the ruins! to the ruins! We'll smoke him
out if he will not come by fair means: we must have him, dead or alive."

"Yes, to the ruins!" shouted the throng of persons, who up to this time
had preserved so cautious a silence, and, in a few moments more, Henry
Bannerworth had the satisfaction of finding that his ruse had been
perfectly successful, for Bannerworth Hall and its vicinity were
completely deserted, and the mob, in a straggling mass, went over hedge
and ditch towards those ruins in which there was nothing to reward the
exertions they might choose to make in the way of an exploration of
them, but the dead body of the villain Marchdale, who had come there to
so dreadful, but so deserved a death.

CHAPTER LXXX.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE BODY OF MARCHDALE IN THE RUINS BY THE MOB.--THE
BURNING OF THE CORPSE.--THE MURDER OF THE HANGMAN.

[Illustration]

The mob reached the ruins of Bannerworth Hall, and crowded round it on
all sides, with the view of ascertaining if a human creature, dead or
alive, were there; various surmises were afloat, and some were for
considering that everybody but themselves, or their friends, must be
nothing less than vampyres. Indeed, a strange man, suddenly appearing
among them, would have caused a sensation, and a ring would no doubt
have been formed round him, and then a hasty council held, or, what was
more probable, some shout, or word uttered by some one behind, who could
not understand what was going on in front, would have determined them to
commit some desperate outrage, and the sacrifice of life would have been
the inevitable result of such an unfortunate concurrence of
circumstances.

There was a pause before anyone ventured among the ruins; the walls were
carefully looked to, and in more than one instance, but they were found
dangerous, what were remaining; some parts had been so completely
destroyed, that there were nothing but heaps of rubbish.

However, curiosity was exerted to such an extraordinary pitch that it
overcame the fear of danger, in search of the horrible; for they
believed that if there were any one in the ruins he must be a vampyre,
of course, and they were somewhat cautious in going near such a
creature, lest in so doing they should meet with some accident, and
become vampyres too.

This was a dreadful reflection, and one that every now and then
impressed itself upon the individuals composing the mob; but at the same
time any new impulse, or a shou