the 'hitch' in the bandage, and the 'sailor's knot,' with which the

bonnet-ribbon is tied, point to a seaman. His companionship with the

deceased, a gay, but not an abject young girl, designates him as

above the grade of the common sailor. Here the well written and urgent

communications to the journals are much in the way of corroboration. The

circumstance of the first elopement, as mentioned by Le Mercurie, tends

to blend the idea of this seaman with that of the 'naval officer' who is

first known to have led the unfortunate into crime.

And here, most fitly, comes the consideration of the continued

absence of him of the dark complexion. Let me pause to observe that the

complexion of this man is dark and swarthy; it was no common swarthiness

which constituted the sole point of remembrance, both as regards Valence

and Madame Deluc. But why is this man absent? Was he murdered by the

gang? If so, why are there only traces of the assassinated girl? The

scene of the two outrages will naturally be supposed identical. And

where is his corpse? The assassins would most probably have disposed

of both in the same way. But it may be said that this man lives, and is

deterred from making himself known, through dread of being charged with

the murder. This consideration might be supposed to operate upon him

now--at this late period--since it has been given in evidence that he

was seen with Marie--but it would have had no force at the period of the

deed. The first impulse of an innocent man would have been to announce

the outrage, and to aid in identifying the ruffians. This policy would

have suggested. He had been seen with the girl. He had crossed the river

308

The Works of Edgar Allan Poe - Volume 1