The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Part 52 (2/2)
”Pray continue,” said Hol one”
”You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may prove to be little relation between the different incidents of which I speak On the very first day that I was at the Copper Beeches, Mr Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands near the kitchen door As we approached it I heard the sharp rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large ani about
”'Look in here!' said Mr Rucastle, showing me a slit between two planks 'Is he not a beauty?'
”I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a vague figure huddled up in the darkness
”'Don't be frightened,' said iven 'It's only Carlo, roo with him We feed him once a day, and not too much then, so that he is always as keen as ht, and God help the trespasser whooodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your foot over the threshold at night, for it's aswas no idle one, for two nights later I happened to look out of
It was a beautiful ht, and the lawn in front of the house was silvered over and al, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I are that so under the shadow of the copper beeches As it eiant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging jowl, blackbones It walked slowly across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side
That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to lar could have done
”And now I have a very strange experience to tell you I had, as you know, cut off reat coil at the bottoan to a the furniture of s
There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones empty and open, the lower one locked I had filled the first tith my linen, and as I had stillthe use of the third drawer It struck ht, so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it The very first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open There was only one thing in it, but I auess what it was It was my coil of hair
”I took it up and examined it It was of the same peculiar tint, and the sa obtruded itself upon me How couldhands I undid my trunk, turned out the contents, and drew froether, and I assure you that they were identical Was it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could e hair to the drawer, and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that I had puta drahich they had locked
”I am naturally observant, as you ood plan of the whole house in , however, which appeared not to be inhabited at all A door which faced that which led into the quarters of the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked
One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I h this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on his face which made him a very different person to the round, jovial man to whom I was accustoer, and the veins stood out at his temples with passion He locked the door and hurried past me without a word or a look
”This aroused rounds with e, I strolled round to the side from which I could see the s of this part of the house There were four of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the fourth was shuttered up They were evidently all deserted As I strolled up and down, glancing at the as merry and jovial as ever
”'Ah!' said he, 'you must not thinklady I was preoccupied with business matters'
”I assured him that I was not offended 'By the way,' said I, 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one of them has the shutters up'
”He looked surprised and, as it seeraphy is one of my hobbies,' said he 'I have madelady we have come upon Who would have believed it? Who would have ever believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest in his eyes as he looked at me I read suspicion there and annoyance, but no jest
”Well, Mr Holmes, fro about that suite of rooo over theh I havethat so to this place They talk of woaveAt any rate, it was there, and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the forbidden door
”It was only yesterday that the chance came I may tell you that, besides Mr Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find so to do in these deserted roo with hi hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when I came upstairs there was the key in the door I have no doubt at all that he had left it there Mr and Mrs Rucastle were both downstairs, and the child ith theently in the lock, opened the door, and slipped through
”There was a little passage in front of le at the farther end
Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third of which were open They each led into an empty room, dusty and cheerless, with ts in the one and one in the other, so thick with dirt that the evening light glih them The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with stout cord The door itself was locked as well, and the key was not there This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the shutteredoutside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from beneath it that the rooht which let in light fro at the sinister door and wondering what secret it ht veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the rooainst the little slit of diht which shone out fro terror rose up innerves failed h so at the skirt of h the door, and straight into the ar outside
”'So,' said he, sht that it htened!' I panted
”'My dear young lady!and soothing hislady?'
”But his voice was just a little too coaxing He overdid it I was keenly on o into the e,' I answered
'But it is so lonely and eerie in this diain Oh, it is so dreadfully still in there!'