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The Adventure of The Copper Beaches - Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle · Adventure Books Library

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