The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-08-03

came a SOunu TO ears, CledIs iSSO-
( nant and unmistakabIe. 1t was the
sob of a woman the mufled, strang-
ling gasp of one who is torn by an
! uncomfortable sorrow. l sat up in bed
and listened intently. The noise could
/ not have been far away and was GER
tainly in the house. For half an hour
waited with every nerve on the alert,
but there came no other sound
save the Ginning clock and the rustic
of the ivy on the wall.
VII
THE STAPLETONS OF MERRIPIT
HOUSE.
The fresh beauty of the following
morning did something to efface from
our minds the grind and grey impress
/ sion which had been left upon both
of us by our first experience of Bas-
/ kerville Hall. As Sir Henry and l sat
! at breakfast the, sunlight flooded in
! through the high muliioned windows,
1 throwing watery patches of color from
/ the coats of arms which covered them
| The dark ranelling glowed like brOnz
! in the golden rays, and il was hard to
realize that this was indeed the cham
Der which had struck such a gloom
into our souls up'al the evening be-
fore.
Il guess it is ourselves and not the
house that We have to blame!" said
the baronet. I'VE were tired with our
journey and chilled by our drive. so
we took a grey view of the place. Now
we are fresh and well, so it is all
cheerful once more"
And yet it was not entirely a ques-
ton of Imagination l answered. Did
you, for example, happen to hear some
one, n woman l think, sobbing in the
night"
That is curious. for I did when I
was half asleep fancy that 1 heard
something of the sort. I waited quiet
time, but there was no more of it,
so 1 concluded that it was all
dream"
Il heard it distinctly, and I am sure
that it was really the sob of a wo-
man."
I'VE must ask about this right
away" He rang the bell and asked
Barrymore whether he could account
for our experience. 1t seemed to me
that the pallid features of the butler
turned a shade paler still as he lis
tened to his masters question.
There are only two women in the
house, Sir Henry" he answered. lone
is the scullery maid, who sleeps in the
other wing. The other is my wife, and
l can answer for it that the sound
could not have come from her.
And yet he lied as he said it. for it
CHANGED that after breakfast 1 met
Mrs. Barrymore In the long corridor
with the sun full upon her face. She
was large, impassive. heavy-featured
woman with a stern set expression of
mouth. But her tell-tale eyes were red
and glanced at me from between swol-
len lids. 1t was she, then, who went
in the night, and if she did so her hus-
Dand must know it. Yet he had taken
she obvious risk of discovery in declar-
ing that it was not so. Why had he
done this? And why did she weep so
bitterly? Already round this pale
faced, handsome, black-bearded man
there was gathering an atmosphere of
mystery and of gloom. 1t was he who
had been the first to discover the body
of Sir Charles, and we
had only his word for
all the circumstances which led
up to the old mans death Was it
possible that it was Barrymore after
all whom we had seen in the cab in
Regent street? The beard might well
have been the same. The cabman had
described somewhat shorter man, but
such an impression might easily have
been erroneous. How could l settle the
point for ever? Obviously the first
thing to do was to see the Grimpen
postmaster, and find whether the test
telegram had really been placed in
B-wymore's own hands. Be the an
swer what it might, l should at least
have something to report to Sherlock
Holmes.
Sir Henry had numerous papers to
examine after breakfast, so that the
time was proptious for my excursion.
1t was pleasant walk of four miles
along the edge of the moor, leading me
at last to a small grey hamlet, in
which two larger buildings, which
proved to be the inn and the house of
DR.. Mortimer, stood high above the
rest The postmaster, who was also
the village grocer, had a clear recol-
lection of the telegram.
Certainly SIR" said he, ct had the
telegram delivered to Mr.. Barrymore
exactly as directed"
who delivered it?
MY boy here. James, you delivered
that telegram to Mr.. Barrymore at the
Hall last week. did you not?''
Yes, father, 1 delivered it,
Into his own hands?" l asked
"Wel, he was up in the loft at the
time, so that l could not put it into
his own hands, but 1 gave it into Mrs.
Barrymore's hands. and she promised
to deliver it at once
Did YOU see Mr.. Barrymore %
mo, sir; I tell you he was in the
loft"
III you didn't see him, how do YOU
know he was in the loft?"
well, surely his own wife ought to
know where he is" said the postmas-
ter, testify. Didn't he get the tele-
gram? If there is any mistake it is
for Mr.. Barrymore himself to COM
plain"
1t seemed hopeless to pursue the in
quiry any farther. but it was clear
that in spite of Holmes ruse we had
no proof that Barrymore had not been
! in London all the time Suppose that
it were so--suppose that the same man
had been the last who had seen Sir
| Charles alive. and the first to dog the
land. What then? Was he the agent
/ of others or had he some sinister de-
| sign of his own? What interest could
| he have in prosecuting the Baskerville
! family? ] thought of the strange
warning clipped out of the leading ar
ticle of the Times. Was that his work
| or was it possibly the doing of some
! one who was bent upon counteracting
| his schemes? The only conceivable
/ motive was that which had been sug-
| gested by Sir Henry. that if the fam
! lily could be scared away a comfort
able and permanent home would be
secured for the Barrymores. But sure
! ly such an explanation as that
would be quite inadequate to
account for the deep and subtle
scheming which seemed to be weaving
an invisible net round the young bar
onet Holmes himself had said that
| no more complex case had come TO