VARNEY, THE VAMPYRE; OR, THE FEAST OF BLOOD. CHAPTER CCVII. [sic] [Chapter 223] THE HUNT OF THE VAMPYRE. All these occurrences which have taken a considerable time in telling, occurred as simultaneously, that although it would appear Mr. Bevan and Charles Crofton, rather neglected Sir George and Edwin who were still in the vault, they had really not had time to think of them, to say nothing of making any effort to extricate them from the frightful situation in which they were placed. Probably, after procuring a light, Mr. Bevan would have rushed to their rescue had not that incessant knocking at the church door suggested a new and more horrible danger, still, from the evil passions of an infuriated multitude. "Oh, Mr. Charles," he said, "if we could but get your father away from the church, there is no knowing what an amount of misery he might be spared." "Misery, sir; surely there is no more misery in store for us-- have we not suffered enough-- more than enough. Oh, Mr. Bevan we have fallen upon evil times, and I dread to think what will yet be the end of those most frightful transactions." The knocking at the church door continued violently, and Charles indicated a wish to proceed there to ascertain what it was, but Mr. Bevan stopped him, saying, -- "No, Charles-- no-- let them be, I hardly think they will venture to break into the sacred edifice, but whether they do or not, remember that your duty and mine, yours being the duty of a son, and mine that of a friend, should take us now to your father's vault. "That is true, sir," said Charles, "lead on I will follow you." Mr. Bevan, who had all the intellectual courage of a man of education, and of regular habits, led the way again to the vault, with the light in his hand. It was a great relief that the insane and horrible laugh of Sir George Crofton had ceased, the best friend of any man could almost have wished him dead, ere their ears had drunk in such horrible sounds. The shouts and cries from without now became incessant, and it seemed as if some weapon had been procured, wherewith to hammer violently upon the church door, for the strokes were regular and incessant, and it was evident that if they continued long that frail defence against the incursions of the rabble rout without must soon give way. The only effect, however, which these sounds had upon Mr. Bevan was to make him hasten his progress towards the vault, for anything in the shape of a collision between those who wanted to take the church by storm, and Sir George Crofton, was indeed most highly to be deprecated. The steps were not many in number, and once again the clergyman and Charles Crofton stood upon the sawdust that covered the flooring of the vault. At first, in consequence of the flaring of the light, the state of affairs in that dismal region could not be ascertained; but as soon as they could get a view, they found Sir George lying apparently in a state of insensibility across the coffin of his daughter Clara, while Edwin was in a swoon close to his feet. "Sir George, Sir George," cried Mr. Bevan, "arouse yourself; it is necessary that you leave this place at once." The baronet got up and glanced at the intruders. Charles uttered a deep groan, for the most superficial observation of his father's face was sufficient to convince him that reason had fled, and that wildness had set up his wild dominion in his brain. "Father-- father," he cried, "speak to me, and dissipate a frightful thought." "What would you have of me," said Sir George; "I am a vampyre, and this is my tomb-- you should see me in the rays of the cold moon gliding 'twixt earth and heaven, and panting for a victim. I am a vampyre." At this moment Edwin seemed to be partially recovering, for his eyes opened as he lay upon the floor, and he looked around him with a bewildered gaze, which soon settled into one of more intelligence as memory resumed her sway, and he recollected the various circumstances that had brought him into his present position. "Rouse yourself, Edwin, rouse yourself," cried Mr. Bevan, "you must aid us to remove your father." "Do you talk of me?" said Sir George, "know you not that I am one of those supernatural existences known as the death and despair-dealing vampyres-- it's time I took my nightly prowl to look for victims. I must have blood-- I must have blood." "Gracious Heaven! he raves," said Charles. "Heed him not," said Mr. Bevan-- "heed him not, and touch him not, so that he leave the place-- when we have him once clear of the church we can procure assistance, and take him to his own home. "Edwin," whispered Charles, "what of our sister." Edwin shook his head and shuddered. "I know nothing but that I saw her-- oh, horrible sight, rising from her coffin, and then in a convulsion of terror my senses fled-- a frightful ringing laugh came on my ears, and from that time till now, be the period long or short, I have been blessed by a death-like trance." "Blessed indeed," said Mr. Bevan; "tarry one moment." Sir George Crofton was ascending the steps of the vault, but his two sons paused for an instant at the request of Mr. Bevan, and then the latter approaching Clara's coffin slightly removed the lid, and was gratified as far as any feeling could be considered gratification under such circumstances, to find that the corpse occupied an ordinary position in its narrow resting place. "All's right," he said, "let us persuade ourselves that this too has been but a dream, that we have been deceived, and that imagination has played us tricks it is accustomed to play to those who give it the rein at such hours as these-- let us think and believe anything rather than that what we have seen to-night is real." As he spoke these words, he ascended hastily the stps in pursuit of Sir George, who, by this time had alone reached the [???] The heavy strokes against the door of the church had ceased, but an odd sort of scraping, rattling sound at the lock convinced the clergyman that a workman of more skill than he who had weilded [sic] the hammer, was now at work, endeavouring to force an entrance. "Oh, if we could but get out," he said, "by the small private entrance, all might be well; Charles, urge your father, I pray you." Charles did so to the best of his ability, but the blacksmith who had originally incited the crowd to attack the church, in order to get possession of the body of the vampyre, had sent to his workshop for the tools of his craft, and soon quietly accomplished by skill what brute force would have been a long time about, namely, the opening of the church-door. It was flung wide open, before Sir George Croton and his sons could reach the small private entrance, of which Mr. Bevan had the key. The sight of the multitude of persons, for they looked such crowds in the church porch, materially increased the incipient sadness of the bereaved father. -+- Next Time: The Fate of Sir George. -- The Cross Road. +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ | This Varney the Vampyre e-text was entered by members of the | | Science Fiction Round Table #1 (SFRT1) on the Genie online | | service. | | The Varney Project, a reincarnation of this "penny dreadful" bit | | of fiction, was begun in November of 1993 by James Macdonald and | | should take about four years for re-serialization. | | These chapters are being posted once a week to the Round Table | | Bulletin Board and are also being placed in the Round Table File | | Library. | | For further information concerning Varney e-texts, please send | | email to: | | h.liu@juno.com | +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ ============================================================================== The Varney Project Chapter 223 Ver 1.00 04/05/1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ General notes on this chapter Source: H.Liu entry from the Arno edition, 1970, text is reprint of 1847 edition Drop capital: No Figures in source: 0 Page numbers in source: 839-840 Sections: 1 Approximate number of characters: Number of paragraphs: Comments: Chapter appears mis-numbered as CCVII. Mr. Bevan and Charles Crofton were in a quandry. From without the church was an angry and incessant mob, and down in the family vault Sir George and Edwin still remained. After a bit of consideration, mostly by Mr. Bevan, the course of action was decided to be returning to the vault. This the two men did and found Sir George lying insensible across his daughter's coffin and Edwin unconscious on the ground. Sir George was roused, and he immediately began ranting like a madman, this time declaring himself to be a vampyre. Edwin recovers somewhat and gives the brief account of what he saw, namely that he saw his sister's body arising from her coffin and then began to hear the laughing of his father, and soon passed out. Sir George begins to climb out of the vault, still believing himself a vampyre, and the sons begin to follow. Mr. Bevan does a final check of Clara Crofton's coffin and is relieved to find it occupied rather normally. He then directs all the Croftons out of the vault. Unfortunately, before they can exit the church through the small private door, the main door is opened by the mob and a confrontation is now a dangerous possibility. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Modification History Version Date Who What changes made -------- -------- ------------- ---------------------------------- 1.00 04/05/1998 H.Liu Initial gold version, rough proof read. ==================================End of File=================================