le which stood upon the table, dashed it at the
head of the Dead Man, who had arisen upon his knees, and held in his
hand a sharp, murderous-looking knife, which he was just on the point of
plunging into the side of the unsuspecting Frank! The bottle was broken
into shivers against the ruffian's head, and ere he could recover
himself, he was disarmed and handcuffed by the officers, one of whom
tore the mask from his face; and the spectators shrunk in horror at the
ghastly and awful appearance of that corpse-like countenance! Turning
his glaring eye upon Frank, he said, in tones of deepest hate--

'Sydney, look at me--_me_, the _Dead Man_--dead in heart, dead in pity,
dead in everything save _vengeance_! You have won the game; but oh!
think not your triumph will be a lasting one. No, by G----! there are no
prison walls in the universe strong enough to keep me from wreaking upon
you a terrible revenge! I will be your evil genius; I swear to follow
you thro' life, and cling to you in death; yes--I will torture you in
hell! Look for me at midnight, when you deem yourself most secure; I
shall be in your chamber. Think of me in the halls of mirth and
pleasure, for I shall be at your elbow. In the lonely forest, on the
boundless sea, in far distant lands, I shall be ever near you, to tempt,
to torture, and to drive you mad! From this hour you are blasted by my
eternal curse!'

* * * * *

Half an hour afterwards, the Dead Man and Davis the butler were inmates
of the 'Egyptian Tombs.'

CHAPTER VIII

_The Subterranean Cellar--Capture and Imprisonment of the Black--the
Outcast Wife--The Villain Husband--the Murder and Arrest._

The next day after the occurrence of the events detailed in the last
chapter, Frank Sydney caused to be conveyed to the negro footman, Nero,
the letter which his wife had addressed to him--which letter it will be
recollected, had been stolen from the lady, in her reticule, by the
young thief, who had sold it and another epistle from the black, to
Frank, at the _crib_ of Bloody Mike.

The plan adopted by the much injured husband for the punishment of his
guilty wife and her negro paramour, will be developed in the course of
the present chapter.

The black, upon receiving the letter, imagined that it came direct from
the lady herself; and much rejoiced was he at the contents, resolving
that very night to watch for the signal in the chamber window of the
amorous fair on