CHAPTER CLXXII.
[Chapter 190]
THE VAMPYRE DISCOVERED. —THE ESCAPE ON THE THAMES.
"Enjoy myself!" muttered the young Lake, "enjoy myself! That may be his
idea of staying here vampyre-catching, but it ain't mine. What a fool I was
to consent to come here, to be sure, and all alone too. Eh, what was that?
Oh! I'm all of a shake. I though I heard somebody, but I suppose it was
nothing. Oh dear, what a disagreeable affair this is; what an infernal fool I
am, to be sure. Eh? eh?"
The hair on his head nearly stood up as he heard, or fancied he heard, a
low grown. He shook so while he arose from his seat that he was glad to sit
down again as quickly as he possibly could, for he found his strength
evaporating along with the Dutch courage, or rather as it should be called,
French courage, that had been instilled into him by the brandy.
"What shall I do," he gasped, "what shall I do? Oh, what will become of
me? I'm in for a row, I'm in for it to a certainty; I—I think I'll call the
old man.["]
He did not, however, call his father, whom he designated the old man,
more familiarly than respectfully, but as all continued now quiet, he thought
he would wait until the next alarm, at all events, before he made a piece of
work and thoroughly exhibited his own pusillanimity.
"It may be nothing" he said, "after all, perhaps only the wind coming
through some chink in a door or window. Lord bless us, I've read of such
things in romances till my blood had turned to curds and whey. There was the
Bloody Spectre of the Tub of Blood, or the Smashed Gore. Eh? eh? I thought
somebody spoke. No, no—oh, its all what do they call it, imagination,
that's what it is, and the sooner I get the job over the better, so I'll just
pop on the cloak, and do the business."
With trembling hands Mr. Lake junior drew the cloak from under the table
and put it on, bringing the collar of it right up to the top of his head, so
that but a small portion of his head was at all visible when he was thus
equipped, and he certainly might look like a vampyre, for he did not look like
anything human by any means.
"Now, I wonder if she's asleep," he muttered as he laid his hand gently
on the lock of the door, "if she ain't, it would be a pity; but still I can
say, I only wanted to know how she was, so I'll just make the trial at all
events. Here goes."
He opened the door of the bedroom a very short distance, and said, —
"Hist! hist! are you awake, eh? eh? What did you say? —nothing, oh,
she's asleep, and now here goes—upon my life when one comes to think of it,
it ain't by any means a bad plan. But just before I begin, I'll have another
drain,"
About two-thirds of a glass of brandy-and-water were in the tumbler on
the table, and that he tossed down at once, and feeling very much fortified by
laying in such a stratum of courage, he drew up the cloak to its proper
vampyre-like position, as he considered it, and advanced two steps within the
chamber of the sleeping girl.
She was sleeping, and slightly moaning in her sleep. It was a great
satisfaction to young master Lake, to hear her so moaning, for it convinced
him that such were the sounds which he previously heard, and which had gone
near to terrifying him out of his project.
He had no compunction whatever regarding the amount of alarm which this
dastardly project was likely to give to Miss Lake. No, all he looked to and
thought of was himself. A light was burning in the chamber, and that
according to the directions of his father he blew out, and then groping his
ways towards the bed, he laid his hands upon the young girl's face, and said,
—
"The vampyre! the vampyre has come! —blood, blood, blood! —the
vampyre!"
She awoke with a cry of terror as usual, and then master Lake moved off
to the door, and said in his natural voice,
"I'll protect you—I'm coming—I'll soon clear the room of the
vampyre. Come on, you wretch! Oh, I'll do for him. Take that—and that—
and that."
Then he commenced kicking about the chairs, and nearly upset the
washing-stand, all by way of making the necessary disturbance, and convincing
his cousin what a sanguinary conflict he was having with the vampyre. In the
midst of this something laid hold of him by the ears and whiskers on each side
of his head, and the door swinging open, his own light that was upon the table
in the corridor shone upon a hideous countenance within half an inch of his
own. The long fang-like teeth of which, with the lips retracted from them,
were horrible to look upon, and a voice like the growl of an enraged hyena
said, —
"What want you with the vampyre, rash fool? He is here."
Master Lake was absolutely petrified with horror and astonishment. The
hair bristled up upon his head. His eyes opened the width of saucers, and
when in a low voice the vampyre said again, —"What want you, reptile, with
the vampyre?" he let his feet slide from under him, and had he not been upheld
by the horrible being who grasped him, he would have fallen.
Bang went a pistol out of the corridor, and the vampyre uttered a cry and
let go his hold of Lake, who then fell, and being out of the way, showed his
father standing on the threshold of his own door, with a pistol in his hand
recently discharged, and another apparently ready.
In another moment the vampyre kicked the insensible form of young Lake
out of the way, and shut himself in the girl's bedroom. The father heard him
lock the door, and although he instantly sent another pistol shot through the
panelling, he heard no sound indicating its having done any execution.
"Help, help, help," he cried, "help here. The vampyre, the vampyre, the
vampyre!"
All this had not taken above two or three minutes, and the whole house
was now alarmed by the sound of fire-arms, and as nobody had completely
undressed themselves to go to bed since the first alarm of the vampyre, the
landlord and several of the waiters, and the night watchman ran with all speed
to the spot, looking full of consternation, and all asking questions together.
"Force the door, force the door," cried Mr. Lake, "a hammer, a hatchet,
anything, so that we may get the door forced; the vampyre is inside."
"Oh lor!" cried one of the waiters who had gone close to the door, but
who now made a precipitate retreat, treading upon the stomach of young Lake as
he did so.
"If you'll pay for the door, Sir," said the landlord, "I'll soon have it
open."
"Damn it, I'll pay for twenty doors."
The landlord took a short run at the door, probably he knew its weakness,
and burst it open at once. There was the pause of about a moment, and then
Mr. Lake, snatching up the candle, the light of which had first revealed the
hideous features of the vampyre to his son, rushed into the room.
In these cases all that is wanted is a leader, so he was promptly enough
followed. The state of affairs was evident at a glance. The young lady had
fainted, and the window was wide open, indicating the mode of retreat of the
vampire.
"I thought you told us," said Mr. Lake "that this window was too far from
the ground to anticipate any danger from-—"
"Yes, so I did, sir. But don't you see he could easy enough jump off the
sill on to those leads there. Nobody could get in by the window, but anybody
that wasn't afraid could get out. But we have him, sir, we have him now as
sure as a gun."
"Have him. How?"
"Why don't you see sir, there's nothing but high walls. He must be among
our stables, and he can't get out, for I have the keys of the outer doors
myself, we shall not lose him now, sir, I'm not a little thankful for it.
Come on, everybody, round to the stables, and nothing now can prevent us
catching him if he is flesh and blood. Come on, come on."
By this time Mrs. Lake had reached the scene of action, and although the
first thing she did was to tumble, sprawling, over her hopeful son, who lay in
the door-way of his cousin's chamber, she gathered herself up again, and
remained in charge of Annette and the chamber, while Mr. Lake
accompanied the landlord and the waiters to the stables of the hotel, which
were surrounded by high walls and only to be approached by a pair of large
gates, which were quite satisfactorily fastened, and there was not a chink
large enough for a cat to get through.
The landlord had the keys, and he opened a small wicket in one of the
large gates.
"Now be careful," he said, "for fear he bounces out."
At this everybody but Mr. Lake, who to do him but justice, had certainly
the quality of courage, looked as alarmed as possible, but he said, —
"I have re-loaded my pistols, and he shall not escape me."
The wicket was opened, and in an instant out walked Mr. Black! He
appeared at first somewhat agitated, but speedily recovered his
self-possession, and looking at the group, he said, —
"Have you caught him? I have been upon the look out, notwithstanding my
indisposition, and jumped out of the bedroom window after him; I cannot see
him anywhere. Have you caught him."
"Yes," cried Mr. Lake, "I saw you in the room when I fired at you—you
are the vampyre!["]
He made a rush forward as he spoke, but Mr. Black got dexterously out of
the way, and seizing the landlord by the hair of the head he cast him so
fairly in Mr. Lake's way that they both fell down together; with amazing
rapidity the vampyre then fled from the spot.
"After him, after him," cried Mr. Lake, as he scrambled to his feet,
"don't let him escape, after him, whatever you do; alarm the whole city,
rather than let the monster elude you. This way—this way, I see him.
Follow me, a vampyre, a vampyre; help—help, seize him, a vampyre!"
"Fire," cried the landlord, and he too ran.
But all the running was in vain, the vampyre had fairly got the start of
them, and he took good care to keep it, for with the most wonderful fleetness
he ran on, until, to his great relief, he found his pursuers were distanced.
He made his way to the Strand, and diving down one of the narrow streets
terminated by the river, and at the end of which was a landing place, he
called aloud, —
"Boat, boat!"
An old waterman answered the hail.
"Where to, your honour?"
"Up the river, I will tell you where to land me, row quick, and row well,
and you may name your own fare, without a chance of its being questioned."
"That's the customer for me," said the waterman.
—