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"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.