There was a half shout of satisfaction at this result, while some of the congregation turned pale, and trembled at the prospect of the sight which was about to present itself; the coffin was dragged from the grave’s brink fairly among the long rank grass that flourished in the churchyard, and then they all looked at it for a time, and the men who had been most earnest in raising it wiped the perspiration from their brows, and seemed to shrink from the task of opening that receptacle of the dead now that it was fairly in their power so to do.

Each man looked anxiously in his neighbour’s face, and several audibly wondered why somebody else didn’t open the coffin.

“There’s no harm in it,” said one; “if he’s a vampyre, we ought to know it; and, if he ain’t, we can’t do any hurt to a dead man.”

“Oughtn’t we to have the service for the dead?” said one.

“Yes,” said the impertinent boy who had before received the knock on the head, “I think we ought to have that read backwards.”

This ingenious idea was recompensed by a great many kicks and cuffs, which ought to have been sufficient to have warned him of the great danger of being a little before his age in wit.

“Where’s the use of shirking the job?” cried he who had been so active in shoveling the mud upon the multitude; “why, you cowardly sneaking set of humbugs, you’re half afraid, now.”

“Afraid—­afraid!” cried everybody:  “who’s afraid.”

“Ah, who’s afraid?” said a little man, advancing, and assuming an heroic attitude; “I always notice, if anybody’s afraid, it’s some big fellow, with more bones than brains.”

At this moment, the man to whom this reproach was more particularly levelled, raised a horrible shout of terror, and cried out, in frantic accents,—­

“He’s a-coming—­he’s a-coming!”

The little man fell at once into the grave, while the mob, with one accord, turned tail, and fled in all directions, leaving him alone with the coffin.  Such a fighting, and kicking, and scrambling ensued to get over the wall of the grave-yard, that this great fellow, who had caused all the mischief, burst into such peals of laughter that the majority of the people became aware that it was a joke, and came creeping back, looking as sheepish as possible.

Some got up very faint sorts of laugh, and said “very good,” and swore they saw what big Dick meant from the first, and only ran to make the others run.

“Very good,” said Dick, “I’m glad you enjoyed it, that’s all.  My eye, what a scampering there was among you.  Where’s my little friend, who was so infernally cunning about bones and brains?”

With some difficulty the little man was extricated from the grave, and then, oh, for the consistency of a mob! they all laughed at him; those very people who, heedless of all the amenities of existence, had been trampling upon each other, and roaring with terror, actually had the impudence to laugh at him, and call him a cowardly little rascal, and say it served him right.