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have given the finishing stroke to my crimes, and deserted my good old master!"
Milwood, on hearing this, eagerly enquired if he had secured any property; and, as he answered in the affirmative, and threw his ill-gotten spoils into her lap, she almost devoured him with kisses, called him her saviour and her love, and told him her arms should shelter him from every evil. At this unlucky moment, Barnwell mentioned that his uncle had called upon him, when the vile woman, with her artful questions, drew from him an account that the worthy old gentleman had drawn a considerable sum from his banker's hands, with an intention to go on the following day to a distant fair.
No sooner had Milwood obtained these particulars, than she began to toy with him with redoubled affection, throwing her arms around his neck, and having reduced him to a state of temporary madness, by liquors, she ventured to hint at a method which, if adopted, she said, could not fail to produce a considerable booty. The unfortunate youth eagerly enquired the method, when Milwood proposed that he should lay in wait for his uncle, and murder him, so as to gain the treasure which he possessed.
'Gracious God!' exclaimed Barnwell, 'what! add murder to robbery! Am I sunk so low as to be thought capable of such a crime? I have
