Cruel As The Grave Part 53

"I declare, I never in all my life supped out so frequently as I have done since you two have been housekeeping in this old Haunted Chapel!

And by the way, talking of that, have you seen any more apparitions? any more spectral gipsy girls? or shrouded forms? or shadowy coffins? or open vaults? eh, Mrs. Berners?" laughingly inquired Captain Pendleton.

"No, nothing unusual has disturbed us, either last night or to-day. But now, talking of open vaults, have you brought the crowbar to force the door, sir?" said Sybil, turning sharply to the Captain.

"Yes, dear Mrs. Berners; since I promised to bring it, I felt bound to do so; though I hope you will not really have it put to use."

"Just as soon as supper is over, I will have that door forced open. I will see what that mysterious vault holds," said Sybil, firmly.

And she almost kept her word.

As soon as they had finished the evening meal, she arose and called upon the gentlemen to go with her and force the door of the vault.

And they went and inserted the crowbar between the grating and the stonework, and wrenched with all their united strength; but their efforts availed nothing, even to move the door.

They gave over their exertions to recover their breath, and when they had got it they began again with renewed vigor; but with no better success. Again they stopped to breathe, and again they re-commenced the task with all their might; but after working as hard as they could for fifteen minutes longer, they again ceased from sheer exhaustion, leaving the door as fast as they had found it.

"It is of no use to try longer, Sybil. We cannot force it," said Mr.

Berners.

"I see that you cannot. The vault keeps its secrets well," she answered, solemnly.

And then they returned to their seats near the fire, and sat and talked over the projected journey until it was time for Captain Pendleton to go.

When the husband and wife were left alone, they felt themselves tired enough to go to rest, with a prospect of getting a good night's sleep.

"This is the last night that we shall spend in this place, dear Sybil,"

said Lyon Berners, as he put the smouldering brands together to keep the fire up till morning.

Sybil replied with a deep yawn.

And in a few minutes they laid down to rest, and in a very few more they fell asleep.

How long they had slept Sybil had no means of knowing, when she was awakened by an impression that some cold damp creature had laid down on the front of the mattress close beside her. She opened her eyes and strained them around in a vague dread, but the inside of the chapel was dark as pitch. The fire had gone entirely out; she could not even see the outlines of the Gothic windows; all was black as Tartarus. But still--oh, horror!--she felt the cold damp form pressing close beside her.

A speechless, breathless awe possessed her. She could not scream, but she cautiously put out her hand to make sure whether she was dreaming, when--horror upon horror!--it touched a clammy face!

Still she did not cry out, for some potent spell seemed to bind her which at once tied her tongue and moved her hand; for that hand pa.s.sed down over the slender form and straight limbs, and then up again, until it reached the still bosom, when--climax of horror!--it was caught and clasped in the clay-cold hand of the--WHAT?

CHAPTER XXIX.

GHOSTLY AND MYSTERIOUS

On horror's head Horrors acc.u.mulate.--Thompson.

An icy sweat of terror bathed Sybil's form. She tried to cry out, and did utter a low half-stifled scream. But the cold fingers of the ghastly creature closed tightly upon hers, and a thin, hollow voice murmured:

"Hush; don't you make a noise; don't be frightened. I can't hurt you.

I'm chilled almost to death. And you were so warm. I crept to your side to tell you something. You are in hiding here, and so--_Ah-h-h_!"

The reed-like murmur ended in a terrific shriek. There was a silent movement, and Sybil felt the clammy form s.n.a.t.c.hed up from her side and borne away in the darkness.

And then the spell that had bound her faculties was unloosed, and she uttered scream after scream as she shook and awakened her husband.

"In the name of Heaven, Sybil, what now?" he exclaimed, as he started up into a sitting posture.

"Oh, Lyon! for the love of mercy, get up! Get a light! I shall go mad in this horrible place!" she cried in a perfect frenzy of terror.

"Calm yourself, Sybil. There is nothing to fear. I am here with you. I will strike a light," answered Lyon Berners quietly, as he got up and groped about in the darkness for the tinder-box.

Striking a light in those days was not the quick and easy matter that it is now. When the tinder-box was at length found, the flint and steel had to be struck together until a spark was elicited to set fire to the tinder. So it was full five minutes from the time Lyon was awakened, to the moment that he lit the candle and looked upon the pale and horror-stricken face of his wife.

"Now then, Sybil, what is it?" he inquired.

"Oh, what is it! This place is full of devils!" she cried, shaking as with an ague fit.

"My dear wife!" he said, in surprise and concern to see her shudder so fearfully, to hear her speak so wildly.

"It _is_, I tell you, full of devils, Lyon!" she repeated with chattering teeth.

There chanced to be a little wine in their stores. He went and poured some into a gla.s.s and brought it to her, made her drink it.

"Now then, tell me what has thrown you into this state? What has happened to terrify you so much? another dream, vision, apparition?

what?" he inquired, as he took from her hand the empty gla.s.s.

"Oh, no, no, no! no dream, no vision, nothing of that sort. It was too dark to see anything, you know; but oh! it was something so ghastly and horrible that I shall never, never get over it!" she exclaimed, while shudder after shudder shook her frame.

"Tell me," he said soothingly.

"Oh, it was a damp girl!" she cried.

"A damp girl!" he echoed in amazement and alarm; for he almost feared his dear wife was going crazy.

"Oh yes, a damp girl! A clay-cold, clammy, corpse-like form of a girl!"

"Where? when? what about her?"

"Oh, I woke up and felt her lying by my side! so close that she chilled and oppressed me! I put out my hand, and she caught it in her deathly fingers! I screamed, but she spoke to me! She was about to tell me something, when she was suddenly s.n.a.t.c.hed up and torn away!"

"My dear Sybil, this was nightmare again!"

"Oh, no, no, no! I have had nightmare, and know what it is! It is not like this! All this was real, as real as you and I! This place is full of devils!"

"My darling wife, have you lost your senses?"