September 29, 2023 • 62 mins
"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" involves Violet Hunter seeking Holmes' advice about a job offer with odd requirements. She's tasked with impersonating the former governess and following unusual instructions. Holmes investigates the estate's mysteries, discovering a captive child and a disturbed employer seeking to manipulate the child's appearance. Holmes exposes the employer's sinister intentions, ensuring the child's safety. The story ends with justice served, revealing the dark secrets hidden within the Copper Beeches estate and highlighting Holmes' determination to protect the vulnerable from exploitation and harm.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Adventure twelve, the final chapter of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain and is
read by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. The Adventures
of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Adventure twelve,
(00:21):
the Adventure of the Copper Beeches.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
To the Man who.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Loves art for its own sake, remarked Sherlock Holmes, tossing
aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily Telegraph, it is
frequently in its least important and lowliest manifestations that the keenest.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Pleasure is to be derived.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
It is pleasant to me to observe Watson, that you
have so far grasped this truth. That in these little
records of our cases, which you have been good enough
to draw up, and I am bound to say occasionally
to embellish, you have given prominence not so much to
the many cose, seleebre and sensational trials in which I
have figured, but rather to those incidents which may have
(01:05):
been trivial in themselves, but which have given room for
those faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I
have made my special province and yet said I, smiling,
I cannot quite hold myself absolve from the charge of
sensationalism which has been urged against my records. You have aired,
(01:27):
perhaps he observed, taking up a glowing cinder with the
tongs and lighting with it the long cherrywood pipe which
was wont to replace his clay when he was in
a disputatious rather than a meditative mood. You have aired,
perhaps in attempting to put color and life into each
of your statements, instead of confining yourself to the task
(01:48):
of placing upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect,
which is really the only notable feature about the thing.
It seems to me that I have done you full
justice in the matter, I remarked, with some coldness, for
I was repelled by the egotism which I had more
than once observed to be a strong factory in my
(02:09):
friend's singular character. No, it is not selfishness or conceit,
said he answering, as was his wont my thoughts rather
than my words? If I claim full justice for my art,
it is because it is an impersonal thing, a thing
beyond myself. Crime is common, logic is rare. Therefore it
(02:33):
is upon the logic, rather than upon the crime that
you should dwell. You have degraded what should have been
a course of lectures into a series of tales. It
was a cold morning of the early spring, and we
sat after breakfast on either side of a cheery fire
in the old room at Baker Street. A thick fog
(02:54):
rolled down between the lines of dun colored houses, and
the opposing windows loomed like dark, shapeless blurs through the
heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit and shown on
the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal. For
the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had
been silent all the morning, clipping continuously into the advertisement
(03:17):
columns of a succession of papers, until at last, having
apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no
very sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings.
At the same time, he remarked, after a pause during
which he had sat puffing at his long pipe and
gazing down into the fire, you can hardly be opened
(03:41):
to a charge of sensationalism, for out of these causes
which you have been so kind as to interest yourself
in a fair proportion, do not treat of crime in
its legal sense at all. The small matter in which
I endeavored to help the King of Bohemia, the singular
experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the problem connected with the
(04:02):
man with a twisted lip, and the incident of the
noble bachelor were all matters which are outside the pale
of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I fear
that you may have bordered on the trivial. The end
may have been so, I answered, but the methods I
hold to have been novel and of interest. Pshaw, my
(04:24):
dear fellow, what to the public, the great unobservant public,
who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or
a compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer
shades of analysis and deduction? But indeed, if you are trivial,
I cannot blame you, for the days of the great
cases are past. Man, or at least criminal man, has
(04:48):
lost all enterprise and originality. As to my own little practice,
it seems to be degenerating into an agency for recovering
lost lead pencils and giving advice to young ladies from
boarding schools. I think that I have touched bottom at last, However,
this note I had this morning marks my zero point.
(05:09):
I fancy read it. He tossed a crumpled letter across
to me. It was dated from Montague Place upon the
preceding evening, and ran, thus, dear mister Holmes, I am
very anxious to consult you as to whether I should
or should not accept a situation which has been offered
to me as governess. I shall call at half past
(05:32):
ten tomorrow if I do not, inconvenience you yours faithfully,
Violet Hunter, do you know the young lady, I asked,
not I It is half past ten now, yes, and
I have no doubt that is her ring. It may
turn out to be of more interest than you think.
(05:53):
You remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which
appeared to be a mere whim at first, developed into
a serious investigation. It may be so in this case also. Well,
let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon
be solved. For here, unless I am much mistaken, is
the person in question. As he spoke, the door opened
(06:16):
and a young lady entered the room. She was plainly
but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, freckled like
a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a
woman who has had her own way to make in
the world. You will excuse my troubling you. I am sure,
said she, as my companion arose to greet her. But
(06:38):
I have had a very strange experience, and as I
have no parents or relations of any sort from whom
I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would
be kind enough to tell me what I should do. Pray,
take a seat, miss Hunter. I shall be happy to
do anything that I can to serve you. I could
(06:59):
see that Holmes was favorably impressed by the manner and
speech of his new client. He looked her over in
his searching fashion, and then composed himself with his lids
drooping and his finger tips together, to listen to her story.
I have been a governess for five years, said she,
(07:20):
in the family of Colonel Spence Monroe. But two months
ago the colonel received an appointment at Halifax in Nova Scotia,
and took his children over to America with him. So
that I found myself without a situation. I advertised, and
I answered advertisements, but without success.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
At last, the.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Little money which I had saved began to run short,
and I was at by wits end as to what
I should do. There is a well known agency for
governesses in the West End called west a Ways, and
there I used to call about once a week in
order to see whether anything had turned up which might
suit me. Westay was the name of the founder of
(08:01):
the business, but it is really managed by Miss Stoper.
She sits in her own little office, and the ladies
who are seeking employment wait in an ante room and
are then shown in one by one when she consults
her ledgers and sees whether she has anything which would
suit them well. When I called last week, I was
(08:22):
shown into the little office as usual, but I found
that Miss Stoper was not alone. A prodigiously stout man
with a very smiling face and a great heavy chin
which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat,
sat at her elbow with a pair of glasses on
his nose, looking very earnestly at the ladies who entered.
(08:44):
As I came in, he gave quite a jump in
his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. That will do,
said he. I could not ask for anything better. Capital capital.
He seemed quite enthusiastic, and rubbed his hands to gather
in the most genial fashion. He was such a comfortable
(09:04):
looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look
at him. You are looking for a situation, miss, he asked, Yes, sir,
as governess, Yes, sir, And what salary do you ask?
I had five pounds a month at my last place
with Colonel Spence Monroe. Oh Tut tut, sweating, rank sweating,
(09:27):
he cried, throwing his fat hands out into the air
like a man who is in a boiling passion. How
could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady
with such attractions and accomplishments. My accomplishment, sir, may be
less than you imagine, said I. A little French, a
little German, music and drawing. Tut tut, he cried. This
(09:51):
is all quite beside the question. The point is, have
you or have you not the bearing and deportment of
a lady there It is an nutshell. If you have not,
you are not fitted for the rearing of a child
who may some day play a considerable part in the
history of the country. But if you have, why then
how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to accept
(10:14):
anything under.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
The three figures?
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Your salary with me, Madam, would commence at one hundred
pounds a year. You may imagine, mister Holmes, that to me,
destitute as I was, such an offer seemed almost too
good to be true. The gentleman, however, seeing perhaps the
look of incredulity upon my face, opened a pocket book
(10:37):
and took out a note. It is also my custom,
said he, smiling in the most pleasant fashion, until his
eyes were just two little shining slits amid the white
creases of his face, to advance to my young ladies
half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any
little expenses of their journey and their wardrobe. It seemed
(11:00):
to me that I had never met so fascinating and
so thoughtful a man, as I was already in debt
to my tradesman. The advance was a great convenience, and
yet there was something unnatural about the whole transaction, which
made me wished to know a little more before I
quite committed myself. May I ask where you live, sir,
(11:21):
said I. Hampshire, charming rural place, the Copper Beeches, five
miles on the far side of Winchester. It is the
most lovely country, My dear young lady and the dearest
old country house. And by duty, sir, I should be
glad to know what they would be. One child, one
(11:42):
dear little ropper, just six years old.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Oh, if you could.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
See him killing cockroaches with a slipper. Smack, smack, smack,
three gone before you could wink. He leaned back in
his chair and laughed, his eyes into his head again.
I was a little startled at the nature of the
child's amusement, but the father's laughter made me think that
perhaps he was joking. My sole duties, then, I asked,
(12:09):
are to take charge of a single child? No? No,
not the soul, Not the soul, My dear young lady,
he cried, Your duty would be, as I am sure
your good sense would suggest to obey any little commands
my wife might give, provided always that they were such
commands as a lady might with propriety obey. You see
(12:32):
no difficulty, Hey, I should be happy to make myself useful.
Quite so in dress now, for example, we are fatty people,
you know, fatty but kind hearted. If you were asked
to wear any dress which we might give you, you
would not object to our little whim Hey, No, said
(12:54):
I considerably astonished at his words. Or to sit here
or sit there that would not be offensive to you,
oh no, Or to cut your hair quite short before
you come to us. I could hardly believe my ears.
As you may observe, mister Holmes, my hair is somewhat
(13:16):
luxuriant and of a rather peculiar tint of chestnut. It
is being considered artistic. I could not dream of sacrificing
it in this offhand fashion. I am afraid that that
is quite impossible, said I. He had been watching me
eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see
a shadow pass over his face as I spoke. I
(13:40):
am afraid that it is quite essential, said he. It
is a little fancy of my wife's and lady's fancies,
you know, madam, ladies fancies must be consulted, And so
you won't cut your hair, No, sir, I really could not,
I answered firmly. Very well, then that quite settles the matter.
(14:04):
It is a pity, because in other respects, you would
really have done very nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper,
I had best inspect a few more of your young ladies.
The manageresss had sat all this while busy with her papers,
without a word to either of us. But she glanced
at me now with so much annoyance upon her face
(14:24):
that I could not help suspecting that she had lost
a handsome commission through my refusal. Do you desire your
name to be kept upon the books? She asked, if
you please, Miss Stoper. Well, really it seems rather useless
since you refused the most excellent offers in this fashion,
said she sharply, you can hardly expect us to exert
(14:48):
ourselves to find another such opening for you. Good day
to you, miss Hunter. She struck a gong upon the table,
and I was shown out by the page. Well, mister Holmes.
When I got back to my lodgings and found little
enough in the cupboard and two or three bills upon
the table, I began to ask myself whether I had
(15:09):
not done a.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Very foolish thing.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
After all, if these people had strange fads and expected
obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were at least
ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few governesses in
England are getting one hundred pounds a year. Besides, what
use was my.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Hair to me?
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Many people are improved by wearing it short and perhaps
I should be among the number. Next day I was
inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and
by the day after I was sure of it. I
had almost overcome my pride so far as to go
back to the agency and inquire whether the place was
still open. When I received this letter from the gentleman himself.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
I have it here and I will read it to you.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
The Copper Beaches, Winchester, Dear miss Hunter, Miss Stoper has
very kindly given me your address, and I write from
here to ask whether you have reconsidered your decision. My
wife is very anxious that you should come, for she
has been much attracted by my description of you. We
are willing to give thirty pounds a quarter, or one
(16:21):
hundred and twenty pounds a year, so as to recompense
you for any little inconvenience which our fads may cause you.
They are not very exacting. After all. My wife is
fond of a particular shade of electric blue, and would
like you to wear such a dress indoors.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
In the morning.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
You need not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one,
as we have one belonging to my dear daughter Alice.
Now in Philadelphia, which would I should think fit you
very well. Then, as to sitting here or there, or
amusing yourself in any manner, indicated that need cause you
no inconveniences. As regards your hair, it is no doubt
(17:03):
a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its
beauty during our short interview. But I am afraid that
I must remain firm upon this point, and I only
hope that the increased salary may recompense you for the loss.
Your duties, as far as the child is concerned, are
very light. Now do try to come and I shall
(17:26):
meet you with a dog cart at Winchester. Let me
know your train yours faithfully, Jeff ro Roocastle. That is
the letter which I have just received, mister Holmes, and
my mind is made up that I will accept it.
I thought, however, that before taking the final step, I
should like to submit the whole matter to your consideration. Well,
(17:50):
miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles
the question, said Holmes, smiling. But you would not advise
me to refuse. I confess that it is not the
situation which I should like to see a sister of
mine apply.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
For What is the meaning of it all, mister Holmes, Ah,
I have no data.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself formed some opinion. Well,
there seems to me to be only one possible solution.
Mister Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good natured man.
Is it not possible that his wife is a lunatic,
that he desires to keep the matter quiet for fear
(18:33):
she should be taken to an asylum, and that he
humors her fancies in every way in order to prevent
an outbreak. That is a possible solution, in fact, does
matters stand? It is the most probable one. But in
any case, it does not seem to be a nice
household for a young lady. But the money, mister Holmes.
(18:55):
The money, well, yes, of course the pay is good,
too good. That is what makes me uneasy. Why should
they give you one hundred twenty pounds a year when
they could have their pick for forty pounds. There must
be some strong reason behind. I thought that if I
told you the circumstances, you would understand afterwards if I
(19:18):
wanted your help, I should feel so much stronger if
I felt that you were at the back of me. Oh,
you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure
you that your little problem promises to be the most
interesting which has come my way for some months. There
is something distinctly novel about some of the features. If
(19:38):
you should find yourself in doubt or in danger, danger,
what danger.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Do you foresee?
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Holmes shook his head gravely. It would cease to be
a danger if we could define it, said he. But
at any time, day or night, a telegram would bring
me down to your help. That she rose briskly from
her chair, with the anxiety all swept from her face.
(20:06):
I shall go down to Hampshire quite easy in my mind.
Now I shall write to mister Rucastle at once, sacrifice
my poor hair to night, and start for Winchester tomorrow.
With a few grateful words to Holmes. She bade us
both good night, and bustled off upon her way. At least,
said I, as we heard her quick firm steps descending
(20:29):
the stairs. She seems to be a young lady who
is very well, able to take care of herself, and
she would need to be said Holmes gravely, I am
much mistaken if we do not hear from her before
many days are past. It was not very long before
my friend's prediction was fulfilled. A fortnight went by, during
(20:52):
which I frequently found my thoughts turning in her direction
and wondering what strange side alley of human experience this
lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual salary. The curious conditions,
the light duties all pointed to something abnormal. The weather
a fad or a plot, or whether the man was
(21:13):
a philanthropist or a villain. It was quite beyond my
powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he
sat frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted
brows and an abstracted air, but he swept the matter
away with a wave of his hand. When I mentioned it, data, data, data,
(21:33):
he cried impatiently, I can't make bricks without clay. And
yet he would always wind up by muttering that no
sister of his should ever have accepted such a situation.
The telegram, which we eventually received, came late one night,
just as I was thinking of turning in, and Holmes
was settling down to one of those all night chemical
(21:55):
researches which he frequently indulged in. When I would leave
him stoopid over a retort and a test tube at
night and find him in the same position when I
came down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the
yellow envelope and then, glancing at the message, threw it
across to me. Just look up the trains in Bradshaw,
(22:17):
said he, and turned back to his chemical studies. The
summons was a brief and urgent one. Please be at
the black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday tomorrow, it said,
do come. I am at my wits end, hunter.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Will you come with me?
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Asked Holmes, glancing up. I should wish to just look
it up. Then there is a train at half past nine,
said I, glancing over my Bradshaw. It is due at
Winchester at eleven thirty. That will do nicely. Then perhaps
I had better postpone my analysis of the acetones, as
(22:57):
we may need to be at our best.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
In the morning.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon
our way to the old English capital. Holmes had been
buried in the morning papers all the way down, but
after we had passed the Hampshire border, he threw them
down and began to admire the scenery. It was an
ideal spring day, a light blue sky flecked with little
fleecy white clouds drifting across from west to east. The
(23:25):
sun was shining very brightly, and yet there was an
exhilarating nip in the air, which set an edge to
a man's energy. All over the countryside, away to the
rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and gray roofs
of the farmsteadings peeped out from amid the light green
of the new foliage. Are they not fresh and beautiful?
(23:48):
I cried, with all the enthusiasm of a man fresh
from the fogs of Baker Street. But Holmes shook his
head gravely. Do you know, Watson? Said he that it
is one of the curses of a mind with a
turn like mine, that I must look at everything with
reference to my own special subject. You look at these
(24:09):
scattered houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I
look at them, and the only thought which comes to
me is a feeling of their isolation and of the
impunity with which crime may be committed there, good Heavens,
I cried, who would associate crime with these dear old homesteads.
(24:30):
They always fill me with a certain horror. It is
my belief. Watson founded upon my experience that the lowest
and vilest alleys in London do not present a more
dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.
You horrify me, but the reason is very obvious. The
(24:52):
pressure of public opinion can do in the town what
the law cannot accomplish. There is no lane so vile
that the scream of a tortured child, or the thought
of a drunkard's blow does not beget sympathy and indignation
among the neighbors. And then the whole machinery of justice
is ever so close that a word of complaint concetic going,
(25:13):
and there is but a step between the crime and
the dock. But look at these lonely houses, each in
its own fields, filled for the most part with poor,
ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of
the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may
go on year in year out in such places, And
(25:34):
none the wiser. Had this lady, who appeals to us
for help gone to live in Winchester, I should never
have had a fear for her. It is the five
miles of country which makes the danger still. It is
clear that she is not personally threatened. No, if she
can come to Winchester to meet us, she can get
(25:54):
away quite so, she has her freedom. What can be
the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation? I have
devised seven separate explanations, each of which would cover the
facts as far as we know them. But which of
these is correct can only be determined by the fresh
(26:15):
information which we shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well,
there is the tower of the cathedral, and we shall
soon learn all that Miss Hunter has to tell. The
Black Swan is an inn of repute in the high Street,
at no distance from the station, and there we found
the young lady waiting for us. She had engaged a
(26:37):
sitting room, and our lunch awaited us upon the table.
I am so delighted that you have come, she said earnestly.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
It is so very kind of you both. But indeed
I do not know what I should do.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me. Pray tell
us what has happened to you. I will do so,
and I must be quick, for I have promised mister
Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave
to come into town this morning though he little knew
for what purpose. Let us have everything in its due order.
(27:13):
Holmes thrust his long, thin legs out towards the fire
and composed himself to listen.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
In the first.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Place, I may say that I have met on the
whole with no actual ill treatment from mister and missus Roothcastle.
It is only fair to them to say that, But
I cannot understand them, and I am not easy in
my mind about them. What can you not understand their
reasons for their conduct? But you shall have it all
(27:44):
just as it occurred when I came down. Mister Roothcastle
met me here and drove me in his dogcart to
the Copper beaches. It is, as he said, beautifully situated.
But it is not beautiful in itself, for it is
a long, large square block of the house, whitewashed, but
all stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There
(28:07):
are grounds round it, woods on three sides, and on
the fourth afield which slopes down to the Southampton high Road,
which curves past about a hundred yards from the front door.
This ground in front belongs to the house, but the
woods all round are part of Lord Southerton's preserves. A
clump of copper beaches immediately in front of the hall
(28:29):
door has given its name to the place. I was
driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever,
and was introduced by him that evening to his wife
and the child. There was no truth, mister Holmes in
the conjecture which seemed to us to be probable in
your rooms at Baker Street. Missus Rucastle is not mad.
(28:52):
I found her to be a silent, pale faced woman,
much younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I
should think, while he can hardly be less than forty five.
From their conversation, I have gathered that they have been
married about seven years, that he was a widower, and
that his only child by the first wife was the
(29:12):
daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mister Rucastle told me
in private that the reason why she had left them
was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother.
As the daughter could not have been less than twenty,
I can quite imagine that her position must have been
uncomfortable with her father's young wife. Missus Rucastle seemed to
(29:35):
me to be colorless in mind as well as in feature.
She impressed me. Neither favorably, nor the reverse. She was
a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was
passionately devoted both to her husband and to her little son.
Her light gray eyes wandered continually from one to the other,
(29:56):
noting every little want, in forestalling it if possible. He
was kind to her also in his bluff boisterous fashion,
and on the whole they seemed to be a happy couple.
And yet she had some secret sorrow.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
This woman.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
She would often be lost in deep thought, with the
saddest look upon her face. More than once I have
surprised her in tears. I have thought sometimes that it
was the disposition of her child which weighed upon her mind.
For I have never met so utterly spoiled and so
ill natured a little creature. He is small for his age,
(30:35):
with a head which is quite disproportionately large. His whole
life appears to be spent in an alternation between savage
fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving pain
to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his
one idea of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent
(30:55):
in planning the capture of mice little birds and insects.
But I would rather not talk about the creature mister Holmes,
and indeed he has little to do with my story.
I am glad of all details, remarked my friend, whether
they seem to you to be relevant or not. I
(31:16):
shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one
unpleasant thing about the house which struck me at once
was the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are
only two, A man and his wife, Taller for that
is his name, is a rough, uncouth man, with grizzled
hair and whiskers, and a perpetual smell of drink. Twice
(31:41):
since I have been with them, he has been quite drunk,
and yet mister Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it.
His wife is a very tall and strong woman, with
a sour face, as silent as Missus Rucastle, and much
less amiable. They are a most unpleasant couple. But fortunately
I spend most of my time in the nursery and
(32:03):
my own room, which are next to each other in
one corner of the building. For two days after my
arrival at the Copper Beaches, my life was very quiet.
On the third, Missus Rucastle came down just after breakfast
and whispered something to her husband. Oh yes, said he,
turning to me. We are very much obliged to you,
(32:26):
miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far
as to cut your hair. I assure you that it
is not detracted in the tiniest iota from your appearance.
We shall now see how the electric blue dress will
become you. You will find it laid out upon the
bed in your room, and if you would be so
good as to put it on, we should both be
(32:48):
extremely obliged. The dress which I found waiting for me
was of a peculiar shade of blue. It was of
excellent material, a sort of beige, but it bore up
mistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not
have been a better fit if I had been measured
for it. Both mister and missus Rucastle expressed a delight
(33:10):
at the look of it, which seemed quite exaggerated in
its vehemence. They were waiting for me in the drawing room,
which is a very large room stretching along the entire
front of the house, with three long windows reaching down
to the floor. A chair had been placed close to
the central window, with its back turned towards it. In
(33:31):
this I was asked to sit, and then mister Rucastle,
walking up and down on the other side of the room,
began to tell me a series of the funniest stories
that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how
comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary.
Missus Rucastle, however, who is evidently no sense of humor,
(33:54):
never so much as smiled, but sat with her hands
in her lap and a sad, anxious look upon her face.
After an hour or so, mister Rucastle suddenly remarked that
it was time to commence the duties of the day,
and that I might change my dress and go to Little.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Edward in the nursery.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Two days later, the same performance was gone through under
exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress. Again, I
sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily
at the funny stories of which my employer had an
immense repertoire, and which he told inimitably. Then he handed
me a yellow backed novel, and, moving my chair a
(34:37):
little sideways that my own shadow might not fall upon
the page, he begged me to read aloud to him.
I read for about ten minutes, beginning in the heart
of a chapter, and then suddenly, in the middle of
a sentence, he ordered me to cease and to change
my dress. You can easily imagine, mister Holmes, how curious
(34:59):
I was as to what the meaning of this extraordinary
performance could possibly be. They were always very careful. I
observed to turn my face away from the window, so
that I became consumed with the desire to see what
was going on behind my back. At first it seemed
to be impossible, but I soon devised a means. My
(35:21):
hand mirror had been broken, so a happy thought seized me,
and I concealed a piece of the glass in my handkerchief.
On the next occasion, in the midst of my laughter,
I put my handkerchief up to my eyes and was able,
with a little management, to see all that there was
behind me. I confess that I was disappointed there was nothing,
(35:44):
at least that was my first impression. At the second glance, however,
I perceived that there was a man standing in the
Southampton Road, a small bearded man in a gray suit,
who seemed to be looking in my direction. The road
is an important highway and there are usually people there
This man, however, was leaning against the railings which bordered
(36:07):
our field, and was looking earnestly up. I lowered my
handkerchief and glanced at missus Rucastle, to find her eyes
fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing,
but I am convinced that she had divined that I
had a mirror in my hand and had seen what
was behind me. She rose at once, Jethro said she.
(36:32):
There is an impertinent fellow upon the road there who
stares up at Miss Hunter. No friend of yours, Miss Hunter,
he asked, No, I know no one in these parts.
Dear me, how very impertinent, kindly turn round in motion
to him to go away. Surely it would be better
(36:52):
to take no notice. No, no, we should.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Have him loitering here.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Always kindly turn round and wave him away like that.
I did as I was told, and at the same
instant missus Rucastle drew down the blind. That was a
week ago, and from that time I have not sat
again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress,
nor seen the man in the road. Pray continue, said Holmes.
(37:20):
Your narrative promises to be a most interesting one. You
will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may
prove to be little relation between the different incidents of
which I speak. On the very first day that I
was at the Copper Beaches, mister Roothcastle took me to
a small outhouse which stands near the kitchen door. As
(37:43):
we approached it, I heard the sharp rattling of a
chain and the sound as of a large animal moving about.
Look in here, said mister Rucastle, showing me a slit
between two planks. Is he not a beauty? I looked
through and was conscious of two glowing eyes and of
a vague figure huddled up in the darkness. Don't be frightened,
(38:07):
said my employer, laughing at the start which I had given.
It's only Carlo, my mastiff, I call him mine, but
really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who
can do anything with him. We feed him once a day,
and not too much then, so that he is always
as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose every night,
(38:30):
and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fags upon.
For goodness sake, don't you ever, on any pretext set
your foot over the threshold at night, For it's as
much as your life is worth. The warning was no
idle one for two nights later. I happened to look
out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning.
(38:51):
It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in
front of the house was silvered over and almost as
bright as day. I was standing wrapped in the peaceful
beauty of the scene when I was aware that something
was moving under the shadow of the Copper Beaches. As
it emerged into the moonshine.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
I saw what it was.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
It was a giant dog as large as a calf,
tawny tinted, with hanging jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones.
It walked slowly across the lawn and vanished into the
shadow upon the other side. That dreadful sentinel set a
chill to my heart, which I do not think that
any burglar could have done. And now I have a
(39:36):
very strange experience to tell you. I had, as you know,
cut off my hair in London, and I had placed
it in a great coil at the bottom of my trunk.
One evening, after the child was in bed, I began
to amuse myself by examining the furniture of my room
by re arranging my own little things. There was an
(39:58):
old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper
ones empty and open, the lower one locked. I had
filled the first two with my linen, and as I
had still much to pack away, I was naturally annoyed
at not having the use of.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
The third drawer.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
It struck me that it might have been fastened by
a mere oversight. So I took out my bunch of
keys and tried to open it. The very first key
fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There
was only one thing in it, but I am sure
that you would never guess what it was. It was
my coil of hair. I took it up and examined it.
(40:39):
It was of the same peculiar tint and the same thickness.
But then the impossibility of the thing obtruded itself upon me.
How could my hair have been locked in the drawer.
With trembling hands, I undid my trunk, turned out the contents,
and drew from the bottom my own hair. Laid the
(41:00):
two tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical?
Was it not extraordinary puzzle? As I would, I could
make nothing at all of what it meant. I returned
the strange hair to the drawer, and I said nothing
of the matter to the roof Castles, as I felt
that I had put myself in the wrong by opening
(41:21):
a drawer which.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
They had locked.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, mister Holmes,
and I soon had a pretty good plan of the
whole house in my head. There was one wing, however,
which appeared not to be inhabited at all. A door
which faced that which led into the quarters of the
tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked.
(41:45):
One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met
mister Roothcastle coming out through this door, his keys in
his hand, and a look on his face which made
him a very different person to the round, jovial man
to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his
brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood
(42:06):
out at his temples with passion. He locked the door
and hurried past me without a word or a look.
This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for
a walk in the grounds with my charge, I strolled
round to the side from which I could see the
windows of this part of the house. There were four
of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty,
(42:29):
while the fourth was shattered up. They were evidently all deserted.
As I strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally,
mister Rucastle came out to me, looking as merry and
jovial as ever. Ah said he you must not think
me rude if I passed you without a word, my
(42:49):
dear young lady, I was preoccupied with business matters. I
assured him that I was not offended by the way,
said I. You seem to have quite a suite of
spare rooms up there, and one of them has the
shutters up. He looked surprised, and, as it seemed to me,
a little startled at my remark. Photography is one of
(43:13):
my hobbies, said he, I have made my dark room
up there. But dear me, what an observant young lady
we have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who
would have ever believed it? He spoke in a jesting tone,
but there was no jest in his eyes. As he
looked at me. I read suspicion, there an annoyance, but
(43:35):
no jest. Well, mister Holmes from the moment that I
understood that there was something about that suite of rooms
which I was not to know, I was all on
fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity,
though I have my share of that. It was more
a feeling of duty, a feeling that some good might
(43:56):
come from my penetrating to this place. They talk of
woman's instinct. Perhaps it was woman's instinct which gave me
that feeling. At any rate, it was there, and I
was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass
the forbidden door. It was only yesterday that the chance came.
I may tell you that besides mister Roucastle, both Toller
(44:20):
and his wife find something to do in these deserted rooms.
And I once saw him carrying a large black linen
bag with him through the door. Recently he has been
drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk. And
when I came upstairs there was the key in the door.
I have no doubt at all that he had left
(44:40):
it there. Mister and missus Roothcastle were both downstairs, and
the child was with them, so that I had an
admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock,
opened the door and slipped through. There was a little
passage in front of me, unpapered and uncarpeted, which turned
(45:00):
at a right angle. At the farther end. Round this
corner were three doors in a line, the first and
third of which were open.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
They each led.
Speaker 1 (45:10):
Into an empty room, dusty and cheerless, with two windows
in the one and one in the other, so thick
with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through them.
The center door was closed, and across the outside of
it had been fastened one of the broad bars of
an iron bed pad, locked at one end to a
ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with
(45:32):
stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and
the key was not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly
with the shuttered window outside, and yet I could see
by the glimmer from beneath it that the room was
not in darkness. Evidently there was a skylight which led
in light from above. As I stood in the passage,
(45:55):
gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it
might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within
the room, and saw a shadow pass backward and forward
against the little slit of dim light which shone out
from under the door. A mad, unreasoning terror rose up
in me at the sight mister Holmes. My overstrung nerves
(46:16):
failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran ran, as
though some dreadful hand were behind me, clutching at the
skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through
the door and straight into the arms of mister Rucastle,
who was waiting outside. So said he, smiling. It was you, then,
(46:36):
I thought that it must be when I saw the
door open. Oh I am so frightened, I panted, my
dear young lady, My dear young lady. You cannot think
how caressing and soothing his manner was, and what has
frightened you, my dear young lady. But his voice was
just a little too coaxing.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
He overdid it.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
I was keenly on my guard against him. I was
foolish enough to go into the empty wing, I answered,
But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim
light that I was frightened and ran out again. Oh
it is so dreadfully still in there only that, said he,
looking at me keenly. Why what did you think I asked,
(47:23):
why do you think that I lock this door? I
am sure that I do not know. It is to
keep people out who have no business there.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
Do you see?
Speaker 1 (47:35):
He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. I
am sure if I had known well, then you know now,
and if you ever put your foot over that threshold
again here in an instant, the smile hardened into a
grin of rage, and he glared down at me with
the face of a demon.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
I'll throw you to the mastiff.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
I was so terrified that I do not know what
I did. I suppose that I must have rushed past
him into my room. I remember nothing until I found
myself lying on my bed, trembling all over. Then I
thought of you, mister Holmes. I could not live there
longer without some advice. I was frightened of the house,
(48:19):
of the man, of the woman, of the servants, even
of the child.
Speaker 2 (48:24):
They were all horrible to me.
Speaker 1 (48:26):
If I could only bring you down, all would be well.
Of course, I might have fled from the house, but
my curiosity was almost as strong as my fears. My
mind was soon made up. I would send you a wire.
I put on my hat and cloak went down to
the office, which is about half a mile from the house,
(48:46):
and then returned feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt
came into my mind as I approached the door, lest
the dog might be loose. But I remembered that Toller
had drunk himself into a state of insensibility that evening,
and I knew that he was the only one in
the household who had any influence with the savage creature,
(49:06):
or who would venture to set him free. I slipped
in in safety and lay awake half the night in
my joy at the thought of seeing you. I had
no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this morning,
but I must be back before three o'clock, for mister
and Missus Rucastle are going on a visit and will
(49:26):
be away all the evening, so that I must look
after the child.
Speaker 2 (49:31):
Now I have told you.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
All my adventures, mister Holmes, and I should be very
glad if you could tell me what it all means,
and above all.
Speaker 2 (49:40):
What I should do.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story.
My friend rose now and paced up and down the room,
his hands in his pockets and an expression of the
most profound gravity upon his face. Is taller still drunk?
He asked, Yes, I heard his wife tell Missus Roothcastle
(50:04):
that she could do nothing with him.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
That is well, and the Rooe castles go out to night. Yes.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
Is there a cellar with a good strong lock, Yes,
the wine cellar. You seem to me to have acted
all through this matter like a very brave and sensible girl,
Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could perform one
more feat? I should not ask it of you if
I did not think you a quite exceptional woman.
Speaker 2 (50:34):
I will try. What is it?
Speaker 1 (50:37):
We shall be at the Copper Beaches by seven o'clock,
my friend and I. The Roo castles will be gone
by that time, and Toller will we hope, be incapable.
There only remains Missus Toller, who might give the alarm.
If you could send her into the cellar on some
errand and then turn the key upon her, you would
(50:57):
facilitate matters immensely. I will do it, excellent. We shall
then look thoroughly into the affair. Of course, there is
only one feasible explanation. You had been brought there to
personate someone, and the real person is imprisoned in this chamber.
That is obvious. As to who this prisoner is. I
(51:20):
have no doubt that it is the daughter Miss Alice Rucastle.
If I remember right, who was said to have gone
to America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height,
figure and the color of your hair. Hers had been
cut off, very possibly in some illness through which she
has passed, and so of course yours had to be sacrificed.
(51:42):
Also by a curious chance, you came upon her tresses.
The man in the road was undoubtedly some friend of hers,
possibly her fiancee, And no doubt, as you wore the
girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced
from your laughter whenever he saw you, and afterwards from
your gesture, that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that
(52:05):
she no longer desired his attentions. The dog is let
loose at night to prevent him from endeavoring to communicate
with her. So much is fairly clear. The most serious
point in the case is the disposition of the child.
What on earth has.
Speaker 2 (52:22):
That to do with it?
Speaker 1 (52:23):
I ejaculated, My dear Watson, You, as a medical man,
are continually gaining light as to the tendencies of a
child by the study of the parents. Don't you see
that the converse is equally valid. I have frequently gained
my first real insight into the character of parents by
studying their children. This child's disposition is abnormally cruel, merely
(52:48):
for cruelty's sake, And whether he derives this from his
smiling father, as I should suspect, or from his mother,
it bodes evil for the poor girl who is.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
In their power.
Speaker 1 (53:00):
I am sure that you are right, mister Holmes, cried
our client. A thousand things come back to me which
make me certain that you have hit it. Oh, let
us lose not an instant in bringing help to this
poor creature. We must be circumspect, for we are dealing
with a very cunning man. We can do nothing until
(53:20):
seven o'clock. At that hour we shall be with you,
and it will not be long before we solve the mystery.
We were as good as our word, for it was
just seven when we reached the Copper Beaches, having put
up our trap at a wayside public house.
Speaker 2 (53:36):
The group of trees, with their dark.
Speaker 1 (53:38):
Leaves shining like burnished metal in the light of the
setting sun, were sufficient to mark the house, even had
miss Hunter not been standing smiling on the doorstep. Have
you managed it? Asked Holmes. A loud thudding noise came
from somewhere downstairs. That is missus Toller in the cellar,
(53:59):
said she. Her husband lies snoring on the kitchen rug.
Here are his keys, which are the duplicates of mister Rucastle's.
You have done well, indeed, cried Holmes, with enthusiasm. Now
lead the way, and we shall soon see the end
of this black business. We passed up the stair, unlocked
(54:20):
the door, followed on down a passage, and found ourselves
in front of the barricade which miss Hunter had described.
Holmes cut the cord and removed the transverse bar. Then
he tried the various keys in the lock, but without success.
No sound came from within, and at the silence, Holmes's
face clouded over. I trust that we are not too late,
(54:44):
said he. I think, miss Hunter, that we had better
go in without you. Now, Watson, put your shoulder to it,
and we shall see whether we cannot make our way in.
It was an old, rickety door, and gave it once
before our unit strength. Together, we rushed into the room.
Speaker 2 (55:03):
It was empty.
Speaker 1 (55:04):
There was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a
small table, and a basketful of linen. The skylight above
was open and the prisoner gone. There has been some
villainy here, said Holmes. This beauty has guessed Miss Hunter's
intentions and has carried his victim off. But how through
(55:25):
the skylight? We shall soon see how he managed it.
He swung himself up on to the roof. Ah, yes,
he cried, here's the end of a long light ladder
against the eaves. That is how he did it. But
it is impossible, said miss Hunter. The latter was not
there when the rooe castles went away. He has come
(55:48):
back and done it. I tell you that he is
a clever and dangerous man. I should not be very
much surprised if this were he whose step I hear
now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it would
be as well for you to have your pistol ready.
The words were hardly out of his mouth before a
man appeared at the door of the room, a very
(56:08):
fat and burly man with a heavy stick in his hand.
Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the wall at the
sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and confronted him.
You villain, said he, where's your daughter? The fat man
cast his eyes round and then up at the open skylight.
(56:28):
It is for me to ask you that, he shrieked,
You thieves, spies and thieves. I have caught you, have
I You are in my power.
Speaker 2 (56:38):
I'll serve you.
Speaker 1 (56:39):
He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as
he could go. He's gone for the dog, cried miss Hunter.
I have my revolver, said I better close the front door,
cried Holmes, and we all rushed down the stairs together.
We had hardly reached the hall when we heard the
baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony,
(57:00):
with a horrible, worrying sound, which it was dreadful to
listen to. An elderly man with a red face and
shaking limbs came staggering out at a side door. My god,
he cried, someone has loosed the dog. It's not been
fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late.
(57:22):
Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of
the house, with Taller hurrying behind us. There was the huge,
famished brute, its black muzzle buried in Rouecastle's throat, while
he writhed and screamed upon the ground. Running up, I
blew its brains out, and it fell over, with its keen,
white teeth still meeting in the great creases of his neck.
(57:44):
With much labor, we separated them and carried him, living,
but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid him upon
the drawing room sofa, and, having dispatched the sobered Toller
to bear the news to his wife. I did what
I could to relieve his pain. We were all assembled
round him when the door opened and a tall, gaunt woman.
Speaker 2 (58:05):
Entered the room.
Speaker 1 (58:08):
Missus Toller cried, miss Hunter. Yes, miss mister Rucastle let
me out when he came back before he went up
to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't
let me know what you were planning for I would
have told you that your pains were wasted. Huh, said Holmes,
looking keenly at her. It is clear that missus Toller
(58:30):
knows more about this matter than any one else. Yes, Sir,
I do, and I am ready enough to tell what
I know. Then pray, sit down and let us hear it.
For there are several points on which I must confess
that I am still in the dark. I will soon
make it clear to you, said she, and i'd have
(58:50):
done so before now if I could have got out
of the cellar. If there's police court business over this,
you remember that I was the one that stood your friend,
and that I was miss Alice's friend too. She was
never happy at home. Miss Alice wasn't from the time
that her father married again. She was slighted like and
had no say in anything. But it never really became
(59:13):
bad for her until after she met mister Fowler at
a friend's house. As well as I could learn, miss
Alice had rights of her own by will, but she
was so quiet and patient she was that she never
said a word about them, but just left everything in
mister Rucastle's hands. He knew he was safe with her.
But when there was a chance of a husband coming
(59:35):
forward who would ask for all that the law would
give him, then her father thought it time to put
a stop on it. He wanted her to sign a
paper so that whether she married or not, he could
use her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept
on worrying her until she got brain fever, and for
six weeks was at death's door. Then she got better.
(59:58):
At last, all warn to a shadow, and with her
beautiful hair cut off, but that didn't make no change
in her, young man, and he stuck to her as
true as men could be, Ah, said Holmes. I think
that what you have been good enough to tell us
makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce
all that remains. Mister Rucastle, then I presume, took to
(01:00:22):
the system of imprisonment, yes, sir, and brought miss Hunter
down from London in order to get rid of the
disagreeable persistence of mister Fowler.
Speaker 2 (01:00:34):
That was it, sir.
Speaker 1 (01:00:35):
But mister Fowler, being a persevering man, as a good
seaman should be blockaded the house, and having met you,
succeeded by certain arguments, metallic or otherwise in convincing you
that your interests were the same as his. Mister Fowler
was a very kind, spoken, free handed gentleman, said Missus
(01:00:57):
Toller serenely, and in this way he managed that your
good man should have no want of drink, and that
a latter should be ready at the moment when your
master had gone out.
Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
You have it, sir, just as it happened.
Speaker 1 (01:01:12):
I am sure we owe you an apology, Missus Toller,
said Holmes, for you have certainly cleared up everything which
puzzled us, and here comes the country surgeon and missus Rucastle.
So I think Watson, that we had best escort Miss
Hunter back to Winchester, as it seems to me that
our locust Stundy now is rather a questionable one. And
(01:01:34):
thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with
the copper beaches in front of the door. Mister Rucastle survived,
but was always a broken man, kept alive solely through
the care of his devoted wife. They still live with
their old servants, who probably knows so much of Roughcastle's
past life that he finds it difficult to part from them.
(01:01:56):
Mister Fowler and Miss Rucastle were married by license in
Southampton the day after their flight, and he is now
the holder of a government appointment in the island of Mauritius.
As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend Holmes, rather to
my disappointment, manifested no further interest in her when once
(01:02:17):
she had ceased to be the center of one.
Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
Of his problems.
Speaker 1 (01:02:20):
And she is now the head of a private school
at Walsall, where I believe that she has met with
considerable success. That is the end of our adventure number twelve,
and we thank you for listening to our book
Adventure twelve, the final chapter of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain and is
read by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. The Adventures
of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Adventure twelve,
(00:21):
the Adventure of the Copper Beeches.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
To the Man who.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Loves art for its own sake, remarked Sherlock Holmes, tossing
aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily Telegraph, it is
frequently in its least important and lowliest manifestations that the keenest.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Pleasure is to be derived.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
It is pleasant to me to observe Watson, that you
have so far grasped this truth. That in these little
records of our cases, which you have been good enough
to draw up, and I am bound to say occasionally
to embellish, you have given prominence not so much to
the many cose, seleebre and sensational trials in which I
have figured, but rather to those incidents which may have
(01:05):
been trivial in themselves, but which have given room for
those faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I
have made my special province and yet said I, smiling,
I cannot quite hold myself absolve from the charge of
sensationalism which has been urged against my records. You have aired,
(01:27):
perhaps he observed, taking up a glowing cinder with the
tongs and lighting with it the long cherrywood pipe which
was wont to replace his clay when he was in
a disputatious rather than a meditative mood. You have aired,
perhaps in attempting to put color and life into each
of your statements, instead of confining yourself to the task
(01:48):
of placing upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect,
which is really the only notable feature about the thing.
It seems to me that I have done you full
justice in the matter, I remarked, with some coldness, for
I was repelled by the egotism which I had more
than once observed to be a strong factory in my
(02:09):
friend's singular character. No, it is not selfishness or conceit,
said he answering, as was his wont my thoughts rather
than my words? If I claim full justice for my art,
it is because it is an impersonal thing, a thing
beyond myself. Crime is common, logic is rare. Therefore it
(02:33):
is upon the logic, rather than upon the crime that
you should dwell. You have degraded what should have been
a course of lectures into a series of tales. It
was a cold morning of the early spring, and we
sat after breakfast on either side of a cheery fire
in the old room at Baker Street. A thick fog
(02:54):
rolled down between the lines of dun colored houses, and
the opposing windows loomed like dark, shapeless blurs through the
heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit and shown on
the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal. For
the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had
been silent all the morning, clipping continuously into the advertisement
(03:17):
columns of a succession of papers, until at last, having
apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no
very sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings.
At the same time, he remarked, after a pause during
which he had sat puffing at his long pipe and
gazing down into the fire, you can hardly be opened
(03:41):
to a charge of sensationalism, for out of these causes
which you have been so kind as to interest yourself
in a fair proportion, do not treat of crime in
its legal sense at all. The small matter in which
I endeavored to help the King of Bohemia, the singular
experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the problem connected with the
(04:02):
man with a twisted lip, and the incident of the
noble bachelor were all matters which are outside the pale
of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I fear
that you may have bordered on the trivial. The end
may have been so, I answered, but the methods I
hold to have been novel and of interest. Pshaw, my
(04:24):
dear fellow, what to the public, the great unobservant public,
who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or
a compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer
shades of analysis and deduction? But indeed, if you are trivial,
I cannot blame you, for the days of the great
cases are past. Man, or at least criminal man, has
(04:48):
lost all enterprise and originality. As to my own little practice,
it seems to be degenerating into an agency for recovering
lost lead pencils and giving advice to young ladies from
boarding schools. I think that I have touched bottom at last, However,
this note I had this morning marks my zero point.
(05:09):
I fancy read it. He tossed a crumpled letter across
to me. It was dated from Montague Place upon the
preceding evening, and ran, thus, dear mister Holmes, I am
very anxious to consult you as to whether I should
or should not accept a situation which has been offered
to me as governess. I shall call at half past
(05:32):
ten tomorrow if I do not, inconvenience you yours faithfully,
Violet Hunter, do you know the young lady, I asked,
not I It is half past ten now, yes, and
I have no doubt that is her ring. It may
turn out to be of more interest than you think.
(05:53):
You remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which
appeared to be a mere whim at first, developed into
a serious investigation. It may be so in this case also. Well,
let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon
be solved. For here, unless I am much mistaken, is
the person in question. As he spoke, the door opened
(06:16):
and a young lady entered the room. She was plainly
but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, freckled like
a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a
woman who has had her own way to make in
the world. You will excuse my troubling you. I am sure,
said she, as my companion arose to greet her. But
(06:38):
I have had a very strange experience, and as I
have no parents or relations of any sort from whom
I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would
be kind enough to tell me what I should do. Pray,
take a seat, miss Hunter. I shall be happy to
do anything that I can to serve you. I could
(06:59):
see that Holmes was favorably impressed by the manner and
speech of his new client. He looked her over in
his searching fashion, and then composed himself with his lids
drooping and his finger tips together, to listen to her story.
I have been a governess for five years, said she,
(07:20):
in the family of Colonel Spence Monroe. But two months
ago the colonel received an appointment at Halifax in Nova Scotia,
and took his children over to America with him. So
that I found myself without a situation. I advertised, and
I answered advertisements, but without success.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
At last, the.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Little money which I had saved began to run short,
and I was at by wits end as to what
I should do. There is a well known agency for
governesses in the West End called west a Ways, and
there I used to call about once a week in
order to see whether anything had turned up which might
suit me. Westay was the name of the founder of
(08:01):
the business, but it is really managed by Miss Stoper.
She sits in her own little office, and the ladies
who are seeking employment wait in an ante room and
are then shown in one by one when she consults
her ledgers and sees whether she has anything which would
suit them well. When I called last week, I was
(08:22):
shown into the little office as usual, but I found
that Miss Stoper was not alone. A prodigiously stout man
with a very smiling face and a great heavy chin
which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat,
sat at her elbow with a pair of glasses on
his nose, looking very earnestly at the ladies who entered.
(08:44):
As I came in, he gave quite a jump in
his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. That will do,
said he. I could not ask for anything better. Capital capital.
He seemed quite enthusiastic, and rubbed his hands to gather
in the most genial fashion. He was such a comfortable
(09:04):
looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look
at him. You are looking for a situation, miss, he asked, Yes, sir,
as governess, Yes, sir, And what salary do you ask?
I had five pounds a month at my last place
with Colonel Spence Monroe. Oh Tut tut, sweating, rank sweating,
(09:27):
he cried, throwing his fat hands out into the air
like a man who is in a boiling passion. How
could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady
with such attractions and accomplishments. My accomplishment, sir, may be
less than you imagine, said I. A little French, a
little German, music and drawing. Tut tut, he cried. This
(09:51):
is all quite beside the question. The point is, have
you or have you not the bearing and deportment of
a lady there It is an nutshell. If you have not,
you are not fitted for the rearing of a child
who may some day play a considerable part in the
history of the country. But if you have, why then
how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to accept
(10:14):
anything under.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
The three figures?
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Your salary with me, Madam, would commence at one hundred
pounds a year. You may imagine, mister Holmes, that to me,
destitute as I was, such an offer seemed almost too
good to be true. The gentleman, however, seeing perhaps the
look of incredulity upon my face, opened a pocket book
(10:37):
and took out a note. It is also my custom,
said he, smiling in the most pleasant fashion, until his
eyes were just two little shining slits amid the white
creases of his face, to advance to my young ladies
half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any
little expenses of their journey and their wardrobe. It seemed
(11:00):
to me that I had never met so fascinating and
so thoughtful a man, as I was already in debt
to my tradesman. The advance was a great convenience, and
yet there was something unnatural about the whole transaction, which
made me wished to know a little more before I
quite committed myself. May I ask where you live, sir,
(11:21):
said I. Hampshire, charming rural place, the Copper Beeches, five
miles on the far side of Winchester. It is the
most lovely country, My dear young lady and the dearest
old country house. And by duty, sir, I should be
glad to know what they would be. One child, one
(11:42):
dear little ropper, just six years old.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Oh, if you could.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
See him killing cockroaches with a slipper. Smack, smack, smack,
three gone before you could wink. He leaned back in
his chair and laughed, his eyes into his head again.
I was a little startled at the nature of the
child's amusement, but the father's laughter made me think that
perhaps he was joking. My sole duties, then, I asked,
(12:09):
are to take charge of a single child? No? No,
not the soul, Not the soul, My dear young lady,
he cried, Your duty would be, as I am sure
your good sense would suggest to obey any little commands
my wife might give, provided always that they were such
commands as a lady might with propriety obey. You see
(12:32):
no difficulty, Hey, I should be happy to make myself useful.
Quite so in dress now, for example, we are fatty people,
you know, fatty but kind hearted. If you were asked
to wear any dress which we might give you, you
would not object to our little whim Hey, No, said
(12:54):
I considerably astonished at his words. Or to sit here
or sit there that would not be offensive to you,
oh no, Or to cut your hair quite short before
you come to us. I could hardly believe my ears.
As you may observe, mister Holmes, my hair is somewhat
(13:16):
luxuriant and of a rather peculiar tint of chestnut. It
is being considered artistic. I could not dream of sacrificing
it in this offhand fashion. I am afraid that that
is quite impossible, said I. He had been watching me
eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see
a shadow pass over his face as I spoke. I
(13:40):
am afraid that it is quite essential, said he. It
is a little fancy of my wife's and lady's fancies,
you know, madam, ladies fancies must be consulted, And so
you won't cut your hair, No, sir, I really could not,
I answered firmly. Very well, then that quite settles the matter.
(14:04):
It is a pity, because in other respects, you would
really have done very nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper,
I had best inspect a few more of your young ladies.
The manageresss had sat all this while busy with her papers,
without a word to either of us. But she glanced
at me now with so much annoyance upon her face
(14:24):
that I could not help suspecting that she had lost
a handsome commission through my refusal. Do you desire your
name to be kept upon the books? She asked, if
you please, Miss Stoper. Well, really it seems rather useless
since you refused the most excellent offers in this fashion,
said she sharply, you can hardly expect us to exert
(14:48):
ourselves to find another such opening for you. Good day
to you, miss Hunter. She struck a gong upon the table,
and I was shown out by the page. Well, mister Holmes.
When I got back to my lodgings and found little
enough in the cupboard and two or three bills upon
the table, I began to ask myself whether I had
(15:09):
not done a.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Very foolish thing.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
After all, if these people had strange fads and expected
obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were at least
ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few governesses in
England are getting one hundred pounds a year. Besides, what
use was my.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Hair to me?
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Many people are improved by wearing it short and perhaps
I should be among the number. Next day I was
inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and
by the day after I was sure of it. I
had almost overcome my pride so far as to go
back to the agency and inquire whether the place was
still open. When I received this letter from the gentleman himself.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
I have it here and I will read it to you.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
The Copper Beaches, Winchester, Dear miss Hunter, Miss Stoper has
very kindly given me your address, and I write from
here to ask whether you have reconsidered your decision. My
wife is very anxious that you should come, for she
has been much attracted by my description of you. We
are willing to give thirty pounds a quarter, or one
(16:21):
hundred and twenty pounds a year, so as to recompense
you for any little inconvenience which our fads may cause you.
They are not very exacting. After all. My wife is
fond of a particular shade of electric blue, and would
like you to wear such a dress indoors.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
In the morning.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
You need not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one,
as we have one belonging to my dear daughter Alice.
Now in Philadelphia, which would I should think fit you
very well. Then, as to sitting here or there, or
amusing yourself in any manner, indicated that need cause you
no inconveniences. As regards your hair, it is no doubt
(17:03):
a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its
beauty during our short interview. But I am afraid that
I must remain firm upon this point, and I only
hope that the increased salary may recompense you for the loss.
Your duties, as far as the child is concerned, are
very light. Now do try to come and I shall
(17:26):
meet you with a dog cart at Winchester. Let me
know your train yours faithfully, Jeff ro Roocastle. That is
the letter which I have just received, mister Holmes, and
my mind is made up that I will accept it.
I thought, however, that before taking the final step, I
should like to submit the whole matter to your consideration. Well,
(17:50):
miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles
the question, said Holmes, smiling. But you would not advise
me to refuse. I confess that it is not the
situation which I should like to see a sister of
mine apply.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
For What is the meaning of it all, mister Holmes, Ah,
I have no data.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself formed some opinion. Well,
there seems to me to be only one possible solution.
Mister Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good natured man.
Is it not possible that his wife is a lunatic,
that he desires to keep the matter quiet for fear
(18:33):
she should be taken to an asylum, and that he
humors her fancies in every way in order to prevent
an outbreak. That is a possible solution, in fact, does
matters stand? It is the most probable one. But in
any case, it does not seem to be a nice
household for a young lady. But the money, mister Holmes.
(18:55):
The money, well, yes, of course the pay is good,
too good. That is what makes me uneasy. Why should
they give you one hundred twenty pounds a year when
they could have their pick for forty pounds. There must
be some strong reason behind. I thought that if I
told you the circumstances, you would understand afterwards if I
(19:18):
wanted your help, I should feel so much stronger if
I felt that you were at the back of me. Oh,
you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure
you that your little problem promises to be the most
interesting which has come my way for some months. There
is something distinctly novel about some of the features. If
(19:38):
you should find yourself in doubt or in danger, danger,
what danger.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Do you foresee?
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Holmes shook his head gravely. It would cease to be
a danger if we could define it, said he. But
at any time, day or night, a telegram would bring
me down to your help. That she rose briskly from
her chair, with the anxiety all swept from her face.
(20:06):
I shall go down to Hampshire quite easy in my mind.
Now I shall write to mister Rucastle at once, sacrifice
my poor hair to night, and start for Winchester tomorrow.
With a few grateful words to Holmes. She bade us
both good night, and bustled off upon her way. At least,
said I, as we heard her quick firm steps descending
(20:29):
the stairs. She seems to be a young lady who
is very well, able to take care of herself, and
she would need to be said Holmes gravely, I am
much mistaken if we do not hear from her before
many days are past. It was not very long before
my friend's prediction was fulfilled. A fortnight went by, during
(20:52):
which I frequently found my thoughts turning in her direction
and wondering what strange side alley of human experience this
lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual salary. The curious conditions,
the light duties all pointed to something abnormal. The weather
a fad or a plot, or whether the man was
(21:13):
a philanthropist or a villain. It was quite beyond my
powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he
sat frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted
brows and an abstracted air, but he swept the matter
away with a wave of his hand. When I mentioned it, data, data, data,
(21:33):
he cried impatiently, I can't make bricks without clay. And
yet he would always wind up by muttering that no
sister of his should ever have accepted such a situation.
The telegram, which we eventually received, came late one night,
just as I was thinking of turning in, and Holmes
was settling down to one of those all night chemical
(21:55):
researches which he frequently indulged in. When I would leave
him stoopid over a retort and a test tube at
night and find him in the same position when I
came down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the
yellow envelope and then, glancing at the message, threw it
across to me. Just look up the trains in Bradshaw,
(22:17):
said he, and turned back to his chemical studies. The
summons was a brief and urgent one. Please be at
the black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday tomorrow, it said,
do come. I am at my wits end, hunter.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Will you come with me?
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Asked Holmes, glancing up. I should wish to just look
it up. Then there is a train at half past nine,
said I, glancing over my Bradshaw. It is due at
Winchester at eleven thirty. That will do nicely. Then perhaps
I had better postpone my analysis of the acetones, as
(22:57):
we may need to be at our best.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
In the morning.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon
our way to the old English capital. Holmes had been
buried in the morning papers all the way down, but
after we had passed the Hampshire border, he threw them
down and began to admire the scenery. It was an
ideal spring day, a light blue sky flecked with little
fleecy white clouds drifting across from west to east. The
(23:25):
sun was shining very brightly, and yet there was an
exhilarating nip in the air, which set an edge to
a man's energy. All over the countryside, away to the
rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and gray roofs
of the farmsteadings peeped out from amid the light green
of the new foliage. Are they not fresh and beautiful?
(23:48):
I cried, with all the enthusiasm of a man fresh
from the fogs of Baker Street. But Holmes shook his
head gravely. Do you know, Watson? Said he that it
is one of the curses of a mind with a
turn like mine, that I must look at everything with
reference to my own special subject. You look at these
(24:09):
scattered houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I
look at them, and the only thought which comes to
me is a feeling of their isolation and of the
impunity with which crime may be committed there, good Heavens,
I cried, who would associate crime with these dear old homesteads.
(24:30):
They always fill me with a certain horror. It is
my belief. Watson founded upon my experience that the lowest
and vilest alleys in London do not present a more
dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.
You horrify me, but the reason is very obvious. The
(24:52):
pressure of public opinion can do in the town what
the law cannot accomplish. There is no lane so vile
that the scream of a tortured child, or the thought
of a drunkard's blow does not beget sympathy and indignation
among the neighbors. And then the whole machinery of justice
is ever so close that a word of complaint concetic going,
(25:13):
and there is but a step between the crime and
the dock. But look at these lonely houses, each in
its own fields, filled for the most part with poor,
ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of
the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may
go on year in year out in such places, And
(25:34):
none the wiser. Had this lady, who appeals to us
for help gone to live in Winchester, I should never
have had a fear for her. It is the five
miles of country which makes the danger still. It is
clear that she is not personally threatened. No, if she
can come to Winchester to meet us, she can get
(25:54):
away quite so, she has her freedom. What can be
the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation? I have
devised seven separate explanations, each of which would cover the
facts as far as we know them. But which of
these is correct can only be determined by the fresh
(26:15):
information which we shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well,
there is the tower of the cathedral, and we shall
soon learn all that Miss Hunter has to tell. The
Black Swan is an inn of repute in the high Street,
at no distance from the station, and there we found
the young lady waiting for us. She had engaged a
(26:37):
sitting room, and our lunch awaited us upon the table.
I am so delighted that you have come, she said earnestly.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
It is so very kind of you both. But indeed
I do not know what I should do.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me. Pray tell
us what has happened to you. I will do so,
and I must be quick, for I have promised mister
Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave
to come into town this morning though he little knew
for what purpose. Let us have everything in its due order.
(27:13):
Holmes thrust his long, thin legs out towards the fire
and composed himself to listen.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
In the first.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Place, I may say that I have met on the
whole with no actual ill treatment from mister and missus Roothcastle.
It is only fair to them to say that, But
I cannot understand them, and I am not easy in
my mind about them. What can you not understand their
reasons for their conduct? But you shall have it all
(27:44):
just as it occurred when I came down. Mister Roothcastle
met me here and drove me in his dogcart to
the Copper beaches. It is, as he said, beautifully situated.
But it is not beautiful in itself, for it is
a long, large square block of the house, whitewashed, but
all stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There
(28:07):
are grounds round it, woods on three sides, and on
the fourth afield which slopes down to the Southampton high Road,
which curves past about a hundred yards from the front door.
This ground in front belongs to the house, but the
woods all round are part of Lord Southerton's preserves. A
clump of copper beaches immediately in front of the hall
(28:29):
door has given its name to the place. I was
driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever,
and was introduced by him that evening to his wife
and the child. There was no truth, mister Holmes in
the conjecture which seemed to us to be probable in
your rooms at Baker Street. Missus Rucastle is not mad.
(28:52):
I found her to be a silent, pale faced woman,
much younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I
should think, while he can hardly be less than forty five.
From their conversation, I have gathered that they have been
married about seven years, that he was a widower, and
that his only child by the first wife was the
(29:12):
daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mister Rucastle told me
in private that the reason why she had left them
was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother.
As the daughter could not have been less than twenty,
I can quite imagine that her position must have been
uncomfortable with her father's young wife. Missus Rucastle seemed to
(29:35):
me to be colorless in mind as well as in feature.
She impressed me. Neither favorably, nor the reverse. She was
a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was
passionately devoted both to her husband and to her little son.
Her light gray eyes wandered continually from one to the other,
(29:56):
noting every little want, in forestalling it if possible. He
was kind to her also in his bluff boisterous fashion,
and on the whole they seemed to be a happy couple.
And yet she had some secret sorrow.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
This woman.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
She would often be lost in deep thought, with the
saddest look upon her face. More than once I have
surprised her in tears. I have thought sometimes that it
was the disposition of her child which weighed upon her mind.
For I have never met so utterly spoiled and so
ill natured a little creature. He is small for his age,
(30:35):
with a head which is quite disproportionately large. His whole
life appears to be spent in an alternation between savage
fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving pain
to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his
one idea of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent
(30:55):
in planning the capture of mice little birds and insects.
But I would rather not talk about the creature mister Holmes,
and indeed he has little to do with my story.
I am glad of all details, remarked my friend, whether
they seem to you to be relevant or not. I
(31:16):
shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one
unpleasant thing about the house which struck me at once
was the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are
only two, A man and his wife, Taller for that
is his name, is a rough, uncouth man, with grizzled
hair and whiskers, and a perpetual smell of drink. Twice
(31:41):
since I have been with them, he has been quite drunk,
and yet mister Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it.
His wife is a very tall and strong woman, with
a sour face, as silent as Missus Rucastle, and much
less amiable. They are a most unpleasant couple. But fortunately
I spend most of my time in the nursery and
(32:03):
my own room, which are next to each other in
one corner of the building. For two days after my
arrival at the Copper Beaches, my life was very quiet.
On the third, Missus Rucastle came down just after breakfast
and whispered something to her husband. Oh yes, said he,
turning to me. We are very much obliged to you,
(32:26):
miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far
as to cut your hair. I assure you that it
is not detracted in the tiniest iota from your appearance.
We shall now see how the electric blue dress will
become you. You will find it laid out upon the
bed in your room, and if you would be so
good as to put it on, we should both be
(32:48):
extremely obliged. The dress which I found waiting for me
was of a peculiar shade of blue. It was of
excellent material, a sort of beige, but it bore up
mistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not
have been a better fit if I had been measured
for it. Both mister and missus Rucastle expressed a delight
(33:10):
at the look of it, which seemed quite exaggerated in
its vehemence. They were waiting for me in the drawing room,
which is a very large room stretching along the entire
front of the house, with three long windows reaching down
to the floor. A chair had been placed close to
the central window, with its back turned towards it. In
(33:31):
this I was asked to sit, and then mister Rucastle,
walking up and down on the other side of the room,
began to tell me a series of the funniest stories
that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how
comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary.
Missus Rucastle, however, who is evidently no sense of humor,
(33:54):
never so much as smiled, but sat with her hands
in her lap and a sad, anxious look upon her face.
After an hour or so, mister Rucastle suddenly remarked that
it was time to commence the duties of the day,
and that I might change my dress and go to Little.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Edward in the nursery.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Two days later, the same performance was gone through under
exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress. Again, I
sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily
at the funny stories of which my employer had an
immense repertoire, and which he told inimitably. Then he handed
me a yellow backed novel, and, moving my chair a
(34:37):
little sideways that my own shadow might not fall upon
the page, he begged me to read aloud to him.
I read for about ten minutes, beginning in the heart
of a chapter, and then suddenly, in the middle of
a sentence, he ordered me to cease and to change
my dress. You can easily imagine, mister Holmes, how curious
(34:59):
I was as to what the meaning of this extraordinary
performance could possibly be. They were always very careful. I
observed to turn my face away from the window, so
that I became consumed with the desire to see what
was going on behind my back. At first it seemed
to be impossible, but I soon devised a means. My
(35:21):
hand mirror had been broken, so a happy thought seized me,
and I concealed a piece of the glass in my handkerchief.
On the next occasion, in the midst of my laughter,
I put my handkerchief up to my eyes and was able,
with a little management, to see all that there was
behind me. I confess that I was disappointed there was nothing,
(35:44):
at least that was my first impression. At the second glance, however,
I perceived that there was a man standing in the
Southampton Road, a small bearded man in a gray suit,
who seemed to be looking in my direction. The road
is an important highway and there are usually people there
This man, however, was leaning against the railings which bordered
(36:07):
our field, and was looking earnestly up. I lowered my
handkerchief and glanced at missus Rucastle, to find her eyes
fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing,
but I am convinced that she had divined that I
had a mirror in my hand and had seen what
was behind me. She rose at once, Jethro said she.
(36:32):
There is an impertinent fellow upon the road there who
stares up at Miss Hunter. No friend of yours, Miss Hunter,
he asked, No, I know no one in these parts.
Dear me, how very impertinent, kindly turn round in motion
to him to go away. Surely it would be better
(36:52):
to take no notice. No, no, we should.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Have him loitering here.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Always kindly turn round and wave him away like that.
I did as I was told, and at the same
instant missus Rucastle drew down the blind. That was a
week ago, and from that time I have not sat
again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress,
nor seen the man in the road. Pray continue, said Holmes.
(37:20):
Your narrative promises to be a most interesting one. You
will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may
prove to be little relation between the different incidents of
which I speak. On the very first day that I
was at the Copper Beaches, mister Roothcastle took me to
a small outhouse which stands near the kitchen door. As
(37:43):
we approached it, I heard the sharp rattling of a
chain and the sound as of a large animal moving about.
Look in here, said mister Rucastle, showing me a slit
between two planks. Is he not a beauty? I looked
through and was conscious of two glowing eyes and of
a vague figure huddled up in the darkness. Don't be frightened,
(38:07):
said my employer, laughing at the start which I had given.
It's only Carlo, my mastiff, I call him mine, but
really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who
can do anything with him. We feed him once a day,
and not too much then, so that he is always
as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose every night,
(38:30):
and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fags upon.
For goodness sake, don't you ever, on any pretext set
your foot over the threshold at night, For it's as
much as your life is worth. The warning was no
idle one for two nights later. I happened to look
out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning.
(38:51):
It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in
front of the house was silvered over and almost as
bright as day. I was standing wrapped in the peaceful
beauty of the scene when I was aware that something
was moving under the shadow of the Copper Beaches. As
it emerged into the moonshine.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
I saw what it was.
Speaker 1 (39:12):
It was a giant dog as large as a calf,
tawny tinted, with hanging jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones.
It walked slowly across the lawn and vanished into the
shadow upon the other side. That dreadful sentinel set a
chill to my heart, which I do not think that
any burglar could have done. And now I have a
(39:36):
very strange experience to tell you. I had, as you know,
cut off my hair in London, and I had placed
it in a great coil at the bottom of my trunk.
One evening, after the child was in bed, I began
to amuse myself by examining the furniture of my room
by re arranging my own little things. There was an
(39:58):
old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper
ones empty and open, the lower one locked. I had
filled the first two with my linen, and as I
had still much to pack away, I was naturally annoyed
at not having the use of.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
The third drawer.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
It struck me that it might have been fastened by
a mere oversight. So I took out my bunch of
keys and tried to open it. The very first key
fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There
was only one thing in it, but I am sure
that you would never guess what it was. It was
my coil of hair. I took it up and examined it.
(40:39):
It was of the same peculiar tint and the same thickness.
But then the impossibility of the thing obtruded itself upon me.
How could my hair have been locked in the drawer.
With trembling hands, I undid my trunk, turned out the contents,
and drew from the bottom my own hair. Laid the
(41:00):
two tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical?
Was it not extraordinary puzzle? As I would, I could
make nothing at all of what it meant. I returned
the strange hair to the drawer, and I said nothing
of the matter to the roof Castles, as I felt
that I had put myself in the wrong by opening
(41:21):
a drawer which.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
They had locked.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, mister Holmes,
and I soon had a pretty good plan of the
whole house in my head. There was one wing, however,
which appeared not to be inhabited at all. A door
which faced that which led into the quarters of the
tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked.
(41:45):
One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met
mister Roothcastle coming out through this door, his keys in
his hand, and a look on his face which made
him a very different person to the round, jovial man
to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his
brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood
(42:06):
out at his temples with passion. He locked the door
and hurried past me without a word or a look.
This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for
a walk in the grounds with my charge, I strolled
round to the side from which I could see the
windows of this part of the house. There were four
of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty,
(42:29):
while the fourth was shattered up. They were evidently all deserted.
As I strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally,
mister Rucastle came out to me, looking as merry and
jovial as ever. Ah said he you must not think
me rude if I passed you without a word, my
(42:49):
dear young lady, I was preoccupied with business matters. I
assured him that I was not offended by the way,
said I. You seem to have quite a suite of
spare rooms up there, and one of them has the
shutters up. He looked surprised, and, as it seemed to me,
a little startled at my remark. Photography is one of
(43:13):
my hobbies, said he, I have made my dark room
up there. But dear me, what an observant young lady
we have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who
would have ever believed it? He spoke in a jesting tone,
but there was no jest in his eyes. As he
looked at me. I read suspicion, there an annoyance, but
(43:35):
no jest. Well, mister Holmes from the moment that I
understood that there was something about that suite of rooms
which I was not to know, I was all on
fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity,
though I have my share of that. It was more
a feeling of duty, a feeling that some good might
(43:56):
come from my penetrating to this place. They talk of
woman's instinct. Perhaps it was woman's instinct which gave me
that feeling. At any rate, it was there, and I
was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass
the forbidden door. It was only yesterday that the chance came.
I may tell you that besides mister Roucastle, both Toller
(44:20):
and his wife find something to do in these deserted rooms.
And I once saw him carrying a large black linen
bag with him through the door. Recently he has been
drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk. And
when I came upstairs there was the key in the door.
I have no doubt at all that he had left
(44:40):
it there. Mister and missus Roothcastle were both downstairs, and
the child was with them, so that I had an
admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock,
opened the door and slipped through. There was a little
passage in front of me, unpapered and uncarpeted, which turned
(45:00):
at a right angle. At the farther end. Round this
corner were three doors in a line, the first and
third of which were open.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
They each led.
Speaker 1 (45:10):
Into an empty room, dusty and cheerless, with two windows
in the one and one in the other, so thick
with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through them.
The center door was closed, and across the outside of
it had been fastened one of the broad bars of
an iron bed pad, locked at one end to a
ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with
(45:32):
stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and
the key was not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly
with the shuttered window outside, and yet I could see
by the glimmer from beneath it that the room was
not in darkness. Evidently there was a skylight which led
in light from above. As I stood in the passage,
(45:55):
gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it
might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within
the room, and saw a shadow pass backward and forward
against the little slit of dim light which shone out
from under the door. A mad, unreasoning terror rose up
in me at the sight mister Holmes. My overstrung nerves
(46:16):
failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran ran, as
though some dreadful hand were behind me, clutching at the
skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through
the door and straight into the arms of mister Rucastle,
who was waiting outside. So said he, smiling. It was you, then,
(46:36):
I thought that it must be when I saw the
door open. Oh I am so frightened, I panted, my
dear young lady, My dear young lady. You cannot think
how caressing and soothing his manner was, and what has
frightened you, my dear young lady. But his voice was
just a little too coaxing.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
He overdid it.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
I was keenly on my guard against him. I was
foolish enough to go into the empty wing, I answered,
But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim
light that I was frightened and ran out again. Oh
it is so dreadfully still in there only that, said he,
looking at me keenly. Why what did you think I asked,
(47:23):
why do you think that I lock this door? I
am sure that I do not know. It is to
keep people out who have no business there.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
Do you see?
Speaker 1 (47:35):
He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. I
am sure if I had known well, then you know now,
and if you ever put your foot over that threshold
again here in an instant, the smile hardened into a
grin of rage, and he glared down at me with
the face of a demon.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
I'll throw you to the mastiff.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
I was so terrified that I do not know what
I did. I suppose that I must have rushed past
him into my room. I remember nothing until I found
myself lying on my bed, trembling all over. Then I
thought of you, mister Holmes. I could not live there
longer without some advice. I was frightened of the house,
(48:19):
of the man, of the woman, of the servants, even
of the child.
Speaker 2 (48:24):
They were all horrible to me.
Speaker 1 (48:26):
If I could only bring you down, all would be well.
Of course, I might have fled from the house, but
my curiosity was almost as strong as my fears. My
mind was soon made up. I would send you a wire.
I put on my hat and cloak went down to
the office, which is about half a mile from the house,
(48:46):
and then returned feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt
came into my mind as I approached the door, lest
the dog might be loose. But I remembered that Toller
had drunk himself into a state of insensibility that evening,
and I knew that he was the only one in
the household who had any influence with the savage creature,
(49:06):
or who would venture to set him free. I slipped
in in safety and lay awake half the night in
my joy at the thought of seeing you. I had
no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this morning,
but I must be back before three o'clock, for mister
and Missus Rucastle are going on a visit and will
(49:26):
be away all the evening, so that I must look
after the child.
Speaker 2 (49:31):
Now I have told you.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
All my adventures, mister Holmes, and I should be very
glad if you could tell me what it all means,
and above all.
Speaker 2 (49:40):
What I should do.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story.
My friend rose now and paced up and down the room,
his hands in his pockets and an expression of the
most profound gravity upon his face. Is taller still drunk?
He asked, Yes, I heard his wife tell Missus Roothcastle
(50:04):
that she could do nothing with him.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
That is well, and the Rooe castles go out to night. Yes.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
Is there a cellar with a good strong lock, Yes,
the wine cellar. You seem to me to have acted
all through this matter like a very brave and sensible girl,
Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could perform one
more feat? I should not ask it of you if
I did not think you a quite exceptional woman.
Speaker 2 (50:34):
I will try. What is it?
Speaker 1 (50:37):
We shall be at the Copper Beaches by seven o'clock,
my friend and I. The Roo castles will be gone
by that time, and Toller will we hope, be incapable.
There only remains Missus Toller, who might give the alarm.
If you could send her into the cellar on some
errand and then turn the key upon her, you would
(50:57):
facilitate matters immensely. I will do it, excellent. We shall
then look thoroughly into the affair. Of course, there is
only one feasible explanation. You had been brought there to
personate someone, and the real person is imprisoned in this chamber.
That is obvious. As to who this prisoner is. I
(51:20):
have no doubt that it is the daughter Miss Alice Rucastle.
If I remember right, who was said to have gone
to America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height,
figure and the color of your hair. Hers had been
cut off, very possibly in some illness through which she
has passed, and so of course yours had to be sacrificed.
(51:42):
Also by a curious chance, you came upon her tresses.
The man in the road was undoubtedly some friend of hers,
possibly her fiancee, And no doubt, as you wore the
girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced
from your laughter whenever he saw you, and afterwards from
your gesture, that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that
(52:05):
she no longer desired his attentions. The dog is let
loose at night to prevent him from endeavoring to communicate
with her. So much is fairly clear. The most serious
point in the case is the disposition of the child.
What on earth has.
Speaker 2 (52:22):
That to do with it?
Speaker 1 (52:23):
I ejaculated, My dear Watson, You, as a medical man,
are continually gaining light as to the tendencies of a
child by the study of the parents. Don't you see
that the converse is equally valid. I have frequently gained
my first real insight into the character of parents by
studying their children. This child's disposition is abnormally cruel, merely
(52:48):
for cruelty's sake, And whether he derives this from his
smiling father, as I should suspect, or from his mother,
it bodes evil for the poor girl who is.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
In their power.
Speaker 1 (53:00):
I am sure that you are right, mister Holmes, cried
our client. A thousand things come back to me which
make me certain that you have hit it. Oh, let
us lose not an instant in bringing help to this
poor creature. We must be circumspect, for we are dealing
with a very cunning man. We can do nothing until
(53:20):
seven o'clock. At that hour we shall be with you,
and it will not be long before we solve the mystery.
We were as good as our word, for it was
just seven when we reached the Copper Beaches, having put
up our trap at a wayside public house.
Speaker 2 (53:36):
The group of trees, with their dark.
Speaker 1 (53:38):
Leaves shining like burnished metal in the light of the
setting sun, were sufficient to mark the house, even had
miss Hunter not been standing smiling on the doorstep. Have
you managed it? Asked Holmes. A loud thudding noise came
from somewhere downstairs. That is missus Toller in the cellar,
(53:59):
said she. Her husband lies snoring on the kitchen rug.
Here are his keys, which are the duplicates of mister Rucastle's.
You have done well, indeed, cried Holmes, with enthusiasm. Now
lead the way, and we shall soon see the end
of this black business. We passed up the stair, unlocked
(54:20):
the door, followed on down a passage, and found ourselves
in front of the barricade which miss Hunter had described.
Holmes cut the cord and removed the transverse bar. Then
he tried the various keys in the lock, but without success.
No sound came from within, and at the silence, Holmes's
face clouded over. I trust that we are not too late,
(54:44):
said he. I think, miss Hunter, that we had better
go in without you. Now, Watson, put your shoulder to it,
and we shall see whether we cannot make our way in.
It was an old, rickety door, and gave it once
before our unit strength. Together, we rushed into the room.
Speaker 2 (55:03):
It was empty.
Speaker 1 (55:04):
There was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a
small table, and a basketful of linen. The skylight above
was open and the prisoner gone. There has been some
villainy here, said Holmes. This beauty has guessed Miss Hunter's
intentions and has carried his victim off. But how through
(55:25):
the skylight? We shall soon see how he managed it.
He swung himself up on to the roof. Ah, yes,
he cried, here's the end of a long light ladder
against the eaves. That is how he did it. But
it is impossible, said miss Hunter. The latter was not
there when the rooe castles went away. He has come
(55:48):
back and done it. I tell you that he is
a clever and dangerous man. I should not be very
much surprised if this were he whose step I hear
now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it would
be as well for you to have your pistol ready.
The words were hardly out of his mouth before a
man appeared at the door of the room, a very
(56:08):
fat and burly man with a heavy stick in his hand.
Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the wall at the
sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and confronted him.
You villain, said he, where's your daughter? The fat man
cast his eyes round and then up at the open skylight.
(56:28):
It is for me to ask you that, he shrieked,
You thieves, spies and thieves. I have caught you, have
I You are in my power.
Speaker 2 (56:38):
I'll serve you.
Speaker 1 (56:39):
He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as
he could go. He's gone for the dog, cried miss Hunter.
I have my revolver, said I better close the front door,
cried Holmes, and we all rushed down the stairs together.
We had hardly reached the hall when we heard the
baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony,
(57:00):
with a horrible, worrying sound, which it was dreadful to
listen to. An elderly man with a red face and
shaking limbs came staggering out at a side door. My god,
he cried, someone has loosed the dog. It's not been
fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late.
(57:22):
Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of
the house, with Taller hurrying behind us. There was the huge,
famished brute, its black muzzle buried in Rouecastle's throat, while
he writhed and screamed upon the ground. Running up, I
blew its brains out, and it fell over, with its keen,
white teeth still meeting in the great creases of his neck.
(57:44):
With much labor, we separated them and carried him, living,
but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid him upon
the drawing room sofa, and, having dispatched the sobered Toller
to bear the news to his wife. I did what
I could to relieve his pain. We were all assembled
round him when the door opened and a tall, gaunt woman.
Speaker 2 (58:05):
Entered the room.
Speaker 1 (58:08):
Missus Toller cried, miss Hunter. Yes, miss mister Rucastle let
me out when he came back before he went up
to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't
let me know what you were planning for I would
have told you that your pains were wasted. Huh, said Holmes,
looking keenly at her. It is clear that missus Toller
(58:30):
knows more about this matter than any one else. Yes, Sir,
I do, and I am ready enough to tell what
I know. Then pray, sit down and let us hear it.
For there are several points on which I must confess
that I am still in the dark. I will soon
make it clear to you, said she, and i'd have
(58:50):
done so before now if I could have got out
of the cellar. If there's police court business over this,
you remember that I was the one that stood your friend,
and that I was miss Alice's friend too. She was
never happy at home. Miss Alice wasn't from the time
that her father married again. She was slighted like and
had no say in anything. But it never really became
(59:13):
bad for her until after she met mister Fowler at
a friend's house. As well as I could learn, miss
Alice had rights of her own by will, but she
was so quiet and patient she was that she never
said a word about them, but just left everything in
mister Rucastle's hands. He knew he was safe with her.
But when there was a chance of a husband coming
(59:35):
forward who would ask for all that the law would
give him, then her father thought it time to put
a stop on it. He wanted her to sign a
paper so that whether she married or not, he could
use her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept
on worrying her until she got brain fever, and for
six weeks was at death's door. Then she got better.
(59:58):
At last, all warn to a shadow, and with her
beautiful hair cut off, but that didn't make no change
in her, young man, and he stuck to her as
true as men could be, Ah, said Holmes. I think
that what you have been good enough to tell us
makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce
all that remains. Mister Rucastle, then I presume, took to
(01:00:22):
the system of imprisonment, yes, sir, and brought miss Hunter
down from London in order to get rid of the
disagreeable persistence of mister Fowler.
Speaker 2 (01:00:34):
That was it, sir.
Speaker 1 (01:00:35):
But mister Fowler, being a persevering man, as a good
seaman should be blockaded the house, and having met you,
succeeded by certain arguments, metallic or otherwise in convincing you
that your interests were the same as his. Mister Fowler
was a very kind, spoken, free handed gentleman, said Missus
(01:00:57):
Toller serenely, and in this way he managed that your
good man should have no want of drink, and that
a latter should be ready at the moment when your
master had gone out.
Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
You have it, sir, just as it happened.
Speaker 1 (01:01:12):
I am sure we owe you an apology, Missus Toller,
said Holmes, for you have certainly cleared up everything which
puzzled us, and here comes the country surgeon and missus Rucastle.
So I think Watson, that we had best escort Miss
Hunter back to Winchester, as it seems to me that
our locust Stundy now is rather a questionable one. And
(01:01:34):
thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with
the copper beaches in front of the door. Mister Rucastle survived,
but was always a broken man, kept alive solely through
the care of his devoted wife. They still live with
their old servants, who probably knows so much of Roughcastle's
past life that he finds it difficult to part from them.
(01:01:56):
Mister Fowler and Miss Rucastle were married by license in
Southampton the day after their flight, and he is now
the holder of a government appointment in the island of Mauritius.
As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend Holmes, rather to
my disappointment, manifested no further interest in her when once
(01:02:17):
she had ceased to be the center of one.
Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
Of his problems.
Speaker 1 (01:02:20):
And she is now the head of a private school
at Walsall, where I believe that she has met with
considerable success. That is the end of our adventure number twelve,
and we thank you for listening to our book
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.