there who stares up at Miss Hunter.
No friend of yours, Miss Hunter? he asked.
No, I know no one in these parts.
Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to him to
go away.
Surely it would be better to take no notice.
No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn round
and wave him away like that.
I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew down
the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have not sat again
in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor seen the man in the
road.
Pray continue, said Holmes. Your narrative promises to be a most
interesting 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 animal moving 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 my employer, laughing at the start which I
had given. It s only Carlo, my mastiff. I 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
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