that public which will endanger the life of another.'

'Have no fears of me, if there is a possibility that any one may receive injury from my information.'

The patient, whose name was Ludovico, being satisfied with my assurance of secrecy, proceeded to give a short narration of the facts.

'My brother was of a very impetuous temper, and always exercised a kind of authority over me, to which in fact I willingly acceded, from a consciousness of his superior knowledge. He had conceived some splendid project for sudden aggrandizement, which, to be carried into effect, required the aid and countenance of my father. One dark and stormy night in October, about one year since, he took me to a house in the northern part of the city, and introduced me into a room, where, by the light of a dimly-burning lamp, a half dozen men were busily engaged around a table in looking over some rude sketches and diagrams. Pieces of paper were marked over with Arabic numerical characters, and letters of the alphabet, arranged in squares, and perched upon pen-marked fabrics, which looked like houses or castles, churches, and prisons. Flags which resembled the signals of barbarian nations, were floating from the pinnacle of some lofty edifice, or planted on the summit of hills whose ranges extended off in parallel lines, or in angular courses far into the boldly-etched and pointed features of the landscape. These delineations were in correct perspective, and were evidently drawn up and embellished by a master hand, with some remote and magnificent intent, which was not perceptible to my uninitiated sense.

'Principal among those around the table, was a stout gray-headed man, whose heavy frame and badly-jointed limbs, which were freely exercised, apparently with a view of setting off their ungracefulness, and the general shabbiness of his attire, showed him to be the chief spirit of the adventurers. His lean fingers, at the end of so ill-managed an arm, hardly warranted the supposition that he was the draughtsman of the elegant sketch, over whose surface he was passing his pencil, and indenting the denominative syllables on the bosom of some winding river, which cut its way between the prominent and ornamented insignia that formed a part of the file of look-outs—for such I decided them to be, after having ascertained the subject of their deliberations. The other members of the conclave were of a like description; all were of shabby exterior, but the fire of an unnatural enthusiasm shone in their eyes, and spoke out in their gestures. They were evidently expecting my brother, who had them seemingly in control, and was only of them insomuch as he joined in their views and projects. They all erected themselves in various attitudes on his entrance, and the speaker of the company broke out in these words:

''Ha, Petro! we have been looking over this drawing, and there is nothing wrong about it, unless it is this hill. I think some one nearer should have been chosen.'

''Wrong?—there is not a particle wrong. The main points of observation have been carefully selected. Here is Philadelphia; there is Ludgate church; here is Mount Taurus; on the summit of that hill is a very tall pine, which I have sketched; this dwelling-house (of friend Soper's) is the last post before you reach New-York; and here is New-York.'

''But I think that mountain is at too great a distance from Philadelphia, to see distinctly. Don't you think so?' continued the speaker.

''Why, you owl! it is but fifteen miles; and a good telescope will discern a man's features at ten or twelve miles.'

''Well, if we have the countenance of Providence, we shall succeed,' he meekly replied.

'They were engaged in a scheme for transmitting intelligence from one city to another, by means of telegraphs, for the purpose of taking advantage of the rise or fall in stocks, and of speculating in lottery tickets. I have introduced this little scene, in order to show you the influences by which my brother was wrought upon. They spent the greater part of the night in discussing the measures, and Petro in enforcing the details of his arrangements. Those who were present, beside my brother Petro, could not have handed over a dollar, at the solicitation of a surcharged pistol, held horizontally at their vest button, and backed by the imperious proclamation, 'Stand and deliver, or die!' He was the only one who could move the enterprise so heavily constructed, and he was not equal to the whole effort. Though moneyless adventurers, his coadjutors were cunning enough to place upon his shoulders the burden of the undertaking, in the faith of their absolute necessity as a part of the machinery.

'Petro was engaged with his whole soul in the success of the experiment, and nothing could deter him from prosecuting it. Hard were his struggles to devise some means for raising the requisite funds. Every thing, I believe, passed through his mind, short of actual robbery, and it was not long before this entered into his calculations. The frequent meetings held with his associates, at which I was sometimes present, and the artful but seemingly innocent protestations of their honest leader, served to keep up his ambition, and to nourish his ardent and chimerical aspirations. We were at that time clerks in a store, which was filled with the most precious commodities; but the building itself was of wood, and of quite inferior appearance. We lodged on the second floor. My brother formed the design of removing the most valuable part of the goods, and setting fire to the store. The plan was not unfolded to me until after it had been completed, and every thing had been prepared. My opposition was useless. The gang were made acquainted with it, and agreed to assist on a certain night.

'A considerable quantity of the stock had been abstracted by degrees, for a number of weeks previous; and on that evening (the one you well know) after the principals had left, we began to transport the boxes and packages, assisted by the others, to the house of the prime accomplice, where they were secure from search. The avails were to enable us to realize our glittering dreams of wealth.

'In the back room, on the second floor, we had made a collection of the most combustible substances, and had so placed them, that they would in a moment after the application of the torch be ignited, and communicate the fire to the partitions, bed, etc. A stove-pipe which passed out of the back window had been disconnected with the stove, in order to allow the smoke to escape readily; so that it might not, by issuing through the crevices of the windows, particularly in the front of the building, betray our attempt before the fire had got fairly under way.

'We usually slept in the bed in the back part of this room, and had planned to go to the theatre, and returning about twelve o'clock, throw ourselves on to the bed in our clothes, and lie till one or two in the morning, when we were to arise and set fire to the apartment. If our plans succeeded, we were to make it appear that we had laid down rather in liquor, had set the candle by the side of the bed, and that it had caught the drapery.

'Accordingly, to the theatre we went; actually got somewhat tipsy, as we reflected on the hazardous nature of our enterprise, and coming back about midnight, proceeded directly to our chamber. We soon managed to procure a light. I pulled off my shoes and coat, and threw myself on to the bed, for I felt unwilling to contemplate the deed which we were on the point of committing. I had worked myself up to the task, and feared that my nerves might be unstrung by a survey of the preparatives for our mischief-doing. My brother, however, felt too deep an interest in the progress and result of the plan, to think of repose; and commissioning me to 'tumble up' his side of the bed, he took his position by the table, with a book before him, which had one