WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.720 --> 00:00:05.639 The copper beeches to the man who loves art for 2 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:09.880 its own sake, remarked Sherlock Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement 3 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:12.759 sheet of the Daily Telegraph. It is frequently in its 4 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:17.239 least important and lowliest manifestations that the keenest pleasure is 5 00:00:17.239 --> 00:00:21.320 to be derived. It is pleasant to me to observe Watson, 6 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:25.239 that you have so far grasped this truth, that in 7 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:28.000 these little records of our cases, which you have been 8 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.079 good enough to draw up, and I am bound to 9 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:34.000 say occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so 10 00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:37.640 much to the many cause celebra and sensational trials in 11 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:41.079 which I have figured, but rather to those incidents which 12 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:44.520 may have been trivial in themselves, but which have given 13 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:48.640 room for those faculties of deduction and of logic syntheses 14 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:53.640 which I have made my special province. And yet, said I, smiling, 15 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:56.719 I cannot quite hold myself absolved from the charge of 16 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:01.280 sensationalism which has been urged against my record words you 17 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:05.480 have aired. Perhaps he observed taking up a glowing cinder 18 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:09.040 with the tongs and lighting it with the long cherrywood 19 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:12.359 pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he 20 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:17.040 was in a disputatious rather than meditative mood. You have aired, 21 00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:20.519 perhaps in attempting to put color and life into each 22 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:24.159 of your statements, instead of confining yourself to the task 23 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:28.239 of placing upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect, 24 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.000 which is really the only notable feature about the thing. 25 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:35.120 It seems to me that I have done you full 26 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:38.959 justice in the matter, I remarked, with some coldness, for 27 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:41.799 I was repelled by the egotism which I had more 28 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:44.120 than once observed to be a strong factor in my 29 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:48.640 friend's singular character. No, it is not selfishness or conceit, 30 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:52.799 said he answering, as was his wont my thoughts rather 31 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:56.680 than my words? If I claim full justice for my art, 32 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:59.719 it is because it is an impersonal thing, a thing 33 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:06.239 beyond myself. Crime is common, logic is rare. Therefore it 34 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:09.560 is upon the logic, rather than upon the crime, that 35 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:13.039 you should dwell. You have degraded what should have been 36 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:18.400 a course of lectures into a series of tales. It 37 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:21.360 was a cold morning of the early spring, and we 38 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:24.639 sat after breakfast, on either side of a cheery fire 39 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:28.439 in the old room in Baker Street. A thick fog 40 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:32.159 rolled down before the lines of dun colored houses, and 41 00:02:32.199 --> 00:02:36.240 the opposing windows loomed like dark, shapeless blurs through the 42 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:41.240 heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit and shone on 43 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:44.919 the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal. For 44 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:49.000 the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had 45 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:53.199 been silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the advertisement 46 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:56.960 columns of a succession of papers, until at last, having 47 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:00.400 apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no 48 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:05.719 very sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. 49 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:10.159 At the same time, he remarked, after a pause during 50 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:12.639 which he had sat, puffing at his long pipe and 51 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:16.000 gazing down into the fire, you can hardly be open 52 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:19.719 to a charge of sensationalism, for out of these cases 53 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:22.400 which you have been so kind as to interest yourself 54 00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:26.080 in a fair proportion, do not treat of crime in 55 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:29.879 its legal sense at all. The small matter in which 56 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:33.080 I endeavored to help the King of Bohemia, the single 57 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:37.319 experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the problem connected with the 58 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:39.639 man with the twisted lip, and the incident of the 59 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:43.840 noble bachelor were all matters which are outside the pale 60 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:48.520 of the law. But in avoiding the sensational. I fear 61 00:03:48.599 --> 00:03:52.400 that you may have bordered on the trivial. The end 62 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:55.520 may have been so, I answered, but the methods I 63 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:59.360 hold to have been novel and of interest. Pshaw, my 64 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:03.280 dear fellow, What to the public, the great unobservant public, 65 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:06.879 who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or 66 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:10.439 a compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer 67 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:15.000 shades of analysis and deduction? But indeed, if you are trivial, 68 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:17.879 I cannot blame you, for the days of the great 69 00:04:17.959 --> 00:04:21.519 cases are past. Man, or at least criminal man, has 70 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:26.319 lost all enterprise and originality. As to my own little practice, 71 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:29.680 it seems to be degenerating into an agency for recovering 72 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:33.360 lost lead pencils and giving advice to young ladies from 73 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:37.959 boarding schools. I think that I have touched bottom at last. However, 74 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:42.319 this note I had this morning marks my zero point. 75 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:46.680 I fancy read it. He tasked a crumpled letter across 76 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:50.560 to me. It was dated from Montague Place upon the 77 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:55.160 preceding evening, and ran, thus, dear mister Holmes, I am 78 00:04:55.279 --> 00:04:57.480 very anxious to consult you as to whether I should 79 00:04:57.560 --> 00:05:00.639 or should not accept a situation which has been offered 80 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:03.279 to me as governess. I shall call at half past 81 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:06.240 ten to morrow if I do not inconvenience you, yours 82 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:10.480 faithfully violent hunter. Do you know the young lady, I asked, 83 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:14.680 not I It is half past ten now, yes, and 84 00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:17.600 I have no doubt that is her ring. It may 85 00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:19.639 turn out to be of more interest than you think. 86 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:23.439 You remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which 87 00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:26.560 appeared to be a mere whim at first, developed into 88 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:31.040 a serious investigation. It may be so in this case also. Well, 89 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:34.439 let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon 90 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:37.560 be solved. For here, unless I am much mistaken, is 91 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:41.399 the person in question. As he spoke, the door opened 92 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:44.399 and a young lady entered the room. She was plainly 93 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:48.079 but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, freckled like 94 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:51.279 a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a 95 00:05:51.319 --> 00:05:53.399 woman who has had her own way to make in 96 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:57.120 the world. You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure, 97 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:00.160 said she, as my companion rose to greet her. But 98 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:02.839 I have had a very strange experience, and as I 99 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:05.399 have no parents or relations of any sort from whom 100 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:07.839 I could ask advice, I thought perhaps that you would 101 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:10.839 be kind enough to tell me what I should do. Pray, 102 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:13.040 take a seat, miss Hunter. I shall be happy to 103 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:16.439 do anything that I can to serve you. I could 104 00:06:16.439 --> 00:06:19.160 see that Holmes was favorably impressed by the manner and 105 00:06:19.240 --> 00:06:22.600 speech of his new client. He looked her over in 106 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:26.399 his searching fashion, and then composed himself with his lids 107 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:29.959 drooping and his finger tips together to listen to her story. 108 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:33.680 I have been a governess for five years, said she, 109 00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:38.040 in the family of Colonel Spence Monroe. But two months 110 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:41.600 ago the colonel received an appointment at Halifax in Nova Scotia, 111 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.839 and took his children over to America with him. So 112 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:49.360 that I found myself without a situation. I advertised and 113 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:53.720 I answered advertisements, but without success. At last the little 114 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:56.639 money which I had saved began to run short, and 115 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:58.360 I was at my wits end as to what I 116 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:02.360 should do. There is a well known agency for governesses 117 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:05.399 in the West End called Westerway's, and there I used 118 00:07:05.399 --> 00:07:07.959 to call about once a week in order to see 119 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:11.439 whether anything had turned up which might suit me. Westerway 120 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:14.000 was the name of the founder of the business, but 121 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:17.759 it was really managed by miss Stoper. She sits in 122 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:20.240 her own little office, and the ladies who are seeking 123 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:23.560 employment wait in an ante room and are then shown 124 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:26.639 in one by one when she consults her ledgers and 125 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:30.079 sees whether she has anything which would suit them well. 126 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:33.079 When I called last week, I was shown into the 127 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:36.560 little office as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper 128 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:40.879 was not alone. A prodigiously stout man with a very 129 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:44.199 smiling face and a great heavy chin which rolled down 130 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:47.560 in fold upon fold over his throat, sat at her 131 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:51.639 elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking 132 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:55.759 very earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in, 133 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:58.800 he gave quite a jump in his chair and turned 134 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:02.120 quickly to Miss Stoppah that will do, said he. I 135 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:07.040 could not ask for anything better. Capital capital. He seemed 136 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:10.399 quite enthusiastic, and rubbed his hands together in the most 137 00:08:10.439 --> 00:08:14.399 genial fashion. He was such a comfortable looking man that 138 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:17.519 it was quite a pleasure to look at him. You 139 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:20.319 are looking for a situation, miss, he asked, yes, sir, 140 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:24.279 as Governess, Yes sir, And what salary do you ask? 141 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:27.079 I had four pounds a month in my last place 142 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:32.519 with Colonel Spence Monroe. Oh tut tut, sweating, rank sweating, 143 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:36.120 he cried, throwing his fat hands out into the air 144 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:38.879 like a man who is in a boiling passion. How 145 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:41.559 could any one offer so pitiful a sum to a 146 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:46.639 lady with such attractions and accomplishments. My accomplishment, sir, may 147 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:49.519 be less than you imagine, said I, A little French, 148 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:53.840 a little German, music and drawing. Tut tut, he cried. 149 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:57.120 That is all quite beside the question. The point is, 150 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:00.240 have you or have you not the bearing and deportment 151 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.399 of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If 152 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:05.919 you have not, you are not fitted for the rearing 153 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:08.480 of a child who may some day play a considerable 154 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:11.440 part in the history of the country. But if you have, 155 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:14.879 why then how could any gentleman ask you to condescend 156 00:09:14.919 --> 00:09:19.559 to accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, madam, 157 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:23.919 would commence at one hundred pounds a year. You may imagine, 158 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:27.159 mister Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, such 159 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:31.399 an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, however, 160 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:35.440 seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, opened 161 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:38.320 a pocket book and took out a note. It is 162 00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:41.919 also my custom, said he smiling in the most pleasant fashion, 163 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:45.519 until his eyes were just two shining slits amid the 164 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:48.559 white creases of his face. To advance to my young 165 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:52.279 ladies half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet 166 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:57.240 any little expenses of their journey and their wardrobe. It 167 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:59.519 seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating 168 00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:02.639 and so ful a man, as I was already in 169 00:10:02.679 --> 00:10:06.080 debt to my tradesman. The advance was a great convenience, 170 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:10.720 and yet there was something unnatural about the whole transaction 171 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:13.679 which made me wish to know a little more before 172 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:17.879 I quite committed myself. May I ask where you live, sir, 173 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:23.039 said I Hampshire, charming rural place, the Copper Beeches, five 174 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:26.159 miles on the far side of Winchester. It is the 175 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:29.480 most lovely country, my dear young lady, and the dearest 176 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:33.720 old country house. And my duties, sir, I should be 177 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:36.720 glad to know what they would be. One child, one 178 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:40.519 dear little rumper, just six years old. Oh, if you 179 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:44.639 could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper smack, smack, smack, 180 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:48.080 three gone before you could wink. He leaned back in 181 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:51.080 his chair and laughed. His eyes into his head again. 182 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:53.840 I was a little startled at the nature of the 183 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:57.120 child's amusement, but the father's laughter made me think that 184 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:01.000 perhaps he was joking. My sole duty, then, I asked, 185 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:04.360 are to take charge of a single child? No? No, 186 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:07.000 not the soul, Not the soul, My dear young lady, 187 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:10.080 he cried, Your duty would be, as I am sure, 188 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:13.840 your good sense would suggest to obey any little commands 189 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:17.360 which my wife might give, provided always that they were 190 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:21.399 such commands as a lady might with propriety obey. You 191 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:24.519 see no difficulty, eh, I should be happy to make 192 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:28.919 myself useful. Quite so in dress now, for example, we 193 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:33.039 are fatty people, you know, fatty but kind hearted. If 194 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:35.720 you were asked to wear any dress which we might 195 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:38.399 give you, you would not object to our little whim, 196 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:44.279 eh no, said I, considerably astonished at his words. Or 197 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:47.639 to sit here, or to sit there that would not 198 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:51.120 be offensive to you, oh no, Or to cut your 199 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:54.720 hair quite short before you come to us. I could 200 00:11:54.759 --> 00:11:58.159 hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, mister Holmes, 201 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:02.159 my hair is somewhat luxyur and of a rather peculiar 202 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:07.559 tint of chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could 203 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:11.039 not dream of sacrificing it in this off hand fashion. 204 00:12:11.960 --> 00:12:14.200 I am afraid that that is quite impossible, said I. 205 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:17.759 He had been watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, 206 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.360 and I could see a shadow pass over his face 207 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:23.799 as I spoke. I am afraid that it is quite essential, 208 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:26.960 said he. It is a little fancy of my wife's 209 00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:31.559 and lady's fancies. You know, Madam, lady's fancies must be consulted, 210 00:12:32.200 --> 00:12:35.519 And so you won't cut your hair? No, sir, I 211 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:39.200 really could not, I answered firmly. Ah, very well, then 212 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:42.879 that quite settles the matter. It is a pity, because 213 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:45.559 in other respects you would really have done very nicely. 214 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:48.240 In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a 215 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:52.159 few more of your young ladies. The manageress had sat 216 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:54.919 all this while busy with her papers, without a word 217 00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:57.559 to either of us. But she glanced at me now 218 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:00.519 with so much annoyance upon her face that I could 219 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:03.519 not help suspecting that she had lost a handsome commission 220 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:06.919 through my refusal. Do you desire your name to be 221 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:11.039 kept upon the books? She asked, if you please, Miss Stoper. Well, 222 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:14.399 really it seems rather useless since you refuse the most 223 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:18.080 excellent offers in this fashion, She said, sharply, you can 224 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:21.720 hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such 225 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:25.279 opening for you, miss Hunter. She struck a gong upon 226 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:28.960 the table, and I was shown out by the page. Well, 227 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:31.919 mister Holmes. When I got back to my lodgings and 228 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:34.879 found little enough in the cupboard and two or three 229 00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:38.559 bills upon the table, I began to ask myself whether 230 00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:41.759 I had not done a very foolish thing. After all, 231 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:46.039 if these people had strange fads and expected obedience on 232 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:49.159 the most extraordinary matters, they were at least ready to 233 00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:53.960 pay for their eccentricity. Very few governesses in England getting 234 00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:57.960 one hundred a year. Besides, what use was my hair 235 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:01.480 to me? Many people are in proved by wearing it short, 236 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:05.279 and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day 237 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:07.639 I was inclined to think that I had made a mistake, 238 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:10.720 and by the day after I was sure of it. 239 00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:14.440 I had almost overcome my pride so far as to 240 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:17.240 go back to the agency and inquire whether the place 241 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:20.080 was still open. When I received this letter from the 242 00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:23.919 gentleman himself. I have it here and I will read 243 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:28.759 it to you the Copper Beaches near Winchester. Dear miss Hunter. 244 00:14:29.399 --> 00:14:33.240 Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your address, and 245 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.360 I write from here to ask you whether you have 246 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:39.679 reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you 247 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:42.639 should come, for she has been much attracted by my 248 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:46.080 description of you. We are willing to give thirty pounds 249 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:49.120 a quarter, or one hundred and twenty pounds a year, 250 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:52.799 so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which 251 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:56.399 our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting. 252 00:14:56.440 --> 00:15:00.000 After all. My wife is fond of a particular sh 253 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:03.879 shade of electric blue, and would like you to wear 254 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:08.840 such a dress indoors in the morning. You need not, however, 255 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:11.840 go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have 256 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:16.639 one belonging to my dear daughter Alice now in Philadelphia, 257 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:21.080 which would I think fit you very well. Then, as 258 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:24.919 to sitting here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner, 259 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:30.440 indicated that need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, 260 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:34.080 it is no doubt a pity, especially as I could 261 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:37.759 not help remarking its beauty during our short interview. But 262 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:40.799 I am afraid that I must remain firm upon this point, 263 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:45.320 and I only hope that the increased salary may recompense 264 00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:48.480 you for the last. Your duties, as far as the 265 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:52.200 child is concerned, are very light. Now do try to 266 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.360 come and I shall meet you with the dog cart 267 00:15:54.360 --> 00:16:00.519 at Winchester. Let me know your train. Yours faithfully, jeffro Rukas. 268 00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:04.720 That is the letter which I have just received, mister Holmes, 269 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:07.480 and my mind is made up that I will accept it. 270 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:12.080 I thought, however, that before taking the final step I 271 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:16.039 should like to submit the whole matter to your consideration. Well, 272 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:19.039 miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles 273 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:23.080 the question, said Holmes, smiling. But you would not advise 274 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:26.159 me to refuse. I confess that it is not the 275 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:28.440 situation which I should like to see a sister of 276 00:16:28.519 --> 00:16:31.679 mine apply. For what is the meaning of it all, 277 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:35.840 mister Holmes, Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. 278 00:16:36.600 --> 00:16:41.279 Perhaps you yourself formed some opinion. Well, there seems to 279 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:45.399 me to be only one possible solution. Mister Rucastle seemed 280 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:48.120 to be a very kind, good natured man. Is it 281 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:51.600 not possible that his wife is a lunatic that he 282 00:16:51.720 --> 00:16:55.159 desires to keep the matter quiet for fear she should 283 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:58.240 be taken to an asylum, and that he humors her 284 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:01.720 fancies in every way in order to prevent an outbreak. 285 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:06.400 That is a possible solution. In fact, as matters stand, 286 00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:09.839 it is the most probable one. But in any case, 287 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:11.880 it does not seem to be a nice household for 288 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:16.079 a young lady. But the money, mister Holmes, the money, well, yes, 289 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:19.720 of course, the pay is good, too good. That is 290 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:22.640 what makes me uneasy. Why should they give you one 291 00:17:22.680 --> 00:17:25.240 hundred and twenty pounds a year when they could have 292 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:28.720 their pick for forty pounds. There must be some strong 293 00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:33.200 reason behind. I thought that if I told you the circumstances, 294 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:36.880 you would understand afterwards. If I wanted your help, I 295 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:39.559 should feel so much stronger if I felt that you 296 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:42.440 were at the back of me. Oh, you may carry 297 00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:44.839 that feeling away with you. I assure you that your 298 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:47.640 little problem promises to be the most interesting which has 299 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:51.000 come my way for some months. There is something distinctly 300 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:54.240 novel about some of the features. If you should find 301 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:57.720 yourself in doubt or in danger, danger, what danger do 302 00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:01.759 you foresee? Homes shook his head gravely. It would cease 303 00:18:01.799 --> 00:18:04.359 to be a danger if we could define it said he, 304 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:08.160 But at any time, day or night, a telegram would 305 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:11.720 bring me down to your help. That is enough. She 306 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:15.160 rose briskly from her chair, with the anxiety all swept 307 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:18.119 from her face. I shall go down to Hampshire quite 308 00:18:18.119 --> 00:18:20.759 easy in my mind. Now I shall write to mister 309 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:24.799 Rowcastle at once, sacrifice my poor hair to night, and 310 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:28.839 start for Winchester to morrow. With a few grateful words 311 00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:31.640 to Holmes, she bade us both good night, and bustled 312 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:35.519 off upon her way. At least, said I, as we 313 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:39.119 heard her quick firm step descending the stairs. She seems 314 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:41.200 to be a young lady who is very well, able 315 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:44.640 to take care of herself as she would need to be, 316 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.799 said Holmes gravely. I am much mistaken if we do 317 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:53.920 not hear from her before many days have passed. It 318 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:57.160 was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. 319 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:00.680 A fortnight went by, during which I freakquently found my 320 00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:04.880 thoughts turning in her direction and wondering what strange side 321 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:08.960 alley of human experience this lonely woman had strayed into 322 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:14.720 the unusual salary. The curious conditions, the light duties all 323 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:19.279 pointed to something abnormal. Though whether a fad or a plot, 324 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:22.799 or whether the man were a philanthropist or a villain. 325 00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:27.720 It was quite beyond my powers to determine. As to Holmes, 326 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:30.799 I observed that he sat frequently for half an hour 327 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:35.079 on end, with knitted brows and an abstracted air, but 328 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:37.759 he swept the matter away with a wave of his hand. 329 00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:42.519 When I mentioned it, data, data, data, he cried impatiently, 330 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:47.000 I can't make bricks without clay, And yet he would 331 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:50.119 always wind up by muttering that no sister of his 332 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:56.359 should ever have accepted such a situation. The telegram, which 333 00:19:56.359 --> 00:19:59.960 we eventually received, came late one night, just as I 334 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:02.960 I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling 335 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:05.599 down to one of those all night researches which he 336 00:20:05.640 --> 00:20:08.920 frequently indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over 337 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:12.319 a retort and a test tube at night and find 338 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:14.200 him in the same position when I came down to 339 00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:18.079 breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope and, then, 340 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:22.240 glancing at the message, threw it across to me. Just 341 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:25.359 look up the trains in Bradshaw, said he, and turned 342 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:28.799 back to his chemical studies. The summons was a brief 343 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:31.640 and urgent one, please be at the Black Swan Hotel 344 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:34.759 at Winchester at midday to morrow, it said, do come. 345 00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:38.799 I am at my wits end hunter, Will you come 346 00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:41.720 with me? Asked Holmes, glancing up. I should wish to 347 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:45.279 just look it up. Then there is a train at 348 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:49.279 half past nine, said I, glancing over my Bradshaw. It 349 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:52.640 is due at Winchester at eleven thirty. That will do 350 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:57.039 very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my analysis 351 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:00.200 of the acetones, as we may need to be at 352 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:06.000 our best in the morning. By eleven o'clock the next 353 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:08.440 day we were well upon our way to the old 354 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:12.559 English capital. Homes had been buried in the morning papers 355 00:21:12.599 --> 00:21:14.920 all the way down, but after we had passed the 356 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:18.440 Hampshire border, he threw them down and began to admire 357 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:22.480 the scenery. It was an ideal spring day, a light 358 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:26.720 blue sky flecked with little fleecy white clouds drifting across 359 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:30.200 from west to east. The sun was shining very brightly, 360 00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:33.640 and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, 361 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:37.680 which set an edge to a man's energy. All over 362 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:41.359 the countryside, away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the 363 00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:44.759 little red and gray roofs of the farmsteadings peeped out 364 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:48.559 from amidst the light green of the new foliage. Are 365 00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:51.720 they not fresh and beautiful? I cried, with all the 366 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:56.039 enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. 367 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:59.559 But Holmes shook his head gravely. Do you know, Watson? 368 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:02.279 Said he that it is one of the curses of 369 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:04.759 a mind with a turn like mine, that I must 370 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:07.759 look at everything with reference to my own special subject. 371 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:11.119 You look at these scattered houses, and you are impressed 372 00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:13.599 by their beauty. I look at them, and the only 373 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:16.720 thought which comes to me is a feeling of their isolation, 374 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:20.599 and of the impunity with which crime may be committed there, 375 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:25.519 Good Heavens, I cried, who would associate crime with these 376 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:30.279 dear old homesteads? They always fill me with a certain horror. 377 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:34.440 It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that 378 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:37.880 the lowest and vilest allies in London do not present 379 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.440 a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling 380 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:46.400 and beautiful countryside. You horrify me, but the reason is 381 00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:49.920 very obvious. The pressure of public opinion can do in 382 00:22:49.960 --> 00:22:53.720 the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no 383 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:56.799 lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, 384 00:22:57.240 --> 00:22:59.759 or the thud of a drunkard's blow does not beget 385 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:03.799 sinsympathy and indignation among the neighbors. And then the whole 386 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:06.920 machinery of justice is ever so close that a word 387 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:10.319 of complaint can set it going, And there is but 388 00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:13.799 a step between the crime and the dark. But look 389 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:17.319 at these lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled 390 00:23:17.319 --> 00:23:19.839 for the most part with poor, ignorant folk who know 391 00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:23.880 little of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, 392 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:27.480 the hidden wickedness which may go on year in year 393 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:31.880 out in such places, and none the wiser. Had this 394 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:34.799 lady who appeals to us for help gone to live 395 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:37.920 in Winchester, I should never have had a fear for her. 396 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:43.200 It is the five miles of country which makes the danger. Still, 397 00:23:43.400 --> 00:23:47.160 it is clear that she is not personally threatened. No, 398 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:49.599 if she can come to Winchester to meet us, she 399 00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:53.559 can get away. Quite so, she has her freedom. What 400 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:57.200 can be the matter? Then, can you suggest no explanation? 401 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:02.240