The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-07-06

| cluster at the head of a deep dip or
goyal, as we call it, upon the moor,
some sinking away and some, with
starting hackles and staring eyes, gaz-
ing down the narrow valley before
them.
The company had come to a halt
more sober men. as you may guess,
than when they started. The most
of them would by no means advance
but three of them, the boldest or it
may be the most drunken, rode for
ward down the goyal. Now, il opened
into broad space in which stood
two OF those great stones, still to he
seen there, which were set by certain
forgotten peoples in the days of old.
Ike neon was shining bright upon
| the Clearing, and t&re in the center
,ay the unhappy maid where she had
fallen, dead of fear and of fatigue.
/ But Il was not the sight of her body.
nor yet was it that of the body of
Hugo Baskerville lying near her,
which raised the hair upon the heads
of these three daredevil roysterers,
! but [ was that, standing over Hugo,
and plucking at his throat, there stood
foul thing, great, black
| beast, shaped like hound, yet
/ larger than any hound that ever NOR
tai eye has rested upon. And even
as they looked the thing tore the throat
| out of Hugo Baskerville, on which, as
/ 1t turned its blazing eyes and dripping
jaws upon them, the three shrieked
| with fear and rode for dear life, still
screaming, across the moor. One, it
is said, died that very night of what
he had seen, and the other twain were
but broken men for the rest of their
days.
Such is the tale. my sons. of the
coming of the hound which is said to
have plagued the family so sorely ever
since. If l have set it down it is be-
cause that which is clearly known hath
less terror than that which is but hint
! ed at and guessed. Nor can it be de-
MED that many of the family. have
been unhappy in their deaths, which
have been sudden, bloody and mys-
FERROUS. Yet may we shelter ourselves
in the infinite goodness of Providence,
which would not forever punish the
innocent beyond that third or fourth
generation which is threatened in Holy
/ Writ. To that Providence, my sons,
l hereby commend you, and 1 counsel
you by way of caution to forbear from
crossing the moor in those dark hours
when the powers of evil are exalted.
'IThis from Hugo Baskerville to his
sons Rodger and John, with instruc-
tions that they say nothing thereof
to their sister Elizabeth.l'
When DR.. Mortimer had finished
reading this singular narrative he
! pushed his spectacles up on his fore
! head and stared across at Mr.. Sher-
lock Holmes. The latter yawned and
tossed the end of his cigarette into the
fire.
"Well?" said he
DO you not find it Interestingly"
ITO a collector of fairy tales"
DIR. Mortimer drew a folded news
paper out of his pocket.
Now, Mr.. Holmes, we will give you
something a little more recent. This
| is the Devon County Chronicle of May
IA of this year. 1t is a short account
of the facts elected at the death of
Sir Charles Baskerville which occurred
a few days before that date"
My friend leaned a little forward and
| his expression became intent. Our Wis
itor readjusted his glasses and began:
The recent sudden death of Sir
| Charles Baskerville, whose name has
been mentioned as the probable Lib
eral candidate for Mid-Devon at the
next election, has cast a gloom over
the county. Though Sir Charles had
resided at Baskerville Hall for a COM
paratively short period his amiability
of character and extreme generosity
had won the affection and respect Of
all who had been brought into contact
with him. In these days of nouVeaux
riches it is refreshing to find case
where the scion of an old county fam
lily which has fallen upon evil days is
! able to make his own fortune and
to bring it back with him to restore
the fallen grandeur of his line Sir
Charles, as is we'll known, made large
sums of money in South African specu-
lation More wise than those who go
on until the wheel turns against them,
he realized his gains and returned to
| England with them. 1t is only two
years since he took up his residence
at Baskerville Hall, and it is common
talk how large were those schemes of
reconstruction and Improvement which
have been interrupted by his death.
Being himself childless, it was his open
ly expressed desire that the whole
countryside should within his own
lifetime profit by his good fortune, and
many will have personal reasons for
bewailing his untimely end. His gen
erous donations to local and county
charities have been frequently chroni-
cled in these columns.
The circumstances connected with
the death of Sir Charles cannot be said
to have been entirely cleared up by the
inquest but at least enough has been
done to dispose of those rumours TO
which local superstition has given rise.
There IS no reason whatever to Sus-
pect foul play, or to imagine that death
could be from any but natural causes.
who may be said to have been in some
ways of an eccentric habit of mind. In
spite of his considerable wealth he was
simple in his personal tastes, and his
! indoor servants at Baskerville Hall con-
: sisted of a married couple named Bar
: rymore the husband acting as butler
! and the wife as housekeeper. Their
evidence. corroborated by that of sever
al friends, tends to show that Sir Char
less health has for some time
been impaired, and points especially
to some affection of the heart, mani
Testing itself in changes of colour
nervous depression. DR.. James Morti-
mer. the friend sand medical attendant
of the deceased, has given evidence to
the same effect.
The facts of the case are simple
Sir Charles Baskerville was in the habit
every night before going to bed of
walking down the famous Yew Alley
of Baskerville Hall. The evidence OF
the Barrymores shows that this had
been his custom. On the 4th of May
Sir Charles had declared his intention
of starting next day for London. and
had ordered Barrymore to prepare his
luggage. That night he went out as
usual for his nocturnal walk, in the
course of which he was in the habit
of smoking a cigar. He never returned.
AT twelve o'clock Barrymore, finding
the hall door still open, became alarm
ed. and. lighting a lantern, went in
search of his master The day had