The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-17
The Adventure
 of the Copper Beaches.

glared down at me with the face of a demon-Tn throw you to the mastiff'
 'l was so terrified that I do not know what l did. suppose that I must have rushed past into my room. I remember nothing until 1 found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then [ thought of you, MT. Holmes I could not live there longer without some advice was frightened of the house. of the man. of the woman, of the servants even of the child. They were all horrible to me. If 1 could only bring you down all would be we'll Of course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up I would send you a wire l put on my hat and cloak, went down to the office, which Is about half mile from the house, and then returned, feeling very much easier. horrible doubt came into my mind as I ap- preached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of insensibil- ity that evening, and I knew that he was the only one in the household who had any influence with the savage creature. or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety, and lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this morn- ing but I must be back before o'clock, for MT and Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit and will be away all evening, so that l must look after the child. Now I Il 1 have told you all my adventures, MT. N | Holmes, and I should be very glad if you could tell me what 1t all means, and, above all what I should do'' Holmes and ! had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, lis hands in his pockets and an expression of the most profound gravity upon lis face. 1 Els roller still drunk?" he asked YeJ. l heard his wife tell Mrs. Ru- castle that she could do nothing with ~rhstis is well. And the Rucastles go sout toiiight?'
 S "Yes''
 ( lock?" ( Yes, the wine cellar'
 You seem to have acted all through & Q s matter like very brave and sensi- ble girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that 1 you could perform one more feat? should not ask it of you if I did not think you quite exceptional woman" l "I will try. What is it?''
 We shall be at the Copper Reecbes bv l o'clock, my friend and L The Rucastles | will be gone by that time, and Toller will.
 we hope, be incapable There only re,
 mains Mrs. Toller, who might give the alarm. If you could send her into the
 
 Key upon her, you would facilitate mat l tersh immensely"
 | q will do it
 l Excellent We shall then look thor oughly into the affair. Of course. there IS only one feasible explanation. You have been brought there to personate
 some one. and the real person is i'm
 prisoned in this chamber. That is ob- vious. As to who this prisoner is. have no doubt that 1t is the daughter, Miss Alice Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to America. You
 were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height. figure and the color of your l hair. Hers had been cut off, very possi- ply in some illness through which she had passed, and so, of course, yours had l to be sacrificed also. By a curious 1 chance you came upon her tresses The man in the road was undoubtedly. some
 friend of hers-possibly her fiance-and | no doubt, as you wore the girls dress and was so like her, he was convinced from your laughter. whenever he saw you, and afterward from your gesture
 that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy and that she no longer desired his atten.
 tfons. The dog Is let loose at night to
 prevent him from endeavoring to com
 municate with her. So much is fairly clear. The most serious point in the case | is the disposition of the child.' What on earth has that to do with 1 it?" I ejaculated
 i My dear Watson, you as a medical
 man are continually gaining light as to
 the tendencies of child by the study of the parents. Don't you see that the converse Is equally valid. have ire quently gained my first real insight into the character of parents by studying i their children. This childs disposition is abnormally cruel merely for crueltys
 sake, and whether he derives this from 1 his smiling father, as l should suspect
 or from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their power" | T am sure that you are right Mr Holiness cried client "A thousand l things come back to me which make me 1 certain that you hit it. Oh let us lose
 not an instant in bringing help to this 1 poor creature"
 We must circumspect, for we are deal ing with very cunning man. We can
 do nothing until o'clock. At that hour
 we shall be with you. and it will not be | long before we solve the mystery''
 We were good as our word for if l was just o'clock when we reached the l Copper Beeches, having put up our trap l at a wayside public house. The group of
 trees. with their dark leaves shining like furnished metal in the light of the set
 ting sun, were sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been
 standing smiling on the doorstep. | Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. A loud thudding noise came from some- l NiCio o oOWnotdns ndL IS hHrS. IOller | in the cellar" said she. Her husband lies snoring on the kitchen rug. Here are the keys. which are the duplicates of Mir, 1 Rucastle's''
 You have done well, indeed!' cried Holmes, with enthusiasm. Now lead the
 way and we shall soon see the end of | this black business"
 | We passed up the stair. unlocked the
 door, followed on down a passage and 1 found ourselves in front of the barri-
 cade which Miss Hunter had described.
 Holmes cut the cord and removed the l transverse bar Then he tried the various l keys in the lock- but without success No | sound came from within, and at the si- 1 fence Holmes face clouded over q trust that we are not too late.' said
 he "I think. Miss Hunter. that we had better go in with out you. Now, Wat l son, put your shoulder to it. and we shall see whether we cannot make our way 1 in." l It was an old rickety door. and gave at | once before our united strength. To- | gether we rushed into the room. It was | empty. There no furniture save a | little pallet bed a small table, and a
 basketful of linen. The skylight above l was open and the prisoner gone
 There has been some villainy here"
 said Holmes: ''this beauty has guessed
 Miss Hunters intentions, and has carried l his victim off,"
 l ''But how?"
 Through the skylight We shall soon see how he managed it." He swung him
 self up onto the roof. "Ah. yes' he cried.