is iron
hand--'does _that_ feel like the touch of a shadowy ghost? Get up, and
answer me; I am no ghost, but a living man--living, though known as the
Dead Man. Where have the two Franklin ladies gone?'

Now Simon, convinced that his visitor was indeed no ghost, was beginning
to regain his natural shrewdness: and remembering the injunctions of his
mistress, not to reveal where she had gone, with her daughter, he
replied, in accordance with the instructions which he had received--

'The ladies have gone to Philadelphia.'

'Liar!' cried the Dead Man--'you betray yourself; had you answered with
more hesitation, I might have believed you--the readiness of your reply
proves its falsehood. Now, by hell! tell me correctly where the ladies
have gone, or I'll murder you!'

'Not so fast, old dead face,' cried Simon, who was a brave fellow, and
had by this time recovered all his courage--'perhaps you mightn't find
it so easy to murder me, as you imagine. Once for all, I'll see you
d----d before I will tell you where the ladies have gone.'

The Dead Man smiled grimly as he surveyed the slight form of the
footman; then, in a fierce tone, he demanded--

'Are you mad?--Do you want to rush on headlong to ruin and death? Do you
know me? I am one whose awful presence inspires fear in my friends,
consternation in my foes. Puny wretch, will you give me the required
information, ere I crush you as a worm?'

'No!' replied Simon, decidedly.

'Bah! I shall have work here,' said the other, calmly: then he sprung
upon the footman, who, altogether unprepared for so sudden an attack,
could make but a feeble resistance, especially in the grasp of a man who
possessed more than twice his strength.

The struggle was brief, for the Dead Man handled him as easily as if he
were a child. Soon he was gagged and bound fast to a chair;--then the
miscreant, with a diabolical grin, thrust the poker into the fire, and
when it became red-hot, he drew it forth, saying--

'I have found a way to loosen your tongue, d----n you! When you get
ready to answer my question, nod your head, and the torture shall
cease.'

The monster applied the iron to various parts of his victim's body,
burning through the clothes, and deep into the flesh. Simon winced with
intense torture, yet he did not give the designated sign in token of
submission until the skin was entirely burnt from his face, by the fiery
ordeal.

Then the Dead Man removed the gag from his mouth, an