They ain't the
sort of people," said another. "But if they can do one thing, they can do another." "That's very true." "And what's more, I never heard as how a vampyre could make himself into
nothing before; yet he has done so." "He may be in this room now." "He may." "My eyes! what precious long teeth he had!" "Yes; and had he fixed one on 'em in to your arm, he would have drawn
every drop of blood out of your body; you may depend upon that," said an
old man. "He was very tall." "Yes; too tall to be any good." "I shouldn't like him to have laid hold of me, though, tall as he is;
and then he would have lifted me up high enough to break my neck, when
he let me fall." The mob routed about the room, tore everything out of its place, and as
the object of their search seemed to be far enough beyond their reach,
their courage rose in proportion, and they shouted and screamed with a
proportionate increase of noise and bustle; and at length they ran about
mad with rage and vexation, doing all the mischief that was in their
power to inflict. Then they became mischievous, and tore the furniture from its place, and
broke it in pieces, and then amused themselves with breaking it up,
throwing pieces at the pier-glasses, in which they made dreadful holes;
and when that was gone, they broke up the frames. Every hole and corner of the house was searched, but there was no Sir
Francis Varney to be found. "The cellars, the cellars!" shouted a voice. "The cellars, the cellars!" re-echoed nearly every pair of lips in the
whole place; in another moment, there was crushing and crowding to get
down into the cellars. "Hurray!" said one, as he knocked off the neck of the bottle that first
came to hand. "Here's luck to vampyre-hunting! Success to our chase!" "So say I, neighbour; but is that your manners to drink before your
betters?" So saying, the speaker knocked the other's elbow, while he was in the
act of lifting the wine to his mouth; and thus he upset it over his face
and eyes. "D--n it!" cried the man; "how it makes my eyes smart! Dang thee! if I
could see, I'd ring thy neck!" "Success to vampyre-hunting!" said one. "May we be lucky yet!" said another. "I wouldn't be luckier than this," said another, as he, too, emptied a
bottle. "We couldn't desire better entertainment, where the reckoning is
all paid." "Excellent!" "Very good!" "Capital wine this!" "I say, Huggins!" "Well," said Huggins. "What are you drinking?" "Wine." "What wine?" "Danged if I know," was the reply. "It's wine, I suppose; for I know it
ain't beer nor spirits; so it must be wine." "Are you sure it ain't bottled men's blood?" "Eh?" "Bottled blood, man! Who knows what a vampyre drinks? It may be his
wine. He may feast upon that before he goes to bed of a night, drink
anybody's health, and make himself cheerful on bottled blood!" "Oh, danged! I'm so sick; I wish I hadn't taken the stuff. It may be as
you say, neighbour, and then we be cannibals." "Or vampyres." "There's a pretty thing to think of." By this time some were drunk, some were partially so, and the remainder
were crowding into the cellars to get their share of the wine. The servants had now slunk away; they were no longer noticed by the
rioters, who, having nobody to oppose them, no longer thought of
anything, save the searching after the vampyre, and the destruction of
the property. Several hours had been spent in this manner, and yet they
could not find the object of their search. There was not a room, or cupboard, or a cellar, that was capable of
containing a cat, that they did not search, besides a part of the
rioters keeping a very strict watch on the outside of the house and all
about the grounds, to prevent the possibility of the escape of the
vampyre. There was a general cessation of active hostilities at that moment; a
reaction after the violent excitement and exertion they had made to get
in. Then the escape of their victim, and the mysterious manner in which
he got away, was also a cause of the reaction, and the rioters looked in
each others' countenances inquiringly. Above all, the discovery of the wine-cellar tended to withdraw them from
violent measures; but this could not last long, there must be an end to
such a scene, for there never was a large body of men assembled for an
evil purpose, who ever were, for any length of time, peaceable. To prevent the more alarming effects of drunkenness, some few of the
rioters, after having taken some small portion of the wine, became, from
the peculiar flavour it possessed, imbued with the idea that it was
really blood, and forthwith commenced an instant attack upon the wine
and liquors, and they were soon mingling in one stream throughout the
cellars. This destruction was loudly declaimed against by a large portion of the
rioters, who were drinking; but before they could make any efforts to
save the liquor, the work of destruction had not only been begun, but
was ended, and the consequence was, the cellars were very soon evacuated
by the mob. CHAPTER LIII. THE DESTRUCTION OF SIR FRANCIS VARNEY'S HOUSE BY FIRE.--THE ARRIVAL OF
THE MILITARY, AND A SECOND MOB. [Illustration]

Thus many moments had not elapsed ere the feelings of the rioters became
directed into a different channel from that in which it had so lately
flowed. When urged about the house and grounds for the vampyre, they
became impatient and angry at not finding him. Many believed that he was
yet about the house, while many were of opinion that he had flown away
by some mysterious means only possessed by vampyres and such like
people. "Fire the house, and burn him out," said one. "Fire the house!" "Burn the den!" now arose in shouts from all present, and then the mob
were again animated by the love of mischief that seemed to be the
strongest feelings that animated them. "Burn him out--burn him out!" were the only words that could be heard
from any of the mob. The words ran through the house like wildfire,
nobody thought of anything else, and all were seen running about in
confusion. There was no want of good will on the part of the mob to the
undertaking; far from it, and they proceeded in the work _con amore_. They worked together with right good will, and the result was soon seen
by the heaps of combustible materials that were collected in a short
time from all parts of the house. All the old dry wood furniture that could be found was piled up in a
heap, and to these were added a number of faggots, and also some
shavings that were found in the cellar. "All right!" exclaimed one man, in exultation. "Yes," replied a second; "all right--all right! Set light to it, and he
will be smoked out if not burned." "Let us be sure that all are out of the house," suggested one of the
bystanders. "Ay, ay," shouted several; "give them all a chance. Search through the
house and give them a warning." "Very well; give me the light, and then when I come back I will set
light to the fire at once, and then I shall know all is empty, and so
will you too."