"We are much indebted to you," said Henry, "for making the attempt." "I am prompted to it by a feeling of the strongest curiosity." "Are you armed, sir?" said Marchdale. "In this stick," said the doctor, "is a sword, the exquisite temper of
which I know I can depend upon, and I fully intended to run through any
one whom I saw that looked in the least of the vampyre order." "You would have done quite right," replied Mr. Marchdale. "I have a
brace of pistols here, loaded with ball; will you take one, Henry, if
you please, and then we shall be all armed." Thus, then, prepared for any exigency, they made the whole round of the
house; but found all the fastenings secure, and everything as quiet as
possible. "Suppose, now, we take a survey of the park outside the garden wall,"
said Mr. Marchdale. This was agreed to; but before they had proceeded far, Mr. Marchdale
said,--

"There is a ladder lying on the wall; would it not be a good plan to
place it against the very spot the supposed vampyre jumped over last
night, and so, from a more elevated position, take a view of the open
meadows. We could easily drop down on the outer side, if we saw anything
suspicious." "Not a bad plan," said the doctor. "Shall we do it?" "Certainly," said Henry; and they accordingly carried the ladder, which
had been used for pruning the trees, towards the spot at the end of the
long walk, at which the vampyre had made good, after so many fruitless
efforts, his escape from the premises. They made haste down the long vista of trees until they reached the
exact spot, and then they placed the ladder as near as possible, exactly
where Henry, in his bewilderment on the evening before, had seen the
apparition from the grave spring to. "We can ascend singly," said Marchdale; "but there is ample space for us
all there to sit on the top of the wall and make our observations." This was seen to be the case, and in about a couple of minutes they had
taken up their positions on the wall, and, although the height was but
trifling, they found that they had a much more extensive view than they
could have obtained by any other means. "To contemplate the beauty of such a night as this," said Mr.
Chillingworth, "is amply sufficient compensation for coming the distance
I have." "And who knows," remarked Marchdale, "we may yet see something which may
throw a light upon our present perplexities God knows that I would give
all I can call mine in the world to relieve you and your sister, Henry
Bannerworth, from the fearful effect which last night's proceedings
cannot fail to have upon you." "Of that I am well assured, Mr. Marchdale," said Henry. "If the
happiness of myself and family depended upon you, we should be happy
indeed." "You are silent, Mr. Chillingworth," remarked Marchdale, after a slight
pause. "Hush!" said Mr. Chillingworth--"hush--hush!" "Good God, what do you hear?" cried Henry. The doctor laid his hand upon Henry's arm as he said,--

"There is a young lime tree yonder to the right." "Yes--yes." "Carry your eye from it in a horizontal line, as near as you can,
towards the wood." Henry did so, and then he uttered a sudden exclamation of surprise, and
pointed to a rising spot of ground, which was yet, in consequence of the
number of tall trees in its vicinity, partially enveloped in shadow. "What is that?" he said. "I see something," said Marchdale. "By Heaven! it is a human form lying
stretched there." "It is--as if in death." "What can it be?" said Chillingworth. "I dread to say," replied Marchdale; "but to my eyes, even at this
distance, it seems like the form of him we chased last night." "The vampyre?" "Yes--yes. Look, the moonbeams touch him. Now the shadows of the trees
gradually recede. God of Heaven! the figure moves." Henry's eyes were riveted to that fearful object, and now a scene
presented itself which filled them all with wonder and astonishment,
mingled with sensations of the greatest awe and alarm. As the moonbeams, in consequence of the luminary rising higher and
higher in the heavens, came to touch this figure that lay extended on
the rising ground, a perceptible movement took place in it. The limbs
appeared to tremble, and although it did not rise up, the whole body
gave signs of vitality. "The vampyre--the vampyre!" said Mr. Marchdale. "I cannot doubt it now. We must have hit him last night with the pistol bullets, and the
moonbeams are now restoring him to a new life." Henry shuddered, and even Mr. Chillingworth turned pale. But he was the
first to recover himself sufficiently to propose some course of action,
and he said,--

"Let us descend and go up to this figure. It is a duty we owe to
ourselves as much as to society." "Hold a moment," said Mr. Marchdale, as he produced a pistol. "I am an
unerring shot, as you well know, Henry. Before we move from this
position we now occupy, allow me to try what virtue may be in a bullet
to lay that figure low again." "He is rising!" exclaimed Henry. Mr. Marchdale levelled the pistol--he took a sure and deliberate aim,
and then, just as the figure seemed to be struggling to its feet, he
fired, and, with a sudden bound, it fell again. "You have hit it," said Henry. "You have indeed," exclaimed the doctor. "I think we can go now." "Hush!" said Marchdale--"Hush! Does it not seem to you that, hit it as
often as you will, the moonbeams will recover it?" "Yes--yes," said Henry, "they will--they will." "I can endure this no longer," said Mr. Chillingworth, as he sprung from
the wall. "Follow me or not, as you please, I will seek the spot where
this being lies." "Oh, be not rash," cried Marchdale. "See, it rises again, and its form
looks gigantic." "I trust in Heaven and a righteous cause," said the doctor, as he drew
the sword he had spoken of from the stick, and threw away the scabbard. "Come with me if you like, or I go alone." Henry at once jumped down from the wall, and then Marchdale followed
him, saying,--

"Come on; I will not shrink." They ran towards the piece of rising ground; but before they got to it,
the form rose and made rapidly towards a little wood which was in the
immediate neighbourhood of the hillock. "It is conscious of being pursued," cried the doctor. "See how it
glances back, and then increases its speed." "Fire upon it, Henry," said Marchdale. He did so; but either his shot did not take effect, or it was quite
unheeded if it did, by the vampyre, which gained the wood before they
could have a hope of getting sufficiently near it to effect, or
endeavour to effect, a capture. "I cannot follow it there," said Marchdale. "In open country I would
have pursued it closely; but I cannot follow it into the intricacies of
a wood." "Pursuit is useless there," said Henry. "It is enveloped in the deepest
gloom." "I am not so unreasonable," remarked Mr. Chillingworth, "as to wish you
to follow into such a place as that. I am confounded utterly by this
affair." "And I," said Marchdale. "What on earth is to be done?" "Nothing--nothing!"