The Mystery of Marie Roget by Edgar Allan Poe
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we not at_least suppose this design entertained by_the girl ? upon quitting home, she gave it to_be understood that she was about to visit her aunt in_the rue des Drmes and St .Eustache was requested to_call for her at dark . now, at first glance, this fact strongly militates against my suggestion; - but let_us reflect . that she did meet some companion, and proceed with_him across the river, reaching the Barrire du Roule at so late an hour as three o'clock in_the afternoon, is known . but in consenting so to accompany this individual, (_for whatever purpose -- to her mother known or unknown,_) she must_have thought of her expressed intention when leaving home, and of_the surprise and suspicion aroused in_the bosom of her affianced suitor, St .Eustache, when, calling for her, at_the hour appointed, in_the rue des Drmes, he_should find that she had_not_been there, and when, moreover, upon returning to_the pension with_this alarming intelligence, he_should become aware of her continued absence from home . she must_have thought of_these things, I_say . she must_have foreseen the chagrin of St .Eustache, the suspicion of all . she_could_not have thought of returning to brave this suspicion; but the suspicion becomes a point of trivial importance to her, if_we suppose her not intending to return .

" we_may imagine her thinking thus - ' I_am to meet a certain person for_the_purpose of elopement, or for certain other purposes known only to myself . it_is necessary that there be no chance of interruption - there_must_be sufficient time given us to elude pursuit - i_will give it to_be understood that I_shall visit and spend the day with my aunt at_the rue des Drmes - I well tell St .Eustache not to_call for_me until dark - in_this_way, my absence from home for_the longest possible period, without causing suspicion or anxiety, will_be accounted for, and I_shall gain more time than in any_other manner . if I bid St .Eustache call for_me at dark, he_will_be sure not to_call before; but, if I wholly neglect to bid him call, my_time for escape will_be diminished, since it_will_be expected that I return the earlier, and my absence will the sooner excite anxiety . now, if_it were my design to return at all - if I had in contemplation merely a stroll with_the individual in_question - it would_not_be my policy to bid St .Eustache call; for, calling, he_will_be sure to ascertain that I_have played him false - a fact of_which I_might keep him for ever in ignorance, by leaving home without notifying him of_my intention, by returning before dark, and by then stating that I had_been to visit my aunt in_the rue des Drmes . but, as_it_is my design never to return - or not for some weeks - or not until certain concealments are effected - the gaining of_time is_the only point about_which I_need give myself any concern .'

" you_have observed, in your notes, that_the most general opinion in_relation to_this sad affair is, and was from_the first, that_the girl had_been the victim of a gang of blackguards . now, the popular opinion, under certain conditions, is_not to_be disregarded . when arising of itself -- when manifesting itself in a strictly spontaneous manner -- we_should look upon it as analogous with_that _intuition which_is the idiosyncrasy of_the individual man of genius . in ninety-nine cases from_the hundred i_would abide by its decision . but it_is important that we_find no palpable traces of _suggestion . the opinion must_be rigorously the public's own_; and_the distinction is often exceedingly difficult to perceive and to maintain . in_the present instance, it appears to_me that_this ' public opinion' in respect to a gang, has_been superinduced by_the collateral event which_is detailed in_the third of_my extracts . all Paris is excited by_the discovered corpse of Marie, a girl young, beautiful and notorious . this corpse is found, bearing marks of violence, and floating in_the river . but it_is now made known that, at_the very period, or about_the very period, in_which_it_is supposed that_the girl was assassinated, an outrage similar in nature to_that endured by_the deceased, although less in extent, was perpetuated, by a gang of young ruffians, upon_the person of a second young female . is_it wonderful that_the one known atrocity should influence the popular judgment in regard to_the other unknown ? this judgment awaited direction, and_the known outrage seemed so opportunely to afford it ! Marie, too, was found in_the river; and upon_this very river was_this known outrage committed . the connexion of_the two events had about_it so_much of_the palpable, that_the true wonder would_have_been a failure of_the populace to appreciate and to seize it . but, in_fact, the one atrocity, known to_be so committed, is, if any thing, evidence that_the other, committed at_a_time nearly coincident, was not so committed . it would_have_been a miracle indeed, if, while a gang of ruffians were perpetrating, at a given locality, a most unheard- of wrong, there should_have_been another similar gang, in a similar locality, in_the same city, under the same circumstances, with_the same means and appliances, engaged in a wrong of precisely the same aspect, at precisely the same period of_time ! yet in what, if_not in_this marvellous train of coincidence, does the accidentally suggested opinion of_the populace call upon us to_believe ?

" before proceeding farther, let_us consider the supposed scene of_the assassination, in_the thicket at_the Barrire du Roule . this thicket, although dense, was in_the close vicinity of a public road . within were three or four large stones, forming a kind of seat with a back and footstool . on_the upper stone was discovered a white petticoat; on_the second, a silk scarf .a parasol, gloves, and a pocket- handkerchief, were also here found . the handkerchief bore the name, 'Marie Rogt .' Fragments of dress were seen on_the branches around . the earth was trampled, the bushes were broken, and there_was every evidence of a violent struggle .

" notwithstanding the acclamation with_which the discovery of_this thicket was received by_the press, and_the unanimity with_which it_was supposed to indicate the precise scene of_the outrage, it must_be admitted that there_was some very_good reason for doubt . that_it_was the scene, I_may or I_may not believe - but there_was excellent reason for doubt . had the true scene been, as Le Commerciel suggested, in_the neighborhood of_the rue pave St .Andre, the perpetrators of_the crime, supposing them still resident in Paris, would naturally have_been stricken with terror at_the public attention thus acutely directed into_the proper channel; and, in certain classes of minds, there would_have arisen, at once, a sense of_the necessity of some exertion to redivert this attention . and thus, the thicket of_the Barrire du Roule having been already suspected, the idea of placing the articles where they were found, might_have_been naturally entertained . there_is no real evidence, although Le Soleil so supposes, that_the articles discovered had_been more than a very few_days in_the thicket; while there_is much circumstantial proof that they_could_not have remained there, without attracting attention, during the twenty days elapsing between_the fatal Sunday and_the afternoon upon_which they were found by_the boys .' they were all mildewed down hard,' says Le Soleil, adopting the opinions of_its predecessors, ' with_the action of_the rain, and stuck together from mildew . the grass had grown around and over some_of_them . the silk of_the parasol was strong, but the threads of it were run together within . the upper part, where it bad been doubled and folded, was all mildewed and rotten, and tore on being opened .' in respect to_the grass having ' . grown around and over some_of_them,' it_is obvious that_the fact could only have_been ascertained from_the words, and thus from_the recollections, of two small boys; for_these boys removed the articles and took them home before_they had_been seen by a third party . but grass will grow, especially in warm and damp weather, ( such as was_that of_the period of_the murder,) as_much as two_or_three inches in a single day .a parasol lying upon a newly turfed ground, might, in a single week, be entirely concealed from sight by_the upspringing grass . and touching that mildew upon_which the editor of Le Soleil so pertinaciously insists, that he employs the word no less_than three times in_the brief paragraph just quoted, is he really unaware of_the nature of_this mildew ? is he to_be told that_it_is one_of_the many classes of fungus, of_which the most ordinary feature is its upspringing and decadence within twenty-four hours ?

" thus we see, at a glance, that what_has_been most triumphantly adduced in support of_the idea that_the articles bad been ' for at_least three or four weeks' in_the thicket, is most absurdly null as regards any evidence of_that fact . on_the other hand, it_is exceedingly difficult to_believe that_these articles could_have remained in_the thicket specified, for a longer period than a single week - for a longer period than from one Sunday to_the next . those who_know any thing of_the vicinity of Paris, know the extreme difficulty of finding seclusion unless at a great distance from its suburbs . such a thing as an unexplored, or even an unfrequently visited recess, amid its woods or groves, is_not for a moment to_be imagined . let any_one who, being at heart a lover of nature, is yet chained by duty to_the dust and heat of_this great metropolis - let any such one attempt, even during the weekdays, to slake his thirst for solitude amid the scenes of natural loveliness which immediately surround us . at every second step, he_will_find the growing charm dispelled by_the voice and personal intrusion of some ruffian or party of carousing blackguards . he_will seek privacy amid the densest foliage, all in vain . here are the very nooks where the unwashed most abound - here are the temples most desecrate . with sickness of_the heart the wanderer will flee back to_the polluted Paris as_to a less odious because less incongruous sink of pollution . but if_the vicinity of_the city is so beset during the working days of_the week, how_much more so on_the Sabbath ! it_is now especially that, released from_the claims of labor, or deprived of_the customary opportunities of crime, the town blackguard seeks the precincts of_the town, not through love of_the rural, which in_his heart he despises, but by way of escape from_the restraints and conventionalities of society . he desires less the fresh air and_the green trees, than_the utter license of_the country . here, at_the road- side inn, or beneath the foliage of_the woods, he indulges, unchecked by any eye except those of_his boon companions, in all the mad excess of a counterfeit hilarity - the joint offspring of liberty and of rum . I_say nothing more than what must_be obvious to every dispassionate observer, when I repeat that_the circumstance of_the articles in_question having remained undiscovered, for a longer period - than from one Sunday to another, in any thicket in_the immediate neighborhood of Paris, is_to_be looked upon as little less_than miraculous .

" but there_are not wanting other grounds for_the suspicion that_the articles were placed in_the thicket with_the view of diverting attention from_the real scene of_the outrage . and, first, let me direct your notice to_the date of_the discovery of_the articles . collate this with_the date of_the fifth extract made by_myself from_the newspapers . you_will_find that_the discovery followed, almost immediately, the urgent communications sent to_the evening paper . these communications, although various and apparently from various sources, tended all to_the same point - viz ., the directing of attention to a gang as_the perpetrators of_the outrage, and to_the neighborhood of_the Barrire du Roule as its scene . now here, of_course, the suspicion is_not that, in consequence of_these communications, or of_the public attention by_them directed, the articles were found by_the boys; but the suspicion might and may well have_been, that_the articles were_not before found by_the boys, for_the reason that_the articles had_not before been in_the thicket; having been deposited there only at so late a period as at_the date, or shortly prior to_the date of_the communications by_the guilty authors of_these communications themselves .

" this thicket was a singular - an exceedingly singular one . it_was unusually dense . within its naturally walled enclosure were three extraordinary stones, forming a seat with a back and footstool . and this thicket, so full of a natural art, was in_the immediate vicinity, within a few rods, of_the dwelling of Madame Deluc, whose boys were in_the habit of closely examining the shrubberies about_them in search of_the bark of_the sassafras . would it be a rash wager - a wager of one thousand to one -- that a day never passed over the heads of_these boys without finding at_least one_of_them ensconced in_the umbrageous hall, and enthroned upon its natural throne ? those who_would hesitate at such a wager, have either never been boys themselves, or have forgotten the boyish nature .I repeat -- it_is exceedingly hard to comprehend how the articles could_have remained in_this thicket undiscovered, for a longer period than one_or_two days; and_that thus there_is good ground for suspicion, in_spite of_the dogmatic ignorance of Le Soleil, that_they were, at acomparatively late date, deposited where found .

" but there_are still other and stronger reasons for believing them so deposited, than any which I_have as_yet urged . and, now, let me beg your notice to_the highly artificial arrangement of_the articles . on_the upper stone lay a white petticoat; on_the second a silk scarf; scattered around, were a parasol, gloves, and a pocket- handkerchief bearing the name, 'Marie Rogt .' here_is just such an arrangement as would naturally be made by a not over- acute person wishing to dispose the articles naturally . but it_is by no means a really natural arrangement . i_should rather have looked to_see the things all lying on_the ground and trampled under foot . in_the narrow limits of_that bower, it would_have_been scarcely possible that_the petticoat and scarf should_have retained a position upon_the stones, when subjected to_the brushing to and fro of many struggling persons .' there_was evidence,' it_is said, ' of a struggle; and_the earth was trampled, the bushes were broken,' - but the petticoat and_the scarf

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