'Yes, poor fellow, I will, if it lies in my power, provided you were not sent here for any offence which I disapprove of,' replied the other, in a similar tone. 'I was sentenced here for the term of seven years, for manslaughter; a villain seduced my daughter, and I shot him dead--the honor of my child was worth a million of such accursed lives as his.--I consider myself guilty of no crime; he sacrificed my daughter to his lust, and then abandoned her--I sacrificed him to my vengeance, and never regretted the deed. The term of imprisonment will expire the day after to-morrow, and I shall then be a free man; therefore, I can assist you without running any great risk of myself. But you shall not have my aid if you were sent here for any deliberate villainy or black crime--for, thank God! I have a conscience, and that conscience permits me, though a prisoner, to call myself an honest man.' 'Be assured,' whispered the Dead Man, perceiving the necessity of using a falsehood to accomplish his ends--'that I am neither a deliberate villain nor hardened criminal; an enemy attacked me, and in _self defense_ I slew him, for which I was sentenced here for life.' 'In that case,' rejoined the other--'I will cheerfully assist you to escape from this earthly hell--for self-defense is Nature's first law. Had you been a willful murderer, a robber, or aught of that kind, I would refuse to aid you--but the case is different.--But what is your plan?' 'I will get into one of these boxes, and you will nail on the cover, and I shall be conveyed on board the sloop, which will sail in less than an hour hence. When the vessel arrives at New York I shall perhaps have an opportunity to get on shore unperceived, and escape into the city, where I know of a place of refuge which the devil himself could not find,'--and the Dead Man chuckled inwardly as he thought of the Dark Vaults. 'The plan is a good one, and worthy of a trial,' said the other. 'But the overseer has his eye constantly upon you--how can you escape his vigilance?' 'There's the only difficulty,' replied the Dead Man--and his subtle brain was beginning to hatch some plan of surmounting that difficulty, when a large party of visitors, among whom were several ladies, entered the shop. Now the overseer was a young man, and withal a tolerably good-looking one; and among the ladies were two or three whose beauty commended them to his gallant attentions. He therefore left his station on the platform, and went forward to receive them, and make himself agreeable. 'Now's my time, by G----d!' whispered the Dead Man to his fellow prisoner; instantly he lay down in one of the boxes, and the other nailed on the cover securely. A few moments afterwards, the box which contained the Dead Man was carried down to the wharf, by two convicts, and placed on board the vessel.