Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 1

Chapter 77 Adventure History 37
"Well, Mr. Holmes, as soon as I got back to the lodgings, and saw what was left in the sideboard and two or three bills on the table, I began to ask myself if I had made a foolish mistake. It is fashionable to demand submission to the worst of them, but after all they are ready to pay for it. There are a few governesses in England who earn a hundred pounds a year! Besides, what does long hair do to me? Use? A lot of people feel better with a short haircut. Maybe I should join them. On the second day, I kind of felt like I made a mistake in handling this; I am sure of it. Just when I was determined to go to the agency to ask if the position was still available, I received a letter from the gentleman. I brought the letter, and I will read it to you:

'Dear Miss Hunter,

Since Miss Stoper kindly gave me your address, I am writing to ask if you may reconsider your previous decision.My wife, too, is eagerly looking forward to your coming, and she has been strongly attracted by my description of you.We are willing to invite you with an annual salary of 120 pounds, but also to compensate you for the inconvenience that our idiosyncrasy may cause you.After all, our request is not unacceptable.My wife wants you to wear an electric blue dress in the morning, you don't have to pay for it, we have a dress that fits you, it's a dress that our daughter in Philadelphia used to wear.Also, it will give you no inconvenience as to where to sit, or to entertain yourself as you are told.The condition I must insist on is that you need to cut your hair, although it is very beautiful and made a great impression on me.And we hope the increased salary will compensate you.At least taking care of children is very easy.We hope you will come, and if you decide, let me know the time of your train, and I will meet you in a carriage to Winchester.

Your loyal Geoffrey?Rucastle in Copper Beeches near Winchester,

"I have just received this letter, and I am determined to accept the job, but before I make my final decision, I would like to hear your opinion, Mr. Holmes."

"Well, Miss Hunter, since you've made up your mind, go ahead and do it."

"Won't you advise me to refuse the job?"

"I admit I don't want to see one of my sisters apply for a job like this."

"So, what do you mean..."

"Well, I don't have any material to make a final judgment on. I think you must have your idea."

"Well, I think there is only one possible explanation, namely that Mr Rucastle is a nice man, but his wife is a madman. He doesn't want to send his wife to a mental institution, so he resorts to All sorts of ways to satisfy her quirks to avoid her psychotic episodes."

"The explanation does make sense, and perhaps it is. At any rate, it is not a very nice family for a young lady."

"However, the wages they give are indeed not low."

"Yes, the salary is high, but that's what I'm worried about. They can give you £120 a year. Why are they willing to give you £[-] a year? Is there any other reason?"

"I think I've told you everything, and it will be easier for me to ask you for help in the future. Besides, I will be more confident in my actions with your backing."

"Ah, I can assure you that your question may become a work of mine for several months. There is something odd about it, and if you feel suspicious or in danger..."

"Danger? What danger do you foresee that may arise?"

Holmes shook his head. "If you can be sure, you can't call it dangerous. But at any time, day or night, send a telegram and I will go to help you at once."

"That's enough," said Miss Hunter, jumping up with joy, her sorrow gone. "I can go to Hampshire in peace, and I'll write to Mr. Rucastle right away, and then I'll cut my hair." and leave for Winchester tomorrow." She said a few more words of thanks to Holmes, and took her leave.

"At least," I said, when I heard the girl's swift, determined descent, "she seems to be a girl who can take care of herself.

"We should be very mistaken if we do not hear from her after many days," said Holmes.

Not long after, my buddy's prophecy was fulfilled.For the past two weeks, I've been finding my thoughts turning in her direction from time to time, wondering if this lonely girl might be going astray.The unusual salary, the strange quirk, the easy work, all were above the ordinary, though I could not decide whether the incident was due to a quirk or a conspiracy, whether the man was a good man or a villain.As for Holmes, I often see him sitting for half an hour, lost in thought by himself.But when I mentioned it, he waved his hand and yelled impatiently: "Material, material, how can I make bricks without clay!" Own sisters accept such a profession.

Finally, one night, I was preparing to go to bed, and Holmes was preparing to spend the night in chemical experiments, as is often the case.Whenever this happens, I always leave him alone.Often when I was going to rest at night, he bent over to do his experiments, and when I went downstairs to have breakfast in the morning, he was still in that position.At this time, a telegram was finally delivered to Holmes.He tore open the yellow envelope, glanced at it, and handed me the telegram.

He said, "Quickly check the Bradshaw train."

The telegram was short and urgent:

Please meet me at the Black Swan Hotel in Winchester at noon tomorrow.Please come here anyway!I'm overwhelmed.

Hunter

"Come with me?" he asked.

"of course."

"So did the train check?"

"There's one at 09:30, reaching Winchester at 11:30."

"Then it's just right. It's better to postpone my acetone analysis. We'll have to be at our best mentally and physically tomorrow morning."

At eleven o'clock the next day we were well on our way to the old capital of England. At first Holmes buried himself in the morning papers, but when he had crossed the Hampshire border he dropped them and admired the scenery.It was a sunny day in spring, and the blue sky was dotted with floating white clouds, drifting leisurely from west to east.The sun is shining brightly, but the weather in early spring is still slightly cold and refreshing, which is refreshing and invigorating.From afar, surrounded by the hills of Aldengate, a rural landscape unfolded, here and there in the verdant new green with faint red and gray farmhouse cottages.

"How charming the scenery is!" I marveled.

Holmes shook his head gravely. "You know what? Watson," he said, "everything I observe must be connected with the question I'm discussing. Perhaps this character should be cursed."You look at these houses in the woods and it's their beauty that matters.But when I observe, I think that these isolated houses may prevent the crimes happening here from being effectively stopped. "

"My God!" I exclaimed, "how can you associate crime with these lovely old houses?"

"They do fill me with terror, Watson, and it is a rule I have learned for many years that more terrible things can happen in this beautiful country than in the worst and meanest lanes of London. criminal behavior."

"I'm terrified of you."

"I have a point. In a city, the pressure of public opinion can do what the law cannot. The wailing of a child abused, or the crackling of a drunken man beating his wife, can be heard in any alley. The sympathy and anger of the neighbors will be aroused in the middle of the country. Moreover, the judiciary is also close at hand, and any complaint will lead to judicial action, and the criminal is only one step away from the dock. They were all in the fields of ignorant peasants, who knew little of the law. It is conceivable that acts of murder, dark crimes, might be repeated here year after year, without Has anyone noticed. If I were in Winchester, I need not worry about Miss Hunter's call for help, but in the countryside five miles away, there may be danger. However, it is clear that her safety has not yet been released. There was no threat."

"No, she can come to Winchester to see us, which means she can get away."

"Yes, now she still has her freedom."

"So, can you explain what happened?"

"I've made seven hypotheses, each of which could explain what's going on. But we can only tell which one is correct when we meet Miss Hunter. Well, the church tower is ahead, and Henry Miss Te can tell us the whole truth."

The "Black Swan" Inn is the most famous inn on this street, not far from the train station.There young Miss Hunter was waiting for us, she had a room booked and lunch set.

"I'm so happy to meet you!" She said enthusiastically, "I am very grateful that you two came from afar, because I really don't know what to do, so I can only ask you two for advice."

"Then tell us what happened to you."

"Okay, I must speak quickly. I promised Mr. Rucastle to be back before three o'clock. I asked for leave to go to town this morning. He didn't know the purpose of my coming out this time."

"Then tell me what happened one by one," said Holmes, assuming he was listening attentively.

"I would like to start by saying that I was not actually abused by Mr and Mrs Rucastle and it would be fair to them to say so. But I just couldn't understand them and I was very worried about them."

"You don't understand them?"

They have reasons to justify their actions.But you can know everything from behind what happened.When I first came here, Mr. Rucastle took me to Copper Beeches in his one-horse carriage.Here, as he said, the environment is very beautiful.A large, boxy house, painted white, but damp and weather had eroded it and stained it all.It was surrounded by grounds, wooded on three sides, and a sloping field on the other, which led to the Southampton Road, which turned off about a hundred yards before the house.The grounds in front of the house belong to the owner of the house and the surrounding woods are part of the Southertown lord's shelter forest.There is a clump of copper beech growing directly opposite the hall of this house, so this place is named after the copper beech.

"My employer drove me home and introduced me to his wife and children that evening. Mrs Rucastle was not crazy, on the contrary, she was a quiet woman and very young, she was about 30 was at least 45 years old, and his husband was at least 20 years old. From their conversation, I know that they have been married for about seven years. He was a widower before. The daughter in Philadelphia was left by his ex-wife, and she So she went to Philadelphia, according to Mr. Rucastle, because she had a strange dislike for her stepmother. Of course, it is conceivable that a daughter who is not younger than [-] years of age must get along with her father's young wife. Comfortable.

(End of this chapter)