“Sir, you do me much honour,” said the doctor.

“None at all, none at all; I suppose you know all about this infernal odd vampyre business?”

“I believe I do, sir.”

“And what do you think of it?”

“I think time will develop the circumstances sufficiently to convince us all that such things cannot be.”

“D—­n me, you are the most sensible fellow, then, that I have yet met with since I have been in this neighbourhood; for everybody else is so convinced about the vampyre, that they are ready to swear by him.”

“It would take much more to convince me.  I was coming over here when I met Mr. George Bannerworth coming to my house.”

“Yes,” said George, “and Mr. Chillingworth has something to tell us of a nature confirmatory of our own suspicions.”

“It is strange,” said Henry; “but any piece of news, come it from what quarter it may, seems to be confirmatory, in some degree or another, of that dreadful belief in vampyres.”

“Why,” said the doctor, “when Mr. George says that my news is of such a character, I think he goes a little too far.  What I have to tell you, I do not conceive has anything whatever to do with the fact, or one fact of there being vampyres.”

“Let us hear it,” said Henry.

“It is simply this, that I was sent for by Sir Francis Varney myself.”

“You sent for?”

“Yes; he sent for me by a special messenger to come to him, and when I went, which, under the circumstances, you may well guess, I did with all the celerity possible, I found it was to consult me about a flesh wound in his arm, which was showing some angry symptoms.”

“Indeed.”

“Yes, it was so.  When I was introduced to him I found him lying on a couch, and looking pale and unwell.  In the most respectful manner, he asked me to be seated, and when I had taken a chair, he added,—­

“’Mr. Chillingworth, I have sent for you in consequence of a slight accident which has happened to my arm.  I was incautiously loading some fire-arms, and discharged a pistol so close to me that the bullet inflicted a wound on my arm.’

“’If you will allow me,” said I, ’to see the wound, I will give you my opinion.’

“He then showed me a jagged wound, which had evidently been caused by the passage of a bullet, which, had it gone a little deeper, must have inflicted serious injury.  As it was, the wound was but trifling.

“He had evidently been attempting to dress it himself, but finding some considerable inflammation, he very likely got a little alarmed.”

“You dressed the wound?”

“I did.”

“And what do you think of Sir Francis Varney, now that you have had so capital an opportunity,” said Henry, “of a close examination of him?”

“Why, there is certainly something odd about him which I cannot well define, but, take him altogether, he can be a very gentlemanly man indeed.”