An order was given by the officer in command
for them to dismount, which was at once obeyed, and the horses were
fastened by their bridles to the various trees with which the place
abounded. "They are going to oppose the mob on foot, with their carbines," said
the hangman; "there will be sad work here I am afraid." --"Well, at all
events," said Mr. Chillingworth, "I shall decline acting the part of a
spy here any longer; so here goes." "Hilloa! a friend,--a friend here, in the summer-house!" "Make it two friends," cried the hangman, "if you please, while you are
about it." A couple of the dragoons immediately appeared, and the doctor, with his
companion, were marched, as prisoners, before the officer in command. "What do you do here?" he said; "I was informed that the Hall was
deserted. Here, orderly, where is Mr. Adamson, the magistrate, who came
with me?" --"Close at hand sir, and he says he's not well." "Well, or ill, he must come here, and do something with these people." A magistrate of the district who had accompanied the troops, and been
accommodated with a seat behind one of the dragoons, which seemed very
much to have disagreed with him, for he was as pale as death, now
stepped forward. "You know me, Mr. Adamson?" said the doctor; "I am Mr. Chillingworth."--"Oh! yes; Lord bless you! how came you here?" "Never mind that just now; you can vouch for my having no connection
with the rioters."--"Oh! dear, yes; certainly. This is a respectable
gentleman, Captain Richardson, and a personal friend of mine." "Oh! very good." --"And I," said the doctor's companion, "am likewise a
respectable and useful member of society, and a great friend of Mr. Chillingworth." "Well, gentlemen," said the captain in command, "you may remain here, if
you like, and take the chances, or you may leave." They intimated that they preferred remaining, and, almost at the moment
that they did so, a loud shout from many throats announced the near
approach of the mob.--"Now, Mr. Magistrate, if you please," said the
officer; "you will be so good as to tell the mob that I am here with my
troop, under your orders, and strongly advise them to be off while they
can, with whole skins, for if they persevere in attacking the place, we
must persevere in defending it; and, if they have half a grain of sense
among them, they can surely guess what the result of that will be." "I will do the best I can, as Heaven is, my judge," said the magistrate,
"to produce a peaceable recall,--more no man can do." "Hurrah! hurrah!"' shouted the mob, "down with the Vampyre! down with
the Hall!" and then one, more candid than his fellows, shouted,--"Down
with everything and everybody!" "Ah!" remarked the officer; "that fellow now knows what he came about." A great number of torches and links were lighted by the mob, but the
moment the glare of light fell upon the helmets and accoutrements of the
military, there was a pause of consternation on the part of the
multitude, and Mr. Adamson, urged on by the officer, who, it was
evident, by no means liked the service he was on, took advantage of the
opportunity, and, stepping forward, he said,--

"My good people, and fellow townsmen, let me implore you to listen to
reason, and go to your homes in peace. If you do not, but, on the
contrary, in defiance of law and good order, persist in attacking this
house, it will become my painful duty to read the riot act, and then the
military and you will have to fight it out together, which I beg you
will avoid, for you know that some of you will be killed, and a lot more
of you receive painful wounds. Now disperse, let me beg of you, at
once." There seemed for a moment a disposition among the mob to give up the
contest, but there were others among them who were infuriated with
drink, and so regardless of all consequences. Those set up a shout of
"Down with the red coats; we are Englishmen, and will do what we like." Some one then threw a heavy stone, which struck one of the soldiers, and
brought blood from his cheek. The officer saw it, but he said at once,--

"Stand firm, now, stand firm. No anger--steady." "Twenty pounds for the man who threw that stone," said the
magistrate.--"Twenty pound ten for old Adamson, the magistrate," cried a
voice in the crowd, which, no doubt came from him who had cast the
missile. Then, at least fifty stones were thrown, some of which hit the
magistrate, and the remainder came rattling upon the helmets of the
dragoons, like a hail shower. "I warn you, and beg of you to go," said Mr. Adamson; "for the sake of
your wives and families, I beg of you not to pursue this desperate
game." Loud cries now arose of "Down with the soldiers; down with the vampyre. He's in Bannerworth Hall. Smoke him out." And then one or two links were
hurled among the dismounted dragoons. All this was put up with
patiently; and then again the mob were implored to leave, which being
answered by fresh taunts, the magistrate proceeded to read the riot act,
not one word of which was audible amid the tumult that prevailed. "Put out all the lights," cried a voice among the mob. The order was
obeyed, and the same voice added; "they dare not fire on us. Come on:"
and a rush was made at the garden wall. "Make ready--present," cried the officer. And then he added, in an under
tone, "above their heads, now--fire." There was a blaze of light for a moment, a stunning noise, a shout of
dismay from the mob, and in another moment all was still. "There," said Dr. Chillingworth, "that this is, at all events, a
bloodless victory." "You may depend upon that," said his companion; "but is not there some
one yet remaining? Look there, do you not see a figure clambering over
the fence?" "Yes, I do, indeed. Ah, they have him a prisoner, at all events. Those
two dragoons have him, fast enough; we shall now, perhaps, hear from
this fellow who is the actual ringleader in such an affair, which, but
for the pusillanimity of the mob, might have turned out to be really
most disastrous." It was strange how one man should think it expedient to attack the
military post after the mob had been so completely routed at the first
discharge of fire-arms, but so it was. One man did make an attempt to
enter the garden, and it was so rapid and so desperate an one, that he
rather seemed to throw himself bodily at the fence, which separated it
from the meadows without, than to clamber over it, as any one under
ordinary circumstances, who might wish to effect an entrance by that
means, would have done. He was no sooner, however, perceived, than a couple of the dismounted
soldiers stepped forward and made a prisoner of him. "Good God!" exclaimed Mr. Chillingworth, as they approached nearer with
him. "Good God! what is the meaning of that? Do my eyes deceive me, or
are they, indeed, so blessed?" "Blessed by what?" exclaimed the hangman. "By a sight of the long lost, deeply regretted Charles Holland. Charles--Charles, is that indeed you, or some unsubstantial form in your
likeness?"