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

posed himself to listen.
In the first place, / may say that
have met on the whole, with no actua
ill-tTeatment from Mr.. and Mrs Ru,
castle. 1t is only fair to them to say
that. But l cannot understand them
and I am not easy in my mind about
them"
What can you not understand"
Their reasons for their conduct. Blu
you shall have it all just as it occurred
When I came down Nh Rucastle me-
ne here and drove me in his dogcar1
to the Copper Beeches. 1t is. as ht
said, beautifully situated, but it is no
/ beautiful in itself, for ii is a large
square block of a house. WhiteWashed
but all stained and streaked with
damp and bad weather. There are
grounds round it, woods on three sides
and on the fourth a field which slopes
down to the Southampton high road
which curves past about a hundred
yards from the front door This ground
in front belongs to the house but the
woods all round are part of Lord
SOuthertOn'S preserves. A clump OF
copper beeches Immediately in front Of
the hall door has given its name to the
place.
Il was driven over by my employer,
who was as amiable as ever. and was
introduced by him that evening to his
wife and the children. There was no
truth, Mr.. Holmes, i'm the conjecture
which seemed TO us to be probable in
your rooms at Baker street. Mrs.
Rucastle is not mad. | found her to be
a silent, pale-faced woman. much
younger than her husband, not more
than 80. ] should think, while he can
hardly be less than As. From their con-
versation l have gathered that they
have been married about seven years,
that he was a widower, and that his
only child by the first wife was the
daughter who has gone to Philadelphia
Mr.. Rucastle told me in private that
the reason why she had left them was
that she had an unreasOning aversion
to her stepmother. AS the daughter
could not have been less than 20, / can
quite imagine that her position must
have been uncomfortable with her
fathers young wife.
Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be
colorless in mind as well as in feature
She impressed me neither favOrably
nor the reverse. She was a nonentity
1t was easy to see that she was pas
sionateiy devoted both TO her husband
and TO her little son. Her LIGHT gray
eyes wandered continually from one
10 the other. noting every little want
and fOFestalling it if possible He was
kind to her also in his bluff. bOisterous
fashion. and on the whole they seemed
TO be happy couple. And yet she had
some secret sorrow. this woman. She
would often be lost in deep thought
with the saddest look upon her face
More than once / have surprised her in
tears. / have thought sometimes that
it was the disposition of her child
ff4lr r41Trr L
have never met so utterly spOilt and so
ill-natured L little creature. He is
small for his age. with a head which is
quite diSprOpOrtiOuately large. His
Whole life appears to be spent in an
alteration between savage fits of pas
SION anu gloomy intervals Of sulkiug.
Giving pain to any creature weaker
than himself seems to be his one idea
of amusement. and he shows quite re-
markable talent in planning the cap
ture of mice, little birds and insects.
But ] would rather not talk about the
creature. Mr.. Holmes. and. indeed. he
has little 10 do with my story"
Il am glad of all details" remarked
my friend, whether they seem to you
TO be relevant or not"
Il shall try not to miss anything of
The one unpleasant thing
about the house. which struck me at
once, was the appearance and conduct
Of the servants. There are only two, a
man and his wife. Toiler. for that is
his name, is a rough, uncOuth man,
with griZzled hair and whiskers, and a
perpetual smell of drink. Twice since
1 have been with them he has been
quite drunk, and yet Mr.. Rucastle
seemed to take no notice of il. His wife
is very tall and strong woman with a
OF "a
and much less amiable. They are a
most unpleasant couple. but FORUM
ately ] spent most of my time i'm the
and my own room. which are
next to each other in one corner of the
building.
For two days after my arrival at
the Copper Beeches my life was very
quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle
came down just after breakfast and
whispered something to her husband.
" oh, yes said he. turning to me.
we are very much obliged to you, Miss
for falling in with our whims
so far as TO cut your hair. | assure you
that II has not detracted in the tiniest
Iota from your appearance. We shall
now see how the electric-blue dress will
become you. You will find it laid out
upon the bed in your room. and If you
7
should both be extremely obliged
THE dress which | found waiting for
me was of a peculiar shade of blue 1t
was of excellent material. a sort of
beige, but 1T bore unmistakable sings of
having been worn before 1t could not
have been a better fit if | had been
measured for it, Both Mr. and Mrs.
expressed a delight at the
looks of it, which seemed quite exag-
serated in its Vehemence. They were
waiting for me in the drawing ROOM
which Is very large room, stretching
along the entire front of the house,
With three long windows reaching down
% the floor. A chair had been placed
'lose TO the central window. with its
back turned toward il. In this l was
asked TO cit, and then Mr.. Rucastle,
Walking up and down on the other side
IF the room, began TO tell me a series
Of the funniest stories that I have
ever listened 10. You cannot imagine
low cOmical he was. and I laughed un-
III 7 was quite weary. Mrs Rucastle
however. who has evidently no sense
IF humOr. never so much as smiled, but
sat with her hands in her laU. and a
sad anxious look upon her face After
IN hour or SO, Mr. Rucastie suddenly
embarked that it was time to COM
nence the duties or the day, and that
might change my dress and go to lit
lie Edward in the nursery.
Two days later this same perform
ince was gone through under exactly
similar circumstances. Again /
changed my dress. again / sat in the
window, and again / laughed very
heartily at the funny stories of which
ny employer had an immense roper
ORE, and which he told inimitably.
Then he handed me a yellow backed
novel. and, moving my chair a little
ideWays, that my own shadow might
lot fall upon the page. he begged me to
cad aloud TO him. / read for about ten
beginning in the heart of a
hapter and then suddenly, in the
middle of a sentence, he ordered me to