piece，’saysthisjournal，’ofoneoftheunfortunategirl’spetticoatswastornoutandtiedunderherchin，andaroundthebackofherhead，probablytopreventscreams。Thiswasdonebyfellowswhohadnopocket-handkerchiefs。’
“Ihavebeforesuggestedthatagenuineblackguardisneverwithoutapocket-handkerchief。ButitisnottothisfactthatInowespeciallyadvert。ThatitwasnotthroughwantofahandkerchiefforthepurposeimaginedbyLeCommerciel，thatthisbandagewasemployed，isrenderedapparentbythehandkerchiefleftinthethicket；andthattheobjectwasnot’topreventscreams’appears，also，fromthebandagehavingbeenemployedinpreferencetowhatwouldsomuchbetterhaveansweredthepurpose。Butthelanguageoftheevidencespeaksofthestripinquestionas’foundaroundtheneck，fittingloosely，andsecuredwithahardknot。’Thesewordsaresufficientlyvague，butdiffermateriallyfromthoseofLeCommerciel。Theslipwaseighteenincheswide，andtherefore，althoughofmuslin，wouldformastrongbandwhenfoldedorrumpledlongitudinally。Andthusrumpleditwasdiscovered。Myinferenceisthis。Thesolitarymurderer，havingbornethecorpse，forsomedistance，whetherfromthethicketorelsewherebymeansofthebandagehitchedarounditsmiddle，foundtheweight，inthismodeofprocedure，toomuchforhisstrength。Heresolvedtodragtheburthen-theevidencegoestoshowthatitwasdragged。Withthisobjectinview，itbecamenecessarytoattachsomethinglikearopetooneoftheextremities。Itcouldbebestattachedabouttheneck，wheretheheadwouldpreventitsslippingoff。And，now，themurdererbethoughthim，unquestionably，ofthebandageabouttheloins。Hewouldhaveusedthis，butforitsvolutionaboutthecorpse，thehitchwhichembarrassedit，andthereflectionthatithadnotbeen’tornoff’fromthegarment。Itwaseasiertotearanewslipfromthepetticoat。Hetoreit，madeitfastabouttheneck，andsodraggedhisvictimtothebrinkoftheriver。Thatthis’bandage，’onlyattainablewithtroubleanddelay，andbutimperfectlyansweringitspurpose-thatthisbandagewasemployedatall，demonstratesthatthenecessityforitsemploymentsprangfromcircumstancesarisingataperiodwhenthehandkerchiefwasnolongerattainablethatistosay，arising，aswehaveimagined，afterquittingthethicket，ifthethicketitwas，andontheroadbetweenthethicketandtheriver。
“Buttheevidence，youwillsay，ofMadameDeluc，！pointsespeciallytothepresenceofagang，inthevicinityofthethicket，atorabouttheepochofthemurder。ThisIgrant。Idoubtiftherewerenotadozengangs，suchasdescribedbyMadameDeluc，inandaboutthevicinityoftheBarri鑢eduRouleatorabouttheperiodofthistragedy。Butthegangwhichhasdrawnuponitselfthepointedanimadversion，althoughthesomewhattardyandverysuspiciousevidenceofMadameDeluc，istheonlygangwhichisrepresentedbythathonestandscrupulousoldladyashavingeatenhercakesandswallowedherbrandy，withoutputtingthemselvestothetroubleofmakingherpayment。Ethincill？ir？
“ButwhatisthepreciseevidenceofMadameDeluc？’Agangofmiscreantsmadetheirappearance，behavedboisterously，ateanddrankwithoutmakingpayment，followedintherouteoftheyoungmanandgirl，returnedtotheinnaboutdusk，andrecrossedtheriverasifingreathaste。’
“Nowthis’greathaste’verypossiblyseemedgreaterhasteintheeyesofMadameDeluc，sinceshedweltlingeringlyandlamentinglyuponherviolatedcakesandale-cakesandaleforwhichshemightstillhaveentertainedafainthopeofcompensation。Why，otherwise，sinceitwasaboutdusk，shouldshemakeapointofthehaste？Itisnocauseforwonder，surely，thatevenagangofblackguardsshouldmakehastetogethome，whenawideriveristobecrossedinsmallboats，whenstormimpends，andwhennightapproaches。