir francis varni had again made his escape despite the great odds that were against him in point of numbers he is gone said henry let us go back and see into the state of poor dr. chillingworth who i fear is a dead man they hurried back to the spot and there they found the admiral looking as composed as possible and soullessing himself with a pinch of snuff as he gazed upon the apparently lifeless form at his feet is he dead said henry i should say he was replied the admiral such a shot as that was don't want to be repeated well i liked the doctor with all his faults he only had one foolish way with him and that was that he shirked his grog this is an awful catastrophe said henry as he knelt down by the side of the body assist me some of you where is charles i'll be hanged said the admiral if i know he disappeared somewhere this is a night of mystery as well as terror alas poor dr. chillingworth i little thought that you would have fallen a victim to the man whom you preserved from death how strange it is that you should have snatched from the tomb the very individual who was eventually to take your own life the brothers gently raised to the body of the doctor and carried it onto the grass plot which was close at hand farewell kind and honest hearted chillingworth said henry i shall many and many a time feel your loss and now i will not rest until i have delivered up to justice your murderer all consideration or feeling for what seemed to be latent virtues in that strange and inexplicable man barney shall vanish and he shall reap the consequences of the crime he is now committed it was a cold-blooded cowardly murder said his brother it was but you may depend the doctor was about to reveal something to us which barney so much dreaded that he took his life as the only effectual way at the moment of stopping him it must be so said henry and now said the admiral it's too late and we shall not know it at all that's the way a fellow saves up what he has got to tell till it is too late to tell it and down he goes to davie jones's locker with all his secrets aboard not always said doctor chillingworth suddenly sitting bolt upright not always henry and his brother started back in amazement and the admiral was so taken by surprise that had not the resuscitated doctor suddenly stretched out his hand and laid hold of him by the ankle he would have made a precipitated retreat hello a murder he cried let me go how do i know but you may be a vampire by now as you were shot by one henry soonest recovered from the surprise of the moment and with the most unfaigned satisfaction he cried thank god you are unhurt dr. chillingworth why he must have missed you by a miracle not at all said the doctor help me up thank you all right i'm only a little singed about the whiskers he hit me safe enough then how have you escaped why from the want of a bullet in the pistol to be sure i can understand it all well enough he wanted to create sufficient confusion to cover a desperate attempt to escape and he thought that would be best done by seeming to shoot me the suddenness of the shock and the full belief at the moment that he had sent a bullet into my brains made me fall and produced a temporary confusion of ideas amounting to insensibility from which you are happily recovered thank heaven for that after all he is not such a villain as this act would have made him ah said the admiral it takes people who have lived little in these affairs to know the difference in sound between a firearm with a bullet in it and one without i knew it was all right then why did you not say so admiral what was the use i thought the doctor might be amused to know what you should say of him so you see i didn't interfere and as i am not a good hand at galloping after anybody i didn't try that part of the business but just remained where i was alas alas cried the doctor i fear that by his going i have lost all that i expected to be able to do for you henry it's of not the least use now telling you or troubling you about it you may now sell or let banner worth hall to whomever you please for i am afraid it is really worthless what on earth do you mean said henry why doctor will you keep up this mystery among us if you have anything to say why not say it at once because i tell you it's of no use now the game is up sir francis barney has escaped but still i don't know that i need exactly hesitate there can be no reason for your hesitating about making a communication to us said henry it is unfriendly not to do so my dear boy you will excuse me for saying that you don't know what you are talking about can you give any reason yes respect for the living i should have to relate something about the dead which would be hurtful to their feelings henry was silent a few moments and then he said what dead and who are the living another time whispered the doctor to him another time henry do not press me now but you shall know all another time i must be content but now let us remember that another man yet lingers in banner worth hall i will endure suspense on his account no longer he is an intruder there so i go it wants to dislodge him no one made any opposition to this move not even the doctor so henry proceeded them all to the house they passed through the open window into the long hall and from thence into every apartment of the mansion without finding the object of their search but from one of the windows up to which there grew great masses of ivy there hung a rope by which anyone might easily have let himself down and no doubt therefore existed in all their minds that the hangman had sufficiently profited by the confusion incidental to the supposed shooting of the doctor to make good his escape from the place and so after all said henry we are completely foiled we may be said doctor chillingworth but it is perhaps going too far to say that we actually are one thing however is quite clear and that is no good can be done here then let us go home said the admiral i did not think from the first that any good would be done here they all left the garden together now so that almost for the first time bannerworth hall was left to itself unguarded and unwatched by anyone whatever it was with an evident and marked melancholy that the doctor proceeded with the party to the cottage house of the bannerworths but as after what he has said henry for board a question him further upon those subjects which he admitted he was keeping secret and as none of the party were much in a queue for general conversation the whole of them walked on with more silence than usually characterized them end of chapter 81 recorded by megan manley on february 15th 2009 in punta gorda belize chapter 82 part one of garney the vampire volume two this is a librebox recording all librebox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librebox.org garney the vampire volume two by thomas prescott pressed chapter 82 part one charles holland's pursuit of the vampire the dangerous interview it will be recollected that the admiral had made a remark about charles holland having suddenly disappeared and it is for us now to account for that disappearance and to follow him to the pathway he had chosen the fact was that he when barney fired the shot at the doctor or what was the supposed shot was the farthest from the vampire and he on that very account had the clearest and best opportunity of marking which route he took when he had discharged the pistol he was not confused by the smoke as the others were nor was he stunned by the noise of the discharge but he distinctly saw barney dart across one of the garden beds and make for the summer house instead of for the garden gate as henry had supposed was the most probable path he had chosen now charles holland either had an inclination or some reasons of his own to follow the vampire alone or on the spur of the moment he had not time to give an alarm to the others but certain it is that he did unaided rush after him he saw him enter the summer house and pass out of it again at the back portion of it as he had once before done when surprised in his interview with flora but the vampire did not now as he had done on the former occasion hide immediately behind the summer house he seemed to be well aware that that expedient would not answer twice so he at once sped onwards clearing the garden fence and taking to the meadows it formed evidently no part of the intentions of charles holland to come up with him he was resolved upon dogging his footsteps to know where he would go so that he might have a knowledge of his hiding place if he had one i must and will said charles to himself penetrate the mystery that hangs about this most strange and inexplicable being i will have an interview with him not in hostility for i forgive him the evil he has done me but with a kindly spirit and i will ask him to confide in me charles therefore did not keep so close upon the heels of the vampire as to excite any suspicions of his intention to follow him but he waited by the garden pailing long enough not only for verney to get some distance off but long enough likewise to know that the pistol which had been fired at the doctor had produced no real bad effects except singeing some curious tufts of hair upon the sides of his face which the doctor was pleased to call whiskers i thought as much was charles exclamation when he heard the doctor's voice it would have been strikingly at variance with all barney's other conduct if he had committed such a deliberate and heartless murder then as the form of the vampire could be but dimly seen charles ran on for some distance in the direction he had taken and then paused again so that if barney heard the sound of footsteps and paused to listen they had ceased again probably and nothing was discernible in this manner he followed the mysterious individual if we may really call him such for above a mile and then barney made a rapid detour and took his way towards the town he went onwards with wonderful precision now in a right line not stopping at any obstruction in the way of fences hedges or ditches so that it took charles some exertion to which just then he was scarcely equal to keep up with him at length the outskirts of the town were gained and then barney paused and looked around him scarcely allowing charles who was now closer to him than he had been time to hide himself from observation which however he did accomplish by casting himself suddenly upon the ground so that he could not be detected against the sky which then formed a background to the spot where he was apparently satisfied that he had completely now eluded pursuit if any had been attempted of those whom he had left in such a state of confusion the vampire walked hastily towards a house which was to let and which was only to be reached by going up an avenue of trees and then unlocking a gate in the wall which bounded the premises next to the avenue but the vampire appeared to be possessed of every faculty for effecting an entrance to the place and producing from his pocket a key he had once opened the gate and disappeared within the precincts of those premises he no doubt felt that he was hunted by the mob of the town and hence his frequent change of residence since his own had been burnt down and indeed situated as he was there can be no manner of doubt that he would have been sacrificed to the superstitious fury of the populace if they could but have got hold of him he had from his knowledge which was no doubt accurate and complete of what had been done a good idea of what his own fate would be were he to fall into the hands of that ferocious multitude each individual composing which felt a conviction that there would be no peace nor hope of prosperity or happiness in the place until he the arch vampire of all the supposed vampires was destroyed Charles did pause for a few moments after having thus become housed to consider whether he should then attempt to have the interview he had resolved upon having by some means or another or defer it now that he knew where Varney was to be found until another time but when he came to consider how extremely likely it was that even in the course of a few hours Varney might shift his abode for some good and substantial reasons he at once determined upon attempting to see him but how to accomplish such a purpose was not the easiest question in the world to answer if he rung the bell that presented itself above the garden gate was it all likely that Varney who had come there for concealment would pay any attention to the summons after some consideration he did however think of a plan by which at all events he could ensure effecting an entrance into the premises and then he would take his chance of finding the mysterious being whom he sought and who probably might have no particular objection to meeting with him Charles Holland because their last interview in the ruins could not be said to be otherwise than of a peaceable and calm enough character he saw by the board which was nailed in front of the house that all applications to see it were to be made to a mr. Nash residing close at hand and as Charles had the appearance of a respectable person he thought he might possibly have the key entrusted to him ostensibly to look at the house preparatory possibly to taking it and so he should at all events obtain admission he accordingly went at once to this mr. Nash and asked about the house of course he had to affect an interest in its rental and accommodations which he did not feel in order to lull any suspicion and finally he said I should like to look over it if you would lend me the key which I will shortly bring back to you there was an evident hesitation about the agent when this proposal was communicated by Charles Holland and he said I dare say sir you wonder that I don't say yes at once but the fact is there came a gentleman here one day when I was out and got a key for we have two to open the house from my wife and he never came back again that this was the means by which Barney the vampire had obtained the key by the aid of which Charles had seen him affect so immediate an entrance into the house there could be no doubt how long ago were you served that trick he said about two days ago sir well it only shows how when one person acts wrongly another is at once suspected of a capability to do likewise there is my name and address I should like rather to go alone to see the house because I always fancy I can judge better by myself of the accommodation and I can stay as long as I like and ascertain the sizes of all the rooms without the disagreeable feeling upon my mind which no amount of complacence on your part could ever get me over that I was most unaccountably detaining somebody from more important business of their own oh I assure you sir said mr. Nash that I should not be at all impatient but if you would rather go alone indeed I would oh then sir here's the key a gentleman who leaves his name and address of course we can have no objection to I only told you of what happened sir in the mere way of conversation and I hope you won't imagine for a moment that I meant to insinuate that you were going to keep the key oh certainly not certainly not said Charles who was only too glad to get the key upon any terms you are quite right and I beg you will say no more about it I quite understand he then walked off to the empty house again and proceeding to the avenue he fitted the key to the lock and had the satisfaction of finding the gate instantly yield to him when he passed through it and closed the door after him which he did carefully he found himself in a handsomely laid out garden and saw the house a short distance in front of him standing upon a well-got up lawn he cared not if Barney should see him before he reached the house because the fact was sufficiently evident to himself that after all he could not actually force an interview with the vampire he only hoped that as he had found him out it would be conceded to him he therefore walked up the lawn without making the least attempt at concealment and when he reached the house he allowed his footsteps to make what noise they would upon the stone steps which led up to it but no one appeared nor was there either by sight or by sound any indication of the presence of any living being in the place besides himself insensibly as he contemplated the deserted place around him the solemn sort of stillness began to have its effect upon his imagination and without being aware that he did so he had with softness and caution glided onwards as if he were bent on some errand requiring the utmost amount of caution and discrimination in the conduction of it and so he entered the hall of the house where he stood some time and listened with the greatest attention without however being able to hear the least sound throughout the whole of the house and yet he must be here thought Charles to himself I was not gone many minutes and it is extremely unlikely that in so short a space of time he has left after taking so much trouble by making such a detour around the meadows to get here without being observed I will examine every room in the place but I will find him Charles immediately commenced going from room to room of that house in his search for the vampire there were but four apartments upon the ground floor and these of course he quickly ran through nothing whatever at all indicative of anyone having been there met his gaze and with a feeling of disappointment creeping over him he commenced the ascent of the staircase the day had now fairly commenced so that there was an abundance of light although even for the country it was an early hour and probably mr. Nash had not been a little surprised to have a call from one whose appearance bespoke no necessity for rising with the lark at such an hour all these considerations however sink into insignificance in Charles's mind compared with the object he had in view namely the unraveling the many mysteries that hung around that man he ascended to the landing of the first story and then as he could have no choice he opened the first door that his eyes fell upon and entered a tolerably large apartment he was quite destitute of furniture and at the moment Charles was about to pronounce it empty but then his eyes fell upon a large black looking bundle of something that seemed to be lying jammed up under the window on the floor that being the place of all others in the room which was enveloped in the most shadow he started back involuntarily at the moment for the appearance was one so shapeless that there was no such thing as defining even from that distance what it really was then he slowly and cautiously approached it as we always approached that of the character of which we are ignorant and concerning the powers of which to do injury we can consequently have no defined idea that it was a human form there was the first tangible opinion he had about it and from its profound stillness in the manner in which it seemed to be laid close under the window he thought that he was surely upon the point of finding out that some deed of blood had been committed the unfortunate victim of which was now lying before him upon a nearer examination he found that the whole body including the greater part of the head and face was wrapped in a large cloak and there as he gazed he soon found cause to correct his first opinion as to the form belonging to the dead where he could distinctly hear the regular breathing as of someone in a sound and dreamless sleep closer he went and closer still then as he clasped his hands he said in a voice scarcely above a whisper it is it is the vampire yes there could be no doubt of the fact it was Sir Francis Barney who lay there enveloped in the huge horseman's cloak in which on two or three occasions during the progress of this narrative he has figured there he lay at the mercy completely of any arm that might be raised against him apparently so overcome by fatigue that no ordinary noise would have awakened him well might Charles Holland gaze at him with mingled feelings there lay the being who had done almost enough to drive the beautiful Flora Bannerworth distracted the being who had compelled the Bannerworth family to leave their ancient house to which they had been bound by every description of association the same mysterious existence to who the better to carry on his plots and plans had by dint of violence a mirrored him Charles in a dungeon and loaded him with chains there he lay sleeping and at his mercy shall I awaken him said Charles will let him sleep off the fatigue which no doubt is weighing down his limbs and setting heavily on his eyelids no my business with him is too urgent he then raised his voice and cried Varney Varney awake the sound disturbed without altogether breaking up the deep slumber of the vampire and he uttered a low moan and moved one hand restlessly then as if that disturbance of the calm and deep repose which had sat upon him had given it once the rain to fancy he began to mutter strange words in his sleep some of which could be heard by Charles distinctly while others were too incoherently uttered to be clearly understood where is it he said where we're hidden pull the house down murder no no no no murder I will not I dare not blood enough is upon my hands the money the money down villains down down what these incoherent words alluded to specifically Charles of course could not have the least idea but he listened attentively with a hope that something might fall from his lips that would afford a key to some of the mysterious circumstances with which he was so intimately connected now however there was a longer silence than before only broken occasionally by low moans but suddenly as Charles was thinking of again speaking he uttered some more disjointed sentences no harm he said no harm Marchdale is a villain not a hair of his head injured no no set him free yes I will set him free beware beware Marchdale and you Mortimer the scaffold I the scaffold but where is the bright gold the memory of the deed of blood will not cling to it where is it hidden the gold the gold the gold it is not in the grave it cannot be there no no no not there not there load the pistols there there down villain down down down despairing now of obtaining anything like tangible information from these ravings which even if they did by accident so connect themselves together as to seem to mean something Charles again cried aloud Varney awake awake but as before the sleeping man was sufficiently deaf to the cry to remain with his eyes closed still in a disturbed slumber but yet a slumber which might last for considerable time I have heard said Charles that there are many persons whom no noise will awaken which the slightest touch arouses them in an instant I will try that upon this slumbering being as he spoke he advanced close to Sir Francis Varney and touched him lightly with the toe of his boot the effect was as startling as it was instantaneous the vampire sprang to his feet as he had been suddenly impelled up by some powerful machinery and casting his cloak away from his arms so as to have them at liberty he sprang upon Charles Holland and hurled him to the ground where he held him in a giant's gripe as he cried rash fool be you whom you may why have you troubled me to rid the world of your intrusive existence the attack was so sudden and so terrific that resistance to it even if Charles had had the power was out of the question all he could say was Varney Varney do you not know me I am Charles Holland will you now in your mad rage take the life you might more easily have taken when I lay in the dungeon from which you released me the sound of his voice at once convinced Sir Francis Varney of his identity and it was with a voice that had some tones of regret in it that he replied and wherefore have you thought proper when you were once free and unscathed cast yourself into such a position of danger as to follow me to my haunt I contemplated no danger said Charles because I contemplated no evil I do not know why you should kill me you came here and yet you say you do not know why I should kill you young man have you a dozen lives that you can afford to tamper with them thus I have at much chance of imminence to myself already once saved you when another with a sterner feeling would have gladly taken your life but now as if you were determined to goad me to an act which I have shunned committing you will not let me close my eyes in peace take you hand off my throat Varney and I will then tell you what brought me here Sir Francis Varney did so rise he said rise I have seen blood enough to be sickened at the prospect of more but you should not have come here and tempted me nay believe me I came here for good and not for evil Sir Francis Varney hear me out and then judge for yourself whether you can blame the perseverance which enabled me to find out the secret place of refuge but let me first say that now it is as good a place of concealment to you as before it was for I shall not betray you go on go on what is your desire during the long and weary hours of my captivity I thought deeply and painfully to as may be well imagined of all the circumstances connected with your appearance at Bannerworth Hall in your subsequent conduct when I felt convinced that there was something far more than met the eye in the whole affair and from what I have been informed of since I am the more convinced that some secret some mystery which it is in your power only perhaps to explain lurks at the bottom of all your conduct well proceed said Varney have I not said enough now to enable you to divine the object of my visit it is that you should shake off the trammels of mystery in which you have shrouded yourself and declare what it is you want what it is you desire that has induced you to set yourself up such a determined foe to the Bannerworth family and that you say is the modest request that brings you here you speak as though you thought it was idle curiosity that prompts me that you know it is not your language in manner are those of a man of too much sagacity not to see that I have higher notions name them you have yourself in more than one instance behaved with a strange sort of romantic generosity as if but for some great object which you felt impelled to seek by any means and at any sacrifice you would be something in character and conduct very different from what you are one of my objects then is to awaken that better nature which is slumbering within you only now and then arousing itself to do some deed which should be the character of all your actions for your own sake I have come but not holy not holy as you say there is another then whom the whole world is not so dear to me that other one was serene as she was beautiful happiness danced in her eyes and she ought for not more lovely is the mind that she possesses than the glorious form that enshrines it to be happy her life would have passed like one long summer's day of beauty sunshine and pure heavenly enjoyment you have poisoned the cup of joy that the great god of nature had permitted her to place to her lips and taste of mistrustingly why have you done this have you said all that you came to say I have spoken the substance of my message much could I elaborate upon such a theme but it is not one Barney which is congenial to my heart for your sake however and for the sakes of those whom I hold most dear let me implore you to act in this matter with a kindly consideration proclaim your motives you cannot say that they are not such as we may aid you in end of chapter 82 part 1