At the first building of the church, and the enclosure of its graveyard,
two pairs of these massive gates had been presented by some munificent
patron; but, after a time, they hung idly upon their hinges, ornamental
certainly, but useless, while a couple of turnstiles, to keep cattle
from straying within the sacred precincts, did duty instead, and
established, without trouble, the regular thoroughfare, which long habit
had dictated as necessary, through the place of sepulture. But now those gates were closed, and for once were doing duty. Heaven
only knows how they had been moved upon their rusty and time-worn
hinges. The mob, however, was checked for the moment, and it was clear
that the ecclesiastical authorities were resolved to attempt something
to prevent the desecration of the tombs. Those gates were sufficiently strong to resist the first vigorous shake
which was given to them by some of the foremost among the crowd, and
then one fellow started the idea that they might be opened from the
inside, and volunteered to clamber over the wall to do so. Hoisted up upon the shoulders of several, he grasped the top of the
wall, and raised his head above its level, and then something of a
mysterious nature rose up from the inside, and dealt him such a whack
between the eyes, that down he went sprawling among his coadjutors. Now, nobody had seen how this injury had been inflicted, and the policy
of those in the garrison should have been certainly to keep up the
mystery, and leave the invaders in ignorance of what sort of person it
was that had so foiled them. Man, however, is prone to indulge in vain
glorification, and the secret was exploded by the triumphant waving of
the long staff of the beadle, with the gilt knob at the end of it, just
over the parapet of the wall, in token of victory. "It's Waggles! it's Waggles!" cried everybody "it's Waggles, the
beadle!" "Yes," said a voice from within, "it's Waggles, the beadle; and he
thinks as he had yer there rather; try it again. The church isn't in
danger; oh, no. What do you think of this?" The staff was flourished more vigorously than ever, and in the secure
position that Waggles occupied it seemed not only impossible to attack
him, but that he possessed wonderful powers of resistance, for the staff
was long and the knob was heavy. It was a boy who hit upon the ingenious expedient of throwing up a great
stone, so that it just fell inside the wall, and hit Waggles a great
blow on the head. The staff was flourished more vigorously than ever, and the mob, in the
ecstasy at the fun which was going on, almost forgot the errand which
had brought them. Perhaps after all the affair might have passed off jestingly, had not
there been some really mischievous persons among the throng who were
determined that such should not be the case, and they incited the
multitude to commence an attack upon the gates, which in a few moments
must have produced their entire demolition. Suddenly, however, the boldest drew back, and there was a pause, as the
well-known form of the clergyman appeared advancing from the church
door, attired in full canonicals. "There's Mr. Leigh," said several; "how unlucky he should be here." "What is this?" said the clergyman, approaching the gates. "Can I
believe my eyes when I see before me those who compose the worshippers
at this church armed, and attempting to enter for the purpose of
violence to this sacred place! Oh! let me beseech you, lose not a
moment, but return to your homes, and repent of that which you have
already done. It is not yet too late; listen, I pray you, to the voice
of one with whom you have so often joined in prayer to the throne of the
Almighty, who is now looking upon your actions." This appeal was heard respectfully, but it was evidently very far from
suiting the feelings and the wishes of those to whom it was addressed;
the presence of the clergyman was evidently an unexpected circumstance,
and the more especially too as he appeared in that costume which they
had been accustomed to regard with a reverence almost amounting to
veneration. He saw the favourable effect he had produced, and anxious to
follow it up, he added,--

"Let this little ebullition of feeling pass away, my friends; and,
believe me, when I assure you upon my sacred word, that whatever ground
there may be for complaint or subject for inquiry, shall be fully and
fairly met; and that the greatest exertions shall be made to restore
peace and tranquillity to all of you." "It's all about the vampyre!" cried one fellow--"Mr. Leigh, how should
you like a vampyre in the pulpit?" "Hush, hush! can it be possible that you know so little of the works of
that great Being whom you all pretend to adore, as to believe that he
would create any class of beings of a nature such as those you ascribe
to that terrific word! Oh, let me pray of you to get rid of these
superstitions--alike disgraceful to yourselves and afflicting to me." The clergyman had the satisfaction of seeing the crowd rapidly thinning
from before the gates, and he believed his exhortations were having all
the effect he wished. It was not until he heard a loud shout behind him,
and, upon hastily turning, saw that the churchyard had been scaled at
another place by some fifty or sixty persons, that his heart sunk within
him, and he began to feel that what he had dreaded would surely come to
pass. Even then he might have done something in the way of pacific exertion,
but for the interference of Waggles, the beadle, who spoilt everything. CHAPTER XLV. THE OPEN GRAVES.--THE DEAD BODIES.--A SCENE OF TERROR. [Illustration]

We have said Waggles spoilt everything, and so he did, for before Mr.
Leigh could utter a word more, or advance two steps towards the rioters,
Waggles charged them staff in hand, and there soon ensued a riot of a
most formidable description. A kind of desperation seemed to have seized the beadle, and certainly,
by his sudden and unexpected attack, he achieved wonders. When, however,
a dozen hands got hold of the staff, and it was wrenched from him, and
he was knocked down, and half-a-dozen people rolled over him, Waggles
was not near the man he had been, and he would have been very well
content to have lain quiet where he was; this, however, he was not
permitted to do, for two or three, who had felt what a weighty
instrument of warfare the parochial staff was, lifted him bodily from
the ground, and canted him over the wall, without much regard to whether
he fell on a hard or a soft place on the other side. This feat accomplished, no further attention was paid to Mr. Leigh, who,
finding that his exhortations were quite unheeded, retired into the
church with an appearance of deep affliction about him, and locked
himself in the vestry.