s master,
Mr. Sydney, under the kind care of honest Dennis and the benevolent
housekeeper.

And Sydney--alas for him! Immured in that awful sepulchre of crime, the
Tombs--charged with the deed of murder, and adjudged guilty by public
opinion--deserted by those whom he had regarded as his friends,
suffering from confinement in a noisome cell, and dreading the ignominy
of a trial and the horrors of a public execution--his fair fame blasted
forever by the taint of crime--what wonder that he, so young, so rich,
so gifted with every qualification to enjoy life, should begin to doubt
the justice of divine dispensation, and, loathing existence, pray for
death to terminate his state of suspense and misery!

But we must not lose sight of Josephine Franklin; her adventures at the
masquerade hall were of too amorous and exciting a nature to be passed
lightly over, in this mirror of the fashions, follies and crimes of city
life.--Our next chapter will duly record the particulars of the fair
lady's romantic intrigues on that brilliant and memorable occasion.

CHAPTER X

_The Amours of Josephine--The Spanish Ambassador, and the Ecclesiastical
Lover._

Josephine, dressed as the 'Royal Middy,' entered the conservatory, and
strolled leisurely along a gravelled walk which led to a little grotto
composed of rare minerals and shells. Entering this picturesque retreat,
she placed herself upon a seat exquisitely sculptured from marble, and
listened to the beautiful strains of music which proceeded from the ball
room.

While thus abandoning herself to the voluptuous feelings of the moment,
she observed that a tall, finely formed person in the costume of a
Spanish cavalier, passed the grotto several times, each time gazing at
her with evident admiration. He was masked, but Josephine had removed
her mask, and her superb countenance was fully revealed. The cavalier
had followed her from the ball-room, but she did not perceive him until
he passed the grotto.

'I have secured an admirer already,' she said to herself, as a smile of
satisfaction parted her rosy lips. 'I must encourage him, and perhaps
he may prove to be a desirable conquest.'

The cavalier saw her smile and, encouraged by that token of her
complaisance, paused before the grotto, and addressed her in a slightly
foreign accent:--

'Fair lady, will you suffer me to repose myself for a while in this
fairy-like retreat?'

'I shall play off a little prank upon this s