onsequence to you;
it will be sufficient for you to understand that you are hired to
perform a service, which is to be well paid for when completed--you
comprehend me?'

'I do,' said the robber, 'and shall not fail to meet you at the time and
place appointed; if you have no more to say to me, I will now bid you
good night.'

'Good night,' said the Doctor; 'and pray, my good friend, do not menace
any other belated traveller with that ugly knife of yours.'

The robber laughed, and turning on his heel, strode away in the
darkness, while the rector continued on his way towards his residence.
When he reached his house, and had entered the door, a person emerged
from the darkness, and by the light of a street lamp which was near,
read the name upon the door-plate.--The Doctor had been followed home by
the robber.

'All right,' muttered the latter worthy, as he walked away--'he lives in
that house, and his name is Dr. Sinclair. Men of his class don't
generally play the spy or traitor; so I can safely keep the appointment.
He is not a physician or surgeon; therefore what in the devil's name
should he want to break into a tomb for? No matter; to-morrow night will
explain the mystery.' And the robber's form was lost in the darkness.

As the Doctor had predicted, the night which followed the adventure just
related, was stormy; the snow fell thick and fast, and the darkness was
intense. As the clock struck the hour of midnight, a figure muffled in a
cloak slowly emerged from the lower extremity of the Park, and paused at
the great gate which forms the Southern angle of that vast enclosure. He
had waited there but a few minutes, when he was joined by another
person, who asked him--

'Well, Sir Robber, is it you?'

'All right, sir; you see I am punctual,' replied the robber. The other
person was of course the rector.

Without any further conversation, the two proceeded down Broadway, until
they stood before the magnificent church of St. Paul's. This splendid
edifice, of Grecian architecture, was situated on the border of an
extensive burying ground, which with the church itself, was surrounded
by an iron railing of great height. Finding the front gate secured by a
massive lock, the robber applied himself to the task of picking it, with
an instrument designed for that purpose. This was soon accomplished, and
entering the enclosure, the two passed around the rear of the church,
and stood among the many tomb-stones which marke