The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-09-17


nothing. At least. that was my frs
impr ssiOn. At the second glance
/ however, l perceived that there was
man standing in the Southampton road
a small bearded man, in a gray suit
who seemed to be looking IN my di
rection. The road is an importan
highway. and there are usually peopl,
there. This man. however, was lean
ing against the ratings which bordereC
our field, and was looking earnestly
up. l lowered my handkerchief anC
/ glanced at Mrs. Rucastle. 10 find hel
/ eyes fixed upon me with most search
/ ing gaze. She said nothing, but 1 an
! convinced that she had OWNED that
had mirror in my hand, and had seer
I what was behind me. She rose al
/ once
'Jephro,' said she. there is an inn
! pertinent fellow upon the road there
/ who stares up at Miss Hunter
No friend of yours. Miss Hunter?
he asked.
g No; know no one in these parts.
Dear me- How very impairment
/ Kindly turn round and motion to him
/ TO 20 away
Surely it would be better to take
] no notice.
No, no: we should have him loiter-
ing here always. Kindly turn round
and wave him away. like that
4 did as / was told, and at the same
instant Mrs. Rucastle drew down the
| blind. That was a week ago, and from
that time | have not sat again in the
window. nor have 1 worn the blue dress
nor seen the man in the road"
Pray continue" said Holmes. Your
narrative promises to be a most inter-
esting one"
You viii find it rather disconnected,
fear, and there may prove to be little
relation between the different incidents
OF Which l speak. On the very first
day that i was at the Copper Beeches,
Mr.. Rucastle took me to a small out
house which stands near the kitchen
door As we approached II / heard the
sharp rafting of a chain, and the sound
as of d large animal moving about
So Look in here, said Mr.. Rucastle,
showing me a slit between two planks.
Is he not a beauty?'
Il looked through and was conscious
OF two glowing eyes and of a vague
figure huddled UP in the darkness.
" Don't be frightened, said my EN-
plOyer. laughing at the start which
had given. It's only Carrie, my mas
tiff. l call him mine, but really old
TOller, my groom, is the only man who
can do anything with him. We feed
him once a day, and not too much
then, so that he is always as keen as
mustard. Toller lets him loose every
night, and God help the trespasser
whom he lays his fangs upon. FOd
goodness sake don't you ever on any
pretext set your foot over the threshold
at night, for it is as much as your life
is worth.
The warning was no idle one. for
two nights later / happened to look
out of my bed room window about 2
o'clock in the morning. II was a beau
tiful moonlight night. and the lawn in
front of the house was silYered over
and almost as bright as day. / was
standing, wrapt in the peaceful beauty
of the scene, when / was aware that
something was moving under the
shadow of the copper beeches. as il
emerged into the moOnshine ] saw what
II was. 1t was giant dog, as large as
a calf, tawny tinted. with hanging
jOwl. black muzzle and huge project
ing bones. 1t walked slowly across the
lawn and vanished into the shadow
upon the other side. That dreadful 81
lent sentinel sent a chill to my heart
which 1 do not think that any burglar
could have done.
And now l have a very strange eX-
perience to tell you. | had, as you
know, cut off my hair I'm London. and
/ had placed it in great coil at the
bottom of my trunk. One evening,
after the child was in bed, I began to
amuse myself my examining the furni-
ture of my room and by rearranging
my own little things. There was an
old chest of drawers in the room, the
two upper ones empty and open, the
-
two with my linen. and, as / had still
much to pack away, ! was naturally
annoyed at not having the US of the
third drawer. 1t struck me that it
might have been fastened by a mere
oversight, so / took out my bunch of
keys and tried to open il. The very
first key fitted TO PERFECTION and I drew
the drawer open. There was only one
thing in it, but I am sure that you
would never guess what it was. 1t
was my coil of hair.
I took it uD and examined il. It
was of the same peculiar tint, and the
same thickn SIS. But then the impOs-
sibility of the thing Obtruded itself
upon me. How could my hair have
been locked in the drawer? With
trembling hands / undid my trunk,
turned out the contents. and drew from
two tresses together, and 1 assure you
that they were identical Was it not
extraordinary? Puzzle as l would, I
could make nothing at all of what it
meant. l returned the strange hair to
the drawer. and l said nothing of the
matter to the Rucastles as [ felt that
! had put myself i'm the wrong by open
ing a drawer which they had locked.
IT am naturally obserVant, as you
may have remarked, Mr.. Holmes, and
/ soon had pretty gOod plan of the
whole house in my head. There was
one wing, however. which appeared not
TO be inhabited at all. \ door which
faced that which led into the quarters
OF the Tollers opened into this suite
but il was invariably locked One day.
however, as / assembled the stair. | met
Mr.. Rucastle coming out through this
door, his keys in his hand, and a look
on his face which made him a very
different person TO the round. jQ~s~ll
man TO whom l was accustomed. His
cheeks were red. his brow was all Grim
killed. with anger. and the veins stood
out at his temples with passion. He
locked the door and hurried past me
without a word or q look.
This aroused my curiosity, so when
went out for a walk in the grounds
with my charge / strolied round TO the
side from which ] could see the win
doWs of this part of the house. There
were four of them in a row, three of
which were simply dirty while the
fourth was shattered I'D. They were
evidently all deserted. AS l strolled
up and down, glaneing at them Occa-
Mr. Rucastle came out to me,
looking as merry and joVial as ever
- hi said he YOU must not think
me rude if l passed you without a
word, my dear young lady. / was pre-
occupied with business matters
Il assured him that l was not Of
Tended. BY the way said I, you