THE CHURCH-YARD

J. SHERIDAN LE FANU

AUTHOR OF 'UNCLE SILAS' AND 'TORLOGH O'BRIEN'

Dublin: JAMES DUFFY AND CO., Ltd. NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 1904.

Printed by Edmund Burke & Co., 61 & 62 GREAT STRAND STREET, DUBLIN.

CONTENTS.

A Prologue—being a dish of village chat1

I.The rector's night-walk to his church9

II.The nameless coffin12

III.Mr. Mervyn in his inn15

IV.The Fair-green of Palmerstown18

V.How the Royal Artillery entertained some of the

neighbours at dinner25

VI.In which the minstrelsy proceeds32

VII.Showing how two gentlemen may misunderstand one another,

without enabling the company to understand their quarrel35

VIII.Relating how Doctor Toole and Captain Devereux went

on a moonlight errand40

IX.How a squire was found for the knight of the rueful

countenance44

X.The dead secret, showing how the fireworker proved to

Puddock that Nutter had spied out the nakedness of the land48

XI.Some talk about the haunted housebeing, as I suppose,

only old woman's tales53

XII.Some odd facts about the Tiled Housebeing an

authentic narrative of the ghost of a hand57

XIII.In which the rector visits the Tiled House,

and Doctor Toole looks after the Brass Castle63

XIV.Relating how Puddock purged O'Flaherty's heada

chapter which, it is hoped, no genteel person will read66

XV.Æsculapius to the rescue69

XVI.The ordeal by battle73

XVII.Lieutenant Puddock receives an invitation and a rap

over the knuckles81

XVIII.Relating how the gentlemen sat over their claret,

and how Doctor Sturk saw a face86

XIX.In which the gentlemen follow the ladies91

XX.In which Mr. Dangerfield visits the church of Chapelizod,

and Zekiel Irons goes a-fishing94

XXI.Relating among other things how Doctor Toole walked

up to the Tiled House, and of his pleasant discourse with

Mr. Mervyn100

XXII.Telling how Mr. Mervyn fared at Belmont, and of a pleasant

little dejeuner by the margin of the Liffey104

XXIII.Which concerns the grand dinner at the King's House, and

who were there, and something of their talk, reveries,

disputes, and general jollity108

XXIV.In which two young persons understand one another better,

perhaps, than ever they did before, without saying so113

XXV.In which the sun sets, and the merry-making is kept up

by candle-light in the King's House, and Lily receives a

warning which she does not comprehend116

XXVI.Relating how the band of the Royal Irish Artillery played,

and, while the music was going on, how variously different

people were moved122

XXVII.Concerning the troubles and the shapes that began to gather

about Doctor Sturk125

XXVIII.In which Mr. Irons recounts some old recollections about

the Pied-horse and the Flower de Luce129

XXIX.Showing how poor Mrs. Macnamara was troubled and

haunted too, and opening a budget of gossip132

XXX.Concerning a certain woman in black137

XXXI.Being a short history of the great battle of Belmont that

lasted for so many days, wherein the belligerents showed

so much constancy and valour, and sometimes one side

and sometimes t'other was victorious141

XXXII.Narrating how Lieutenant Puddock and Captain Devereux

brewed a bowl of punch, and how they sang and discoursed

together143

XXXIII.In which Captain Devereux's fiddle plays a prelude to

'Over the hills and far away'146

XXXIV.In which Lilias hears a stave of an old song and there is a

leave-taking beside the river148

XXXV.In which Aunt Becky and Doctor Toole, in full blow,

with Dominick the footman, behind, visit Miss Lily at

the Elms152

XXXVI.Narrating how Miss Lilias visited Belmont, and saw a

strange cocked-hat in the shadow by the window155

XXXVII.Showing how some of the feuds in Chapelizod wared

fiercer, and others were solemnly condoned158

XXXVIII.Dreams and troubles, and a dark look-out163

XXXIX.Telling how Lilias Walsingham found two ladies awaiting

her arrival at the Elms166

XL.Of a messenger from Chapelizod vault who waited in the

Tiled House for Mr. Mervyn168

XLI.In which the rector comes home, and Lily speaks her

mind, and time glides on, and Aunt Rebecca calls at

the Elms173

XLII.In which Doctor Sturk tries this way and that for a reprieve

on the eve of execution177

XLIII.Showing how Charles Nutter's blow descended, and what

part the silver spectacles bore in the crisis180

XLIV.Relating how, in the watches of the night, a vision came

to Sturk, and his eyes were opened184

XLV.Concerning a little rehearsal in Captain Cluffe's lodging,

and a certain confidence between Doctor Sturk and Mr.

Dangerfield187

XLVI.The closet scene, with the part of Polonius omitted191

XLVII.In which pale Hecate visits the Mills, and Charles Nutter,

Esq., orders tea195

XLVIII.Swans on the water202

XLIX.Swans in the water206

L.Treating of some confusion, in consequence, in the club-room

of the Phœnix and elsewhere, and of a hat that

was picked up208

LI.How Charles Nutter's tea, pipe, and tobacco-box were all

set out for him in the small parlour at the Mills, and

how that night was passed in the house by the church-yard213

LII.Concerning a rouleau of guineas and the crack of a pistol218

LIII.Relating after what fashion Doctor Sturk came home221

LIV.In which Miss Magnolia and Doctor Toole, in different

scenes, prove themselves Good Samaritans; and the

great Doctor Pell mounts the stairs of the House by the

Church-yard225

LV.In which Doctor Toole, in full costume, stands upon the

hearth-stone of the club, and illuminates the company

with his back to the fire230

LVI.Doctor Walsingham and the Chapelizod Christians meet

to the sound of the holy bell, and a vampire sits in the

church233

LVII.In which Doctor Toole and Mr. Lowe make a visit at

the Mills, and recognise something remarkable while

there235

LVIII.In which one of little Bopeep's sheep comes home again,

and various theories are entertained respecting Charles

Nutter and Lieutenant Puddock239

LIX.Telling How a Coach Drew Up at the Elms, and Two Fine

Ladies, Dressed For the Ball, Stepped in.244

LX.Being a Chapter of Hoops, Feathers, and Brilliants,

and Bucks And Fiddlers.249

LXI.In Which the Ghosts of a By-gone Sin Keep Tryst.254

LXII.Of a Solemn Resolution Which Captain Devereux Registered

Among His Household Gods, With a Libation.257

LXIII.In Which a Liberty Is Taken With Mr. Nutter's Name,

and Mr. Dangerfield Stands at the Altar.261

LXIV.Being a Night Scene, in Which Miss Gertrude Chattesworth,

Being Adjured By Aunt Becky, Makes Answer.266

LXV.Relating Some Awful News That Reached the Village,

and How Dr. Walsingham Visited Captain Richard

Devereux at His Lodgings.271

LXVI.Of a Certain Tempest That Arose and Shook the

Captain's Spoons And Tea-cups; and How the Wind

Suddenly Went Down.274

LXVII.In Which a Certain Troubled Spirit Walks278

LXVIII.How an Evening Passes at the Elms, and Dr. Toole Makes

a Little Excursion; and Two Choice Spirits Discourse,

and Hebe Trips in With The Nectar.281

LXIX.Concerning a Second Hurricane That Raged in Captain

Devereux's Drawing-room, and Relating How Mrs. Irons

Was Attacked With a Sort Of Choking in Her Bed.285

LXX.In Which an Unexpected Visitor Is Seen in the

Cedar-parlour of The Tiled House, and the Story of

Mr. Beauclerc and the 'flower de Luce' Begins To

Be Unfolded.290

LXXI.In Which Mr. Irons's Narrative Reaches Merton Moor.295

LXXII.In Which the Apparition of Mr. Irons Is Swallowed in

Darkness.300

LXXIII.Concerning a Certain Gentleman, with a Black Patch

Over His Eye, who made some Visits with a Lady,

in Chapelizod and its Neighbourhood.304

LXXIV.In Which Doctor Toole, in His Boots, Visits Mr. Gamble,

and Sees an Ugly Client of That Gentleman's; and

Something Crosses an Empty Room.307

LXXV.How a Gentleman Paid a Visit at the Brass Castle, and

There Read A Paragraph in an Old Newspaper.311

LXXVI.Relating How the Castle Was Taken, and How Mistress

Moggy Took Heart Of Grace.316

LXXVII.In Which Irish Melody Prevails.321

LXXVIII.In Which, While the Harmony Continues in Father Roach's

Front Parlour, A Few Discords Are Introduced Elsewhere;

and Doctor Toole Arrives in The Morning With a

Marvellous Budget of News.325

LXXIX.Showing How Little Lily's Life Began To Change Into

a Retrospect; And How on a Sudden She Began To Feel

Better.330

LXXX.In Which Two Acquaintances Become, on a Sudden,

Marvellously Friendly In The Church-yard; and Mr.

Dangerfield Smokes a Pipe in the Brass Castle,

and Resolves That the Dumb Shall Speak.333

LXXXI.In Which Mr. Dangerfield Receives a Visitor, and Makes

a Call.339

LXXXII.In Which Mr. Paul Dangerfield Pays His Respects and

Compliments At Belmont; Where Other Visitors Also

Present Themselves.343

LXXXIII.In Which the Knight of the Silver Spectacles Makes the

Acquaintance Of The Sage 'black Dillon,' and Confers

With Him in His Retreat.349

LXXXIV.In Which Christiana Goes Over; and Dan Loftus

Comes Home.353

LXXXV.In Which Captain Devereux Hears the News; and Mr.

Dangerfield Meets An Old Friend After Dinner.357

LXXXVI.In Which Mr. Paul Dangerfield Mounts the Stairs of the

House by The Church-yard, and Makes Some Arrangements.364

LXXXVII.In Which Two Comrades Are Tete-a-tete in Their Old

Quarters, and Doctor Sturk's Cue Is Cut Off, and a

Consultation Commences.370

LXXXVIII.In Which Mr. Moore the Barber Arrives, and the Medical

Gentlemen Lock The Door.376

LXXXIX.In Which a Certain Songster Treats the Company To a

Dolorous Ballad Whereby Mr. Irons Is Somewhat Moved.384

XC.Mr. Paul Dangerfield Has Something on His Mind, and

Captain Devereux Receives a Message.390

XCI.Concerning Certain Documents Which Reached Mr. Mervyn,

and the Witches' Revels at the Mills.396

XCII.The Wher-wolf.401

XCIII.In Which Doctor Toole and Dirty Davy Confer in

the Blue-room.408

XCIV.What Doctor Sturk Brought To Mind, and All That

Doctor Toole Heard At Mr. Luke Gamble's.414

XCV.In Which Doctor Pell Declines a Fee, and Doctor Sturk

a Prescription.422

XCVI.About the Rightful Mrs. Nutter of the Mills, and How

Doctor Toole Heard At Mr. Luke Gamble's.427

XCVII.In Which Obediah Arrives.436

XCVIII.In Which Charles Archer Puts Himself Upon the Country.441

XCIX.The Story Ends.452