pected from Varney; and being fearful that if he urged this
strange being too far, at a time when he did not wish it, he might
refuse all further communication, he thought it prudent to leave him, so
he said to him,--

"Be assured, Varney, I shall keep the appointment you have made, with an
expectation when we do meet of being rewarded by a recital of some full
particulars."

"You shall not he disappointed; farewell, farewell!"

Charles Holland bade him adieu, and left the place.

Although he had now acquired all the information he hoped to take away
with him when Varney first began to be communicative, yet, when he came
to consider how strange and unaccountable a being he had been in
communication with, Charles could not but congratulate himself that he
had heard so much, for, from the manner of Varney, he could well suppose
that that was, indeed, the first time he had been so communicative upon
subjects which evidently held so conspicuous a place in his heart.

And he had abundance of hope, likewise, from what had been said by
Varney, that he would keep his word, and communicate to him fully all
else that he required to know; and when he recollected those words which
Varney had used, signifying that he knew the danger of half confidences,
that hope grew into a certainty, and Charles began to have no doubt but
that on the next evening all that was mysterious in the various affairs
connected with the vampyre would become clear and open to the light of
day.

He strolled down the lane in which the lone house was situated,
revolving these matters in his mind, and when he arrived at its
entrance, he was rather surprised to see a throng of persons hastily
moving onward, with come appearance of dismay about them, and anxiety
depicted upon their countenances.

He stopped a lad, and inquired of him the cause of the seeming tumult.

"Why, sir, the fact is," said the boy, "a crowd from the town's been
burning down Bannerworth Hall, and they've killed a man"

"Bannerworth Hall! you must be mistaken."

"Well, sir, I ought not to call it Bannerworth Hall, because I mean the
old ruins in the neighbourhood that are supposed to have been originally
Bannerworth Hall before the house now called such was built; and,
moreover, as the Bannerworths have always had a garden there, and two or
three old sheds, the people in the town called it Bannerworth Hall in
common with the other building."

"I understand. And do you say that a