Authors: George W. M. Reynolds,James Malcolm Rymer
THE SECOND NIGHT-WATCH OF MR. CHILLINGWORTH AT THE HALL.
The
military party in the morning left Bannerworth Hall, and the old place resumed
its wonted quiet. But Dr. Chillingworth found it difficult to get rid of his
old friend, the hangman, who seemed quite disposed to share his watch with him.
The
doctor, without being at all accused of being a prejudiced man, might well
object to the continued companionship of one, who, according to his own
account, was decidedly no better than he should be, if he were half so good.
Moreover,
it materially interfered with the proceedings of our medical friend, whose
object was to watch the vampyre with all imaginable quietness and secrecy, in
the event of his again visiting Bannerworth Hall.
"Sir,"
he said, to the hangman, "now that you have so obligingly related to me
your melancholy history, I will not detain you."
"Oh,
you are not detaining me."
"Yes,
but I shall probably remain here for a considerable time."
"I
have nothing to do; and one place is about the same as another to me."
"Well,
then, if I must speak plainly, allow me to say, that as I came here upon a very
important and special errand, I desire most particularly to be left alone. Do
you understand me now?"
"Oh!
ah!—I understand; you want me to go?"
"Just
so."
"Well,
then, Dr. Chillingworth, allow me to tell you, I have come here on a very
special errand likewise."
"You
have?"
"I
have. I have been putting one circumstance to another, and drawing a variety of
conclusions from a variety of facts, so that I have come to what I consider an
important resolve, namely, to have a good look at Bannerworth Hall, and if I
continue to like it as well as I do now, I should like to make the Bannerworth
family an offer for the purchase of it."
"The
devil you would! Why all the world seems mad upon the project of buying this
old building, which really is getting into such a state of dilapidation, that
it cannot last many years longer."
"It
is my fancy."
"No,
no; there is something more in this than meets the eye. The same reason, be it
what may, that has induced Varney the vampyre to become so desirous of
possessing the Hall, actuates you."
"Possibly."
"And
what is that reason? You may as well be candid with me."
"Yes,
I will, and am. I like the picturesque aspect of the place."
"No,
you know that that is a disingenuous answer, that you know well. It is not the
aspect of the old Hall that has charms for you. But I feel, only from your
conduct, more than ever convinced, that some plot is going on, having the
accomplishment of some great object as its climax, a something of which you
have guessed."
"How
much you are mistaken!"
"No,
I am certain I am right; and I shall immediately advise the Bannerworth family
to return, and to take up their abode again here, in order to put an end to the
hopes which you, or Varney, or any one else may have, of getting possession of
the place."
"If
you were a man," said the hangman, "who cared a little more for
yourself, and a little less for others, I would make a confidant of you."
"What
do you mean?"
"Why,
I mean, candidly, that you are not selfish enough to be entitled to my
confidence."
"That
is a strange reason for withholding confidence from any man."
"It
is a strange reason; but, in this case, a most abundantly true one. I cannot
tell you what I would tell you, because I cannot make the agreement with you
that I would fain make."
"You
talk in riddles."
"To
explain which, then, would be to tell my secret."
Dr.
Chillingworth was, evidently, much annoyed, and yet he was in an extremely helpless
condition; for as to forcing the hangman to leave the Hall, if he did not feel
disposed to do so, that was completely out of the question, and could not be
done. In the first place, he was a much more powerful man than the doctor, and
in the second, it was quite contrary to all Mr. Chillingworth's habits, to
engage in anything like personal warfare.
He
could only, therefore, look his vexation, and say,—
"If
you are determined upon remaining, I cannot help it; but, when some one, as
there assuredly will, comes from the Bannerworths, here, to me, or I shall be
under the necessity of stating candidly that you are intruding."
"Very
good. As the morning air is keen, and as we now are not likely to be as good
company to each other as we were, I shall go inside the house."
This
was a proposition which the doctor did not like, but he was compelled to submit
to it; and he saw, with feelings of uneasiness, the hangman make his way into
the Hall by one of the windows.
Then
Dr. Chillingworth sat down to think. Much he wondered what could be the secret
of the great desire which Varney, Marchdale, and even this man had, all of them
to be possessors of the old Hall.
That
there was some powerful incentive he felt convinced, and he longed for some
conversation with the Bannerworths, or with Admiral Bell, in order that he
might state what had now taken place. That some one would soon come to him, in
order to bring fresh provisions for the day, he was certain, and all he could
do, in the interim, was, to listen to what the hangman was about in the Hall.
Not a
sound, for a considerable time, disturbed the intense stillness of the place;
but, now, suddenly, Mr. Chillingworth thought he heard a hammering, as if some
one was at work in one of the rooms of the Hall.
"What
can be the meaning of that?" he said, and he was about to proceed at once
to the interior of the building, through the same window which had enabled the
hangman to gain admittance, when he heard his own name pronounced by some one
at the back of the garden fence, and upon casting his eyes in that direction,
he, to his great relief, saw the admiral and Henry Bannerworth.
"Come
round to the gate," said the doctor. "I am more glad to see you than
I can tell you just now. Do not make more noise than you can help; but, come
round to the gate at once."
They
obeyed the injunction with alacrity, and when the doctor had admitted them, the
admiral said, eagerly,—
"You
don't mean to tell us that he is here?"
"No,
no, not Varney; but he is not the only one who has taken a great affection for
Bannerworth Hall; you may have another tenant for it, and I believe at any
price you like to name."
"Indeed!"
"Hush!
creep along close to the house, and then you will not be seen. There! do you
hear that noise in the hall?"
"Why
it sounds," said the admiral, "like the ship's carpenter at
work."
"It
does, indeed, sound like a carpenter; it's only the new tenant making, I dare
say, some repairs."
"D—n
his impudence!"
"Why,
it certainly does look like a very cool proceeding, I must admit."
"Who,
and what is he?"
"Who
he is now, I cannot tell you, but he was once the hangman of London, at a time
when I was practising in the metropolis, and so I became acquainted with him.
He knows Sir Francis Varney, and, if I mistake not, has found out the cause of
that mysterious personage's great attachment to Bannerworth Hall, and has found
the reasons so cogent, that he has got up an affection for it himself."
"To
me," said Henry, "all this is as incomprehensible as anything can
possibly be. What on earth does it all mean?"
"My
dear Henry," said the doctor, "will you be ruled by me?"
"I
will be ruled by any one whom I know I can trust; for I am like a man groping
his way in the dark."
"Then
allow this gentleman who is carpentering away so pleasantly within the house,
to do so to his heart's content, but don't let him leave it. Show yourselves
now in the garden, he has sufficient prudence to know that three constitute
rather fearful odds against one, and so he will be careful, and remain where he
is. If he should come out, we need not let him go until we thoroughly ascertain
what he has been about."
"You
shall command the squadron, doctor," said the admiral, "and have it
all your own way, you know, so here goes! Come along, Henry, and let's show
ourselves; we are both armed too!"
They
walked out into the centre of the garden, and they were soon convinced that the
hangman saw them, for a face appeared at the window, and was as quickly
withdrawn again.
"There,"
said the doctor, "now he knows he is a prisoner, and we may as well place
ourselves in some position which commands a good view of the house, as well as
of the garden gate, and so see if we cannot starve him out, though we may be
starved out ourselves."
"Not
at all!" said Admiral Bell, producing from his ample pockets various
parcels,—"we came to bring you ample supplies."
"Indeed!"
"Yes;
we have been as far as the ruins."
"Oh,
to release Marchdale. Charles told me how the villain had fallen into the trap
he had laid for him."
"He
has, indeed, fallen into the trap, and it's one he won't easily get out of
again. He's dead."
"Dead!—dead!"
"Yes;
in the storm of last night the ruins have fallen, and he is by this time as
flat as a pancake."
"Good
God! and yet it is but a just retribution upon him. He would have assassinated
poor Charles Holland in the cruelest and most cold-blooded manner, and, however
we may shudder at the manner of his death, we cannot regret it."
"Except
that he has escaped your friend the hangman," said the admiral.
"Don't
call him my friend, if you please," said Dr. Chillingworth, "but,
hark how he is working away, as if he really intended to carry the house away
piece by piece, as opportunity may serve, if you will not let it to him
altogether, just as it stands."
"Confound
him! he is evidently working on his own account," said the admiral,
"or he would not be half so industrious."
There
was, indeed, a tremendous amount of hammering and noise, of one sort and
another, from the house, and it was quite clear that the hangman was too heart
and soul in his work, whatever may have been the object of it, to care who was
listening to him, or to what conjecture he gave rise.
He
thought probably that he could but he stopped in what he was about, and, until
he was so, that he might as well go on.
And
on he went, with a vengeance, vexing the admiral terribly, who proposed so
repeatedly to go into the house and insist upon knowing what he was about, that
his, wishes were upon the point of being conceded to by Henry, although they
were combatted by the doctor, when, from the window at which he had entered,
out stepped the hangman.
"Good
morning, gentlemen! good morning," he said, and he moved towards the
garden gate. "I will not trouble you any longer. Good morning!"
"Not
so fast," said the admiral, "or we may bring you up with a round
turn, and I never miss my mark when I can see it, and I shall not let it get
out of sight, you may depend."
He
drew a pistol from his pocket, as he spoke, and pointed it at the hangman, who,
thereupon paused and said:—
"What!
am I not to be permitted to go in peace? Why it was but a short time since the
doctor was quarrelling with me because I did not go, and now it seems that I am
to be shot if I do."
"Yes,"
said the admiral, "that's it."
"Well!
but,—"
"You
dare," said he, "stir another inch towards the gate, and you are a
dead man!"
The
hangman hesitated a moment, and looked at Admiral Bell; apparently the result
of the scrutiny was, that he would keep his word, for he suddenly turned and
dived in at the window again without saying another word.
"Well;
you have certainly stopped him from leaving," said Henry; "but what's
to be done now?"
"Let
him be, let him be," said the doctor; "he must come out again, for
there are no provisions in the place, and he will be starved out."
"Hush!
what is that?" said Henry.
There
was a very gentle ring at the bell which hung over the garden gate.
"That's
an experiment, now, I'll be bound," said the doctor, "to ascertain if
any one is here; let us hide ourselves, and take no notice."
The
ring in a few moments was repeated, and the three confederates hid themselves
effectually behind some thick laurel bushes and awaited with expectation what
might next ensue.
Not
long had they occupied their place of concealment, before they heard a heavy
fall upon the gravelled pathway, immediately within the gate, as if some one
had clambered to the top from the outside, and then jumped down.