"And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, asyou know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in agreat coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after thechild was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining thefurniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things.There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper
onesempty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first twowith my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I wasnaturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. Itstruck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight,so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The veryfirst key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. Therewas only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would neverguess what it was. It was my coil of hair.
"I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint,and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thingobtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked inthe drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out thecontents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the twotresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Wasit not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing atall of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer,and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt thatI had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they hadlocked.
"I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes,and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head.There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabitedat all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters ofthe Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked.One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastlecoming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look onhis face which made him a very different person to the round,jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, hisbrow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at histemples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past mewithout a word or a look.
"This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in thegrounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which Icould see the windows of this part of the house. There were fourof them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while thefourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As Istrolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastlecame out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever.
"'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed youwithout a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied withbusiness matters.'
"I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I,'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and oneof them has the shutters up.'
"He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startledat my remark.
"'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made mydark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady wehave come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have everbelieved it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jestin his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there andannoyance, but no jest.
"Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that therewas something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know,I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity,though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--afeeling that some good might come from my penetrating to thisplace. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman'sinstinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there,and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass theforbidden door.
"It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that,besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something todo in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a largeblack linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has beendrinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and whenI came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt atall that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were bothdownstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had anadmirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock,opened the door, and slipped through.
"There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered anduncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end.Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and thirdof which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty andcheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, sothick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly throughthem. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of ithad been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlockedat one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other withstout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key wasnot there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with theshuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer frombeneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there wasa skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in thepassage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret itmight veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the roomand saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the littleslit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad,unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. Myoverstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ranas though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at theskirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door,and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waitingoutside.
"'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that itmust be when I saw the door open.'
"'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted.
"'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think howcaressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightenedyou, my dear young lady?'
"But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. Iwas keenly on my guard against him.
"'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered.'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I wasfrightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still inthere!'
"'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly.
"'Why, what did you think?' I asked.
"'Why do you think that I lock this door?'
"'I am sure that I do not know.'
"'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do yousee?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner.
"'I am sure if I had known--'
"'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot overthat threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened intoa grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of ademon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.'
"I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose thatI must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothinguntil I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then Ithought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer withoutsome advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of thewoman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horribleto me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Ofcourse I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity wasalmost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I wouldsend you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to theoffice, which is about half a mile from the house, and thenreturned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into mymind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but Iremembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state ofinsensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only onein the household who had any influence with the savage creature,or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety andlay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you.I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester thismorning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. andMrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all theevening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told youall my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if youcould tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I shoulddo."
Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story.My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands inhis pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity uponhis face.
"Is Toller still drunk?" he asked.
"Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could donothing with him."
"That is well. And the Rucastles go o
ut to-night?"