Part III

WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:04.160
Part three of the Adventure of the Copper Beaches by
2
00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:08.279
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This librevox recording is in the
3
00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:14.640
public domain. Part three. I took it up and examined it.
4
00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:18.120
It was of the same peculiar tint and the same thickness.
5
00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:22.320
But then the impossibility of the thing ubtruded itself upon me.
6
00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:25.559
How could my hair have been locked in the drawer?
7
00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:30.480
With trembling hands, I undid my trunk, turned out the contents,
8
00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:34.759
and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid
9
00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:37.960
the two tresses together, and I assure you that they
10
00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:43.240
were identical? Was it not extraordinary? Puzzled as I would,
11
00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:45.719
I could make nothing at all of what it meant.
12
00:00:46.600 --> 00:00:49.119
I returned the storage hair to the drawer, and I
13
00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:51.560
said nothing of the matter to the rue Castles, as
14
00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:53.840
I felt I had put myself in the wrong by
15
00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:58.560
opening a drawer which they had locked. I am naturally observant,
16
00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:01.600
as you may have remarked, mister Holmes, and I soon
17
00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:04.000
had a pretty good plan of the whole house in
18
00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:08.439
my head. There was one wing, however, which appeared not
19
00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:12.159
to be inhabited at all. A door which faced that
20
00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:15.120
which led into the quarters of the tollers opened into
21
00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:19.879
this suite, but it was invariably locked. One day, however,
22
00:01:19.959 --> 00:01:23.599
as I ascended the stair, I met mister Rucastle coming
23
00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:26.599
out through this door, his keys in his hand, and
24
00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:28.959
a look on his face which made him a very
25
00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:32.200
different person to the round, jovial man to whom I
26
00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:36.040
was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his brow was all
27
00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:39.079
crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his
28
00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:42.799
temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past
29
00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:47.560
me without a word or a look. This aroused my curiosity,
30
00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:49.840
so when I went out for a walk in the
31
00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:53.519
grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side
32
00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:55.599
from which I could see the windows of this part
33
00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:58.640
of the house. There were four of them in a row,
34
00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:02.400
three of which were simply dirty, while the fourth was
35
00:02:02.439 --> 00:02:07.719
shuddered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I strolled
36
00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:11.639
up and down, glancing at them occasionally, mister Rucastle came
37
00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:14.520
out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever.
38
00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:19.080
AH said he you must not think me rude if
39
00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.280
I passed you without a word, my dear young lady,
40
00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:26.039
I was preoccupied with business matters. I assured him that
41
00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:30.080
I was not offended by the way, said I you
42
00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:32.840
seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there,
43
00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:37.520
and one of them has the shutters up. He looked surprised, and,
44
00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:40.719
as it seemed to me, a little startled at my remark.
45
00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:44.759
Photography is one of my hobbies, said he, I have
46
00:02:44.840 --> 00:02:48.039
made a dark room up there. But dear me, what
47
00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:51.199
an observant young lady we have come upon. Who would
48
00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:54.000
have ever believed it? Who would have ever believed it?
49
00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:57.599
He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no
50
00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:00.800
jest in his eyes as he looked at me. I
51
00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:07.120
read suspicion there, and annoyance, but no jest. Well, mister Holmes.
52
00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:09.919
From the moment that I understood that there was something
53
00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:12.960
about that suite of rooms which I was not to know,
54
00:03:13.479 --> 00:03:16.960
I was all on fire to go over them. It
55
00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:20.159
was not mere curiosity, though I have my share of that.
56
00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:23.360
It was more a feeling of duty, a feeling that
57
00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:26.599
some good might come from my penetrating to this place.
58
00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:31.319
They talk of woman's instinct. Perhaps it was woman's instinct
59
00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:34.879
which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there,
60
00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:37.479
and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance
61
00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:41.400
to pass the forbidden door. It was only yesterday that
62
00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:45.960
the chance came. I may tell you that besides mister Rucastle,
63
00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:49.120
both Taller and his wife find something to do in
64
00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:52.800
these deserted rooms. And I once saw him carrying a
65
00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:57.319
large black linen bag with him through the door. Recently
66
00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:00.560
he has been drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was
67
00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:04.120
very drunk. And when I came upstairs there was the
68
00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:07.479
key in the door. I have no doubt it all
69
00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:11.080
that he had left it there. Mister and missus Ruecastle
70
00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:13.919
were both downstairs, and the child who was with them,
71
00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:17.879
so that I had an admirable opportunity. I turned the
72
00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:21.399
key gently in the lock, opened the door, and slipped through.
73
00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:25.639
There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered
74
00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:29.319
and uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the
75
00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:33.240
farther end round this corner, with three doors in a line,
76
00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:36.879
the first and third of which were open. They each
77
00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:40.920
led into an empty room, dusty and cheerless, with two windows,
78
00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:43.399
and the one and one in the other so thick
79
00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:46.720
with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through them.
80
00:04:47.399 --> 00:04:50.720
The center door was closed, and across the outside of
81
00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:53.480
it had been fastened one of the broad bars of
82
00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:56.560
an iron bed pad, locked at one end to a
83
00:04:56.639 --> 00:04:59.279
ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with
84
00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:03.439
stout cors. The door itself was locked as well, and
85
00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:08.560
the key was not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly
86
00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:11.879
with the shuttered window outside, and yet I could see
87
00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:14.720
by the glimmer from beneath it that the room was
88
00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:19.000
not in darkness. Evidently there was a skylight which led
89
00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:22.160
in light from above. As I stood in the passage,
90
00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:25.319
gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it
91
00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:29.079
might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within
92
00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:32.879
the room, and saw a shadow pass backward and forward
93
00:05:32.920 --> 00:05:35.720
against the little slit of dim light which shone out
94
00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:41.199
from under the door. A mad, unreasoning terror rose in
95
00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:45.240
me at the sight mister Holmes. My overstrung nerves failed
96
00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:48.279
me suddenly, and I turned and ran ran, as though
97
00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:51.399
some dreadful hand were behind me. Clutching at the skirt
98
00:05:51.399 --> 00:05:54.879
of my dress, I rushed down the passage, through the
99
00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:58.319
door and straight into the arms of mister Rucastle, who
100
00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:04.240
was waiting outside. So said he, smiling, it was you.
101
00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:07.240
Then I thought that it must be when I saw
102
00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:11.120
the door open. Oh, I am so frightened, I panted,
103
00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:18.040
my dear young lady, My dear young lady. You cannot
104
00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:22.120
think how caressing and soothing his manner was, And what
105
00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:26.240
has frightened you, my dear young lady. But his voice
106
00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:30.759
was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I
107
00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:35.000
was keenly on my guard against him. I was foolish
108
00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:38.439
enough to go into the empty wing, I answered, But
109
00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:41.439
it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light
110
00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:44.600
that I was frightened and ran out again. Oh it
111
00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:49.199
is so dreadfully still in there only that, said he,
112
00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:53.959
looking at me keenly. Why what did you think, I asked,
113
00:06:54.839 --> 00:06:58.800
Why do you think that I locked this door? I
114
00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:02.079
am sure that I do not. No, it is to
115
00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:04.759
keep people out who have no business there. Do you see?
116
00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:09.439
He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. I
117
00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:13.079
am sure if I had known, well, then you know now,
118
00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:16.519
and if you ever put your foot over that threshold
119
00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:20.319
again here In an instant, the smile hardened into a
120
00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:23.399
grin of rage, and he glared down at me with
121
00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:28.120
the face of a demon. I'll throw you to the mastiff.
122
00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:32.519
I was so terrified that I did not know what
123
00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:35.879
I did. I suppose that I must have rushed past
124
00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:39.680
him into my room. I remember nothing until I found
125
00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:44.160
myself lying on my bed, trembling all over. Then I
126
00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:47.480
thought of you, mister Holmes. I could not live there
127
00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:51.040
longer without some advice. I was frightened of the house,
128
00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:53.920
of the man, of the woman, of the servants, even
129
00:07:53.959 --> 00:07:58.720
of the child. They were all horrible to me. If
130
00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:01.519
I could only bring you down, all would be well.
131
00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:04.879
Of course, I might have fled from the house, but
132
00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:09.639
my curiosity was almost as strong as my fears. My
133
00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:12.920
mind was soon made up. I would send you a wire.
134
00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:15.920
I put on my hat and cloak, went down to
135
00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:18.600
the office, which is about half a mile from the house,
136
00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:23.879
and then returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt
137
00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:26.279
came into my mind as I approached the door, lest
138
00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:29.399
the dog might be loose. But I remembered that Toller
139
00:08:29.560 --> 00:08:32.919
had drunk himself into a state of insensibility that evening,
140
00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:35.360
and I knew that he was the only one in
141
00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:38.879
the household who had any influence with the savage creature,
142
00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:42.720
or who would venture to set him free. I slipped
143
00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:45.679
in in safety and lay awake half the night in
144
00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:49.080
my joy at the thought of seeing you. I had
145
00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:52.600
no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this morning,
146
00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:55.759
but I must be back before three o'clock, for mister
147
00:08:55.799 --> 00:08:58.759
and Missus Brewcastle are going on a visit and will
148
00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:01.279
be away all the evening, so that I must look
149
00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:05.480
after the child. Now I have told you all my adventures,
150
00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:08.480
mister Holmes, and I should be very glad if you
151
00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:11.120
could tell me what it all means, and above all
152
00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:15.000
what I should do. Holmes and I had listened to
153
00:09:15.080 --> 00:09:19.679
spell Bound to the extraordinary story. My friend rose now
154
00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:22.600
and paced up and down the room, his hands in
155
00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:26.120
his pockets and an expression of the most profound gravity
156
00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:31.879
upon his face. Is Toller still drunk? He asked? Yes,
157
00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:35.000
I heard his wife tell Missus Roothcastle that she could
158
00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:39.080
do nothing with him. That is well, and the Rooecastles
159
00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:43.440
go out to night. Yes. Is there a cellar with
160
00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:48.159
a good strong luck, Yes, the wine cellar. You seem
161
00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:50.879
to me to have acted all through this matter like
162
00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:54.279
a very brave and sensible girl. Miss Hunter. Do you
163
00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:57.759
think that you could perform one more feat? I should
164
00:09:57.759 --> 00:09:59.679
not ask it of you if I did not think
165
00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:04.519
you a quite exceptional woman. I will try. What is it?
166
00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:09.159
We shall be at the Copper beaches by seven o'clock,
167
00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:12.399
my friend and I. The Roue castles will be gone
168
00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:16.120
by that time, and taller will we hope, be incapable.
169
00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:20.320
There only remains missus Toller, who might give the alarm.
170
00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:24.039
If you could send her into the cellar on some
171
00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:27.559
errand and then turn the key upon her, you would
172
00:10:27.639 --> 00:10:34.960
facilitate matters immensely. I will do it, excellent. We shall
173
00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:38.720
then look thoroughly into the affair. Of course, there is
174
00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:42.840
only one feasible explanation. You have been brought there to
175
00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:47.519
personate someone, and the real person is imprisoned in this chamber.
176
00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:51.480
That is obvious as to who this prisoner is. I
177
00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:55.200
have no doubt that it is the daughter Miss Alice Rouecastle.
178
00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:58.120
If I remember right who was said to have gone
179
00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:03.279
to America. You were chosen, doubtless as resembling her in height,
180
00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:06.919
figure and the collar of your hair. Hers had been
181
00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:10.159
cut off, very possibly in some illness through which she
182
00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.919
had passed, and so, of course yours had to be sacrificed.
183
00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:18.440
Also by a curious chance, you came upon her tresses.
184
00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:22.679
The man in the road was undoubtedly some friend of hers,
185
00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:26.399
possibly her fiancee, and no doubt, as you wore the
186
00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:29.360
girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced,
187
00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:32.360
from your laughter whenever he saw you, and afterwards from
188
00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:36.000
your gesture, that miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that
189
00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:40.720
she no longer desired his attentions. The dog is let
190
00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:43.960
loose at night to prevent him from endeavoring to communicate
191
00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:48.360
with her. So much is fairly clear. The most serious
192
00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:52.279
point in the case is the disposition of the child.
193
00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:55.919
What on earth has that to do with it? I ejaculated,
194
00:11:56.919 --> 00:12:01.360
my dear Watson. You as a medical man, or continually
195
00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:04.519
gaining light as to the tendencies of a child by
196
00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:07.960
the study of the parents. Don't you see that the
197
00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:12.440
converse is equally valid. I have frequently gained my first
198
00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:17.080
real insight into the character of parents by studying their children.
199
00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:23.440
This child's disposition is abnormally cruel, mainly for cruelty's sake,
200
00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:27.320
and whether he derives this from his smiling father, as
201
00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:31.279
I should suspect, or from his mother, it bodes evil
202
00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:35.519
for the poor girl who was in their power. I
203
00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:38.600
am sure you are right, mister Holmes, cried our client.
204
00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:42.039
A thousand things come back to me which make me
205
00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:45.320
certain that you have hit it. Oh, let us lose
206
00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.039
not an instant in bringing help to this poor creature.
207
00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:52.200
We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a
208
00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:56.840
very cunning man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock.
209
00:12:57.559 --> 00:13:00.399
At that hour we shall be with you, and it
210
00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:04.759
will not be long before we solve the mystery. We
211
00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:07.320
were as good as our word, for it was just
212
00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:10.360
seven when we reached the Copper Beaches, having put up
213
00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:14.960
our trap at a wayside public house. The group of trees,
214
00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:18.320
with their dark leaves shining like burnished metal in the
215
00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:21.440
light of the setting sun, were sufficient to mark the
216
00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:24.639
house even had miss Hunter not been standing smiling on
217
00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:30.799
the doorstep. Have you managed it? Asked Holmes. A loud,
218
00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:35.799
thunning noise came from somewhere downstairs. That is missus Toller
219
00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:39.039
in the cellar, said she. Her husband lies snoring on
220
00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:41.840
the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the
221
00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:47.279
duplicates of mister Rucastle's. You have done well, indeed, cried
222
00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:51.120
Holmes with enthusiasm. Now lead the way and we shall
223
00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:55.360
soon see the end of this black business. We passed
224
00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:58.240
up the stair unlocked the door, followed on down the
225
00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:01.799
passage and found ourselves in front of the barricade which
226
00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:06.000
Miss Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed
227
00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:09.919
the transverse bore. Then he tried the various keys in
228
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.440
the lock, but without success. No sound came from within,
229
00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.639
and at the silence, Holmes's face clouded over. I trust
230
00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:22.759
that we are not too late, said he. I think,
231
00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:26.639
miss Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson,
232
00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:29.759
put your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether
233
00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:33.879
we cannot make our way in. It was an old,
234
00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:37.120
rickety door, and gave it once before our united strength.
235
00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:42.840
Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There
236
00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:46.879
was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table,
237
00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:51.320
and a basket full of linen. The skylight above was open,
238
00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:56.679
and the prisoner gone. There has been some villainy here,
239
00:14:57.080 --> 00:15:01.600
said Holmes. This beauty has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and
240
00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:06.000
has carried his victim off. But how through the skylight
241
00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:10.480
We shall soon see how he managed it. He swung
242
00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:14.720
himself up on to the roof. Ah, yes, he cried,
243
00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:18.120
here's the end of a long light letter against the eaves.
244
00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:22.720
That is how he did it. But it is impossible,
245
00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:25.480
said miss Hunter. The latter was not there when the
246
00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:30.240
Rooe castles went away. He has come back and done it.
247
00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:34.200
I tell you that he is a clever and dangerous man.
248
00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:37.759
I should not be very much surprised if this were
249
00:15:37.879 --> 00:15:42.080
he whose stop I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson,
250
00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:44.240
that it would be as well for you to have
251
00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:48.279
your pistol ready. The words were hardly out of his
252
00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:50.600
mouth before a man appeared at the door of the room,
253
00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:54.200
a very fat and burly man with a heavy stick
254
00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:58.200
in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the wall.
255
00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:02.480
At the sight of him, Holmes sprang forward and confronted him.
256
00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:07.759
You villain, said he where's your daughter? The fat man
257
00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:11.080
cast his eyes round and then up at the open skylight.
258
00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:14.600
It is for me to ask you that, he shrieked.
259
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:18.480
You thieves, spies and thieves. I have caught you, have
260
00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:22.679
I You are in my power. I'll serve you. He
261
00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:25.200
turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he
262
00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:28.879
could go. He's gone for the dog, cried Miss Hunter.
263
00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:33.519
I have my revolver, said I better close the front door,
264
00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:36.960
cried Holmes, and we all rushed down the stairs together.
265
00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:39.919
We had hardly reached the hall when we heard the
266
00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:44.039
baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony,
267
00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:47.960
with a horrible, worrying sound, which it was dreadful to
268
00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:51.559
listen to. An elderly man with a red face and
269
00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:56.519
shaking limbs came staggering out at a side door. My god,
270
00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:00.799
he cried, someone has loosed the dog. It has not
271
00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:04.640
been fed for two days. Quick, quick, it'll be too late.
272
00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:07.960
Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of
273
00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:13.000
the house, with Taller hurrying behind us. There was the huge,
274
00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:17.839
famished brute, its black muzzle buried in rue Castle's throat
275
00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:22.440
while he writhed and screamed upon the ground. Running up,
276
00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:25.240
I blew its brains out, and it fell over, with
277
00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:28.519
its keen white teeth still meeting in the great creases
278
00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:32.279
of the neck. With much labor, we separated them and
279
00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:37.279
carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We
280
00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:40.599
laid him upon the drawing room sofa, and having dispatched
281
00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:43.359
the sobered Taller to bear the news to his wife,
282
00:17:44.039 --> 00:17:47.160
I did what I could to relieve his pain. We
283
00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:49.839
were all assembled around him when the door opened, and
284
00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:54.160
a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. Missus Taller cried,
285
00:17:54.200 --> 00:17:59.279
miss Hunter. Yes, miss mister rue Castle let me out
286
00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:03.279
when he came before he went up to you. Ah, miss,
287
00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:05.720
it is a pity you didn't let me know what
288
00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:08.240
you were planning for I would have told you that
289
00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:13.359
your pains were wasted, ha, said Holmes, looking keenly at her.
290
00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:16.839
It is clear that missus Tuller knows more about this
291
00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:21.240
matter than anyone else. Yes, sir, I do, and I
292
00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:24.880
am ready enough to tell what I know. Then pray,
293
00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:27.039
sit down and let us hear it, for there are
294
00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:29.519
several points on which I must confess that I am
295
00:18:29.559 --> 00:18:33.880
still in the dark. I will soon make it clear
296
00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:38.079
to you, said she, and i'd have done so before
297
00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:40.359
now if I could have got out of the cellar.
298
00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:44.839
If there's police court business over this, you'll remember that
299
00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:47.880
I was the one that stood your friend, and that
300
00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:53.000
I was miss Alice's friend too. She was never happy
301
00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:55.759
at home. Miss Alice wasn't from the time that her
302
00:18:55.799 --> 00:18:59.759
father married again. She was slightly like it, had no
303
00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:03.400
sen saying anything, but it never really became bad for
304
00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.160
her until after she met mister Fowler at a friend's house.
305
00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:11.519
As well as I could learn miss Alice had rights
306
00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:15.079
of her own by will, but she was so quiet
307
00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:18.440
and patient she was that she never said a word
308
00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:22.359
about them, but just left everything in mister Rucastle's hands.
309
00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:25.960
He knew he was safe with her. But when there
310
00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:29.160
was a chance of a husband coming forward who had
311
00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:31.960
asked for all that the law would give him, then
312
00:19:32.039 --> 00:19:34.759
her father thought it time to put a stop on it.
313
00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:38.640
He wanted her to sign a paper so that whether
314
00:19:38.680 --> 00:19:42.480
she married or not, he could use her money. When
315
00:19:42.519 --> 00:19:46.079
she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until
316
00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:49.480
she got brain fever, and for six weeks was at
317
00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:53.559
death's door. Then she got better at last, all worn
318
00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:56.759
to her shadow and with her beautiful hair cut off.
319
00:19:57.400 --> 00:20:00.319
But that didn't make no change in her young man,
320
00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:03.440
and he stuck to her as true as man could be.
321
00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:09.200
Ah said Holmes. I think that what you have been
322
00:20:09.319 --> 00:20:12.079
good enough to tell us makes the matter fairly clear,
323
00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:16.319
and that I can deduce all that remains. Mister Rucastle,
324
00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:20.920
then I presume took to this system of imprisonment, yes, sir,
325
00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:24.640
and brought miss Hutter down from London in order to
326
00:20:24.680 --> 00:20:29.079
get rid of the disagreeable persistence of mister Fowler. That
327
00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:34.480
was it, sir, But mister Fowler, being a persevering man,
328
00:20:34.759 --> 00:20:38.920
as a good seaman should be blockaded the house, and
329
00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:44.119
having met you, succeeded by certain arguments, metallic or otherwise
330
00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:47.039
in convincing you that your interests were the same as his.
331
00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:51.920
Mister Fowler was a very kind spoken, free handed gentleman,
332
00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:56.839
said missus Tuller, serenely, And in this way he managed
333
00:20:56.920 --> 00:20:59.559
that your good man should have no want of drink,
334
00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:02.440
and that a ladder should be ready at the moment
335
00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:06.039
when your master had gone out. You have it, sir,
336
00:21:06.359 --> 00:21:09.880
just as it happened. I am sure we owe you
337
00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:14.000
an apology, missrus Toller, said Holmes, for you have certainly
338
00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:17.440
cleared up everything which puzzled us. And here comes the
339
00:21:17.480 --> 00:21:21.599
country surgeon and missrus Roothcastle. So I think, Watson, that
340
00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:25.119
we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, as
341
00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:28.279
it seems to me that our locus stundee now is
342
00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:32.960
rather a questionable one. And thus we solve the mystery
343
00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:35.559
of a sinister house with the copper beaches in front
344
00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:40.039
of the door. Mister Rucastle survived, but he was always
345
00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:43.160
a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of
346
00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:47.160
his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants,
347
00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:50.799
who probably knows so much of Roucastle's past life that
348
00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:54.480
he finds it difficult to part from them. Mister Fowler
349
00:21:54.519 --> 00:21:57.839
and Miss Rucastle were married by a special license in
350
00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:01.640
Southampton the day after their flight, and he is now
351
00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:05.079
the holder of a government appointment in the island of Mauritius.
352
00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:09.240
As to miss violent Hunter, my friend Holmes, rather to
353
00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:13.279
my disappointment, manifested no further interest in her, when once
354
00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:15.519
she had ceased to be the center of one of
355
00:22:15.559 --> 00:22:18.079
his problems. And she is now the head of a
356
00:22:18.119 --> 00:22:21.440
private school at Walsall, where I believe that she has
357
00:22:21.559 --> 00:22:26.440
met with considerable success. End of Part three, End of
358
00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:30.720
the Adventures of the Copper Beaches by Sir Arthur Conan
359
00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:31.079
Doyle