nnerworth and his brother were the furthest off from the vampyre; and,
unhappily, in the rush which they, as soon us possible, made towards
him, they knocked down the admiral, who impeded them much; and, before
they could spring over, or past him, Sir Francis Varney was gone.

So sudden, too, had been his departure, that they had not the least idea
in which direction he had gone; so that to follow him would have been a
work of the greatest possible difficulty.

Notwithstanding, however, both the difficulty and the danger, for no
doubt the vampyre was well enough armed, Henry and his brother both
rushed after the murderer, as they now believed him to be, in the route
which they thought it was most probable he would take, namely, that
which led towards the garden gate.

They reached that spot in a few moments, but all was profoundly still.
Not the least trace of any one could be seen, high or low, and they were
compelled, after a cursory examination, to admit that Sir Francis Varney
had again made his escape, despite the great odds that were against him
in point of numbers.

"He has gone," said Henry. "Let us go back, and see into the state of
poor Dr. Chillingworth, who, I fear, is a dead man."

They hurried back to the spot, and there they found the admiral looking
as composed as possible, and solacing himself with a pinch of snuff, as
he gazed upon the apparently lifeless form at his feet.

"Is he dead?" said Henry.

"I should say he was," replied the admiral; "such a shot as that was
don't want to be repeated. Well, I liked the doctor with all his faults.
He only had one foolish way with him, and that was, that he shirked his
grog."

"This is an awful catastrophe," said Henry, as he knelt down by the side
of the body. "Assist me, some of you. Where is Charles?"

"I'll be hanged," said the admiral, "if I know. He disappeared
somewhere."

"This is a night of mystery as well as terror. Alas! poor Dr.
Chillingworth! I little thought that you would have fallen a victim to
the man whom you preserved from death. How strange it is that you should
have snatched from the tomb the very individual who was, eventually, to
take your own life."

The brothers gently raised the body of the doctor, and carried it on to
the glass plot, which was close at hand.

"Farewell, kind and honest-hearted Chillingworth," said Henry; "I shall,
many and many a time, feel your loss; and now I will rest not until I
have delivered up to