ed on to admit of its being easily removed.

'Damnation!' exclaimed the Dead Man, a thousand fears crowding into his
mind,--'it's all up with me unless I can burst off this infernal cover.'
And, cursing the man who had fastened it on so securely, he redoubled
his efforts.

He succeeded at last; the cover flew off, and he arose from his
constrained and painful position with feelings of the most intense
satisfaction. All was pitch dark, and he began groping around for some
door or window which would afford him egress from the place. His hand
soon came in contact with a window; he raised the sash, and unfastened
the shutters, threw them open, when instantly a flood of moonlight
streamed into the store, enabling him to discern objects with tolerable
distinctness. The window, which was not over five feet from the ground,
overlooked a small yard surrounded by a fence of no great height; and
the Dead Man, satisfied with the appearance of things, proceeded to put
into execution a plan which he had formed while in the box. The nature
of that plan will presently appear.

After breaking open a desk, and rummaging several drawers without
finding anything worth carrying off, he took from his pocket a match,
and being in a philosophical mood, (for great rascals are generally
profound philosophers,) he apostrophized it thus:

'Is it not strange, thou little morsel of wood, scarce worth the
fiftieth fraction of a cent, that in thy tiny form doth dwell a Mighty
Power, which can destroy thousands of dollars, and pull down the great
fabric of a rich man's fortune? Thy power I now invoke, thou little
minister of vengeance; for I hate the aristocrat who expressed his
regret at my escape, because, forsooth! my services were valuable to
him!--and now, as the flames of fire consume his worldly possessions, so
may the flames of eternal torment consume his soul hereafter!'

Ah, Mr. Hartless! that was an unfortunate observation you made relative
to the expiration of your term of insurance. Your words were overheard
by a miscreant, whose close proximity you little suspected. Your
abominable treatment of that poor man is about to meet with a terrible
retribution.

The Dead Man placed a considerable quantity of paper beneath a large
pile of boxes and furniture; he then ignited the match, and having set
fire to the paper, made his exit through the window, crossed the yard,
scaled the fence, and passing through an alley gained the street, and
m