ble to-night, mother: I've half a mind to ravish a kiss from
ye--ha, ha, ha!'

'Have done, now!' exclaimed the hag, in a cracked tone, at the same time
vainly endeavoring to contort her toothless jaws into an engaging
simper, while the Doctor nearly burst with laughter--'have done now, or
I'll slap ye for your impudence. But, faith, ye are such a pleasant
gentleman, that I don't mind bestowing a kiss or two upon ye!'

'You're a gay old lass,' said the Dead Man, without availing himself of
the old lady's kind permission--'you have been a 'high one' in your
time, but your day is nearly over.'

'No, no!' shrieked the old wretch, while her head and limbs quivered
with palsy--'don't say that--I'm young as ever, only a little _shakey_,
or so--I'm not going to die for many, many years to come--ha, ha, ha! a
kiss, love, a kiss--'

The old woman fell to the floor in a paralytic fit, and when they raised
her up, they found that she was dead!

'Devil take the old fool!' cried the Dead Man, throwing the corpse
contemptuously to the floor--'I meant to have strangled her some day,
but I now am cheated of the sport. No matter; drink, Doctor!'

The dead body was removed by several of the wretched inmates of the
house, just as Stuttering Tom entered to announce the result of his
search for the Franklin ladies.

Tom was a short, dumpy specimen of humanity, with red hair, freckled
face, nose of the pug order, and goggle eyes. His dress was picturesque,
if not ragged: his coat and pants were so widely apart, at the waist, as
to reveal a large track of very incorrect linen; and the said coat had
been deprived of one of its tails, an unfortunate occurrence, as the
loss exposed a large compound fracture in the rear of the young
gentleman's trowsers, whereby he was subjected to the remark that he had
'a letter in the post office.' His name was derived from an inveterate
habit of stuttering with which he was afflicted; and he related the
issue of his search somewhat in the following manner:

'You see, I ha-ha-happened to be l-loafing down Wa-Wa-Washington street,
this evening, quite pro-miscus like, ven I seed two vim-vimmen, as vos
gallus ha-handsum, and dr-dressed to kill, a valking along, vich puts me
in m-m-mind of the F-F-Franklin vimmen, as you hired me to f-f-find out.
So I up and f-follers 'em, and by-and-by a f-fellers meets 'em and says,
says he, 'Good evening, Missus and Miss F-F-Franklin.' These is the
werry victims, says I