Varney the vampire; or,.., p.57
Varney the Vampire; Or, the Feast of Blood, page 57
CHAPTER LVIII.
THE ARRIVAL OF JACK PRINGLE.--MIDNIGHT AND THE VAMPYRE.--THE MYSTERIOUSHAT.
"Bless me! what is that?" said Mr. Chillingworth; "what a very singularsound."
"Hold your noise," said the admiral; "did you never hear that before?"
"No; how should I?"
"Lor, bless the ignorance of some people, that's a boatswain's call."
"Oh, it is," said Mr. Chillingworth; "is he going to call again?"
"D----e, I tell ye it's a boatswain's call."
"Well, then, d----e, if it comes to that," said Mr. Chillingworth, "whatdoes he call here for?"
The admiral disdained an answer; but demanding the lantern, he openedit, so that there was a sufficient glimmering of light to guide him, andthen walked from the room towards the front door of the Hall.
He asked no questions before he opened it, because, no doubt, the signalwas preconcerted; and Jack Pringle, for it was he indeed who hadarrived, at once walked in, and the admiral barred the door with thesame precision with which it was before secured.
"Well, Jack," he said, "did you see anybody?"
"Ay, ay, sir," said Jack.
"Why, ye don't mean that--where?"
"Where I bought the grub; a woman--"
"D----e, you're a fool, Jack."
"You're another."
"Hilloa, ye scoundrel, what d'ye mean by talking to me in that way? isthis your respect for your superiors?"
"Ship's been paid off long ago," said Jack, "and I ain't got nosuperiors. I ain't a marine or a Frenchman."
"Why, you're drunk."
"I know it; put that in your eye."
"There's a scoundrel. Why, you know-nothing-lubber, didn't I tell you tobe careful, and that everything depended upon secrecy and caution? anddidn't I tell you, above all this, to avoid drink?"
"To be sure you did."
"And yet you come here like a rum cask."
"Yes; now you've had your say, what then?"
"You'd better leave him alone," said Mr. Chillingworth; "it's no usearguing with a drunken man."
"Harkye, admiral," said Jack, steadying himself as well as he could."I've put up with you a precious long while, but I won't no longer;you're so drunk, now, that you keeping bobbing up and down like themizen gaff in a storm--that's my opinion--tol de rol."
"Let him alone, let him alone," urged Mr. Chillingworth.
"The villain," said the admiral; "he's enough to ruin everything; now,who would have thought that? but it's always been the way with him for amatter of twenty years--he never had any judgment in his drink. When itwas all smooth sailing, and nothing to do, and the fellow might have gotan extra drop on board, which nobody would have cared for, he's as soberas a judge; but, whenever there's anything to do, that wants a littlecleverness, confound him, he ships rum enough to float a seventy-four."
"Are you going to stand anything to drink," said Jack, "my old buffer?Do you recollect where you got your knob scuttled off Beyrout--how youfell on your latter end and tried to recollect your church cateckis, youold brute?--I's ashamed of you. Do you recollect the brown girl youbought for thirteen bob and a tanner, at the blessed Society Islands,and sold her again for a dollar, to a nigger seven feet two, in hisnatural pumps? you're a nice article, you is, to talk of marines andswabs, and shore-going lubbers, blow yer. Do you recollect the littleFrenchman that told ye he'd pull your blessed nose, and I advised you tosoap it? do you recollect Sall at Spithead, as you got in at a port holeof the state cabin, all but her behind?"
"Death and the devil!" said the admiral, breaking from the grasp of Mr.Chillingworth.
"Ay," said Jack, "you'll come to 'em both one of these days, old cock,and no mistake."
"I'll have his life, I'll have his life," roared the admiral.
"Nay, nay, sir," said Mr. Chillingworth, catching the admiral round thewaist. "My dear sir, recollect, now, if I may venture to advise you,Admiral Bell, there's a lot of that fiery hollands you know, in the nextroom; set firm down to that, and finish him off. I'll warrant him, he'llbe quiet enough."
"What's that you say?" cried Jack--"hollands!--who's got any?--next torum and Elizabeth Baker, if I has an affection, it's hollands."
"Jack!" said the admiral.
"Ay, ay, sir!" said Jack, instinctively.
"Come this way."
Jack staggered after him, and they all reached the room where theadmiral and Mr. Chillingworth had been sitting before the alarm.
"There!" said the admiral, putting the light upon the table, andpointing to the bottle; "what do you think of that?"
"I never thinks under such circumstances," said Jack. "Here's to thewooden walls of old England!"
He seized the bottle, and, putting its neck into his mouth, for a fewmoments nothing was heard but a gurgling sound of the liquor passingdown his throat; his head went further and further back, until, at last,over he went, chair and bottle and all, and lay in a helpless state ofintoxication on the floor.
"So far, so good," said the admiral. "He's out of the way, at allevents."
"I'll just loosen his neckcloth," said Mr. Chillingworth, "and thenwe'll go and sit somewhere else; and I should recommend that, ifanywhere, we take up our station in that chamber, once Flora's, wherethe mysterious panelled portrait hangs, that bears so strong aresemblance to Varney, the vampyre."
"Hush!" said the admiral. "What's that?"
They listened for a moment intently; and then, distinctly, upon thegravel path outside the window, they heard a footstep, as if some personwere walking along, not altogether heedlessly, but yet without any verygreat amount of caution or attention to the noise he might make.
"Hist!" said the doctor. "Not a word. They come."
"What do you say they for?" said the admiral.
"Because something seems to whisper me that Mr. Marchdale knows more ofVarney, the vampyre, than ever he has chosen to reveal. Put out thelight."
"Yes, yes--that'll do. The moon has risen; see how it streams throughthe chinks of the shutters."
"No, no--it's not in that direction, or our light would have betrayedus. Do you not see the beams come from that half glass-door leading tothe greenhouse?"
"Yes; and there's the footstep again, or another."
Tramp, tramp came a footfall again upon the gravel path, and, as before,died away upon their listening ears.
"What do you say now," said Mr. Chillingworth--"are there not two?"
"If they were a dozen," said the admiral, "although we have lost one ofour force, I would tackle them. Let's creep on through the rooms in thedirection the footsteps went."
"My life on it," said Mr. Chillingworth as they left the apartment, "ifthis be Varney, he makes for that apartment where Flora slept, and whichhe knows how to get admission to. I've studied the house well, admiral,and to get to that window any one from here outside must take aconsiderable round. Come on--we shall be beforehand."
"A good idea--a good idea. Be it so."
Just allowing themselves sufficient light to guide them on the way fromthe lantern, they hurried on with as much precipitation as theintricacies of the passage would allow, nor halted till they had reachedthe chamber were hung the portrait which bore so striking and remarkablea likeness to Varney, the vampyre.
They left the lamp outside the door, so that not even a straggling beamfrom it could betray that there were persons on the watch; and then, asquietly as foot could fall, they took up their station among thehangings of the antique bedstead, which has been before alluded to inthis work as a remarkable piece of furniture appertaining to thatapartment.
"Do you think," said the admiral, "we've distanced them?"
"Certainly we have. It's unlucky that the blind of the window is down."
"Is it? By Heaven, there's a d----d strange-looking shadow creeping overit."
Mr. Chillingworth looked almost with suspended breath. Even he could notaltogether get rid of a tremulous feeling, as he saw that the shadow ofa human form, apparently of very large dimensions, was on the outside,with the arms spread out, as if feeling for some means of opening thewindow.
It would have been easy now to have fired one of the pistols direct uponthe figure; but, somehow or another, both the admiral and Mr.Chillingworth shrank from that course, and they felt much ratherinclined to capture whoever might make his appearance, only using theirpistols as a last resource, than gratuitously and at once to resort toviolence.
"Who should you say that was?" whispered the admiral.
"Varney, the vampyre."
"D----e, he's ill-looking and big enough for anything--there's a noise!"
There was a strange cracking sound at the window, as if a pane of glasswas being very stealthily and quietly broken; and then the blind wasagitated slightly, confusing much the shadow that was cast upon it, asif the hand of some person was introduced for the purpose of effecting acomplete entrance into the apartment.
"He's coming in," whispered the admiral.
"Hush, for Heaven's sake!" said Mr. Chillingworth; "you will alarm him,and we shall lose the fruit of all the labour we have already bestowedupon the matter; but did you not say something, admiral, about lyingunder the window and catching him by the leg?"
"Why, yes; I did."
"Go and do it, then; for, as sure as you are a living man, his leg willbe in in a minute."
"Here goes," said the admiral; "I never suggest anything which I'munwilling to do myself."
Whoever it was that now was making such strenuous exertions to get intothe apartment seemed to find some difficulty as regarded the fasteningsof the window, and as this difficulty increased, the patience of theparty, as well as his caution deserted him, and the casement was rattledwith violence.
With a far greater amount of caution than any one from a knowledge ofhis character would have given him credit for, the admiral crept forwardand laid himself exactly under the window.
The depth of wood-work from the floor to the lowest part of thewindow-frame did not exceed above two feet; so that any one couldconveniently step in from the balcony outride on to the floor of theapartment, which was just what he who was attempting to effect anentrance was desirous of doing.
It was quite clear that, be he who he might, mortal or vampyre, he hadsome acquaintance with the fastening of the window; for now he succeededin moving it, and the sash was thrown open.
The blind was still an obstacle; but a vigorous pull from the intruderbrought that down on the prostrate admiral; and then Mr. Chillingworthsaw, by the moonlight, a tall, gaunt figure standing in the balcony, asif just hesitating for a moment whether to get head first or feet firstinto the apartment.
Had he chosen the former alternative he would need, indeed, to have beenendowed with more than mortal powers of defence and offence to escapecapture, but his lucky star was in the ascendancy, and he put his footin first.
He turned his side to the apartment and, as he did so, the blightmoonlight fell upon his face, enabling Mr. Chillingworth to see, withoutthe shadow of a doubt, that it was, indeed, Varney, the vampyre, who wasthus stealthily making his entrance into Bannerworth Hall, according tothe calculation which had been made by the admiral upon that subject.The doctor scarcely knew whether to be pleased or not at this discovery;it was almost a terrifying one, sceptical as he was upon the subject ofvampyres, and he waited breathless for the issue of the singular andperilous adventure.
No doubt Admiral Bell deeply congratulated himself upon the successwhich was about to crown his stratagem for the capture of the intruder,be he who he might, and he writhed with impatience for the foot to comesufficiently near him to enable him to grasp it.
His patience was not severely tried, for in another moment it restedupon his chest.
"Boarders a hoy!" shouted the admiral, and at once he laid hold of thetrespasser. "Yard-arm to yard-arm, I think I've got you now. Here's aprize, doctor! he shall go away without his leg if he goes away now. Eh!what! the light--d----e, he has--Doctor, the light! the light! Whywhat's this?--Hilloa, there!"
Dr. Chillingworth sprang into the passage, and procured the light--inanother moment he was at the side of the admiral, and the lantern slidebeing thrown back, he saw at once the dilemma into which his friend hadfallen.
There he lay upon his back, grasping, with the vehemence of an embracethat had in it much of the ludicrous, a long boot, from which theintruder had cleverly slipped his leg, leaving it as a poor trophy inthe hands of his enemies.
"Why you've only pulled his boot off," said the doctor; "and now he'sgone for good, for he knows what we're about, and has slipped throughyour fingers."
Admiral Bell sat up and looked at the boot with a rueful countenance.
"Done again!" he said.
"Yes, you are done," said the doctor; "why didn't you lay hold of theleg while you were about it, instead of the boot? Admiral, are theseyour tactics?"
"Don't be a fool," said the admiral; "put out the light and give me thepistols, or blaze away yourself into the garden; a chance shot may dosomething. It's no use running after him; a stern chase is a long chase;but fire away."
As if some parties below had heard him give the word, two loud reportsfrom the garden immediately ensued, and a crash of glass testified tothe fact that some deadly missile had entered the room.
"Murder!" said the doctor, and he fell flat upon his back. "I don't likethis at all; it's all in your line, admiral, but not in mine."
"All's right, my lad," said the admiral; "now for it."
He saw lying in the moonlight the pistols which he and the doctor hadbrought into the room, and in another moment he, to use his own words,returned the broadside of the enemy.
"D--n it!" he said, "this puts me in mind of old times. Blaze away, youthieves, while I load; broadside to broadside. It's your turn now; Iscorn to take an advantage. What the devil's that?"
Something very large and very heavy came bang against the window,sending it all into the room, and nearly smothering the admiral with thefragments. Another shot was then fired, and in came something else,which hit the wall on the opposite side of the room, rebounding fromthence on to the doctor, who gave a yell of despair.
After that all was still; the enemy seemed to be satisfied that they hadsilenced the garrison. And it took the admiral a great deal of kickingand plunging to rescue himself from some superincumbent mass that wasupon him, which seemed to him to be a considerable sized tree.
"Call this fair fighting," he shouted--"getting a man's legs and armstangled up like a piece of Indian matting in the branches of a tree?Doctor, I say! hilloa! where are you?"
"I don't know," said the doctor; "but there's somebody getting into thebalcony--now we shall be murdered in cold blood!"
"Where's the pistols?"
"Fired off, of course; you did it yourself."
Bang came something else into the room, which, from the sound it made,closely resembled a brick, and after that somebody jumped clean into thecentre of the floor, and then, after rolling and writhing about in amost singular manner, slowly got up, and with various preliminaryhiccups, said,--
"Come on, you lubbers, many of you as like. I'm the tar for allweathers."
"Why, d----e," said the admiral, "it's Jack Pringle."
"Yes, it is," said Jack, who was not sufficiently sober to recognise theadmiral's voice. "I sees as how you've heard of me. Come on, all ofyou."
"Why, Jack, you scoundrel," roared the admiral, "how came you here?Don't you know me? I'm your admiral, you horse-marine."
"Eh?" said Jack. "Ay--ay, sir, how came you here?"
"How came you, you villain?"
"Boarded the enemy."
"The enemy who you boarded was us; and hang me if I don't think youhaven't been pouring broadsides into us, while the enemy were scuddingbefore the wind in another direction."
"Lor!" said Jack.
"Explain, you scoundrel, directly--explain."
"Well, that's only reasonable," said Jack; and giving a heavier lurchthan usual, he sat down with a great bounce upon the floor. "You seeit's just this here,--when I was a coming of course I heard, just as Iwas a going, that ere as made me come all in consequence of somebody agoing, or for to come, you see, admiral."
"Doctor," cried the admiral, in a great rage, "just help me out of thisentanglement of branches, and I'll rid the world from an encumbrance bysmashing that fellow."
"Smash yourself!" said Jack. "You know you're drunk."
"My dear admiral," said Mr. Chillingworth, laying hold of one of hislegs, and pulling it very hard, which brought his face into a lot ofbrambles, "we're making a mess of this business."
"Murder!" shouted the admiral; "you are indeed. Is that what you callpulling me out of it? You've stuck me fast."
"I'll manage it," said Jack. "I've seed him in many a scrape, and I'veseed him out. You pull me, doctor, and I'll pull him. Yo hoy!"
Jack laid hold of the admiral by the scuff of the neck, and the doctorlaid hold of Jack round the waist, the consequence of which was that hewas dragged out from the branches of the tree, which seemed to have beenthrown into the room, and down fell both Jack and the doctor.
At this instant there was a strange hissing sound heard below thewindow; then there was a sudden, loud report, as if a hand-grenade hadgone off. A spectral sort of light gleamed into the room, and a tall,gaunt-looking figure rose slowly up in the balcony.
"Beware of the dead!" said a voice. "Let the living contend with theliving, the dead with the dead. Beware!"
The figure disappeared, as did also the strange, spectral-looking light.A death-like silence ensued, and the cold moonbeams streamed in upon thefloor of the apartment, as if nothing had occurred to disturb thewrapped repose and serenity of the scene.
