Dear me, how
lamentable for his poor mother." "This will not do, Sir Francis Varney _alias_ Bannerworth." "Oh--oh! Be calm--be calm." "I defy you to your teeth, sir! No, God, no! Your teeth!" "Poor lad! Poor lad!" "You are a cowardly demon, and here I swear to devote myself to your
destruction." Sir Francis Varney drew himself up to his full height, and that was
immense, as he said to Henry,--

"I pray you, Mr. Bannerworth, since I am thus grievously insulted
beneath your roof, to tell me if your friend here be mad or sane?" "He's not mad." "Then--"

"Hold, sir! The quarrel shall be mine. In the name of my persecuted
sister--in the name of Heaven. Sir Francis Varney, I defy you." Sir Francis, in spite of his impenetrable calmness, appeared somewhat
moved, as he said,--

"I have already endured insult sufficient--I will endure no more. If
there are weapons at hand--"

"My young friend," interrupted Mr. Marchdale, stepping between the
excited men, "is carried away by his feelings, and knows not what he
says. You will look upon it in that light, Sir Francis." "We need no interference," exclaimed Varney, his hitherto bland voice
changing to one of fury. "The hot blooded fool wishes to fight, and he
shall--to the death--to the death." [Illustration]

"And I say he shall not," exclaimed Mr. Marchdale, taking Henry by the
arm. "George," he added, turning to the young man, "assist me in
persuading your brother to leave the room. Conceive the agony of your
sister and mother if anything should happen to him." Varney smiled with a devilish sneer, as he listened to these words, and
then he said,--

"As you will--as you will. There will be plenty of time, and perhaps
better opportunity, gentlemen. I bid you good day." And with provoking coolness, he then moved towards the door, and quitted
the room. "Remain here," said Marchdale; "I will follow him, and see that he quits
the premises." He did so, and the young men, from the window, beheld Sir Francis
walking slowly across the garden, and then saw Mr. Marchdale follow on
his track. While they were thus occupied, a tremendous ringing came at the gate,
but their attention was so rivetted to what was passing in the garden,
that they paid not the least attention to it. CHAPTER XVIII. THE ADMIRAL'S ADVICE.--THE CHALLENGE TO THE VAMPYRE.--THE NEW SERVANT AT
THE HALL. [Illustration]

The violent ringing of the bell continued uninterruptedly until at
length George volunteered to answer it. The fact was, that now there was
no servant at all in the place for, after the one who had recently
demanded of Henry her dismissal had left, the other was terrified to
remain alone, and had precipitately gone from the house, without even
going through the ceremony of announcing her intention to. To be sure,
she sent a boy for her money afterwards, which may be considered a great
act of condescension. Suspecting, then, this state of things, George himself hastened to the
gate, and, being not over well pleased at the continuous and unnecessary
ringing which was kept up at it, he opened it quickly, and cried, with
more impatience, by a vast amount, than was usual with him. "Who is so impatient that he cannot wait a seasonable time for the door
to be opened?" "And who the d----l are you?" cried one who was immediately outside. "Who do you want?" cried George. "Shiver my timbers!" cried Admiral Bell, for it was no other than that
personage. "What's that to you?" "Ay, ay," added Jack, "answer that if you can, you shore-going-looking
swab." "Two madmen, I suppose," ejaculated George, and he would have closed the
gate upon them; but Jack introduced between it and the post the end of a
thick stick, saying,--

"Avast there! None of that; we have had trouble enough to get in. If you
are the family lawyer, or the chaplain, perhaps you'll tell us where
Mister Charley is." "Once more I demand of you who you want?" said George, who was now
perhaps a little amused at the conduct of the impatient visitors. "We want the admiral's _nevey_" said Jack. "But how do I know who is the admiral's _nevey_ as you call him." "Why, Charles Holland, to be sure. Have you got him aboard or not?" "Mr. Charles Holland is certainly here; and, if you had said at once,
and explicitly, that you wished to see him, I could have given you a
direct answer." "He is here?" cried the admiral. "Most certainly." "Come along, then; yet, stop a bit. I say, young fellow, just before we
go any further, tell us if he has maimed the vampyre?" "The what? "The _wamphigher_," said Jack, by way of being, as he considered, a
little more explanatory than the admiral. "I do not know what you mean," said George; "if you wish to see Mr.
Charles Holland walk in and see him. He is in this house; but, for
myself, as you are strangers to me, I decline answering any questions,
let their import be what they may." "Hilloa! who are they?" suddenly cried Jack, as he pointed to two
figures some distance off in the meadows, who appeared to be angrily
conversing. George glanced in the direction towards which Jack pointed, and there he
saw Sir Francis Varney and Mr. Marchdale standing within a few paces of
each other, and apparently engaged in some angry discussion. His first impulse was to go immediately towards them; but, before he
could execute even that suggestion of his mind, he saw Varney strike
Marchdale, and the latter fell to the ground. "Allow me to pass," cried George, as he endeavoured to get by the rather
unwieldy form of the admiral. But, before he could accomplish this, for
the gate was narrow, he saw Varney, with great swiftness, make off, and
Marchdale, rising to his feet, came towards the Hall. When Marchdale got near enough to the garden-gate to see George, he
motioned to him to remain where he was, and then, quickening his pace,
he soon came up to the spot. "Marchdale," cried George, "you have had an encounter with Sir Francis
Varney." "I have," said Marchdale, in an excited manner. "I threatened to follow
him, but he struck me to the earth as easily as I could a child. His
strength is superhuman." "I saw you fall." "I believe, but that he was observed, he would have murdered me." "Indeed!" "What, do you mean to say that lankey, horse-marine looking fellow is as
bad as that!" said the admiral. Marchdale now turned his attention to the two new comers, upon whom he
looked with some surprise, and then, turning to George, he said,--

"Is this gentleman a visitor?" "To Mr. Holland, I believe he is," said George; "but I have not the
pleasure of knowing his name." "Oh, you may know my name as soon as you like," cried the admiral. "The
enemies of old England know it, and I don't care if all the world knows
it. I'm old Admiral Bell, something of a hulk now, but still able to
head a quarter-deck if there was any need to do so."