"Time enough," he remarked, "to be afraid, when I see anything to be
afraid of, which I don't see as yet. So, as all's right, I may as well
put a good face upon the matter." He tried to whistle a tune, but it turned out only a melancholy failure;
so he gave that up in despair, and walked on until he got within a
hundred yards, or thereabouts, of the old ruins. He thus proceeded, and bending his ear close to the ground, he listened
attentively for several minutes. Somehow, he fancied that a strange,
murmuring sound came to his ears; but he was not quite sure that it
proceeded from the ruins, because it was just that sort of sound that
might come from a long way off, being mellowed by distance, although,
perhaps, loud enough at its source. "Well, well," he whispered to himself, "it don't matter much, after all. Go I must, and hide the handkerchiefs somewhere, or else be laughed at,
besides losing my wages. The former I don't like, and the latter I
cannot afford." Thus clinching the matter by such knock-down arguments, he walked on
until he was almost within the very shadow of the ruins, and, probably,
it was at this juncture that his footsteps may have been heard by
Marchdale and Sir Francis Varney. Then he paused again; but all was profoundly still, and he began to
think that the strange sort of murmuring noise which he had heard must
have come from far off and not at all from any person or persons within
the ruins. "Let me see," he said to himself; "I have five handkerchiefs to hide
among the old ruins somewhere, and the sooner I do so the better,
because then I will get away; for, as regards staying here to watch,
Heaven knows how long, for Sir Francis Varney, I don't intend to do it,
upon second thoughts and second thoughts, they say, are generally best." With the most careful footsteps now, as if he were treading upon some
fragile substance, which he feared to injure, he advanced until he was
fairly within the precincts of the ancient place, which now bore so ill
a reputation. He then made to himself much the same remark that Sir Francis Varney had
made to Marchdale, with respect to the brightening up of the sky, in
consequence of its being near the time for the moon to rise from the
horizon, and he saw more clearly around him, although he could not find
any good place to hide the handkerchiefs in. "I must and will," he said, "hide them securely; for it would, indeed,
be remarkably unpleasant, after coming here and winning my wages, to
have the proofs that I had done so taken away by some chance visitor to
the place." He at length saw a tolerably large stone, which stood, in a slant
position, up against one of the walls. Its size attracted him. He
thought, if his strength was sufficient to move it, that it would be a
good thing to do so, and to place the handkerchiefs beneath it; for, at
all events, it was so heavy that it could not be kicked aside, and no
one, without some sort of motive to do so, beyond the mere love of
labour, would set about moving it from its position. "I may go further and fare worse," he said to himself; "so here shall
all the handkerchiefs lie, to afford a proof that I have been here." He packed them into a small compass, and then stooped to roll aside the
heavy stone, when, at the moment, before he could apply his strength to
that purpose, he heard some one, in his immediate neighbourhood,
say,--"Hist!" This was so sudden, and so utterly unexpected, that he not only ceased
his exertions to move the stone, but he nearly fell down in his
surprise. "Hist--hist!" said the voice again. "What--what," gasped Tom Eccles--"what are you?"--"Hush--hush--hush!" The perspiration broke out upon his brow, and he leaned against the wall
for support, as he managed to say, faintly,--

"Well, hush--what then?"--"Hist!" "Well, I hear you. Where are you?" "Here at hand. Who are you?" "Tom Eccles. Who are you?" --"A friend. Have you seen anything?" "No; I wish I could. I should like to see you if I could." --"I'm
coming." There was a slow and cautious footstep, and Marchdale advanced to where
Tom Eccles was standing. "Come, now," said the latter, when he saw the dusky-looking form
stalking towards him; "till I know you better, I'll be obliged to you to
keep off. I am well armed. Keep your distance, be you friend or foe." "Armed!" exclaimed Marchdale, and he at once paused.--"Yes, I am." "But I am a friend. I have no sort of objection frankly to tell you my
errand. I am a friend of the Bannerworth family, and have kept watch
here now for two nights, in the hopes of meeting with Varney, the
vampyre." "The deuce you have: and pray what may your name be?"--"Marchdale." "If you be Mr. Marchdale, I know you by sight: for I have seen you with
Mr. Henry Bannerworth several times. Come out from among the shadows,
and let us have a look at you; but, till you do, don't come within arm's
length of me. I am not naturally suspicious; but we cannot be too
careful." "Oh! certainly--certainly. The silver edge of the moon is now just
peeping up from the east, and you will be able to see me well, if you
step from the shadow of the wall by which you now are." This was a reasonable enough proposition, and Tom Eccles at once acceded
to it, by stepping out boldly into the partial moonlight, which now
began to fall upon the open meadows, tinting the grass with a silvery
refulgence, and rendering even minute objects visible. The moment he saw
Marchdale he knew him, and, advancing frankly to him, he said,--

"I know you, sir, well." "And what brings you here?" --"A wager for one thing, and a wish to see
the vampyre for another." "Indeed!" --"Yes; I must own I have such a wish, along with a still
stronger one, to capture him, if possible; and, as there are now two of
us, why may we not do it?" "As for capturing him," said Marchdale, "I should prefer shooting
him." --"You would?" "I would, indeed. I have seen him once shot down, and he is now, I have
no doubt, as well as ever. What were you doing with that huge stone I
saw you bending over?" --"I have some handkerchiefs to hide here, as a
proof that I have to-night really been to this place." "Oh, I will show you a better spot, where there is a crevice in which
you can place them with perfect safety. Will you walk with me into the
ruins?"--"Willingly." "It's odd enough," remarked Marchdale, after he had shown Tom Eccles
where to hide the handkerchiefs, "that you and I should both be here
upon so similar an errand." --"I'm very glad of it. It robs the place of
its gloom, and makes it ten times more endurable than it otherwise would
be. What do you propose to do if you see the vampyre?" "I shall try a pistol bullet on him. You say you are armed?"--"Yes." "With pistols?"--"One. Here it is." "A huge weapon; loaded well, of course?" --"Oh, yes, I can depend upon
it; but I did not intend to use it, unless assailed." "'Tis well. What is that?"--"What--what?" "Don't you see anything there? Come farther back. Look--look.