exclaimed Henry, vehemently; "and yet I have,
beneath the canopy of Heaven, declared that I will, so help me God! spare neither time nor trouble in the unravelling of this most fearful
piece of business. Did either of you remark the clothing which this
spectral appearance wore?" "They were antique clothes," said Mr. Chillingworth, "such as might have
been fashionable a hundred years ago, but not now." "Such was my impression," added Marchdale. "And such my own," said Henry, excitedly. "Is it at all within the
compass of the wildest belief that what we have seen is a vampyre, and
no other than my ancestor who, a hundred years ago, committed suicide?" There was so much intense excitement, and evidence of mental suffering,
that Mr. Chillingworth took him by the arm, saying,--

"Come home--come home; no more of this at present; you will but make
yourself seriously unwell." "No--no--no." "Come home now, I pray you; you are by far too much excited about this
matter to pursue it with the calmness which should be brought to bear
upon it." "Take advice, Henry," said Marchdale, "take advice, and come home at
once." "I will yield to you; I feel that I cannot control my own feelings--I
will yield to you, who, as you say, are cooler on this subject than I
can be. Oh, Flora, Flora, I have no comfort to bring to you now." Poor Henry Bannerworth appeared to be in a complete state of mental
prostration, on account of the distressing circumstances that had
occurred so rapidly and so suddenly in his family, which had had quite
enough to contend with without having superadded to every other evil the
horror of believing that some preternatural agency was at work to
destroy every hope of future happiness in this world, under any
circumstances. He suffered himself to be led home by Mr. Chillingworth and Marchdale;
he no longer attempted to dispute the dreadful fact concerning the
supposed vampyre; he could not contend now against all the corroborating
circumstances that seemed to collect together for the purpose of proving
that which, even when proved, was contrary to all his notions of Heaven,
and at variance with all that was recorded and established is part and
parcel of the system of nature. "I cannot deny," he said, when they had reached home, "that such things
are possible; but the probability will not bear a moment's
investigation." "There are more things," said Marchdale, solemnly, "in Heaven, and on
earth, than are dreamed of in our philosophy." "There are indeed, it appears," said Mr. Chillingworth. "And are you a convert?" said Henry, turning to him. "A convert to what?" "To a belief in--in--these vampyres?" "I? No, indeed; if you were to shut me up in a room full of vampyres, I
would tell them all to their teeth that I defied them." "But after what we have seen to-night?" "What have we seen?" "You are yourself a witness." "True; I saw a man lying down, and then I saw a man get up; he seemed
then to be shot, but whether he was or not he only knows; and then I saw
him walk off in a desperate hurry. Beyond that, I saw nothing." "Yes; but, taking such circumstances into combination with others, have
you not a terrible fear of the truth of the dreadful appearance?" "No--no; on my soul, no. I will die in my disbelief of such an outrage
upon Heaven as one of these creatures would most assuredly be." "Oh! that I could think like you; but the circumstance strikes too
nearly to my heart." "Be of better cheer, Henry--be of better cheer," said Marchdale; "there
is one circumstance which we ought to consider, it is that, from all we
have seen, there seems to be some things which would favour an opinion,
Henry, that your ancestor, whose portrait hangs in the chamber which was
occupied by Flora, is the vampyre." "The dress was the same," said Henry. "I noted it was." "And I." "Do you not, then, think it possible that something might be done to set
that part of the question at rest?" "What--what?" "Where is your ancestor buried?" "Ah! I understand you now." "And I," said Mr. Chillingworth; "you would propose a visit to his
mansion?" "I would," added Marchdale; "anything that may in any way tend to assist
in making this affair clearer, and divesting it of its mysterious
circumstances, will be most desirable." Henry appeared to rouse for some moments and then he said,--

"He, in common with many other members of the family, no doubt occupies
place in the vault under the old church in the village." "Would it be possible," asked Marchdale, "to get into that vault without
exciting general attention?" "It would," said Henry; "the entrance to the vault is in the flooring of
the pew which belongs to the family in the old church." "Then it could be done?" asked Mr. Chillingworth. "Most undoubtedly." "Will you under take such an adventure?" said Mr. Chillingworth. "It may
ease your mind." "He was buried in the vault, and in his clothes," said Henry, musingly;
"I will think of it. About such a proposition I would not decide
hastily. Give me leave to think of it until to-morrow." "Most certainly." [Illustration]

They now made their way to the chamber of Flora, and they heard from
George that nothing of an alarming character had occurred to disturb him
on his lonely watch. The morning was now again dawning, and Henry
earnestly entreated Mr. Marchdale to go to bed, which he did, leaving
the two brothers to continue as sentinels by Flora's bed side, until the
morning light should banish all uneasy thoughts. Henry related to George what had taken place outside the house, and the
two brothers held a long and interesting conversation for some hours
upon that subject, as well as upon others of great importance to their
welfare. It was not until the sun's early rays came glaring in at the
casement that they both rose, and thought of awakening Flora, who had
now slept soundly for so many hours. CHAPTER VI. A GLANCE AT THE BANNERWORTH FAMILY.--THE PROBABLE CONSEQUENCES OF THE
MYSTERIOUS APPARITION'S APPEARANCE. [Illustration]

Having thus far, we hope, interested our readers in the fortunes of a
family which had become subject to so dreadful a visitation, we trust
that a few words concerning them, and the peculiar circumstances in
which they are now placed, will not prove altogether out of place, or
unacceptable. The Bannerworth family then were well known in the part of
the country where they resided. Perhaps, if we were to say they were
better known by name than they were liked, on account of that name, we
should be near the truth, for it had unfortunately happened that for a
very considerable time past the head of the family had been the very
worst specimen of it that could be procured. While the junior branches
were frequently amiable and most intelligent, and such in mind and
manner as were calculated to inspire goodwill in all who knew them, he
who held the family property, and who resided in the house now occupied
by Flora and her brothers, was a very so--so sort of character.