CCVIII. THE NIGHT WATCH.—THE SURPRISE.—THE CHASE. CCIX. THE FUNERAL.—A STRANGE INCIDENT. CCX. THE STRANGE VISITOR TO THE OLD CHURCH AT NIGHT. CCXI. WILL STEPHENS’S VISIT TO THE FAMILY VAULT WITH THE SAW-DUST, AND WHAT HE SAW THERE. CCXII. THE APPARITION IN THE CHURCH.—WILL STEPHENS’S SWOON.—THE MORNING. CCXIII. THE ALARM FROM THE BELFRY.—THE BEADLE IN A QUANDARY. CCXIV. THE CLERGYMAN’S VISIT TO THE VAULT.—RESCUE OF THE SEXTON. CCXV. THE YOUNG LOVER’S MIDNIGHT WATCH. CCXVI. THE HORRORS OF THE GRAVE.—A FRIGHTFUL ADVENTURE. CCXVII. THE MIDNIGHT HOUR.—THE STONE SLAB.—THE VAMPYRE. CCXVIII. THE YOUNG GIRL IN THE VILLAGE, AND THE AWFUL VISIT. CCXIX. THE AWFUL SUPPOSITION.—A RESOLUTION. CCXX. THE GRAND CONSULTATION AT THE ALE-HOUSE.—THE AWFUL SUGGESTION. CCXXI. THE NIGHT WATCH.—THE VAULT. CCXXII. THE MADMAN.—THE VAMPYRE. CCXXIII. THE HUNT OF THE VAMPYRE. CCXXIII. THE FATE OF SIR GEORGE.—THE CROSS-ROAD. CCXXV. THE SOLITARY MAN.—VARNEY’S DESPAIR. CCXXVI. THE STRANGE GUEST.—THE LITTLE CHAPEL.—VARNEY’S NARRATIVE. CCXXVII. VARNEY OPENS THE VAST STORE-HOUSE OF HIS MEMORY. CCXXVIII. THE FLIGHT OF THE VAMPYRE.—THE MASS. CCXXIX. THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE. CCXXX. VARNEY GIVES SOME PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF. CCXXXI. A SINGULAR INTERVIEW, AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF PASSION. CCXXXII. VARNEY’S NARRATIVE CONTINUED. CCXXXIII. THE NIGHT ATTACK.—THE HORRIBLE CONCLUSION. CCXXXIV. VARNEY DETAILS HIS SECOND DEATH. CCXXXV. THE PALACE GARDEN IN ST JAMES’S. CCXXXVI. AN ADVENTURE.—THE CARBINE SHOT.—THE DEATH. CCXXXVII. THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF VARNEY THE VAMPYRE, AND CONCLUSION. PREFACE The unprecedented success of the romance of “Varney the Vampyre,” leave the Author but little to say further, than that he accepts that success and its results as gratefully as it is possible for any one to do popular favors. A belief in the existence of Vampyres first took its rise in Norway and Sweden, from whence it rapidly spread to more southern regions, taking a firm hold of the imaginations of the more credulous portion of mankind. The following romance is collected from seemingly the most authentic sources, and the Author must leave the question of credibility entirely to his readers, not even thinking that he his peculiarly called upon to express his own opinion upon the subject. Nothing has been omitted in the life of the unhappy Varney, which could tend to throw a light upon his most extraordinary career, and the fact of his death just as it is here related, made a great noise at the time through Europe, and is to be found in the public prints for the year 1713.