The Adventure of the Copper Beeches - 01 - Part I

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Dream Audio Books, your guide through this captivating story.
Relax and let yourself be carried away into a world
where every word resonates with the magic of imagination. Without
further ado, let's dive together into the Adventure of the
Copper Beaches by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Part one. The

(00:20):
Adventure of the Copper Beaches by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
Part one. To the man who loves art for its
own sake, remarked Sherlock Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement cheek
of the Daily Telegraph. It is frequently in its least
important and lowliest manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to

(00:43):
be derived. 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 causes, celeb and sensational trials in

(01:05):
which I have figured, but rather to those incidents which
may have 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 absolved from the charge of

(01:26):
sensationalism which has been urged against my records.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
You have erred, perhaps, he observed, taking up a glowing
cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long
cherry woodpipe, which was wont to replace his clay when
he was in a disputatious rather than a meditative mood.
You have erred, perhaps in attempting to put color and
life into each of your statements instead of confining yourself

(01:52):
to the task of placing upon record. That's 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 factor in my friend's singular character. No, it is

(02:17):
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 is upon the logic rather

(02:38):
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 rolled down between the lines
of dun colored houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark,

(03:02):
shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was
lit and shone 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, dipping continuously
into the advertisement columns of a succession of papers, until
at last, having apparently given up his search, he had

(03:26):
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 open to a charge of sensationalism, for out
of these cases which you have been so kind as

(03:49):
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 man with the twisted lip, and the incident
of the noble bachelor were all matters which are outside

(04:10):
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 dear fellow, What do the public, the great unobservant public,

(04:31):
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
lost all enterprise and originality. As to my own little practice,

(04:55):
it seems to be degenerating into an agency for recovering
lost let 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.
I fancy read it. He tossed a crumpled letter across

(05:15):
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
ten tomorrow if I do not, inconvenience you, yours faithfully

(05:39):
violent 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.
You remember that the affair of the blue Carmuncle, which

(05:59):
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
and a young lady entered the room. She was plainly

(06:22):
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 rose to greet her. But
I have had a very strange experience, and as I

(06:43):
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
see that Holmes was favorably impressed by the manner and
speech of his new client. He looked her over in

(07:04):
his searching fashion, and then composed himself with his lids
drooping in his finger tips together to listen to her story.
I have been a governess for five years, said she,
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.

(07:26):
So that I found myself without a situation. I advertised,
and I answered advertisements. But without success. At last, the
little money which I had saved began to run short,
and I was at my wits end as to what
I should do. There is a well known agency for
governesses in the West End called Westaways, and there I

(07:48):
used to call about once a week in order to
see whether anything had turned up which might suit me.
West Away was the name of the founder of the business,
but it is really managed by Miss stop. She sits
in her own little office, and the ladies who are
seeking employment wait in an anteroom and are then shown
in one by one when she consults her ledgers and

(08:11):
sees whether she has anything which would suit them well.
When I called last week, I was shown into the
little office as usual, but I found that missus Stopper
was not alone. A prodigiously stout man with a very
smiling face and a great heavy chin which rolled down
and fold upon fold over his throat, sat at her

(08:33):
elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking
very earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in,
he gave quite a jump in his chair and turned
quickly to Miss Stopper. That will do, said he. I
could not ask for anything better capital capital. He seemed
quite enthusiastic, and rubbed his hands together in the most

(08:56):
genial fashion. He was such a comfortable 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 four pounds a month in my last place

(09:16):
with Colonel Spence Monroe. Oh tot tot, sweating rank sweating,
he cried, throwing his fat hands out into the air,
like a man who is in a barleying passion. How
could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady
with such attractions and accomplishments. My accomplishments, sir, may be

(09:37):
less than you imagine, said I. A little French, a
little German, music and drawing. Tot tot, he cried. That
is all quite beside the question. The point is, have
you or have you not the bearing and department of
a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you
have not, you are not fitted for the rearing of

(09:59):
a child who may someday 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 anything under three figures. Your salary with me, madame,
would commence at one hundred pounds a year. You may imagine,
mister Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, such

(10:21):
an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, however,
seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, opened
a pocketbook 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

(10:41):
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 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,

(11:03):
and yet there was something unnatural about the whole transaction,
which made me wish to know a little more before
I quite committed myself. May I ask where you live, sir,
said I. Hampshire, charming rural place the Copper Beaches, five
miles on the forest side of Winchester. It is the
most lovely country, my dear young lady, and the dearest

(11:26):
old country house. And my duties, sir, I should be
glad to know what they would be. One child, one
dear little romper, just six years old. Oh, if you
could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper smack smacksmack
three gone before you could wink, he leaned back in

(11:46):
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 asked or
to take charge of a single child. No, no, not
the soul, not the soul, My dear young lady, he cried,

(12:09):
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 no difficulty, ah,
I should be happy to make myself useful. Quite so
in dress now, for example, we are fatty people, you know,

(12:33):
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 A No, said I, considerably
astonished at his words. Are to sit here or sit
there that would not be offensive to you? Oh? No?

(12:54):
Or to cut your hair quite sharp before you come
to us. I could hardly believe my ear. As you
may observe, mister Holmes, my hair is somewhat luxuriant and
of a rather peculiar tint of chestnut. It has been
considered artistic. I could not dream of sacrificing it in
this offhand fashion. I am afraid that that is quite impossible,

(13:18):
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 am afraid that
it is quite essential, said he. It is a little
fancy of my wife's and ladies fancies, you know, Madame,
ladies fancies must be consulted, and so you won't cut

(13:41):
your hair. No, sir, I really could not, I answered firmly. Ah,
very well, then that quite settles the matter. It is
a pity, because in other respects you would really have
done very nicely. In that case, Missus Stoper, I had
best inspect a few more of your young ladies. The
manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers,

(14:04):
without a word to either of us. But she glanced
at me now with so much annoyance upon her face
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

(14:24):
since you refused the most excellent offers in this fashion,
said she sharply, you can hardly expect us to exert
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

(14:46):
enough in the cupboard and two or three bills upon
the table, I began to ask myself whether I had
not done a very foolish thing. After all, if these
people had strange fads and expected obedience on the most
extraordinary manners, they were at least ready to pay for
their eccentricity. Very few governesses in England are getting one

(15:08):
hundred pounds a year. Besides, what use was my hair.
To me, many people were improved by wearing its 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

(15:29):
go back to the agency and inquire whether the place
was still open. When I received this letter from the
gentleman himself. I have it here and I will read
it to you the Copper Beaches near Winchester. Dear miss Hunter.
Missus Stoper has very kindly given me your address, and
I write from here to ask you whether you have

(15:51):
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 you thirty
pounds a quarter, or one 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.

(16:12):
After all. My wife is fond of a particular shade
of electric blue, and would like you to wear such
a dress indoors in the morning. 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,

(16:33):
As to sitting here or there, or amusing yourself in
any manner, indicated that kneed cause you no inconvenience. As
regards your hair, it is no doubt a pity, especially
as I should 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

(16:54):
increased salary may recompense you for the loss. Your duties,
as far as the child is conncerned, are very light.
Now do try to come, and I shall meet you
with a dog cart at Winchester. Let me know your
train yours faithfully, jeffro Rucastle end of Part one