owie knife from its sheath, and ere
she could scream out, the murderous blade was buried in her heart!

From his place of concealment behind the curtains of the bed, Frank saw
the atrocious deed perpetrated. The villain had struck the fatal blow
ere he could rush forth and stay his murderous arm. The poor victim sank
upon the floor, the lifeblood streaming from her heart.--Ere the
horrified witness of the crime could seize the murderer, he had fled
from the house with a celerity which defied pursuit.

Frank, overwhelmed with grief at the tragic fate of that erring but
unfortunate woman, raised her body in his arms and placed it upon a
sofa. He then drew from her bosom the reeking blade of the assassin, and
as he did so, the warm blood spouted afresh from the gaping wound,
staining his hands and garments with gore.

He bent over the corpse, and contemplated the pallid features with
profound sorrow. As he thus gazed mournfully at the face of the dead,
holding in his hand the blood-stained knife, the chamber door opened,
and the landlady entered the room.

On beholding the awful scene--the bleeding, lifeless form stretched upon
the sofa, and the young man standing with a gory knife grasped in his
hand--the landlady made the house resound with her shrieks and cries of
'Murder!'

The street door below was forced open and men with hurried footsteps
ascended the stairs--in a moment more the chamber was filled with
watchmen and citizens.

'Seize the murderer!' exclaimed the landlady, pointing towards Frank.
Two watchmen instantly grasped him by the arms, and took from him the
bloody knife.

Frank turned deadly pale--he was speechless--his tongue refused its
office, for then the dreadful conviction forced itself upon him, that he
was regarded as the murderer of that young woman. And how could he prove
his innocence? The weight of circumstantial evidence against him was
tremendous and might produce his conviction and condemnation to an
ignominious death!

Several persons present recognized him as the rich and (until then)
respectable Mr. Sydney; and then they whispered among themselves, with
significant looks, that he was _disguised_!--clad in the mean garb of a
common laborer!

Now it happened that among the gentlemen who knew him, were two of the
flatterers who supped with him in the first chapter of this
narrative--namely, Messrs. Narcissus Nobbs and Solomon Jenks: the former
of whom it will be recollected, was ent