Cruel as the grave
"Thank Heaven! we will not have to stay here a day longer. We leave,
this coming evening. And see! the morning is dawning, Sybil; and with
the coming of the light, all these shadows of darkness and phantoms of
fear will flee away," said Lyon with a smile.
"Oh, you don't believe me. You never do believe me. But oh! let me tell
you all about this ghastly thing, and then perhaps you will see that it
is real," said Sybil.
And still in much agitation of spirits, she told him all the
particulars of her strange visitation.
He still believed in his soul that she had been the victim of incubus,
but he would not vex her by persisting in saying so. He only repeated
that the morning was at hand, when all the terrors of the night would be
dispersed; and added that they would not have to pass another night in
the "demon-peopled place," as this would be the very last day of their
stay.
As soon as it was light enough, they dressed themselves, and set about
their simple daily work. He made the fire, and brought the water; and
she cleared up their housekeeping corner, and prepared the breakfast.
When the sun arose and streamed in at the east windows, lighting up
every nook about the interior of the old chapel, they saw that
everything remained in the same condition in which they had left it when
they had gone to rest on the evening previous.
Lyon Berners felt more than ever convinced that his dear Sybil had been
the victim of repeated nightmares; that all the seemingly supernatural
phenomena of the Haunted Chapel had been only the creation of her own
morbid imagination; that nothing connected with the mystery had been
real, with the exception of the appearance of the girl in the red cloak,
whom Mr. Berners decided to be an ordinary human habitue of the place.
But the idea of this visitor made him only the more anxious for Sybil's
sake, to get away.
This last day of their sojourn in the Haunted Chapel was passed by the
refugees in great impatience, but without any event worth recording.
With the night came their untiring friend Captain Pendleton, attended by
Joe, who bore upon his broad back a large pack containing the disguises.
After the usual greetings, and while Sybil, with a woman's curiosity,
was examining the contents of the pack which Joe opened and displayed
before her, Pendleton found an opportunity of whispering to Lyon
Berners:
"The false rumor is as rife as false rumors usually are. Every one
reports with confidence, and every one else believes with assurance,
that you are both in Annapolis, and will certainly be found by the
officers within a few days. This is good, as it will lead off all
pursuit from your road to Norfolk."
Lyon Berners nodded in reply. And Sybil came up to make some
preparations for supper.
"Well, Mrs. Berners," spoke the Captain, gayly, "any more supernatural
phenomena?"
"Oh, I wish you had not asked that question!" exclaimed Lyon Berners,
while Sybil grew deadly pale, and shivered from head to foot.
"Why, what's the matter now?" demanded the Captain, lifting his eyebrows
in surprise.
"Oh, the damp girl!" exclaimed Sybil, shuddering.
"The damp girl!" echoed the Captain, in growing wonder.
Lyon Berners shrugged his shoulders, while Sybil, in agitated tones,
recounted her strange visitation of the night before.
"As clearly defined a case of incubus as ever I heard in my life," was
the prompt decision of Captain Pendleton.
Sybil grew angry.
"I only wish," she sharply answered, "that you would once experience the
like, for then you could know that it could not be nightmare."
"Then, my dear Mrs. Berners, if this was not incubus, what do you
suppose it to have been?"
"A _real_ visitation; but whether a natural or supernatural one, of
course I can not tell," she answered.
Sybil got the supper ready, and they all sat down to partake of that
meal together, for the last time in the Haunted Chapel.
After supper the final preparations for their departure were made.
Sybil felt all the reluctance of a beauty to part with her splendid
black hair. But on trying the experiment, she found that she could
effectually conceal it, without cutting it off. She combed it straight
back from her forehead, and let it hang down her shoulders under her
sack. Then she covered her head and neck with the flowing red locks of
Harold's wig.
Lyon cut close his auburn hair, shaved off his moustache, and donned a
gray wig and a gray beard, without the slightest remorse.
A very few minutes sufficed to complete their disguise, and they stood
forth--Lyon and Sybil transformed into a gray old farmer and a
shock-headed country girl.
"And now, about these housekeeping articles that we must leave here?
They are of very little value in themselves; but they _may_ be found,
and if so, may lead to our discovery," suggested Mr. Berners, uneasily.
"Never you mind _them_, Master. I'll ondertake to get them away,
onbeknowst to any body, sar," promised Joe.
"And I will see that this is done," added Captain Pendleton in a low
voice, for he did not wish to wound poor Joe's sensitive self-love.
"And now, my dear Sybil, are you sure you have got all that you need in
your bag?" inquired Mr. Berners.
"All that I shall need until we get to Norfolk, Lyon. There, indeed, we
must get a supply of necessary clothing," she answered.
"That of course. And by the way, have you the money and jewels safe?"
"All secure."
"Oh Lyon! I brought this for you, and I had better give it to you at
once, lest I should forget it," put in Captain Pendleton, passing over
to Mr. Berners a large roll of gold coins.
"But my dear Pendleton--"
"Oh, nonsense! take them. I can reimburse myself from the revenues of
Black Hall. Am I not to have the freedom of that fine estate?"
"Very true," answered Mr. Berners, pocketing the money.
"And now, are we ready?" inquired the Captain.
"Quite," answered Mr. and Mrs. Berners at once.
"Then let us start at once," advised the Captain, setting the example by
taking up Sybil's large travelling bag.
Lyon Berners carried his portmanteau on one arm, while he gave his other
to his wife.
Joe loaded himself with a great basket filled with provisions for the
journey.
And together they all set forth from the Haunted Chapel. It was a clear,
cold, starlight night. The gravestones in the old church-yard glimmered
gray among the brushwood, as the fugitives picked their way through it.
When they reached the narrow path leading through the thicket, they had
to walk in single file until they emerged from the wood and found
themselves upon the old road running along the river bank. Here the
wagon with a pair of draught horses was waiting them.
Their luggage was put in on top of bags of potatoes, turnips, etc., with
which the back part of the wagon was loaded. Then Captain Pendleton
assisted Sybil to mount to a seat made by a low-backed chair with a
woolen counterpane thrown over it. Lyon Berners got up into the driver's
place. All being now ready for the start, Captain Pendleton and Joe come
up to the side of the wagon to bid farewell to the travellers.
"Heaven bless you, Pendleton, for your faithful friendship and zealous
labors in our behalf," said Mr. Berners, warmly shaking the Captain's
hand.
"Amen, and Amen! We shall never forget, and never cease to thank and
bless you, dear friend," added Sybil, with tears in her eyes, as she
gave him her hand.
"May the Lord grant you a safe journey and a quick return," said Clement
Pendleton, as he pressed the lady's hand and relinquished it.
"And I sez Amen to that! Oh, Marser! Oh, Missus! come back to your poor
old Joe soon! His heart will snap into ten thousand flinders, if you
don't!" sobbed the poor negro, as he shook hands with his young master
and mistress.
Then with a mutual "God be with you," the four friends parted.
Captain Pendleton, sighing, and Joe, weeping, bent their steps up the
banks of the river towards the fording place, where they would have to
cross to find their horses on the other side.
Lyon Berners cracked his long wagoner's whip, and started on the road
leading away from the river towards the east.
It was yet early in the autumn night, and but for the cause of the
journey, the young pair would have enjoyed it very much.
"It is a very pleasant evening for the season," said Lyon, cheerfully
looking up at the clear, blue-black, star-spangled sky.
"Yes, indeed," answered Sybil briskly.
"Are you quite comfortable, darling?"
"Very! Captain Pendleton, dear Captain Pendleton, arranged my seat so
nicely. It is so soft and easy. I could go to sleep here, if I were
sleepy."
"You may have to sleep there, dear. We must travel all night, in order
to get a good distance from this neighborhood before morning."
"I can bear that very well, as comfortably as I am placed. But you,
dear Lyon, you who are driving, you will be tired to death."
"Not at all. My work to-night will not be more than many men frequently
undertake for mere amusement."
"And the horses?"
"Strong draught horses like these can work eight or ten hours at a
stretch, if they are well fed and rested between times."
"Oh! I'm so glad I have got away from the Haunted Chapel and the
ghosts!" suddenly exclaimed Sybil.
"And especially from the 'damp girl,'" laughed Lyon Berners.
"Oh, don't mention her!" shuddered Sybil.
They were now entering one of those frequent mountain passes that
diversified their road, and the care of driving required all Lyon's
attention.
They travelled all night as nearly in a direct line towards the far
distant city as the nature of the ground would permit. At daylight they
found themselves in the midst of a deep forest, some twenty miles east
of Blackville. Here, as the road was naturally broad and the trees tall
and sparse, and especially as a clear stream of water ran along on one
side, the travellers decided to stop and rest, and refresh themselves
and their horses until noon.
Lyon Berners got out and, followed by Sybil, went a little way into the
woods, where they found a small opening and a spring of clear water.
Here Lyon gathered brushwood and made a fire, while Sybil returned to
the wagon and brought back a basket of provisions. Among them was a
bottle of coffee already made, and which she turned into a small tin
coffee-pot, and set on the fire to be warmed.
And while Lyon went back to the wagon to attend to the wants of his
horses, Sybil spread a very good breakfast of coffee, bread, and ham,
upon the ground near the fire.
When they had given their horses time enough to rest they resumed their
journey, still travelling towards the east.
Lyon consulted his map and his pocket compass, and found that directly
in their line lay the small village of Oakville, nestled in an
unfrequented pass of the mountains.
"We can reach the place at about ten o'clock this evening, and there we
can get a regular supper and good sleep," he said to his wife.
And they travelled all the remainder of that day, and at about half-past
nine they arrived at Oakville. The village was off the public road, and
consisted only of a sleepy old tavern, to which the neighboring farmers
came to drink, smoke, and gossip; a post-office, to which the mail was
brought once a week by a boy on horseback; and a blacksmith shop,
patronized by the sparse population of the immediate neighborhood.
Up before the stable of this old tavern Lyon Berners drove his wagon;
and here he alighted, handed out Sybil, and led her over to the house
and into the public parlor.
A fat and lazy-looking hostess came to look at them.
"I want accommodations for myself, my girl here, and my horses and
wagon, which I left in the stable yard," said Mr. Berners, speaking