RubyGems - git-scribe - Versions diffs - 0.0.4 → 0.0.5 - Mend

git-scribe 0.0.4 → 0.0.5

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-    <title>The Adventure of the Copper Beeches</title>
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-      <div class="section" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
-<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">
-<a id="_the_adventure_of_the_copper_beeches"></a>The Adventure of the Copper Beeches</h2></div></div></div>
-<p>"To the man who 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 pleasure is to 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 célèbres and sensational trials in 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."</p>
-<p>"And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved
-from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my
-records."</p>
-<p>"You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing
-cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood
-pipe 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 colour and life into each of your
-statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing
-upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is
-really the only notable feature about the thing."</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"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
-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."</p>
-<p>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-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark,
-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 emerged in no very
-sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings.</p>
-<p>"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 to interest yourself
-in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense,
-at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured 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 the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I
-fear that you may have bordered on the trivial."</p>
-<p>"The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold
-to have been novel and of interest."</p>
-<p>"Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do 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 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, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across
-to me.</p>
-<p>It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and
-ran thus:</p>
-<p>"DEAR MR. 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 to-morrow if I
-do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully,
-                                               "VIOLET HUNTER."</p>
-<p>"Do you know the young lady?" I asked.</p>
-<p>"Not I."</p>
-<p>"It is half-past ten now."</p>
-<p>"Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring."</p>
-<p>"It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. 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."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>As he spoke the door opened 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.</p>
-<p>"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 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."</p>
-<p>"Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything
-that I can to serve you."</p>
-<p>I could see that Holmes was favourably 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.</p>
-<p>"I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the
-family of Colonel Spence Munro, 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. At last the little money which I had saved began
-to run short, and I was at my wit’s end as to what I should do.</p>
-<p>"There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End
-called Westaway’s, and there I used to call about once a week in
-order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me.
-Westaway was the name of the founder of 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 anteroom,
-and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers
-and sees whether she has anything which would suit them.</p>
-<p>"Well, when I called last week I was 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. As I came in he gave quite a
-jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>That will do,</em></span> said he; <span class="emphasis"><em>I could not ask for anything better.
-Capital! capital!</em></span> He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his
-hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a
-comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at
-him.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>You are looking for a situation, miss?</em></span> he asked.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Yes, sir.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>As governess?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Yes, sir.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>And what salary do you ask?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence
-Munro.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Oh, tut, tut! sweating—rank sweating!</em></span> he cried, throwing his
-fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling
-passion. <span class="emphasis"><em>How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with
-such attractions and accomplishments?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,</em></span> said I.
-<span class="emphasis"><em>A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Tut, tut!</em></span> he cried. <span class="emphasis"><em>This 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 in a 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 anything under the three figures? Your salary with me,
-madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.</em></span></p>
-<p>"You may imagine, Mr. 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 and took out a note.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>It is also my custom,</em></span> said he, smiling in the most pleasant
-fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid
-the white creases of his face, <span class="emphasis"><em>to advance to my young ladies
-half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little
-expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.</em></span></p>
-<p>"It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so
-thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the
-advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something
-unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know
-a little more before I quite committed myself.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>May I ask where you live, sir?</em></span> said I.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>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.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would
-be.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>One child—one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if
-you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack!
-smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!</em></span> He leaned back
-in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again.</p>
-<p>"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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>My sole duties, then,</em></span> I asked, <span class="emphasis"><em>are to take charge of a single
-child?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,</em></span> he
-cried. <span class="emphasis"><em>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, heh?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I should be happy to make myself useful.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you
-know—faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress
-which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim.
-Heh?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>No,</em></span> said I, considerably astonished at his words.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to
-you?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Oh, no.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?</em></span></p>
-<p>"I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. 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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I am afraid that that is quite impossible,</em></span> 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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I am afraid that it is quite essential,</em></span> said he. <span class="emphasis"><em>It is a
-little fancy of my wife’s, and ladies</em></span> fancies, you know, madam,
-ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won’t cut your
-hair?'</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>No, sir, I really could not,</em></span> I answered firmly.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>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, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more
-of your young ladies.</em></span></p>
-<p>"The manageress 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 that I could not help suspecting
-that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?</em></span> she asked.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>If you please, Miss Stoper.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the
-most excellent offers in this fashion,</em></span> said she sharply. <span class="emphasis"><em>You
-can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such
-opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.</em></span> She struck a gong
-upon the table, and I was shown out by the page.</p>
-<p>"Well, Mr. 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 not done a very
-foolish thing. 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 100 pounds a year. Besides,
-what use was my hair to me? 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. I have it
-here and I will read it to you:</p>
-<pre class="literallayout">                       "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester.
-"'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your
-address, and I write from here to ask you 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 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 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 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, as to sitting
-here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that
-need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no
-doubt 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
-meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train.
-Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.'</pre>
-<p>"That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. 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."</p>
-<p>"Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the
-question," said Holmes, smiling.</p>
-<p>"But you would not advise me to refuse?"</p>
-<p>"I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to
-see a sister of mine apply for."</p>
-<p>"What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?"</p>
-<p>"Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself
-formed some opinion?"</p>
-<p>"Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr.
-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 she should be taken to an asylum, and that
-he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an
-outbreak?"</p>
-<p>"That is a possible solution—in fact, as 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."</p>
-<p>"But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!"</p>
-<p>"Well, yes, of course the pay is good—too good. That is what
-makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when
-they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some
-strong reason behind."</p>
-<p>"I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would
-understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so
-much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me."</p>
-<p>"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 you should find yourself in doubt
-or in danger--"</p>
-<p>"Danger! What danger do you foresee?"</p>
-<p>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."</p>
-<p>"That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the
-anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire
-quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once,
-sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester
-to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both
-good-night and bustled off upon her way.</p>
-<p>"At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending
-the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able
-to take care of herself."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>It was not very long before my friend’s prediction was fulfilled.
-A fortnight went by, during 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, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether
-the man were 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!" 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.</p>
-<p>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 researches which he frequently
-indulged in, when I would leave him stooping 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.</p>
-<p>"Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back
-to his chemical studies.</p>
-<p>The summons was a brief and urgent one.</p>
-<p>"Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday
-to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit’s end.  HUNTER."</p>
-<p>"Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up.</p>
-<p>"I should wish to."</p>
-<p>"Just look it up, then."</p>
-<p>"There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my
-Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30."</p>
-<p>"That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my
-analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the
-morning."</p>
-<p>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 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
-grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light
-green of the new foliage.</p>
-<p>"Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the
-enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street.</p>
-<p>But Holmes shook his head gravely.</p>
-<p>"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 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."</p>
-<p>"Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these
-dear old homesteads?"</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"You horrify me!"</p>
-<p>"But the reason is very obvious. The 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 thud of
-a drunkard’s blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among
-the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever
-so close that a word of complaint can set it going, 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 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."</p>
-<p>"No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away."</p>
-<p>"Quite so. She has her freedom."</p>
-<p>"What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?"</p>
-<p>"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 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."</p>
-<p>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 sitting-room, and our lunch
-awaited us upon the table.</p>
-<p>"I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It
-is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I
-should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me."</p>
-<p>"Pray tell us what has happened to you."</p>
-<p>"I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr.
-Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into
-town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose."</p>
-<p>"Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long
-thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen.</p>
-<p>"In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole,
-with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is
-only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and
-I am not easy in my mind about them."</p>
-<p>"What can you not understand?"</p>
-<p>"Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just
-as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and
-drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he
-said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself,
-for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all
-stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds
-round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which
-slopes down to the Southampton highroad, 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 beeches immediately in
-front of the hall door has given its name to the place.</p>
-<p>"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, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to
-us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is
-not mad. 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 daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr.
-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.</p>
-<p>"Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as
-in feature. She impressed me neither favourably 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 grey
-eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every
-little want and 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,
-this woman. 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, 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 in planning
-the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would
-rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he
-has little to do with my story."</p>
-<p>"I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they
-seem to you to be relevant or not."</p>
-<p>"I 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. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough,
-uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual
-smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been
-quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it.
-His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as
-silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most
-unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the
-nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one
-corner of the building.</p>
-<p>"For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was
-very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after
-breakfast and whispered something to her husband.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Oh, yes,</em></span> said he, turning to me, <span class="emphasis"><em>we are very much obliged to
-you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut
-your hair. I assure you that it has 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 extremely obliged.</em></span></p>
-<p>"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 unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not
-have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr.
-and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight 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 this I was
-asked to sit, and then Mr. 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. Mrs.
-Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, 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, Mr. 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 Edward in
-the nursery.</p>
-<p>"Two days later this 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 répertoire, and which
-he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and
-moving my chair a 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.</p>
-<p>"You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became 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 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. 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 grey 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 our field and was looking earnestly up. I
-lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. 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.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Jephro,</em></span> said she, <span class="emphasis"><em>there is an impertinent fellow upon the
-road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?</em></span> he asked.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>No, I know no one in these parts.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to
-him to go away.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Surely it would be better to take no notice.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn
-round and wave him away like that.</em></span></p>
-<p>"I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. 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."</p>
-<p>"Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a
-most interesting one."</p>
-<p>"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
-Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands
-near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp
-rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving
-about.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Look in here!</em></span> said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two
-planks. <span class="emphasis"><em>Is he not a beauty?</em></span></p>
-<p>"I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a
-vague figure huddled up in the darkness.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Don’t be frightened,</em></span> said my employer, laughing at the start
-which I had given. <span class="emphasis"><em>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, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs
-upon. For goodness</em></span> 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.'</p>
-<p>"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.
-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, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was
-aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper
-beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. 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 sent a chill to my heart which I do not
-think that any burglar could have done.</p>
-<p>"And now I have a 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 and by rearranging my own little things.
-There was an 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 the third drawer. 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.</p>
-<p>"I took it up and examined it. 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. I laid the 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 Rucastles as I felt that
-I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had
-locked.</p>
-<p>"I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. 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.
-One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle
-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 out at his
-temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me
-without a word or a look.</p>
-<p>"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, while the
-fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I
-strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle
-came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Ah!</em></span> said he, <span class="emphasis"><em>you must not think me rude if I passed you
-without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with
-business matters.</em></span></p>
-<p>"I assured him that I was not offended. <span class="emphasis"><em>By the way,</em></span> said I,
-<span class="emphasis"><em>you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one
-of them has the shutters up.</em></span></p>
-<p>"He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled
-at my remark.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Photography is one of my hobbies,</em></span> said he. <span class="emphasis"><em>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?</em></span> He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest
-in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and
-annoyance, but no jest.</p>
-<p>"Well, Mr. 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 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.</p>
-<p>"It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that,
-besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller 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 it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle 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.</p>
-<p>"There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and
-uncarpeted, which turned 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. They each led 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 centre door was closed, and across the outside of it
-had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked
-at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with
-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 let in light from above. As I stood in the
-passage 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, Mr. Holmes. My
-overstrung nerves 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 Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting
-outside.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>So,</em></span> said he, smiling, <span class="emphasis"><em>it was you, then. I thought that it
-must be when I saw the door open.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Oh, I am so frightened!</em></span> I panted.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>My dear young lady! my dear young lady!</em></span>--you cannot think how
-caressing and soothing his manner was--<span class="emphasis"><em>and what has frightened
-you, my dear young lady?</em></span></p>
-<p>"But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I
-was keenly on my guard against him.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,</em></span> I answered.
-<span class="emphasis"><em>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!</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Only that?</em></span> said he, looking at me keenly.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Why, what did you think?</em></span> I asked.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Why do you think that I lock this door?</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I am sure that I do not know.</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you
-see?</em></span> He was still smiling in the most amiable manner.</p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>I am sure if I had known--</em></span></p>
-<p>"<span class="emphasis"><em>Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over
-that threshold again</em></span>--here in an instant the smile hardened into
-a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a
-demon--<span class="emphasis"><em>I’ll throw you to the mastiff.</em></span></p>
-<p>"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, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without
-some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the
-woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible
-to me. 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, 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,
-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 Mr. and
-Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the
-evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you
-all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you
-could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should
-do."</p>
-<p>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.</p>
-<p>"Is Toller still drunk?" he asked.</p>
-<p>"Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do
-nothing with him."</p>
-<p>"That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?"</p>
-<p>"Yes."</p>
-<p>"Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?"</p>
-<p>"Yes, the wine-cellar."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"I will try. What is it?"</p>
-<p>"We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o’clock, my friend
-and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will,
-we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. 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 facilitate
-matters immensely."</p>
-<p>"I will do it."</p>
-<p>"Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of
-course there is only one feasible explanation. You have 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 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 colour 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 also. By a curious chance you
-came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some
-friend of hers—possibly her fiancé--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 she no longer
-desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent
-him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly
-clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of
-the child."</p>
-<p>"What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated.</p>
-<p>"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 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 in their
-power."</p>
-<p>"I am sure that you are right, Mr. 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."</p>
-<p>"We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning
-man. We can do nothing until seven o’clock. At that hour we shall
-be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the
-mystery."</p>
-<p>We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we
-reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside
-public-house. The group of trees, with their dark 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 door-step.</p>
-<p>"Have you managed it?" asked Holmes.</p>
-<p>A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is
-Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring
-on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates
-of Mr. Rucastle’s."</p>
-<p>"You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now
-lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black
-business."</p>
-<p>We passed up the stair, unlocked 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' face clouded over.</p>
-<p>"I trust that we are not too late," 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."</p>
-<p>It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united
-strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. 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.</p>
-<p>"There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty
-has guessed Miss Hunter’s intentions and has carried his victim
-off."</p>
-<p>"But how?"</p>
-<p>"Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He
-swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here’s the
-end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did
-it."</p>
-<p>"But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not
-there when the Rucastles went away."</p>
-<p>"He has come 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."</p>
-<p>The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at
-the door of the room, a very 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.</p>
-<p>"You villain!" said he, "where’s your daughter?"</p>
-<p>The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open
-skylight.</p>
-<p>"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. I’ll
-serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he
-could go.</p>
-<p>"He’s gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter.</p>
-<p>"I have my revolver," said I.</p>
-<p>"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, 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.</p>
-<p>"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!"</p>
-<p>Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with
-Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its
-black muzzle buried in Rucastle’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. With much labour 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 entered the room.</p>
-<p>"Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter.</p>
-<p>"Yes, miss. Mr. 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."</p>
-<p>"Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs.
-Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else."</p>
-<p>"Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know."</p>
-<p>"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."</p>
-<p>"I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I’d have done
-so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there’s
-police-court business over this, you’ll remember that I was the
-one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice’s friend
-too.</p>
-<p>"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 bad for her until
-after she met Mr. 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 Mr. Rucastle’s hands. He knew he was
-safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming
-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 at last, all worn 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 man could be."</p>
-<p>"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. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this
-system of imprisonment?"</p>
-<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
-<p>"And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of
-the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler."</p>
-<p>"That was it, sir."</p>
-<p>"But Mr. 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."</p>
-<p>"Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said
-Mrs. Toller serenely.</p>
-<p>"And in this way he managed that your good man should have no
-want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment
-when your master had gone out."</p>
-<p>"You have it, sir, just as it happened."</p>
-<p>"I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for
-you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And
-here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think,
-Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester,
-as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a
-questionable one."</p>
-<p>And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the
-copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. 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 know so much of Rucastle’s past life that he finds it
-difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were
-married, by special 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 she had ceased to be the centre of one
-of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at
-Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success.</p>
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