Speaker 1: The copper beeches to the man who loves art for
Speaker 1: its own sake, remarked Sherlock Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement
Speaker 1: sheet of the Daily Telegraph. It is frequently in its
Speaker 1: least important and lowliest manifestations that the keenest pleasure is
Speaker 1: to be derived. It is pleasant to me to observe Watson,
Speaker 1: that you have so far grasped this truth, that in
Speaker 1: these little records of our cases, which you have been
Speaker 1: good enough to draw up, and I am bound to
Speaker 1: say occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so
Speaker 1: much to the many cause celebra and sensational trials in
Speaker 1: which I have figured, but rather to those incidents which
Speaker 1: may have been trivial in themselves, but which have given
Speaker 1: room for those faculties of deduction and of logic syntheses
Speaker 1: which I have made my special province. And yet, said I, smiling,
Speaker 1: I cannot quite hold myself absolved from the charge of
Speaker 1: sensationalism which has been urged against my record words you
Speaker 1: have aired. Perhaps he observed taking up a glowing cinder
Speaker 1: with the tongs and lighting it with the long cherrywood
Speaker 1: pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he
Speaker 1: was in a disputatious rather than meditative mood. You have aired,
Speaker 1: perhaps in attempting to put color and life into each
Speaker 1: of your statements, instead of confining yourself to the task
Speaker 1: of placing upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect,
Speaker 1: which is really the only notable feature about the thing.
Speaker 1: It seems to me that I have done you full
Speaker 1: justice in the matter, I remarked, with some coldness, for
Speaker 1: I was repelled by the egotism which I had more
Speaker 1: than once observed to be a strong factor in my
Speaker 1: friend's singular character. No, it is not selfishness or conceit,
Speaker 1: said he answering, as was his wont my thoughts rather
Speaker 1: than my words? If I claim full justice for my art,
Speaker 1: it is because it is an impersonal thing, a thing
Speaker 1: beyond myself. Crime is common, logic is rare. Therefore it
Speaker 1: is upon the logic, rather than upon the crime, that
Speaker 1: you should dwell. You have degraded what should have been
Speaker 1: a course of lectures into a series of tales. It
Speaker 1: was a cold morning of the early spring, and we
Speaker 1: sat after breakfast, on either side of a cheery fire
Speaker 1: in the old room in Baker Street. A thick fog
Speaker 1: rolled down before the lines of dun colored houses, and
Speaker 1: the opposing windows loomed like dark, shapeless blurs through the
Speaker 1: heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit and shone on
Speaker 1: the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal. For
Speaker 1: the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had
Speaker 1: been silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the advertisement
Speaker 1: columns of a succession of papers, until at last, having
Speaker 1: apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no
Speaker 1: very sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings.
Speaker 1: At the same time, he remarked, after a pause during
Speaker 1: which he had sat, puffing at his long pipe and
Speaker 1: gazing down into the fire, you can hardly be open
Speaker 1: to a charge of sensationalism, for out of these cases
Speaker 1: which you have been so kind as to interest yourself
Speaker 1: in a fair proportion, do not treat of crime in
Speaker 1: its legal sense at all. The small matter in which
Speaker 1: I endeavored to help the King of Bohemia, the single
Speaker 1: experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the problem connected with the
Speaker 1: man with the twisted lip, and the incident of the
Speaker 1: noble bachelor were all matters which are outside the pale
Speaker 1: of the law. But in avoiding the sensational. I fear
Speaker 1: that you may have bordered on the trivial. The end
Speaker 1: may have been so, I answered, but the methods I
Speaker 1: hold to have been novel and of interest. Pshaw, my
Speaker 1: dear fellow, What to the public, the great unobservant public,
Speaker 1: who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or
Speaker 1: a compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer
Speaker 1: shades of analysis and deduction? But indeed, if you are trivial,
Speaker 1: I cannot blame you, for the days of the great
Speaker 1: cases are past. Man, or at least criminal man, has
Speaker 1: lost all enterprise and originality. As to my own little practice,
Speaker 1: it seems to be degenerating into an agency for recovering
Speaker 1: lost lead pencils and giving advice to young ladies from
Speaker 1: boarding schools. I think that I have touched bottom at last. However,
Speaker 1: this note I had this morning marks my zero point.
Speaker 1: I fancy read it. He tasked a crumpled letter across
Speaker 1: to me. It was dated from Montague Place upon the
Speaker 1: preceding evening, and ran, thus, dear mister Holmes, I am
Speaker 1: very anxious to consult you as to whether I should
Speaker 1: or should not accept a situation which has been offered
Speaker 1: to me as governess. I shall call at half past
Speaker 1: ten to morrow if I do not inconvenience you, yours
Speaker 1: faithfully violent hunter. Do you know the young lady, I asked,
Speaker 1: not I It is half past ten now, yes, and
Speaker 1: I have no doubt that is her ring. It may
Speaker 1: turn out to be of more interest than you think.
Speaker 1: You remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which
Speaker 1: appeared to be a mere whim at first, developed into
Speaker 1: a serious investigation. It may be so in this case also. Well,
Speaker 1: let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon
Speaker 1: be solved. For here, unless I am much mistaken, is
Speaker 1: the person in question. As he spoke, the door opened
Speaker 1: and a young lady entered the room. She was plainly
Speaker 1: but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, freckled like
Speaker 1: a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a
Speaker 1: woman who has had her own way to make in
Speaker 1: the world. You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure,
Speaker 1: said she, as my companion rose to greet her. But
Speaker 1: I have had a very strange experience, and as I
Speaker 1: have no parents or relations of any sort from whom
Speaker 1: I could ask advice, I thought perhaps that you would
Speaker 1: be kind enough to tell me what I should do. Pray,
Speaker 1: take a seat, miss Hunter. I shall be happy to
Speaker 1: do anything that I can to serve you. I could
Speaker 1: see that Holmes was favorably impressed by the manner and
Speaker 1: speech of his new client. He looked her over in
Speaker 1: his searching fashion, and then composed himself with his lids
Speaker 1: drooping and his finger tips together to listen to her story.
Speaker 1: I have been a governess for five years, said she,
Speaker 1: in the family of Colonel Spence Monroe. But two months
Speaker 1: ago the colonel received an appointment at Halifax in Nova Scotia,
Speaker 1: and took his children over to America with him. So
Speaker 1: that I found myself without a situation. I advertised and
Speaker 1: I answered advertisements, but without success. At last the little
Speaker 1: money which I had saved began to run short, and
Speaker 1: I was at my wits end as to what I
Speaker 1: should do. There is a well known agency for governesses
Speaker 1: in the West End called Westerway's, and there I used
Speaker 1: to call about once a week in order to see
Speaker 1: whether anything had turned up which might suit me. Westerway
Speaker 1: was the name of the founder of the business, but
Speaker 1: it was really managed by miss Stoper. She sits in
Speaker 1: her own little office, and the ladies who are seeking
Speaker 1: employment wait in an ante room and are then shown
Speaker 1: in one by one when she consults her ledgers and
Speaker 1: sees whether she has anything which would suit them well.
Speaker 1: When I called last week, I was shown into the
Speaker 1: little office as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper
Speaker 1: was not alone. A prodigiously stout man with a very
Speaker 1: smiling face and a great heavy chin which rolled down
Speaker 1: in fold upon fold over his throat, sat at her
Speaker 1: elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking
Speaker 1: very earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in,
Speaker 1: he gave quite a jump in his chair and turned
Speaker 1: quickly to Miss Stoppah that will do, said he. I
Speaker 1: could not ask for anything better. Capital capital. He seemed
Speaker 1: quite enthusiastic, and rubbed his hands together in the most
Speaker 1: genial fashion. He was such a comfortable looking man that
Speaker 1: it was quite a pleasure to look at him. You
Speaker 1: are looking for a situation, miss, he asked, yes, sir,
Speaker 1: as Governess, Yes sir, And what salary do you ask?
Speaker 1: I had four pounds a month in my last place
Speaker 1: with Colonel Spence Monroe. Oh tut tut, sweating, rank sweating,
Speaker 1: he cried, throwing his fat hands out into the air
Speaker 1: like a man who is in a boiling passion. How
Speaker 1: could any one offer so pitiful a sum to a
Speaker 1: lady with such attractions and accomplishments. My accomplishment, sir, may
Speaker 1: be less than you imagine, said I, A little French,
Speaker 1: a little German, music and drawing. Tut tut, he cried.
Speaker 1: That is all quite beside the question. The point is,
Speaker 1: have you or have you not the bearing and deportment
Speaker 1: of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If
Speaker 1: you have not, you are not fitted for the rearing
Speaker 1: of a child who may some day play a considerable
Speaker 1: part in the history of the country. But if you have,
Speaker 1: why then how could any gentleman ask you to condescend
Speaker 1: to accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, madam,
Speaker 1: would commence at one hundred pounds a year. You may imagine,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, such
Speaker 1: an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, however,
Speaker 1: seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, opened
Speaker 1: a pocket book and took out a note. It is
Speaker 1: also my custom, said he smiling in the most pleasant fashion,
Speaker 1: until his eyes were just two shining slits amid the
Speaker 1: white creases of his face. To advance to my young
Speaker 1: ladies half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet
Speaker 1: any little expenses of their journey and their wardrobe. It
Speaker 1: seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating
Speaker 1: and so ful a man, as I was already in
Speaker 1: debt to my tradesman. The advance was a great convenience,
Speaker 1: and yet there was something unnatural about the whole transaction
Speaker 1: which made me wish to know a little more before
Speaker 1: I quite committed myself. May I ask where you live, sir,
Speaker 1: said I Hampshire, charming rural place, the Copper Beeches, five
Speaker 1: miles on the far side of Winchester. It is the
Speaker 1: most lovely country, my dear young lady, and the dearest
Speaker 1: old country house. And my duties, sir, I should be
Speaker 1: glad to know what they would be. One child, one
Speaker 1: dear little rumper, just six years old. Oh, if you
Speaker 1: could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper smack, smack, smack,
Speaker 1: three gone before you could wink. He leaned back in
Speaker 1: his chair and laughed. His eyes into his head again.
Speaker 1: I was a little startled at the nature of the
Speaker 1: child's amusement, but the father's laughter made me think that
Speaker 1: perhaps he was joking. My sole duty, then, I asked,
Speaker 1: are to take charge of a single child? No? No,
Speaker 1: not the soul, Not the soul, My dear young lady,
Speaker 1: he cried, Your duty would be, as I am sure,
Speaker 1: your good sense would suggest to obey any little commands
Speaker 1: which my wife might give, provided always that they were
Speaker 1: such commands as a lady might with propriety obey. You
Speaker 1: see no difficulty, eh, I should be happy to make
Speaker 1: myself useful. Quite so in dress now, for example, we
Speaker 1: are fatty people, you know, fatty but kind hearted. If
Speaker 1: you were asked to wear any dress which we might
Speaker 1: give you, you would not object to our little whim,
Speaker 1: eh no, said I, considerably astonished at his words. Or
Speaker 1: to sit here, or to sit there that would not
Speaker 1: be offensive to you, oh no, Or to cut your
Speaker 1: hair quite short before you come to us. I could
Speaker 1: hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: my hair is somewhat luxyur and of a rather peculiar
Speaker 1: tint of chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could
Speaker 1: not dream of sacrificing it in this off hand fashion.
Speaker 1: I am afraid that that is quite impossible, said I.
Speaker 1: He had been watching me eagerly out of his small eyes,
Speaker 1: and I could see a shadow pass over his face
Speaker 1: as I spoke. I am afraid that it is quite essential,
Speaker 1: said he. It is a little fancy of my wife's
Speaker 1: and lady's fancies. You know, Madam, lady's fancies must be consulted,
Speaker 1: And so you won't cut your hair? No, sir, I
Speaker 1: really could not, I answered firmly. Ah, very well, then
Speaker 1: that quite settles the matter. It is a pity, because
Speaker 1: in other respects you would really have done very nicely.
Speaker 1: In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a
Speaker 1: few more of your young ladies. The manageress had sat
Speaker 1: all this while busy with her papers, without a word
Speaker 1: to either of us. But she glanced at me now
Speaker 1: with so much annoyance upon her face that I could
Speaker 1: not help suspecting that she had lost a handsome commission
Speaker 1: through my refusal. Do you desire your name to be
Speaker 1: kept upon the books? She asked, if you please, Miss Stoper. Well,
Speaker 1: really it seems rather useless since you refuse the most
Speaker 1: excellent offers in this fashion, She said, sharply, you can
Speaker 1: hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such
Speaker 1: opening for you, miss Hunter. She struck a gong upon
Speaker 1: the table, and I was shown out by the page. Well,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes. When I got back to my lodgings and
Speaker 1: found little enough in the cupboard and two or three
Speaker 1: bills upon the table, I began to ask myself whether
Speaker 1: I had not done a very foolish thing. After all,
Speaker 1: if these people had strange fads and expected obedience on
Speaker 1: the most extraordinary matters, they were at least ready to
Speaker 1: pay for their eccentricity. Very few governesses in England getting
Speaker 1: one hundred a year. Besides, what use was my hair
Speaker 1: to me? Many people are in proved by wearing it short,
Speaker 1: and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day
Speaker 1: I was inclined to think that I had made a mistake,
Speaker 1: and by the day after I was sure of it.
Speaker 1: I had almost overcome my pride so far as to
Speaker 1: go back to the agency and inquire whether the place
Speaker 1: was still open. When I received this letter from the
Speaker 1: gentleman himself. I have it here and I will read
Speaker 1: it to you the Copper Beaches near Winchester. Dear miss Hunter.
Speaker 1: Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your address, and
Speaker 1: I write from here to ask you whether you have
Speaker 1: reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you
Speaker 1: should come, for she has been much attracted by my
Speaker 1: description of you. We are willing to give thirty pounds
Speaker 1: a quarter, or one hundred and twenty pounds a year,
Speaker 1: so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which
Speaker 1: our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting.
Speaker 1: After all. My wife is fond of a particular sh
Speaker 1: shade of electric blue, and would like you to wear
Speaker 1: such a dress indoors in the morning. You need not, however,
Speaker 1: go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have
Speaker 1: one belonging to my dear daughter Alice now in Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: which would I think fit you very well. Then, as
Speaker 1: to sitting here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner,
Speaker 1: indicated that need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair,
Speaker 1: it is no doubt a pity, especially as I could
Speaker 1: not help remarking its beauty during our short interview. But
Speaker 1: I am afraid that I must remain firm upon this point,
Speaker 1: and I only hope that the increased salary may recompense
Speaker 1: you for the last. Your duties, as far as the
Speaker 1: child is concerned, are very light. Now do try to
Speaker 1: come and I shall meet you with the dog cart
Speaker 1: at Winchester. Let me know your train. Yours faithfully, jeffro Rukas.
Speaker 1: That is the letter which I have just received, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: and my mind is made up that I will accept it.
Speaker 1: I thought, however, that before taking the final step I
Speaker 1: should like to submit the whole matter to your consideration. Well,
Speaker 1: miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles
Speaker 1: the question, said Holmes, smiling. But you would not advise
Speaker 1: me to refuse. I confess that it is not the
Speaker 1: situation which I should like to see a sister of
Speaker 1: mine apply. For what is the meaning of it all,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell.
Speaker 1: Perhaps you yourself formed some opinion. Well, there seems to
Speaker 1: me to be only one possible solution. Mister Rucastle seemed
Speaker 1: to be a very kind, good natured man. Is it
Speaker 1: not possible that his wife is a lunatic that he
Speaker 1: desires to keep the matter quiet for fear she should
Speaker 1: be taken to an asylum, and that he humors her
Speaker 1: fancies in every way in order to prevent an outbreak.
Speaker 1: That is a possible solution. In fact, as matters stand,
Speaker 1: it is the most probable one. But in any case,
Speaker 1: it does not seem to be a nice household for
Speaker 1: a young lady. But the money, mister Holmes, the money, well, yes,
Speaker 1: of course, the pay is good, too good. That is
Speaker 1: what makes me uneasy. Why should they give you one
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty pounds a year when they could have
Speaker 1: their pick for forty pounds. There must be some strong
Speaker 1: reason behind. I thought that if I told you the circumstances,
Speaker 1: you would understand afterwards. If I wanted your help, I
Speaker 1: should feel so much stronger if I felt that you
Speaker 1: were at the back of me. Oh, you may carry
Speaker 1: that feeling away with you. I assure you that your
Speaker 1: little problem promises to be the most interesting which has
Speaker 1: come my way for some months. There is something distinctly
Speaker 1: novel about some of the features. If you should find
Speaker 1: yourself in doubt or in danger, danger, what danger do
Speaker 1: you foresee? Homes shook his head gravely. It would cease
Speaker 1: to be a danger if we could define it said he,
Speaker 1: But at any time, day or night, a telegram would
Speaker 1: bring me down to your help. That is enough. She
Speaker 1: rose briskly from her chair, with the anxiety all swept
Speaker 1: from her face. I shall go down to Hampshire quite
Speaker 1: easy in my mind. Now I shall write to mister
Speaker 1: Rowcastle at once, sacrifice my poor hair to night, and
Speaker 1: start for Winchester to morrow. With a few grateful words
Speaker 1: to Holmes, she bade us both good night, and bustled
Speaker 1: off upon her way. At least, said I, as we
Speaker 1: heard her quick firm step descending the stairs. She seems
Speaker 1: to be a young lady who is very well, able
Speaker 1: to take care of herself as she would need to be,
Speaker 1: said Holmes gravely. I am much mistaken if we do
Speaker 1: not hear from her before many days have passed. It
Speaker 1: was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled.
Speaker 1: A fortnight went by, during which I freakquently found my
Speaker 1: thoughts turning in her direction and wondering what strange side
Speaker 1: alley of human experience this lonely woman had strayed into
Speaker 1: the unusual salary. The curious conditions, the light duties all
Speaker 1: pointed to something abnormal. Though whether a fad or a plot,
Speaker 1: or whether the man were a philanthropist or a villain.
Speaker 1: It was quite beyond my powers to determine. As to Holmes,
Speaker 1: I observed that he sat frequently for half an hour
Speaker 1: on end, with knitted brows and an abstracted air, but
Speaker 1: he swept the matter away with a wave of his hand.
Speaker 1: When I mentioned it, data, data, data, he cried impatiently,
Speaker 1: I can't make bricks without clay, And yet he would
Speaker 1: always wind up by muttering that no sister of his
Speaker 1: should ever have accepted such a situation. The telegram, which
Speaker 1: we eventually received, came late one night, just as I
Speaker 1: I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling
Speaker 1: down to one of those all night researches which he
Speaker 1: frequently indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over
Speaker 1: a retort and a test tube at night and find
Speaker 1: him in the same position when I came down to
Speaker 1: breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope and, then,
Speaker 1: glancing at the message, threw it across to me. Just
Speaker 1: look up the trains in Bradshaw, said he, and turned
Speaker 1: back to his chemical studies. The summons was a brief
Speaker 1: and urgent one, please be at the Black Swan Hotel
Speaker 1: at Winchester at midday to morrow, it said, do come.
Speaker 1: I am at my wits end hunter, Will you come
Speaker 1: with me? Asked Holmes, glancing up. I should wish to
Speaker 1: just look it up. Then there is a train at
Speaker 1: half past nine, said I, glancing over my Bradshaw. It
Speaker 1: is due at Winchester at eleven thirty. That will do
Speaker 1: very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my analysis
Speaker 1: of the acetones, as we may need to be at
Speaker 1: our best in the morning. By eleven o'clock the next
Speaker 1: day we were well upon our way to the old
Speaker 1: English capital. Homes had been buried in the morning papers
Speaker 1: all the way down, but after we had passed the
Speaker 1: Hampshire border, he threw them down and began to admire
Speaker 1: the scenery. It was an ideal spring day, a light
Speaker 1: blue sky flecked with little fleecy white clouds drifting across
Speaker 1: from west to east. The sun was shining very brightly,
Speaker 1: and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air,
Speaker 1: which set an edge to a man's energy. All over
Speaker 1: the countryside, away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the
Speaker 1: little red and gray roofs of the farmsteadings peeped out
Speaker 1: from amidst the light green of the new foliage. Are
Speaker 1: they not fresh and beautiful? I cried, with all the
Speaker 1: enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street.
Speaker 1: But Holmes shook his head gravely. Do you know, Watson?
Speaker 1: Said he that it is one of the curses of
Speaker 1: a mind with a turn like mine, that I must
Speaker 1: look at everything with reference to my own special subject.
Speaker 1: You look at these scattered houses, and you are impressed
Speaker 1: by their beauty. I look at them, and the only
Speaker 1: thought which comes to me is a feeling of their isolation,
Speaker 1: and of the impunity with which crime may be committed there,
Speaker 1: Good Heavens, I cried, who would associate crime with these
Speaker 1: dear old homesteads? They always fill me with a certain horror.
Speaker 1: It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that
Speaker 1: the lowest and vilest allies in London do not present
Speaker 1: a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling
Speaker 1: and beautiful countryside. You horrify me, but the reason is
Speaker 1: very obvious. The pressure of public opinion can do in
Speaker 1: the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no
Speaker 1: lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child,
Speaker 1: or the thud of a drunkard's blow does not beget
Speaker 1: sinsympathy and indignation among the neighbors. And then the whole
Speaker 1: machinery of justice is ever so close that a word
Speaker 1: of complaint can set it going, And there is but
Speaker 1: a step between the crime and the dark. But look
Speaker 1: at these lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled
Speaker 1: for the most part with poor, ignorant folk who know
Speaker 1: little of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty,
Speaker 1: the hidden wickedness which may go on year in year
Speaker 1: out in such places, and none the wiser. Had this
Speaker 1: lady who appeals to us for help gone to live
Speaker 1: in Winchester, I should never have had a fear for her.
Speaker 1: It is the five miles of country which makes the danger. Still,
Speaker 1: it is clear that she is not personally threatened. No,
Speaker 1: if she can come to Winchester to meet us, she
Speaker 1: can get away. Quite so, she has her freedom. What
Speaker 1: can be the matter? Then, can you suggest no explanation?
Speaker 1: I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would
Speaker 1: cover the facts as far as we know them. But
Speaker 1: which of these is correct can only be determined by
Speaker 1: the fresh information which we shall no doubt find waiting
Speaker 1: for us. Well, there is the tower of the cathedral,
Speaker 1: and we shall soon learn all that miss Hunter has
Speaker 1: to tell. The Black Swan is an inn of repute
Speaker 1: in the high Street, at no distance from the station,
Speaker 1: and there we found the young lady waiting for us.
Speaker 1: She had engaged a sitting room, and our lunch awaited
Speaker 1: us upon the table. I am so delighted that you
Speaker 1: have come, she said earnestly. It is so kind of
Speaker 1: you both. But indeed I do not know what I
Speaker 1: should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me. Pray,
Speaker 1: tell us what has happened to you. I will do so,
Speaker 1: and I must be quick, for I have promised mister
Speaker 1: Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave
Speaker 1: to come into town this morning, though he little knew
Speaker 1: for what purpose. Let us have everything in its due order.
Speaker 1: Holmes thrust his long, thin legs out towards the fire
Speaker 1: and composed himself to listen. In the first place, I
Speaker 1: may say that I have met on the whole with
Speaker 1: no actual ill treatment from mister and missus Rucastle. It
Speaker 1: is only fair to them to say that, But I
Speaker 1: cannot understand them, and I am not easy in my
Speaker 1: mind about them. What can you not understand their reasons
Speaker 1: for their conduct? But you shall have it all, just
Speaker 1: as it occurred when I came down, mister Rowcastle met
Speaker 1: me here and drove me in his dog cart to
Speaker 1: copper beeches. It is, as he said, beautifully situated. But
Speaker 1: it is not beautiful in itself, for it is a
Speaker 1: large square block of the house, whitewashed, but all stained
Speaker 1: and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds
Speaker 1: round it, wood on three sides, and on the fourth
Speaker 1: a field which slopes down to the Southampton high Road,
Speaker 1: which curves past about one hundred yards from the front door.
Speaker 1: This ground in front belongs to the house, but the
Speaker 1: woods all round are part of Lord Southerton's preserves. A
Speaker 1: clump of copper beeches immediately in front of the hall
Speaker 1: door has given its name to the place. I was
Speaker 1: driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever,
Speaker 1: and was introduced by him that evening to his wife
Speaker 1: and the child. There was no truth, mister Holmes, in
Speaker 1: the conjecture which seemed to us to be probable in
Speaker 1: your rooms at Baker Street. Missus Roocastle is not mad.
Speaker 1: I found her to be a silent, pale faced woman,
Speaker 1: much younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I
Speaker 1: should think, while he can hardly be less than forty five.
Speaker 1: From their conversation, I have gathered that they have been
Speaker 1: married about seven years, that he was a widower, and
Speaker 1: that his only child by his first wife was the
Speaker 1: daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mister Rucastle told me
Speaker 1: in private that the reason why she had left them
Speaker 1: was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother.
Speaker 1: As the daughter could not have been less than twenty,
Speaker 1: I can quite imagine that her position must have been
Speaker 1: uncomfortable with her father's young wife. Missus Rucastle seemed to
Speaker 1: me to be colorless in mind as well as in feature.
Speaker 1: She impressed me neither favorably nor the reverse. She was
Speaker 1: a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was
Speaker 1: passionately devoted both to her husband and to her little son.
Speaker 1: Her light gray eyes wandered continually from one to the other,
Speaker 1: noting every little want and forestalling it if possible. He
Speaker 1: was kind to her also in his bluff boisterous fashion
Speaker 1: and on the whole. They seemed to be a happy couple,
Speaker 1: and yet she had some secret sorrow. This woman. She
Speaker 1: would often be lost in deep thought, with the saddest
Speaker 1: look upon her face. More than once I have surprised
Speaker 1: her in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was
Speaker 1: the disposition of her child which weighed upon her mind.
Speaker 1: For I have never met so utterly spoilt and so
Speaker 1: ill natured a little creature. He is small for his age,
Speaker 1: with a head which is quite disproportionately large. His whole
Speaker 1: life appears to be spent in an alternation between savage
Speaker 1: fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving pain
Speaker 1: to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his
Speaker 1: one idea of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent
Speaker 1: in planning the capture of mice, little birds, and insects.
Speaker 1: But I would rather not talk about the creature, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: And indeed he has little to do with my story.
Speaker 1: I am glad of all details, remarked my friend, whether
Speaker 1: they seem to you to be relevant or not, I
Speaker 1: shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one
Speaker 1: unpleasant thing about the house which struck me at once
Speaker 1: was the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are
Speaker 1: only two, a man and his wife, Toller, for that's
Speaker 1: his name, is a rough, uncouth man, with grizzled hair
Speaker 1: and whiskers, and a perpetual smell of drink. Twice since
Speaker 1: I have been with them, he has been quite drunk,
Speaker 1: and yet mister Rowcastle seemed to take no notice of it.
Speaker 1: His wife is a very tall and strong woman, with
Speaker 1: a sour face, as silent as Missus Rowcastle, and much
Speaker 1: less amiable. They are a most unpleasant couple. But fortunately
Speaker 1: I spend most of my time in the nursery and
Speaker 1: my own room, which are next to each other in
Speaker 1: one corner of the building. For two days after my
Speaker 1: arrival at the Copper Beeches, my life was very quiet.
Speaker 1: On the third, Missus Rowcastle came down just after breakfast
Speaker 1: and whispered something to her husband. Oh yes, said he,
Speaker 1: turning to me. We are very much obliged to you,
Speaker 1: miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims, so far
Speaker 1: as to cut your hair. I assure you that it
Speaker 1: has not detracted in the tiniest iota from your appearance.
Speaker 1: We shall now see how the electric blue dress will
Speaker 1: become you, you will find it laid out upon the
Speaker 1: bed in your room, and if you would be so
Speaker 1: good as to put it on, we should both be
Speaker 1: extremely obliged. The dress which I found waiting for me
Speaker 1: was of a peculiar shade of blue. It was of
Speaker 1: excellent material, a sort of beige, but it bore unmistakable
Speaker 1: signs of having been worn before. It could not have
Speaker 1: been a better fit if I had been measured for it.
Speaker 1: Both mister and Missus Rucastle expressed a delight at the
Speaker 1: look of it, which seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence.
Speaker 1: They were waiting for me in the drawing room, which
Speaker 1: is a very large room stretching along the entire front
Speaker 1: of the house, with three long windows reaching down to
Speaker 1: the floor. A chair had been placed close to the
Speaker 1: central window, with its back turned towards it. In this
Speaker 1: I was asked to sit, and then mister Rucastle, walking
Speaker 1: up and down on the other side of the room,
Speaker 1: began to tell me a series of the funniest stories
Speaker 1: that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how
Speaker 1: comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary.
Speaker 1: Missus Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humor,
Speaker 1: never so much as smiled, but sat with her hands
Speaker 1: in her lap and a sad, anxious look upon her face.
Speaker 1: After an hour or so, mister Rucastle suddenly remarked that
Speaker 1: it was time to commence the duties of the day,
Speaker 1: and that I might change my dress and go to
Speaker 1: little Edward in the nursery. Two days later, this same
Speaker 1: performance was gone through under exactly similar circumstances. Again, I
Speaker 1: changed my dress. Again I sat in the window, and
Speaker 1: again I laughed very heartily at the funny stories of
Speaker 1: which my employer had an immense repertoire, and which he
Speaker 1: told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow backed novel, and,
Speaker 1: moving my chair a little sideways that my own shadow
Speaker 1: might not fall upon the page, he begged me to
Speaker 1: read aloud to him. I read for about ten minutes,
Speaker 1: beginning in the heart of the chapter, and then suddenly,
Speaker 1: in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to
Speaker 1: cease and change my dress. You can easily imagine, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: how curious I became as to what the meaning of
Speaker 1: this extraordinary performance could possibly be. They were always very careful,
Speaker 1: I observed to turn my face away from the window,
Speaker 1: so that I became consumed with the desire to see
Speaker 1: what was going on behind my back. At first it
Speaker 1: seemed to be impossible, but I soon devised a means.
Speaker 1: My hand mirror had been broken, so a happy thought
Speaker 1: seized me, and I concealed a little at the glass
Speaker 1: in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst
Speaker 1: of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my
Speaker 1: eyes and was able, with a little management, to see
Speaker 1: all that there was behind me. I confess that I
Speaker 1: was disappointed there was nothing, at least that was my
Speaker 1: first impression. At the second glance, however, I perceived that
Speaker 1: there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, a
Speaker 1: small bearded man in a gray suit, who seemed to
Speaker 1: be looking in my direction. The road is an important
Speaker 1: highway and there are usually people there. This man, however,
Speaker 1: was leaning against the railings which bordered our field, and
Speaker 1: was looking earnestly. I lowered my handkerchief and glanced at
Speaker 1: missus Roucastle to find her eyes fixed upon me with
Speaker 1: a most searching gaze. She said nothing, but I am
Speaker 1: convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror
Speaker 1: in my hand and had seen what was behind me?
Speaker 1: She rose at once, Geofro said she. There is an
Speaker 1: impertinent fellow upon the road who stares up at Miss Hunter.
Speaker 1: No friend of yours, Miss Hunter, he asked, No, I
Speaker 1: know no one in these parts. Dear me, how very impertinent?
Speaker 1: Kindly turn round and motion him to go away? Surely
Speaker 1: it would be better to take no notice. No, no,
Speaker 1: we should have him loitering here. Always kindly turn round
Speaker 1: and wave him away like that. I did as I
Speaker 1: was told, and at the same instant missus Rucastle drew
Speaker 1: down the blind. That was a week ago, and from
Speaker 1: that time I have not sat again in the window,
Speaker 1: nor have I worn the dress, nor seen the man
Speaker 1: in the road. Pray continue, said Holmes. Your narrative promises
Speaker 1: to be a most interesting one. You will find it
Speaker 1: rather disconnected, I fear, and there may prove to be
Speaker 1: little relation between the first different incidents of which I speak.
Speaker 1: On the very first day that I was at Copper Beeches,
Speaker 1: mister Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands
Speaker 1: near the kitchen door. As we approached it, I heard
Speaker 1: the sharp rattling of a chain and the sound as
Speaker 1: of a large animal moving about look in here, said
Speaker 1: mister Rucastle, showing me a slit between two planks. Is
Speaker 1: he not a beauty? I looked through and was conscious
Speaker 1: of two glowing eyes and of a vague figure huddled
Speaker 1: up on the darkness. Don't be frightened, said my employer,
Speaker 1: laughing at the start which I had given. It's only Carlo,
Speaker 1: my mastiff, I call him mine, but really old Toller,
Speaker 1: my groom, is the only man who can do anything
Speaker 1: with him. We feed him once a day, and not
Speaker 1: too much then, so that he is always as keen
Speaker 1: as mustard. Toller lets him loose every night, and God
Speaker 1: helped the trespasser whom he lays his fangs upon. For
Speaker 1: goodness sake, don't you, ever, on any pretext set foot
Speaker 1: over the threshold at night, for it is as much
Speaker 1: as your life is worth. The warning was no idle
Speaker 1: one for two nights later. I happened to look out
Speaker 1: of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 1: It was a beautiful moonlit night, and the lawn in
Speaker 1: front of the house was silvered over and almost as
Speaker 1: bright as day. I was standing wrapped in the peaceful
Speaker 1: beauty of the scene, when I was aware that something
Speaker 1: was moving under the shadow of the copper beeches. As
Speaker 1: it emerged into the moonshine, I saw what it was.
Speaker 1: It was a giant dog, as large as a calf,
Speaker 1: torny tinted with hanging jowled, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones.
Speaker 1: It walked slowly across the lawn and vanished into the
Speaker 1: shadow upon the other side. That dreadful, silent sentinel sent
Speaker 1: a chill to my heart, which I do not think
Speaker 1: that any burglar could have done. And now I have
Speaker 1: a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as
Speaker 1: you know, cut off my hair in London, and I
Speaker 1: had placed it in a great coil at the bottom
Speaker 1: of my trunk. One evening, after the child was in bed,
Speaker 1: I began to amuse myself by examining the furniture of
Speaker 1: my room and by rearranging my own little things. There
Speaker 1: was an old chest of drawers in the room, the
Speaker 1: two upper ones empty and open, the lower one locked.
Speaker 1: I had filled the two first with my linen, and
Speaker 1: as I had still much to pack away, I was
Speaker 1: naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer.
Speaker 1: It struck me that it might have been fastened by
Speaker 1: a mere oversight. So I took out my bunch of
Speaker 1: keys and tried to open it. The very first key
Speaker 1: fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There
Speaker 1: was only one thing in it, but I am sure
Speaker 1: that you would never guess what it was. It was
Speaker 1: my coil of hair. I took it up and examined it.
Speaker 1: It was of the same peculiar tint and the same thickness.
Speaker 1: But then the impossibility of the thing obtruded itself upon me.
Speaker 1: How could my hair have been locked in the drawer.
Speaker 1: With trembling hands, I undid my trunk, turned out the contents,
Speaker 1: and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid
Speaker 1: the two tresses together, and I assure you they were identical.
Speaker 1: Was it not extraordinary puzzle? As I would, I could
Speaker 1: make nothing at all of what it meant. I returned
Speaker 1: the strange hair to the drawer, and I said nothing
Speaker 1: of the matter to the Rooe Castles, as I felt
Speaker 1: that I had put myself in the wrong by opening
Speaker 1: a drawer which they had lockednaturally observant, as you may
Speaker 1: have remarked, mister Holmes, and I soon had a pretty
Speaker 1: good plan of the whole house in my head. There
Speaker 1: was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited
Speaker 1: at all. A door which faced that which led into
Speaker 1: the quarters of the tollers, opened into this suite, but
Speaker 1: it was invariably locked. One day, however, as I ascended
Speaker 1: the stair, I met mister Rooucastle coming out through this door,
Speaker 1: his keys in his hand, and a look on his
Speaker 1: face which made him a very different person to the
Speaker 1: round jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks
Speaker 1: were red, his brow was all crinkled with anger, and
Speaker 1: the veins stood out at his temples with passion. He
Speaker 1: locked the door and hurried past me without a word
Speaker 1: or a look. This aroused my curiosity, so when I
Speaker 1: went out for a walk in the grounds with my charge,
Speaker 1: I strolled round to the side from which I could
Speaker 1: see the windows of this part of the house. There
Speaker 1: were more of them in a row, three of which
Speaker 1: were simply dirty, while the fourth was shuttered up. They
Speaker 1: were evidently all deserted. As I strolled up and down,
Speaker 1: glancing at them, occasionally, mister Rucastle came out to me,
Speaker 1: looking as merry and jovial as ever. Ah said he
Speaker 1: you must not think me rude if I passed you
Speaker 1: without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied
Speaker 1: with business matters. I assured him that I was not
Speaker 1: offended by the way, said I. You seem to have
Speaker 1: quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one
Speaker 1: of them has the shutters up. Photography is one of
Speaker 1: my hobbies, said he, I have made my dark room
Speaker 1: up there. But dear me, what an observant young lady
Speaker 1: we have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who
Speaker 1: would have ever believed it? He spoke in a jesting tone,
Speaker 1: but there was no jest in his eyes as he
Speaker 1: looked at me. I read suspicion there, and anoyance, but
Speaker 1: no jest. Well, mister Holmes. From the moment that I
Speaker 1: understood that there was something about that suite of rooms
Speaker 1: which I was not to know, I was all on
Speaker 1: fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity,
Speaker 1: though I have my share of that. It was more
Speaker 1: a feeling of duty, a feeling that some good might
Speaker 1: come from my penetrating to this place. They talk of
Speaker 1: women's instinct. Perhaps it was woman's instinct which gave me
Speaker 1: that feeling. At any rate, it was there, and I
Speaker 1: was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass
Speaker 1: the forbidden door. It was only yesterday that the chance came.
Speaker 1: I may tell you that beside mister Rucastle, both Toller
Speaker 1: and his wife find something to do in these deserted rooms.
Speaker 1: And I once saw him carrying a large black linen
Speaker 1: bag with him through the door. Recently he has been
Speaker 1: drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk. And
Speaker 1: when I came upstairs there was the key in the door.
Speaker 1: I have no doubt at all that he had left
Speaker 1: it there. Mister and missus Rowcastle were both downstairs, and
Speaker 1: the child was with them, so that I had an
Speaker 1: admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock,
Speaker 1: opened the door, and slipped through. There was a little
Speaker 1: passage in front of me, unpapered and uncarpeted, which turned
Speaker 1: at a right angle. At the farther end round this
Speaker 1: corner were three doors in a line, the first and
Speaker 1: third of which were open. They each led into an
Speaker 1: empty room, dusty and cheerless, with two windows in the
Speaker 1: one and one in the other, so thick with dirt
Speaker 1: that the evening light glimmered dimly through them. The center
Speaker 1: door was closed and across the outside of it had
Speaker 1: been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron
Speaker 1: bed padlocked at one end to a ring in the wall,
Speaker 1: and fastened at the other with stout cord. The door
Speaker 1: itself was locked as well, and the key was not there.
Speaker 1: This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the shuttered window outside,
Speaker 1: and yet I could see by the glimmer from beneath
Speaker 1: it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there
Speaker 1: was a skylight which let in light from above. As
Speaker 1: I stood in the passage, gazing at this sinister door
Speaker 1: and wondering what secret it might veil, I suddenly heard
Speaker 1: the sound of steps within the room, and saw a
Speaker 1: shadow pass backwards and forwards against the little slit of
Speaker 1: dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad,
Speaker 1: unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight mister Holmes.
Speaker 1: My overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and
Speaker 1: ran ran, as though some dreadful hand were behind me.
Speaker 1: Clutching at the skirt of my dress, I rushed down
Speaker 1: the passage, through the door and straight into the arms
Speaker 1: of mister Rucastle, who was waiting out side. So said he, smiling.
Speaker 1: It was you, then, I thought it must be when
Speaker 1: I saw the door open. Oh I am so frightened,
Speaker 1: I panted, my dear young lady, My dear young lady.
Speaker 1: You cannot think how caressing and soothing his manner was,
Speaker 1: and what has frightened you, my dear young lady. But
Speaker 1: his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it.
Speaker 1: I was keenly on my guard against him. I was
Speaker 1: foolish enough to go into the empty wing, I answered,
Speaker 1: But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim
Speaker 1: light that I was frightened and ran out again. Oh
Speaker 1: it is so dreadfully still in there, only that, said he,
Speaker 1: looking at me keenly. Why what do you think, I asked,
Speaker 1: Why do you think that I lock this door? I
Speaker 1: am sure that I do not know. It is to
Speaker 1: keep people out who have no business there. Do you see?
Speaker 1: He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. I
Speaker 1: am sure if I had known, well, then you know now,
Speaker 1: and if you ever put your foot over that threshold
Speaker 1: again here in an instant, the smile hardened into a
Speaker 1: grin of rage, and he glared down at me with
Speaker 1: the face of a demon. I'll throw you to the mastiff.
Speaker 1: I was so terrified that I do not know what
Speaker 1: I did. I suppose that I must have rushed past
Speaker 1: him into my room. I remember nothing until I found
Speaker 1: myself lying on my bed, trembling all over. Then I
Speaker 1: thought of you, mister Holmes. I could not live there
Speaker 1: longer without some advice. I was frightened at the house
Speaker 1: of the man, of the woman, of the servants, even
Speaker 1: of the child. They were all horrible to me. If
Speaker 1: I could only bring you down, all would be well.
Speaker 1: Of course, I might have fled from the house, but
Speaker 1: my curiosity was almost as strong as my fears. My
Speaker 1: mind was soon made up. I would send you a wire.
Speaker 1: I put on my hat and cloak, went down to
Speaker 1: the office, which is about half a mile from the house,
Speaker 1: and then returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt
Speaker 1: came into my mind as I approached the door, lest
Speaker 1: the dog might be loose. But I remembered that Toller
Speaker 1: had drunk himself into a state of insensibility that evening,
Speaker 1: and I knew that he was the only one in
Speaker 1: the household who had any influence with the savage creature,
Speaker 1: or who would venture to set him free. I slipped
Speaker 1: in in safety and lay awake half the night in
Speaker 1: my joy at the thought of seeing you. I had
Speaker 1: no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this morning,
Speaker 1: but I must be back before three o'clock, for mister
Speaker 1: and missus Rucastle are going on a visit and will
Speaker 1: be away all the evening, so that I must look
Speaker 1: after the child. Now I have told you all my adventures,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, and I should be very glad if you
Speaker 1: could tell me what it all means, and above all
Speaker 1: what I should do. Holmes and I had listened spellbound
Speaker 1: to this extraordinary stork. My friend rose now and paced
Speaker 1: up and down the room, his hands in his pockets
Speaker 1: and an expression of the most profound gravity upon his fate.
Speaker 1: Is Toller still drunk? He asked? Yes. I heard his
Speaker 1: wife tell missus Roecastle that she could do nothing with him.
Speaker 1: That is well, and the Rooe Castles go out to night. Yes.
Speaker 1: Is there a cellar with a good strong lock, Yes,
Speaker 1: the wine cellar. You seem to me to have acted
Speaker 1: all through this matter like a brave, sensible girl, Miss Hunter.
Speaker 1: Do you think that you could perform one more feat?
Speaker 1: I should not ask it of you. If I did
Speaker 1: not think you are quite exceptional woman, I will try.
Speaker 1: What is it? We shall be at the Copper Beaches
Speaker 1: by seven o'clock, my friend and I. The Rooe castles
Speaker 1: will be gone by that time, and Toller will, we hope,
Speaker 1: be incapable. There only remains missus Toller, who might give
Speaker 1: the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar
Speaker 1: on some errand and then turn the key upon her,
Speaker 1: you would facilitate matters immensely. I will do it, excellent.
Speaker 1: We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of course,
Speaker 1: there is only one feasible explanation. You have been brought
Speaker 1: there to personate someone, and the real person is imprisoned
Speaker 1: in this chamber. That is obvious as to who this
Speaker 1: prisoner is. I have no doubt that it is the
Speaker 1: daughter Miss Alice Rucastle. If I remember right who was
Speaker 1: said to have gone to America. You were chosen, doubtless
Speaker 1: as resembling her in height, figure and the color of
Speaker 1: your hair. Hers had been cut off, very possibly in
Speaker 1: some illness through which she has passed, and so of
Speaker 1: course yours had to be sacrificed. Also by a curious chance,
Speaker 1: you came upon her tresses. The man in the road
Speaker 1: was undoubtedly some friend of hers, possibly her fiance, and
Speaker 1: no doubt, as you wore the girl's dress and were
Speaker 1: so like her, he was convinced, from your laughter whenever
Speaker 1: he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, that Miss
Speaker 1: Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer desired
Speaker 1: his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to
Speaker 1: prevent him from endeavoring to communicate with her. So much
Speaker 1: is fairly clear. The most serious point in the case
Speaker 1: is the disposition of the child. What on earth has
Speaker 1: that to do with it? I ejaculated, My dear Watson, You,
Speaker 1: as a medical man, are continually gaining light as to
Speaker 1: the tendencies of a child by the study of the parents.
Speaker 1: Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I
Speaker 1: have frequently gained my first real insight into the character
Speaker 1: of parents by studying their children. The child's disposition is
Speaker 1: abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, And whether he derives
Speaker 1: this from his smiling fond as I should suspect, or
Speaker 1: from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl
Speaker 1: who is in their power. I am sure that you
Speaker 1: are right, mister Holmes, cried our client. A thousand things
Speaker 1: come back to me which make me certain that you
Speaker 1: have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant
Speaker 1: in bringing help to this poor creature. We must be circumspect,
Speaker 1: for we are dealing with a very cunning man. We
Speaker 1: can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we
Speaker 1: shall be with you, and it will not be long
Speaker 1: before we solve the mystery. We were as good as
Speaker 1: our word, for it was just seven when we reached
Speaker 1: the copper beeches, having put up our trap at a
Speaker 1: wayside public house. The group of trees, with their dark
Speaker 1: leaves shining like burnished metal in the light of the
Speaker 1: setting sun, were sufficient to mark the house even had
Speaker 1: miss Hunter not been standing smiling on the doorstep. Have
Speaker 1: you managed it? Asked Holmes. A loud udding noise came
Speaker 1: from somewhere downstairs. That is missus Toller in the cellar,
Speaker 1: said she. Her husband lies snoring on the kitchen rug.
Speaker 1: Here are his keys, which are the duplicates of mister Rucastle's.
Speaker 1: You have done well, indeed, cried Holmes, with enthusiasm. Now
Speaker 1: lead the way and we shall soon see the end
Speaker 1: of this black business. We passed up the stair, unlocked
Speaker 1: the door, followed on down a passage, and found ourselves
Speaker 1: in front of the barricade which miss Hunter had described.
Speaker 1: Holmes cut the cord and removed the transverse bar. Then
Speaker 1: he tried the various keys in the lock, but without success.
Speaker 1: No sound came from within, and at the silence, Holmes's
Speaker 1: face clouded over. I trust that we are not too late,
Speaker 1: said he. I think, miss Hunter, that we had better
Speaker 1: go in without you. Now, Watson, put your shoulder to it,
Speaker 1: and we shall see whether we cannot make our way in.
Speaker 1: It was an old, rickety door and gave at once
Speaker 1: before our united strength. Together we rushed into the room.
Speaker 1: It was empty. There was no furniture save a little
Speaker 1: pallid bed, a small table, and a basket full of linen.
Speaker 1: The skylight above was open, and the prisoner gone. There
Speaker 1: has been some villainy here, said Holmes. This beauty has
Speaker 1: guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim off.
Speaker 1: But how through the skylight. We shall soon see how
Speaker 1: he managed it. He swung himself up onto the roof. Ah, yes,
Speaker 1: he cried, here's the end of a long light ladder
Speaker 1: against the eaves. That is how he did it. But
Speaker 1: it is impossible, said miss Hunter. The ladder was not
Speaker 1: there when the roue castles went away. He has come
Speaker 1: back and done it. I tell you that he is
Speaker 1: a clever and dangerous man. I should not be very
Speaker 1: much surprised. This were he whose step I hear now
Speaker 1: upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it would be
Speaker 1: as well for you to have your pistol ready. The
Speaker 1: words were hardly out of his mouth before a man
Speaker 1: appeared at the door of the room, a very fat
Speaker 1: and burly man with a heavy stick in his hand.
Speaker 1: Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the wall at the
Speaker 1: sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and confronted him.
Speaker 1: You villain, said he, where's your daughter? The fat man
Speaker 1: cast his eyes round and then up at the open skylight.
Speaker 1: It is for me to ask you that, he shrieked.
Speaker 1: You thieves, spies and thieves. I have caught you, have
Speaker 1: I You are in my power. I'll serve you. He
Speaker 1: turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he
Speaker 1: could go. He's gone for the dog, cried Miss Hunter.
Speaker 1: I have my revolver, said I better close the front door.
Speaker 1: Cried Holmes, and we all rushed down the stairs together.
Speaker 1: We had hardly reached the all when we heard the
Speaker 1: baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony,
Speaker 1: with a horrible, worrying sound, which it was dreadful to
Speaker 1: listen to. An elderly man with a red face and
Speaker 1: shaking limbs came staggering out at a side door. My god,
Speaker 1: he cried, someone has loosened the dog. It's not been
Speaker 1: fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late.
Speaker 1: Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of
Speaker 1: the house, with Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge,
Speaker 1: famished brute, its black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat while
Speaker 1: he writhed and screamed upon the ground. Running up, I
Speaker 1: blew its brains out, and it fell over, with its
Speaker 1: keen white teeth still meeting in the great creases of
Speaker 1: his neck. With much labor, we separated them and carried him,
Speaker 1: living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid him
Speaker 1: upon the drawing room sofa, and having dispatched the sober
Speaker 1: Taller to bear the news to his wife, I did
Speaker 1: what I could to relieve his pain. We were all
Speaker 1: assembled round him. When the door opened and a tall,
Speaker 1: gaunt woman entered the room, missus Toller cried, miss Hunter. Yes,
Speaker 1: miss mister Rucastle let me out when he came back,
Speaker 1: before he went up to you. Ah, miss, it is
Speaker 1: a pity you didn't let me know what you were
Speaker 1: planning for I would have told you that your pains
Speaker 1: were wasted, ha said Holmes, looking keenly at her. It
Speaker 1: is clear that missus Toller knows more about this matter
Speaker 1: than any one else. Yes, Sir, I do, and I
Speaker 1: am ready enough to tell what I know. Then praise
Speaker 1: it down and let us hear it, for there are
Speaker 1: several points on which I must confess that I am
Speaker 1: still in the dark. I will soon make it clear
Speaker 1: to you, said she, and i'd have done so before
Speaker 1: now if I could have got out from the cellar.
Speaker 1: If there's police court business over this, you'll remember that
Speaker 1: I was the one that stood your friend, and that
Speaker 1: I was miss Alice's friend too. She was never happy
Speaker 1: at home. Miss Alice wasn't from the time that her
Speaker 1: father married again. She was slighted like and had no
Speaker 1: say in anything, but it never really became bad for
Speaker 1: her until after she met mister Fowler at a friend's
Speaker 1: house as well as I could learn, Miss Alice had
Speaker 1: rights of her own by will, but she was so
Speaker 1: quiet and patient she was that she never said a
Speaker 1: word about them, but just left everything in mister Rucastle's hands.
Speaker 1: He knew he was safe with her. But when there
Speaker 1: was a chance of a husband coming forward who would
Speaker 1: ask for all that the law could give him, then
Speaker 1: her father thought it time to put a stop on it.
Speaker 1: He wanted her to sign a paper so that whether
Speaker 1: she married or not, he could use her money. When
Speaker 1: she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until
Speaker 1: she got brain fever, and for six weeks was at
Speaker 1: death's door. Then she got better at last, or worn
Speaker 1: to a shadow and with her beautiful hair cut off.
Speaker 1: But that didn't make no change in her young man,
Speaker 1: and he stuck to her as true as man could be,
Speaker 1: Ah said Holmes. I think that what you have been
Speaker 1: good enough to tell us makes the matter fairly clear,
Speaker 1: and that I can deduce all that remains. Mister Rooucastle,
Speaker 1: then I presume took to this system of imprisonment, yes, sir,
Speaker 1: and brought miss Hunter down from London in order to
Speaker 1: get rid of the disagreeable persistence of mister Fowler. That
Speaker 1: was it, sir. But mister Fowler, being a persevering man,
Speaker 1: as a good seaman should be blockaded the house, and
Speaker 1: having met you, succeeded by certain arguments, metallic or otherwise
Speaker 1: in convincing you that your interests were the same as his.
Speaker 1: Mister Fowler was a very kind spoken, free handed gentleman,
Speaker 1: said Missus Toller serenely, and in this way he managed
Speaker 1: that your good man should have no want of drink,
Speaker 1: and that a ladder should be ready at the moment
Speaker 1: when your master had gone out. You have it, sir,
Speaker 1: just as it happened. I am sure we owe you
Speaker 1: an apology, Missus Toller, said mister Holmes, for you have
Speaker 1: certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And here comes
Speaker 1: the country surgeon and Missus Rucastle. So I think, Watson,
Speaker 1: that we had best escort miss Hunter back to Winchester,
Speaker 1: as it seems to me that our locust standing now
Speaker 1: is rather a questionable one. And thus was solved the
Speaker 1: mystery of the sinister house with the copper beeches in
Speaker 1: front of the door. Mister Rucastle survived, but was always
Speaker 1: a broken man. Kept alive solely through the care of
Speaker 1: his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants,
Speaker 1: who probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that
Speaker 1: he finds it difficult to part from them. Mister Fowler
Speaker 1: and Miss Rucastle were married by special license in Southampton
Speaker 1: the day after their flight, and he is now the
Speaker 1: holder of a government appointment in the island of Mauritius.
Speaker 1: As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend Holmes, rather to
Speaker 1: my disappointment, manifested no further interest in her when once
Speaker 1: she had ceased to be the center of one of
Speaker 1: his problems. And she is now the head of a
Speaker 1: private school in Warsaw, where I believe that she has
Speaker 1: met with considerable success. The end