This lady was a widow, somewhat advanced in years, and in affluent circumstances. Her countenance was the index of a benevolent and excellent heart; and in truth she was a most estimable woman. 'Madam,' said the Dead Man--'I have called upon you at the request of your unfortunate nephew, Francis Sydney.' 'Oh, sir,' exclaimed the old lady, shedding tears--'how is the poor young man--and how does he bear his cruel and unjust punishment?--for unjust it is, as he is innocent of the dreadful crime imputed to him. Alas! the very day the poor lady was murdered, he called and entreated me to take her into my service, to which I readily consented. Oh, he is innocent, I am sure.' 'Mrs. Stevens,' said the villain--'I have something of a most important nature to communicate, relative to your nephew; are we certain of no interruption here?--for my intelligence must be delivered in strict privacy.' 'We are alone in this house,' replied the unsuspecting lady. 'The servant who admitted you has gone out on a short errand, and you need fear no interruption.' 'Then, madam, I have to inform you that--' While uttering these words, the Dead Man advanced towards Mrs. Stevens, who stood in the centre of the apartment; he assumed an air of profound mystery, and she, supposing that he was about to whisper in her ear, inclined her head toward him. That movement was her last on earth; in another instant she was prostrate upon the carpet, her throat encircled by the fingers of the ghastly monster; her countenance became suffused with a dark purple--blood gushed from her mouth, eyes and nostrils--and in a few minutes all was over! The murderer arose from his appalling work, and his loathsome face assumed, beneath his mask, an expression of demoniac satisfaction. ''Tis done!' he muttered--'damn the old fool, she thought I was a _friend_ of her accursed nephew's. But I must leave the corpse in such a situation that it may be supposed the old woman committed suicide.' He tore off the large shawl which the poor lady had worn, and fastened it about her neck; then he hung the body upon the parlor door, and placed an overturned chair near its feet, to lead to the supposition that she had stood upon the chair while adjusting the shawl about her neck and then overturned it in giving the fatal spring. This arrangement the Dead Man effected with the utmost rapidity and then forcing open a bureau which stood in the parlor, he took from the drawer various articles of value, jewelry, &c., and a pocket-book containing a considerable sum of money--forgetting, in his blind stupidity, that the circumstances of a robbery having taken place, would destroy the impression that the unfortunate old lady had come to her death voluntarily by her own hands. The murderer then fled from the house and that night he and Archer, in the mysterious depths of the Dark Vaults, celebrated their bloody exploits by mad orgies, horrid blasphemy, and demoniac laughter.