an magistrate! There's
the rub! And youth, so confident in its own intelligence, youth which
tramples under foot every obstacle, forgets this!

"Now, in the _special case_ under consideration, the guilty man, I
will assume, lies hard and fast, but, when he fancies that all that is
left him will be to reap the reward of his mendacity, behold, he will
succumb in the very place where such an accident is likely to be most
closely analyzed. Assuming even that he may be in a position to
account for his syncope by illness or the stifling atmosphere of the
locality, he has none the less given rise to suspicion! He has lied
incomparably, but he has counted without nature. Here is the pitfall!
Again, a man off his guard, from an unwary disposition, may delight in
mystifying another who suspects him, and may wantonly pretend to be
the very criminal wanted by the authorities; in such a case, he will
represent the person in question a little too closely, he will place
his foot a little too naturally. Here we have another token. For the
nonce his interlocutor may be duped; but, being no fool, he will on
the morrow have seen through the subterfuge. Then will our friend
become compromised more and more! He will come of his own accord when
he is not even called, he will use all kinds of impudent words,
remarks, allegories, the meaning of which will be clear to everybody;
he will even go so far as to come and ask why he has not been arrested
as yet--hah! hah! And such a line of conduct may occur to a person of
keen intellect, yes, even to a man of psychologic mind! Nature, my
friend, is the most transparent of mirrors. To contemplate her is
sufficient. But why do you grow pale, Rodion Romanovitch? Perhaps you
are too hot; shall I open the window?"

"By no means, I beg!" cried Raskolnikoff, bursting out laughing.
"Don't heed me, pray!" Porphyrius stopped short, waited a moment, and
burst out laughing himself. Raskolnikoff, whose hilarity had suddenly
died out, rose. "Porphyrius Petrovitch," he shouted in a clear and
loud voice, although he could scarcely stand on his trembling legs, "I
can no longer doubt that you suspect me of having assassinated this
old woman as well as her sister, Elizabeth. Let me tell you that for
some time I have had enough of this. If you think you have the right
to hunt me down, to have me arrested, hunt me down, have me arrested.
But you shall not trifle with me, you shall not torture me." Suddenly
his lips qu