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+Produced by Shreevatsa R
+
+
+
+
+
+THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES
+
+By A. Conan Doyle
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 1. Mr. Sherlock Holmes
+
+
+
+Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save
+upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated
+at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the
+stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a
+fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as
+a "Penang lawyer." Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly
+an inch across. "To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the
+C.C.H.," was engraved upon it, with the date "1884." It was just such a
+stick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry--dignified,
+solid, and reassuring.
+
+"Well, Watson, what do you make of it?"
+
+Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of
+my occupation.
+
+"How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back
+of your head."
+
+"I have, at least, a well-polished, silver-plated coffee-pot in front of
+me," said he. "But, tell me, Watson, what do you make of our visitor's
+stick? Since we have been so unfortunate as to miss him and have no
+notion of his errand, this accidental souvenir becomes of importance.
+Let me hear you reconstruct the man by an examination of it."
+
+"I think," said I, following as far as I could the methods of my
+companion, "that Dr. Mortimer is a successful, elderly medical man,
+well-esteemed since those who know him give him this mark of their
+appreciation."
+
+"Good!" said Holmes. "Excellent!"
+
+"I think also that the probability is in favour of his being a country
+practitioner who does a great deal of his visiting on foot."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"Because this stick, though originally a very handsome one has been so
+knocked about that I can hardly imagine a town practitioner carrying it.
+The thick-iron ferrule is worn down, so it is evident that he has done a
+great amount of walking with it."
+
+"Perfectly sound!" said Holmes.
+
+"And then again, there is the 'friends of the C.C.H.' I should guess
+that to be the Something Hunt, the local hunt to whose members he has
+possibly given some surgical assistance, and which has made him a small
+presentation in return."
+
+"Really, Watson, you excel yourself," said Holmes, pushing back his
+chair and lighting a cigarette. "I am bound to say that in all the
+accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small
+achievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities. It may
+be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of
+light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of
+stimulating it. I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your
+debt."
+
+He had never said as much before, and I must admit that his words gave
+me keen pleasure, for I had often been piqued by his indifference to my
+admiration and to the attempts which I had made to give publicity to
+his methods. I was proud, too, to think that I had so far mastered his
+system as to apply it in a way which earned his approval. He now took
+the stick from my hands and examined it for a few minutes with his naked
+eyes. Then with an expression of interest he laid down his cigarette,
+and carrying the cane to the window, he looked over it again with a
+convex lens.
+
+"Interesting, though elementary," said he as he returned to his
+favourite corner of the settee. "There are certainly one or two
+indications upon the stick. It gives us the basis for several
+deductions."
+
+"Has anything escaped me?" I asked with some self-importance. "I trust
+that there is nothing of consequence which I have overlooked?"
+
+"I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were
+erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that
+in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth.
+Not that you are entirely wrong in this instance. The man is certainly a
+country practitioner. And he walks a good deal."
+
+"Then I was right."
+
+"To that extent."
+
+"But that was all."
+
+"No, no, my dear Watson, not all--by no means all. I would suggest, for
+example, that a presentation to a doctor is more likely to come from a
+hospital than from a hunt, and that when the initials 'C.C.' are placed
+before that hospital the words 'Charing Cross' very naturally suggest
+themselves."
+
+"You may be right."
+
+"The probability lies in that direction. And if we take this as a
+working hypothesis we have a fresh basis from which to start our
+construction of this unknown visitor."
+
+"Well, then, supposing that 'C.C.H.' does stand for 'Charing Cross
+Hospital,' what further inferences may we draw?"
+
+"Do none suggest themselves? You know my methods. Apply them!"
+
+"I can only think of the obvious conclusion that the man has practised
+in town before going to the country."
+
+"I think that we might venture a little farther than this. Look at it
+in this light. On what occasion would it be most probable that such a
+presentation would be made? When would his friends unite to give him
+a pledge of their good will? Obviously at the moment when Dr. Mortimer
+withdrew from the service of the hospital in order to start a practice
+for himself. We know there has been a presentation. We believe there has
+been a change from a town hospital to a country practice. Is it, then,
+stretching our inference too far to say that the presentation was on the
+occasion of the change?"
+
+"It certainly seems probable."
+
+"Now, you will observe that he could not have been on the staff of the
+hospital, since only a man well-established in a London practice could
+hold such a position, and such a one would not drift into the country.
+What was he, then? If he was in the hospital and yet not on the staff he
+could only have been a house-surgeon or a house-physician--little more
+than a senior student. And he left five years ago--the date is on the
+stick. So your grave, middle-aged family practitioner vanishes into
+thin air, my dear Watson, and there emerges a young fellow under thirty,
+amiable, unambitious, absent-minded, and the possessor of a favourite
+dog, which I should describe roughly as being larger than a terrier and
+smaller than a mastiff."
+
+I laughed incredulously as Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his settee and
+blew little wavering rings of smoke up to the ceiling.
+
+"As to the latter part, I have no means of checking you," said I, "but
+at least it is not difficult to find out a few particulars about the
+man's age and professional career." From my small medical shelf I took
+down the Medical Directory and turned up the name. There were several
+Mortimers, but only one who could be our visitor. I read his record
+aloud.
+
+        "Mortimer, James, M.R.C.S., 1882, Grimpen, Dartmoor, Devon.
+        House-surgeon, from 1882 to 1884, at Charing Cross Hospital.
+        Winner of the Jackson prize for Comparative Pathology,
+        with essay entitled 'Is Disease a Reversion?'  Corresponding
+        member of the Swedish Pathological Society.  Author of
+        'Some Freaks of Atavism' (Lancet 1882).  'Do We Progress?'
+        (Journal of Psychology, March, 1883).  Medical Officer
+        for the parishes of Grimpen, Thorsley, and High Barrow."
+
+"No mention of that local hunt, Watson," said Holmes with a mischievous
+smile, "but a country doctor, as you very astutely observed. I think
+that I am fairly justified in my inferences. As to the adjectives, I
+said, if I remember right, amiable, unambitious, and absent-minded.
+It is my experience that it is only an amiable man in this world who
+receives testimonials, only an unambitious one who abandons a London
+career for the country, and only an absent-minded one who leaves his
+stick and not his visiting-card after waiting an hour in your room."
+
+"And the dog?"
+
+"Has been in the habit of carrying this stick behind his master. Being a
+heavy stick the dog has held it tightly by the middle, and the marks of
+his teeth are very plainly visible. The dog's jaw, as shown in the space
+between these marks, is too broad in my opinion for a terrier and not
+broad enough for a mastiff. It may have been--yes, by Jove, it is a
+curly-haired spaniel."
+
+He had risen and paced the room as he spoke. Now he halted in the recess
+of the window. There was such a ring of conviction in his voice that I
+glanced up in surprise.
+
+"My dear fellow, how can you possibly be so sure of that?"
+
+"For the very simple reason that I see the dog himself on our very
+door-step, and there is the ring of its owner. Don't move, I beg you,
+Watson. He is a professional brother of yours, and your presence may be
+of assistance to me. Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when
+you hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you
+know not whether for good or ill. What does Dr. James Mortimer, the man
+of science, ask of Sherlock Holmes, the specialist in crime? Come in!"
+
+The appearance of our visitor was a surprise to me, since I had expected
+a typical country practitioner. He was a very tall, thin man, with a
+long nose like a beak, which jutted out between two keen, gray eyes,
+set closely together and sparkling brightly from behind a pair of
+gold-rimmed glasses. He was clad in a professional but rather slovenly
+fashion, for his frock-coat was dingy and his trousers frayed. Though
+young, his long back was already bowed, and he walked with a forward
+thrust of his head and a general air of peering benevolence. As he
+entered his eyes fell upon the stick in Holmes's hand, and he ran
+towards it with an exclamation of joy. "I am so very glad," said he.
+"I was not sure whether I had left it here or in the Shipping Office. I
+would not lose that stick for the world."
+
+"A presentation, I see," said Holmes.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"From Charing Cross Hospital?"
+
+"From one or two friends there on the occasion of my marriage."
+
+"Dear, dear, that's bad!" said Holmes, shaking his head.
+
+Dr. Mortimer blinked through his glasses in mild astonishment. "Why was
+it bad?"
+
+"Only that you have disarranged our little deductions. Your marriage,
+you say?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I married, and so left the hospital, and with it all hopes of
+a consulting practice. It was necessary to make a home of my own."
+
+"Come, come, we are not so far wrong, after all," said Holmes. "And now,
+Dr. James Mortimer--"
+
+"Mister, sir, Mister--a humble M.R.C.S."
+
+"And a man of precise mind, evidently."
+
+"A dabbler in science, Mr. Holmes, a picker up of shells on the shores
+of the great unknown ocean. I presume that it is Mr. Sherlock Holmes
+whom I am addressing and not--"
+
+"No, this is my friend Dr. Watson."
+
+"Glad to meet you, sir. I have heard your name mentioned in connection
+with that of your friend. You interest me very much, Mr. Holmes. I
+had hardly expected so dolichocephalic a skull or such well-marked
+supra-orbital development. Would you have any objection to my running my
+finger along your parietal fissure? A cast of your skull, sir, until
+the original is available, would be an ornament to any anthropological
+museum. It is not my intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet
+your skull."
+
+Sherlock Holmes waved our strange visitor into a chair. "You are an
+enthusiast in your line of thought, I perceive, sir, as I am in
+mine," said he. "I observe from your forefinger that you make your own
+cigarettes. Have no hesitation in lighting one."
+
+The man drew out paper and tobacco and twirled the one up in the other
+with surprising dexterity. He had long, quivering fingers as agile and
+restless as the antennae of an insect.
+
+Holmes was silent, but his little darting glances showed me the interest
+which he took in our curious companion. "I presume, sir," said he at
+last, "that it was not merely for the purpose of examining my skull that
+you have done me the honour to call here last night and again today?"
+
+"No, sir, no; though I am happy to have had the opportunity of doing
+that as well. I came to you, Mr. Holmes, because I recognized that I am
+myself an unpractical man and because I am suddenly confronted with a
+most serious and extraordinary problem. Recognizing, as I do, that you
+are the second highest expert in Europe--"
+
+"Indeed, sir! May I inquire who has the honour to be the first?" asked
+Holmes with some asperity.
+
+"To the man of precisely scientific mind the work of Monsieur Bertillon
+must always appeal strongly."
+
+"Then had you not better consult him?"
+
+"I said, sir, to the precisely scientific mind. But as a practical man
+of affairs it is acknowledged that you stand alone. I trust, sir, that I
+have not inadvertently--"
+
+"Just a little," said Holmes. "I think, Dr. Mortimer, you would do
+wisely if without more ado you would kindly tell me plainly what the
+exact nature of the problem is in which you demand my assistance."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 2. The Curse of the Baskervilles
+
+
+
+"I have in my pocket a manuscript," said Dr. James Mortimer.
+
+"I observed it as you entered the room," said Holmes.
+
+"It is an old manuscript."
+
+"Early eighteenth century, unless it is a forgery."
+
+"How can you say that, sir?"
+
+"You have presented an inch or two of it to my examination all the time
+that you have been talking. It would be a poor expert who could not give
+the date of a document within a decade or so. You may possibly have read
+my little monograph upon the subject. I put that at 1730."
+
+"The exact date is 1742." Dr. Mortimer drew it from his breast-pocket.
+"This family paper was committed to my care by Sir Charles Baskerville,
+whose sudden and tragic death some three months ago created so much
+excitement in Devonshire. I may say that I was his personal friend as
+well as his medical attendant. He was a strong-minded man, sir, shrewd,
+practical, and as unimaginative as I am myself. Yet he took this
+document very seriously, and his mind was prepared for just such an end
+as did eventually overtake him."
+
+Holmes stretched out his hand for the manuscript and flattened it upon
+his knee. "You will observe, Watson, the alternative use of the long s
+and the short. It is one of several indications which enabled me to fix
+the date."
+
+I looked over his shoulder at the yellow paper and the faded script. At
+the head was written: "Baskerville Hall," and below in large, scrawling
+figures: "1742."
+
+"It appears to be a statement of some sort."
+
+"Yes, it is a statement of a certain legend which runs in the
+Baskerville family."
+
+"But I understand that it is something more modern and practical upon
+which you wish to consult me?"
+
+"Most modern. A most practical, pressing matter, which must be decided
+within twenty-four hours. But the manuscript is short and is intimately
+connected with the affair. With your permission I will read it to you."
+
+Holmes leaned back in his chair, placed his finger-tips together, and
+closed his eyes, with an air of resignation. Dr. Mortimer turned the
+manuscript to the light and read in a high, cracking voice the following
+curious, old-world narrative:
+
+        "Of the origin of the Hound of the Baskervilles there
+        have been many statements, yet as I come in a direct
+        line from Hugo Baskerville, and as I had the story from
+        my father, who also had it from his, I have set it down
+        with all belief that it occurred even as is here set
+        forth.  And I would have you believe, my sons, that the
+        same Justice which punishes sin may also most graciously
+        forgive it, and that no ban is so heavy but that by prayer
+        and repentance it may be removed.  Learn then from this
+        story not to fear the fruits of the past, but rather to
+        be circumspect in the future, that those foul passions
+        whereby our family has suffered so grievously may not
+        again be loosed to our undoing.
+
+        "Know then that in the time of the Great Rebellion (the
+        history of which by the learned Lord Clarendon I most
+        earnestly commend to your attention) this Manor of
+        Baskerville was held by Hugo of that name, nor can it be
+        gainsaid that he was a most wild, profane, and godless
+        man.  This, in truth, his neighbours might have pardoned,
+        seeing that saints have never flourished in those parts,
+        but there was in him a certain wanton and cruel humour
+        which made his name a by-word through the West.  It
+        chanced that this Hugo came to love (if, indeed, so dark
+        a passion may be known under so bright a name) the daughter
+        of a yeoman who held lands near the Baskerville estate.
+        But the young maiden, being discreet and of good repute,
+        would ever avoid him, for she feared his evil name.  So
+        it came to pass that one Michaelmas this Hugo, with five
+        or six of his idle and wicked companions, stole down upon
+        the farm and carried off the maiden, her father and
+        brothers being from home, as he well knew.  When they had
+        brought her to the Hall the maiden was placed in an upper
+        chamber, while Hugo and his friends sat down to a long
+        carouse, as was their nightly custom.  Now, the poor lass
+        upstairs was like to have her wits turned at the singing
+        and shouting and terrible oaths which came up to her from
+        below, for they say that the words used by Hugo Baskerville,
+        when he was in wine, were such as might blast the man who
+        said them.  At last in the stress of her fear she did that
+        which might have daunted the bravest or most active man,
+        for by the aid of the growth of ivy which covered (and
+        still covers) the south wall she came down from under the
+        eaves, and so homeward across the moor, there being three
+        leagues betwixt the Hall and her father's farm.
+
+        "It chanced that some little time later Hugo left his
+        guests to carry food and drink--with other worse things,
+        perchance--to his captive, and so found the cage empty
+        and the bird escaped.  Then, as it would seem, he became
+        as one that hath a devil, for, rushing down the stairs
+        into the dining-hall, he sprang upon the great table,
+        flagons and trenchers flying before him, and he cried
+        aloud before all the company that he would that very
+        night render his body and soul to the Powers of Evil if
+        he might but overtake the wench.  And while the revellers
+        stood aghast at the fury of the man, one more wicked or,
+        it may be, more drunken than the rest, cried out that
+        they should put the hounds upon her.  Whereat Hugo ran
+        from the house, crying to his grooms that they should
+        saddle his mare and unkennel the pack, and giving the
+        hounds a kerchief of the maid's, he swung them to the
+        line, and so off full cry in the moonlight over the moor.
+
+        "Now, for some space the revellers stood agape, unable
+        to understand all that had been done in such haste.  But
+        anon their bemused wits awoke to the nature of the deed
+        which was like to be done upon the moorlands.  Everything
+        was now in an uproar, some calling for their pistols,
+        some for their horses, and some for another flask of
+        wine.  But at length some sense came back to their crazed
+        minds, and the whole of them, thirteen in number, took
+        horse and started in pursuit.  The moon shone clear above
+        them, and they rode swiftly abreast, taking that course
+        which the maid must needs have taken if she were to reach
+        her own home.
+
+        "They had gone a mile or two when they passed one of the
+        night shepherds upon the moorlands, and they cried to
+        him to know if he had seen the hunt.  And the man, as
+        the story goes, was so crazed with fear that he could
+        scarce speak, but at last he said that he had indeed seen
+        the unhappy maiden, with the hounds upon her track.  'But
+        I have seen more than that,' said he, 'for Hugo Baskerville
+        passed me upon his black mare, and there ran mute behind
+        him such a hound of hell as God forbid should ever be at
+        my heels.'  So the drunken squires cursed the shepherd
+        and rode onward.  But soon their skins turned cold, for
+        there came a galloping across the moor, and the black
+        mare, dabbled with white froth, went past with trailing
+        bridle and empty saddle.  Then the revellers rode close
+        together, for a great fear was on them, but they still
+        followed over the moor, though each, had he been alone,
+        would have been right glad to have turned his horse's
+        head.  Riding slowly in this fashion they came at last
+        upon the hounds.  These, though known for their valour
+        and their breed, were whimpering in a cluster at the
+        head of a deep dip or goyal, as we call it, upon the
+        moor, some slinking away and some, with starting hackles
+        and staring eyes, gazing 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 forward down the goyal.
+        Now, it opened into a broad space in which stood two of
+        those great stones, still to be seen there, which were
+        set by certain forgotten peoples in the days of old.
+        The moon was shining bright upon the clearing, and there
+        in the centre lay the unhappy maid where she had fallen,
+        dead of fear and of fatigue.  But it 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 dare-devil roysterers, but it
+        was that, standing over Hugo, and plucking at his throat,
+        there stood a foul thing, a great, black beast, shaped
+        like a hound, yet larger than any hound that ever mortal
+        eye has rested upon.  And even as they looked the thing
+        tore the throat out of Hugo Baskerville, on which, as it
+        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 I have set it down it is because that which
+        is clearly known hath less terror than that which is but
+        hinted at and guessed.  Nor can it be denied that many
+        of the family have been unhappy in their deaths, which
+        have been sudden, bloody, and mysterious.  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, I hereby commend
+        you, and I counsel you by way of caution to forbear from
+        crossing the moor in those dark hours when the powers of
+        evil are exalted.
+
+        "[This from Hugo Baskerville to his sons Rodger and John,
+        with instructions that they say nothing thereof to their
+        sister Elizabeth.]"
+
+When Dr. Mortimer had finished reading this singular narrative he pushed
+his spectacles up on his forehead and stared across at Mr. Sherlock
+Holmes. The latter yawned and tossed the end of his cigarette into the
+fire.
+
+"Well?" said he.
+
+"Do you not find it interesting?"
+
+"To a collector of fairy tales."
+
+Dr. Mortimer drew a folded newspaper out of his pocket.
+
+"Now, Mr. Holmes, we will give you something a little more recent. This
+is the Devon County Chronicle of May 14th of this year. It is a short
+account of the facts elicited 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
+visitor readjusted his glasses and began:
+
+        "The recent sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville, whose
+        name has been mentioned as the probable Liberal 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 comparatively 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 a case where the scion of an old county family
+        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 well known,
+        made large sums of money in South African speculation.
+        More wise than those who go on until the wheel turns
+        against them, he realized his gains and returned to England
+        with them.  It 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 openly 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 generous donations
+        to local and county charities have been frequently
+        chronicled 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 suspect foul play, or to
+        imagine that death could be from any but natural causes.
+        Sir Charles was a widower, and a man 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 consisted of a married couple named Barrymore, the
+        husband acting as butler and the wife as housekeeper.
+        Their evidence, corroborated by that of several friends,
+        tends to show that Sir Charles's health has for some time
+        been impaired, and points especially to some affection
+        of the heart, manifesting itself in changes of colour,
+        breathlessness, and acute attacks of nervous depression.
+        Dr. James Mortimer, the friend and 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 fourth 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 alarmed, and, lighting a lantern, went in search
+        of his master.  The day had been wet, and Sir Charles's
+        footmarks were easily traced down the alley.  Halfway down
+        this walk there is a gate which leads out on to the moor.
+        There were indications that Sir Charles had stood for some
+        little time here.  He then proceeded down the alley, and
+        it was at the far end of it that his body was discovered.
+        One fact which has not been explained is the statement
+        of Barrymore that his master's footprints altered their
+        character from the time that he passed the moor-gate, and
+        that he appeared from thence onward to have been walking
+        upon his toes.  One Murphy, a gipsy horse-dealer, was on
+        the moor at no great distance at the time, but he appears
+        by his own confession to have been the worse for drink.
+        He declares that he heard cries but is unable to state
+        from what direction they came.  No signs of violence were
+        to be discovered upon Sir Charles's person, and though
+        the doctor's evidence pointed to an almost incredible
+        facial distortion--so great that Dr. Mortimer refused at
+        first to believe that it was indeed his friend and patient
+        who lay before him--it was explained that that is a symptom
+        which is not unusual in cases of dyspnoea and death from
+        cardiac exhaustion.  This explanation was borne out by
+        the post-mortem examination, which showed long-standing
+        organic disease, and the coroner's jury returned a
+        verdict in accordance with the medical evidence.  It is
+        well that this is so, for it is obviously of the utmost
+        importance that Sir Charles's heir should settle at the
+        Hall and continue the good work which has been so sadly
+        interrupted.  Had the prosaic finding of the coroner not
+        finally put an end to the romantic stories which have been
+        whispered in connection with the affair, it might have been
+        difficult to find a tenant for Baskerville Hall.  It is
+        understood that the next of kin is Mr. Henry Baskerville,
+        if he be still alive, the son of Sir Charles Baskerville's
+        younger brother.  The young man when last heard of was
+        in America, and inquiries are being instituted with a
+        view to informing him of his good fortune."
+
+Dr. Mortimer refolded his paper and replaced it in his pocket. "Those
+are the public facts, Mr. Holmes, in connection with the death of Sir
+Charles Baskerville."
+
+"I must thank you," said Sherlock Holmes, "for calling my attention to a
+case which certainly presents some features of interest. I had observed
+some newspaper comment at the time, but I was exceedingly preoccupied
+by that little affair of the Vatican cameos, and in my anxiety to oblige
+the Pope I lost touch with several interesting English cases. This
+article, you say, contains all the public facts?"
+
+"It does."
+
+"Then let me have the private ones." He leaned back, put his finger-tips
+together, and assumed his most impassive and judicial expression.
+
+"In doing so," said Dr. Mortimer, who had begun to show signs of some
+strong emotion, "I am telling that which I have not confided to anyone.
+My motive for withholding it from the coroner's inquiry is that a man of
+science shrinks from placing himself in the public position of seeming
+to indorse a popular superstition. I had the further motive that
+Baskerville Hall, as the paper says, would certainly remain untenanted
+if anything were done to increase its already rather grim reputation.
+For both these reasons I thought that I was justified in telling rather
+less than I knew, since no practical good could result from it, but with
+you there is no reason why I should not be perfectly frank.
+
+"The moor is very sparsely inhabited, and those who live near each other
+are thrown very much together. For this reason I saw a good deal of
+Sir Charles Baskerville. With the exception of Mr. Frankland, of Lafter
+Hall, and Mr. Stapleton, the naturalist, there are no other men of
+education within many miles. Sir Charles was a retiring man, but the
+chance of his illness brought us together, and a community of interests
+in science kept us so. He had brought back much scientific information
+from South Africa, and many a charming evening we have spent together
+discussing the comparative anatomy of the Bushman and the Hottentot.
+
+"Within the last few months it became increasingly plain to me that
+Sir Charles's nervous system was strained to the breaking point. He had
+taken this legend which I have read you exceedingly to heart--so much
+so that, although he would walk in his own grounds, nothing would induce
+him to go out upon the moor at night. Incredible as it may appear to
+you, Mr. Holmes, he was honestly convinced that a dreadful fate overhung
+his family, and certainly the records which he was able to give of
+his ancestors were not encouraging. The idea of some ghastly presence
+constantly haunted him, and on more than one occasion he has asked me
+whether I had on my medical journeys at night ever seen any strange
+creature or heard the baying of a hound. The latter question he put
+to me several times, and always with a voice which vibrated with
+excitement.
+
+"I can well remember driving up to his house in the evening some three
+weeks before the fatal event. He chanced to be at his hall door. I had
+descended from my gig and was standing in front of him, when I saw
+his eyes fix themselves over my shoulder and stare past me with an
+expression of the most dreadful horror. I whisked round and had just
+time to catch a glimpse of something which I took to be a large black
+calf passing at the head of the drive. So excited and alarmed was he
+that I was compelled to go down to the spot where the animal had been
+and look around for it. It was gone, however, and the incident appeared
+to make the worst impression upon his mind. I stayed with him all the
+evening, and it was on that occasion, to explain the emotion which he
+had shown, that he confided to my keeping that narrative which I read to
+you when first I came. I mention this small episode because it assumes
+some importance in view of the tragedy which followed, but I was
+convinced at the time that the matter was entirely trivial and that his
+excitement had no justification.
+
+"It was at my advice that Sir Charles was about to go to London. His
+heart was, I knew, affected, and the constant anxiety in which he lived,
+however chimerical the cause of it might be, was evidently having a
+serious effect upon his health. I thought that a few months among the
+distractions of town would send him back a new man. Mr. Stapleton, a
+mutual friend who was much concerned at his state of health, was of the
+same opinion. At the last instant came this terrible catastrophe.
+
+"On the night of Sir Charles's death Barrymore the butler, who made
+the discovery, sent Perkins the groom on horseback to me, and as I was
+sitting up late I was able to reach Baskerville Hall within an hour of
+the event. I checked and corroborated all the facts which were mentioned
+at the inquest. I followed the footsteps down the yew alley, I saw the
+spot at the moor-gate where he seemed to have waited, I remarked the
+change in the shape of the prints after that point, I noted that there
+were no other footsteps save those of Barrymore on the soft gravel, and
+finally I carefully examined the body, which had not been touched until
+my arrival. Sir Charles lay on his face, his arms out, his fingers dug
+into the ground, and his features convulsed with some strong emotion to
+such an extent that I could hardly have sworn to his identity. There was
+certainly no physical injury of any kind. But one false statement was
+made by Barrymore at the inquest. He said that there were no traces
+upon the ground round the body. He did not observe any. But I did--some
+little distance off, but fresh and clear."
+
+"Footprints?"
+
+"Footprints."
+
+"A man's or a woman's?"
+
+Dr. Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant, and his voice sank
+almost to a whisper as he answered.
+
+"Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 3. The Problem
+
+
+
+I confess at these words a shudder passed through me. There was a thrill
+in the doctor's voice which showed that he was himself deeply moved by
+that which he told us. Holmes leaned forward in his excitement and his
+eyes had the hard, dry glitter which shot from them when he was keenly
+interested.
+
+"You saw this?"
+
+"As clearly as I see you."
+
+"And you said nothing?"
+
+"What was the use?"
+
+"How was it that no one else saw it?"
+
+"The marks were some twenty yards from the body and no one gave them
+a thought. I don't suppose I should have done so had I not known this
+legend."
+
+"There are many sheep-dogs on the moor?"
+
+"No doubt, but this was no sheep-dog."
+
+"You say it was large?"
+
+"Enormous."
+
+"But it had not approached the body?"
+
+"No."
+
+"What sort of night was it?'
+
+"Damp and raw."
+
+"But not actually raining?"
+
+"No."
+
+"What is the alley like?"
+
+"There are two lines of old yew hedge, twelve feet high and
+impenetrable. The walk in the centre is about eight feet across."
+
+"Is there anything between the hedges and the walk?"
+
+"Yes, there is a strip of grass about six feet broad on either side."
+
+"I understand that the yew hedge is penetrated at one point by a gate?"
+
+"Yes, the wicket-gate which leads on to the moor."
+
+"Is there any other opening?"
+
+"None."
+
+"So that to reach the yew alley one either has to come down it from the
+house or else to enter it by the moor-gate?"
+
+"There is an exit through a summer-house at the far end."
+
+"Had Sir Charles reached this?"
+
+"No; he lay about fifty yards from it."
+
+"Now, tell me, Dr. Mortimer--and this is important--the marks which you
+saw were on the path and not on the grass?"
+
+"No marks could show on the grass."
+
+"Were they on the same side of the path as the moor-gate?"
+
+"Yes; they were on the edge of the path on the same side as the
+moor-gate."
+
+"You interest me exceedingly. Another point. Was the wicket-gate
+closed?"
+
+"Closed and padlocked."
+
+"How high was it?"
+
+"About four feet high."
+
+"Then anyone could have got over it?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And what marks did you see by the wicket-gate?"
+
+"None in particular."
+
+"Good heaven! Did no one examine?"
+
+"Yes, I examined, myself."
+
+"And found nothing?"
+
+"It was all very confused. Sir Charles had evidently stood there for
+five or ten minutes."
+
+"How do you know that?"
+
+"Because the ash had twice dropped from his cigar."
+
+"Excellent! This is a colleague, Watson, after our own heart. But the
+marks?"
+
+"He had left his own marks all over that small patch of gravel. I could
+discern no others."
+
+Sherlock Holmes struck his hand against his knee with an impatient
+gesture.
+
+"If I had only been there!" he cried. "It is evidently a case of
+extraordinary interest, and one which presented immense opportunities to
+the scientific expert. That gravel page upon which I might have read so
+much has been long ere this smudged by the rain and defaced by the clogs
+of curious peasants. Oh, Dr. Mortimer, Dr. Mortimer, to think that you
+should not have called me in! You have indeed much to answer for."
+
+"I could not call you in, Mr. Holmes, without disclosing these facts to
+the world, and I have already given my reasons for not wishing to do so.
+Besides, besides--"
+
+"Why do you hesitate?"
+
+"There is a realm in which the most acute and most experienced of
+detectives is helpless."
+
+"You mean that the thing is supernatural?"
+
+"I did not positively say so."
+
+"No, but you evidently think it."
+
+"Since the tragedy, Mr. Holmes, there have come to my ears several
+incidents which are hard to reconcile with the settled order of Nature."
+
+"For example?"
+
+"I find that before the terrible event occurred several people had seen
+a creature upon the moor which corresponds with this Baskerville demon,
+and which could not possibly be any animal known to science. They all
+agreed that it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I
+have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman,
+one a farrier, and one a moorland farmer, who all tell the same story of
+this dreadful apparition, exactly corresponding to the hell-hound of the
+legend. I assure you that there is a reign of terror in the district,
+and that it is a hardy man who will cross the moor at night."
+
+"And you, a trained man of science, believe it to be supernatural?"
+
+"I do not know what to believe."
+
+Holmes shrugged his shoulders. "I have hitherto confined my
+investigations to this world," said he. "In a modest way I have combated
+evil, but to take on the Father of Evil himself would, perhaps, be too
+ambitious a task. Yet you must admit that the footmark is material."
+
+"The original hound was material enough to tug a man's throat out, and
+yet he was diabolical as well."
+
+"I see that you have quite gone over to the supernaturalists. But now,
+Dr. Mortimer, tell me this. If you hold these views, why have you come
+to consult me at all? You tell me in the same breath that it is useless
+to investigate Sir Charles's death, and that you desire me to do it."
+
+"I did not say that I desired you to do it."
+
+"Then, how can I assist you?"
+
+"By advising me as to what I should do with Sir Henry Baskerville, who
+arrives at Waterloo Station"--Dr. Mortimer looked at his watch--"in
+exactly one hour and a quarter."
+
+"He being the heir?"
+
+"Yes. On the death of Sir Charles we inquired for this young gentleman
+and found that he had been farming in Canada. From the accounts which
+have reached us he is an excellent fellow in every way. I speak now not
+as a medical man but as a trustee and executor of Sir Charles's will."
+
+"There is no other claimant, I presume?"
+
+"None. The only other kinsman whom we have been able to trace was Rodger
+Baskerville, the youngest of three brothers of whom poor Sir Charles was
+the elder. The second brother, who died young, is the father of this lad
+Henry. The third, Rodger, was the black sheep of the family. He came of
+the old masterful Baskerville strain and was the very image, they tell
+me, of the family picture of old Hugo. He made England too hot to hold
+him, fled to Central America, and died there in 1876 of yellow fever.
+Henry is the last of the Baskervilles. In one hour and five minutes
+I meet him at Waterloo Station. I have had a wire that he arrived at
+Southampton this morning. Now, Mr. Holmes, what would you advise me to
+do with him?"
+
+"Why should he not go to the home of his fathers?"
+
+"It seems natural, does it not? And yet, consider that every Baskerville
+who goes there meets with an evil fate. I feel sure that if Sir Charles
+could have spoken with me before his death he would have warned me
+against bringing this, the last of the old race, and the heir to great
+wealth, to that deadly place. And yet it cannot be denied that the
+prosperity of the whole poor, bleak countryside depends upon his
+presence. All the good work which has been done by Sir Charles will
+crash to the ground if there is no tenant of the Hall. I fear lest I
+should be swayed too much by my own obvious interest in the matter, and
+that is why I bring the case before you and ask for your advice."
+
+Holmes considered for a little time.
+
+"Put into plain words, the matter is this," said he. "In your opinion
+there is a diabolical agency which makes Dartmoor an unsafe abode for a
+Baskerville--that is your opinion?"
+
+"At least I might go the length of saying that there is some evidence
+that this may be so."
+
+"Exactly. But surely, if your supernatural theory be correct, it could
+work the young man evil in London as easily as in Devonshire. A devil
+with merely local powers like a parish vestry would be too inconceivable
+a thing."
+
+"You put the matter more flippantly, Mr. Holmes, than you would probably
+do if you were brought into personal contact with these things. Your
+advice, then, as I understand it, is that the young man will be as safe
+in Devonshire as in London. He comes in fifty minutes. What would you
+recommend?"
+
+"I recommend, sir, that you take a cab, call off your spaniel who is
+scratching at my front door, and proceed to Waterloo to meet Sir Henry
+Baskerville."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"And then you will say nothing to him at all until I have made up my
+mind about the matter."
+
+"How long will it take you to make up your mind?"
+
+"Twenty-four hours. At ten o'clock tomorrow, Dr. Mortimer, I will be
+much obliged to you if you will call upon me here, and it will be
+of help to me in my plans for the future if you will bring Sir Henry
+Baskerville with you."
+
+"I will do so, Mr. Holmes." He scribbled the appointment on his
+shirt-cuff and hurried off in his strange, peering, absent-minded
+fashion. Holmes stopped him at the head of the stair.
+
+"Only one more question, Dr. Mortimer. You say that before Sir Charles
+Baskerville's death several people saw this apparition upon the moor?"
+
+"Three people did."
+
+"Did any see it after?"
+
+"I have not heard of any."
+
+"Thank you. Good-morning."
+
+Holmes returned to his seat with that quiet look of inward satisfaction
+which meant that he had a congenial task before him.
+
+"Going out, Watson?"
+
+"Unless I can help you."
+
+"No, my dear fellow, it is at the hour of action that I turn to you for
+aid. But this is splendid, really unique from some points of view.
+When you pass Bradley's, would you ask him to send up a pound of the
+strongest shag tobacco? Thank you. It would be as well if you could make
+it convenient not to return before evening. Then I should be very glad
+to compare impressions as to this most interesting problem which has
+been submitted to us this morning."
+
+I knew that seclusion and solitude were very necessary for my friend
+in those hours of intense mental concentration during which he weighed
+every particle of evidence, constructed alternative theories, balanced
+one against the other, and made up his mind as to which points were
+essential and which immaterial. I therefore spent the day at my club and
+did not return to Baker Street until evening. It was nearly nine o'clock
+when I found myself in the sitting-room once more.
+
+My first impression as I opened the door was that a fire had broken out,
+for the room was so filled with smoke that the light of the lamp upon
+the table was blurred by it. As I entered, however, my fears were set at
+rest, for it was the acrid fumes of strong coarse tobacco which took me
+by the throat and set me coughing. Through the haze I had a vague vision
+of Holmes in his dressing-gown coiled up in an armchair with his black
+clay pipe between his lips. Several rolls of paper lay around him.
+
+"Caught cold, Watson?" said he.
+
+"No, it's this poisonous atmosphere."
+
+"I suppose it is pretty thick, now that you mention it."
+
+"Thick! It is intolerable."
+
+"Open the window, then! You have been at your club all day, I perceive."
+
+"My dear Holmes!"
+
+"Am I right?"
+
+"Certainly, but how?"
+
+He laughed at my bewildered expression. "There is a delightful freshness
+about you, Watson, which makes it a pleasure to exercise any small
+powers which I possess at your expense. A gentleman goes forth on a
+showery and miry day. He returns immaculate in the evening with the
+gloss still on his hat and his boots. He has been a fixture therefore
+all day. He is not a man with intimate friends. Where, then, could he
+have been? Is it not obvious?"
+
+"Well, it is rather obvious."
+
+"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever
+observes. Where do you think that I have been?"
+
+"A fixture also."
+
+"On the contrary, I have been to Devonshire."
+
+"In spirit?"
+
+"Exactly. My body has remained in this armchair and has, I regret
+to observe, consumed in my absence two large pots of coffee and an
+incredible amount of tobacco. After you left I sent down to Stamford's
+for the Ordnance map of this portion of the moor, and my spirit has
+hovered over it all day. I flatter myself that I could find my way
+about."
+
+"A large-scale map, I presume?"
+
+"Very large."
+
+He unrolled one section and held it over his knee. "Here you have the
+particular district which concerns us. That is Baskerville Hall in the
+middle."
+
+"With a wood round it?"
+
+"Exactly. I fancy the yew alley, though not marked under that name, must
+stretch along this line, with the moor, as you perceive, upon the right
+of it. This small clump of buildings here is the hamlet of Grimpen,
+where our friend Dr. Mortimer has his headquarters. Within a radius of
+five miles there are, as you see, only a very few scattered dwellings.
+Here is Lafter Hall, which was mentioned in the narrative. There is
+a house indicated here which may be the residence of the
+naturalist--Stapleton, if I remember right, was his name. Here are two
+moorland farmhouses, High Tor and Foulmire. Then fourteen miles away the
+great convict prison of Princetown. Between and around these scattered
+points extends the desolate, lifeless moor. This, then, is the stage
+upon which tragedy has been played, and upon which we may help to play
+it again."
+
+"It must be a wild place."
+
+"Yes, the setting is a worthy one. If the devil did desire to have a
+hand in the affairs of men--"
+
+"Then you are yourself inclining to the supernatural explanation."
+
+"The devil's agents may be of flesh and blood, may they not? There are
+two questions waiting for us at the outset. The one is whether any crime
+has been committed at all; the second is, what is the crime and how was
+it committed? Of course, if Dr. Mortimer's surmise should be correct,
+and we are dealing with forces outside the ordinary laws of Nature,
+there is an end of our investigation. But we are bound to exhaust all
+other hypotheses before falling back upon this one. I think we'll shut
+that window again, if you don't mind. It is a singular thing, but I find
+that a concentrated atmosphere helps a concentration of thought. I have
+not pushed it to the length of getting into a box to think, but that is
+the logical outcome of my convictions. Have you turned the case over in
+your mind?"
+
+"Yes, I have thought a good deal of it in the course of the day."
+
+"What do you make of it?"
+
+"It is very bewildering."
+
+"It has certainly a character of its own. There are points of
+distinction about it. That change in the footprints, for example. What
+do you make of that?"
+
+"Mortimer said that the man had walked on tiptoe down that portion of
+the alley."
+
+"He only repeated what some fool had said at the inquest. Why should a
+man walk on tiptoe down the alley?"
+
+"What then?"
+
+"He was running, Watson--running desperately, running for his life,
+running until he burst his heart--and fell dead upon his face."
+
+"Running from what?"
+
+"There lies our problem. There are indications that the man was crazed
+with fear before ever he began to run."
+
+"How can you say that?"
+
+"I am presuming that the cause of his fears came to him across the moor.
+If that were so, and it seems most probable, only a man who had lost his
+wits would have run from the house instead of towards it. If the
+gipsy's evidence may be taken as true, he ran with cries for help in the
+direction where help was least likely to be. Then, again, whom was he
+waiting for that night, and why was he waiting for him in the yew alley
+rather than in his own house?"
+
+"You think that he was waiting for someone?"
+
+"The man was elderly and infirm. We can understand his taking an evening
+stroll, but the ground was damp and the night inclement. Is it natural
+that he should stand for five or ten minutes, as Dr. Mortimer, with more
+practical sense than I should have given him credit for, deduced from
+the cigar ash?"
+
+"But he went out every evening."
+
+"I think it unlikely that he waited at the moor-gate every evening. On
+the contrary, the evidence is that he avoided the moor. That night he
+waited there. It was the night before he made his departure for London.
+The thing takes shape, Watson. It becomes coherent. Might I ask you to
+hand me my violin, and we will postpone all further thought upon this
+business until we have had the advantage of meeting Dr. Mortimer and Sir
+Henry Baskerville in the morning."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 4. Sir Henry Baskerville
+
+
+
+Our breakfast table was cleared early, and Holmes waited in his
+dressing-gown for the promised interview. Our clients were punctual to
+their appointment, for the clock had just struck ten when Dr. Mortimer
+was shown up, followed by the young baronet. The latter was a small,
+alert, dark-eyed man about thirty years of age, very sturdily built,
+with thick black eyebrows and a strong, pugnacious face. He wore a
+ruddy-tinted tweed suit and had the weather-beaten appearance of one who
+has spent most of his time in the open air, and yet there was something
+in his steady eye and the quiet assurance of his bearing which indicated
+the gentleman.
+
+"This is Sir Henry Baskerville," said Dr. Mortimer.
+
+"Why, yes," said he, "and the strange thing is, Mr. Sherlock Holmes,
+that if my friend here had not proposed coming round to you this morning
+I should have come on my own account. I understand that you think out
+little puzzles, and I've had one this morning which wants more thinking
+out than I am able to give it."
+
+"Pray take a seat, Sir Henry. Do I understand you to say that you have
+yourself had some remarkable experience since you arrived in London?"
+
+"Nothing of much importance, Mr. Holmes. Only a joke, as like as not.
+It was this letter, if you can call it a letter, which reached me this
+morning."
+
+He laid an envelope upon the table, and we all bent over it. It was of
+common quality, grayish in colour. The address, "Sir Henry Baskerville,
+Northumberland Hotel," was printed in rough characters; the post-mark
+"Charing Cross," and the date of posting the preceding evening.
+
+"Who knew that you were going to the Northumberland Hotel?" asked
+Holmes, glancing keenly across at our visitor.
+
+"No one could have known. We only decided after I met Dr. Mortimer."
+
+"But Dr. Mortimer was no doubt already stopping there?"
+
+"No, I had been staying with a friend," said the doctor.
+
+"There was no possible indication that we intended to go to this hotel."
+
+"Hum! Someone seems to be very deeply interested in your movements." Out
+of the envelope he took a half-sheet of foolscap paper folded into four.
+This he opened and spread flat upon the table. Across the middle of it
+a single sentence had been formed by the expedient of pasting printed
+words upon it. It ran:
+
+        As you value your life or your reason keep away from the moor.
+
+The word "moor" only was printed in ink.
+
+"Now," said Sir Henry Baskerville, "perhaps you will tell me, Mr.
+Holmes, what in thunder is the meaning of that, and who it is that takes
+so much interest in my affairs?"
+
+"What do you make of it, Dr. Mortimer? You must allow that there is
+nothing supernatural about this, at any rate?"
+
+"No, sir, but it might very well come from someone who was convinced
+that the business is supernatural."
+
+"What business?" asked Sir Henry sharply. "It seems to me that all you
+gentlemen know a great deal more than I do about my own affairs."
+
+"You shall share our knowledge before you leave this room, Sir Henry. I
+promise you that," said Sherlock Holmes. "We will confine ourselves
+for the present with your permission to this very interesting document,
+which must have been put together and posted yesterday evening. Have you
+yesterday's Times, Watson?"
+
+"It is here in the corner."
+
+"Might I trouble you for it--the inside page, please, with the leading
+articles?" He glanced swiftly over it, running his eyes up and down the
+columns. "Capital article this on free trade. Permit me to give you an
+extract from it.
+
+     'You may be cajoled into imagining that your own special
+     trade or your own industry will be encouraged by a
+     protective tariff, but it stands to reason that such
+     legislation must in the long run keep away wealth from the
+     country, diminish the value of our imports, and lower the
+     general conditions of life in this island.'
+
+"What do you think of that, Watson?" cried Holmes in high glee, rubbing
+his hands together with satisfaction. "Don't you think that is an
+admirable sentiment?"
+
+Dr. Mortimer looked at Holmes with an air of professional interest, and
+Sir Henry Baskerville turned a pair of puzzled dark eyes upon me.
+
+"I don't know much about the tariff and things of that kind," said he,
+"but it seems to me we've got a bit off the trail so far as that note is
+concerned."
+
+"On the contrary, I think we are particularly hot upon the trail, Sir
+Henry. Watson here knows more about my methods than you do, but I fear
+that even he has not quite grasped the significance of this sentence."
+
+"No, I confess that I see no connection."
+
+"And yet, my dear Watson, there is so very close a connection that
+the one is extracted out of the other. 'You,' 'your,' 'your,' 'life,'
+'reason,' 'value,' 'keep away,' 'from the.' Don't you see now whence
+these words have been taken?"
+
+"By thunder, you're right! Well, if that isn't smart!" cried Sir Henry.
+
+"If any possible doubt remained it is settled by the fact that 'keep
+away' and 'from the' are cut out in one piece."
+
+"Well, now--so it is!"
+
+"Really, Mr. Holmes, this exceeds anything which I could have imagined,"
+said Dr. Mortimer, gazing at my friend in amazement. "I could understand
+anyone saying that the words were from a newspaper; but that you should
+name which, and add that it came from the leading article, is really one
+of the most remarkable things which I have ever known. How did you do
+it?"
+
+"I presume, Doctor, that you could tell the skull of a <DW64> from that
+of an Esquimau?"
+
+"Most certainly."
+
+"But how?"
+
+"Because that is my special hobby. The differences are obvious. The
+supra-orbital crest, the facial angle, the maxillary curve, the--"
+
+"But this is my special hobby, and the differences are equally obvious.
+There is as much difference to my eyes between the leaded bourgeois type
+of a Times article and the slovenly print of an evening half-penny paper
+as there could be between your <DW64> and your Esquimau. The detection of
+types is one of the most elementary branches of knowledge to the special
+expert in crime, though I confess that once when I was very young I
+confused the Leeds Mercury with the Western Morning News. But a Times
+leader is entirely distinctive, and these words could have been taken
+from nothing else. As it was done yesterday the strong probability was
+that we should find the words in yesterday's issue."
+
+"So far as I can follow you, then, Mr. Holmes," said Sir Henry
+Baskerville, "someone cut out this message with a scissors--"
+
+"Nail-scissors," said Holmes. "You can see that it was a very
+short-bladed scissors, since the cutter had to take two snips over 'keep
+away.'"
+
+"That is so. Someone, then, cut out the message with a pair of
+short-bladed scissors, pasted it with paste--"
+
+"Gum," said Holmes.
+
+"With gum on to the paper. But I want to know why the word 'moor' should
+have been written?"
+
+"Because he could not find it in print. The other words were all simple
+and might be found in any issue, but 'moor' would be less common."
+
+"Why, of course, that would explain it. Have you read anything else in
+this message, Mr. Holmes?"
+
+"There are one or two indications, and yet the utmost pains have been
+taken to remove all clues. The address, you observe is printed in rough
+characters. But the Times is a paper which is seldom found in any hands
+but those of the highly educated. We may take it, therefore, that
+the letter was composed by an educated man who wished to pose as an
+uneducated one, and his effort to conceal his own writing suggests that
+that writing might be known, or come to be known, by you. Again, you
+will observe that the words are not gummed on in an accurate line, but
+that some are much higher than others. 'Life,' for example is quite out
+of its proper place. That may point to carelessness or it may point to
+agitation and hurry upon the part of the cutter. On the whole I incline
+to the latter view, since the matter was evidently important, and it
+is unlikely that the composer of such a letter would be careless. If he
+were in a hurry it opens up the interesting question why he should be
+in a hurry, since any letter posted up to early morning would reach
+Sir Henry before he would leave his hotel. Did the composer fear an
+interruption--and from whom?"
+
+"We are coming now rather into the region of guesswork," said Dr.
+Mortimer.
+
+"Say, rather, into the region where we balance probabilities and choose
+the most likely. It is the scientific use of the imagination, but we
+have always some material basis on which to start our speculation. Now,
+you would call it a guess, no doubt, but I am almost certain that this
+address has been written in a hotel."
+
+"How in the world can you say that?"
+
+"If you examine it carefully you will see that both the pen and the ink
+have given the writer trouble. The pen has spluttered twice in a single
+word and has run dry three times in a short address, showing that there
+was very little ink in the bottle. Now, a private pen or ink-bottle is
+seldom allowed to be in such a state, and the combination of the two
+must be quite rare. But you know the hotel ink and the hotel pen, where
+it is rare to get anything else. Yes, I have very little hesitation
+in saying that could we examine the waste-paper baskets of the hotels
+around Charing Cross until we found the remains of the mutilated Times
+leader we could lay our hands straight upon the person who sent this
+singular message. Halloa! Halloa! What's this?"
+
+He was carefully examining the foolscap, upon which the words were
+pasted, holding it only an inch or two from his eyes.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Nothing," said he, throwing it down. "It is a blank half-sheet of
+paper, without even a water-mark upon it. I think we have drawn as much
+as we can from this curious letter; and now, Sir Henry, has anything
+else of interest happened to you since you have been in London?"
+
+"Why, no, Mr. Holmes. I think not."
+
+"You have not observed anyone follow or watch you?"
+
+"I seem to have walked right into the thick of a dime novel," said our
+visitor. "Why in thunder should anyone follow or watch me?"
+
+"We are coming to that. You have nothing else to report to us before we
+go into this matter?"
+
+"Well, it depends upon what you think worth reporting."
+
+"I think anything out of the ordinary routine of life well worth
+reporting."
+
+Sir Henry smiled. "I don't know much of British life yet, for I have
+spent nearly all my time in the States and in Canada. But I hope that to
+lose one of your boots is not part of the ordinary routine of life over
+here."
+
+"You have lost one of your boots?"
+
+"My dear sir," cried Dr. Mortimer, "it is only mislaid. You will find
+it when you return to the hotel. What is the use of troubling Mr. Holmes
+with trifles of this kind?"
+
+"Well, he asked me for anything outside the ordinary routine."
+
+"Exactly," said Holmes, "however foolish the incident may seem. You have
+lost one of your boots, you say?"
+
+"Well, mislaid it, anyhow. I put them both outside my door last night,
+and there was only one in the morning. I could get no sense out of the
+chap who cleans them. The worst of it is that I only bought the pair
+last night in the Strand, and I have never had them on."
+
+"If you have never worn them, why did you put them out to be cleaned?"
+
+"They were tan boots and had never been varnished. That was why I put
+them out."
+
+"Then I understand that on your arrival in London yesterday you went out
+at once and bought a pair of boots?"
+
+"I did a good deal of shopping. Dr. Mortimer here went round with me.
+You see, if I am to be squire down there I must dress the part, and
+it may be that I have got a little careless in my ways out West. Among
+other things I bought these brown boots--gave six dollars for them--and
+had one stolen before ever I had them on my feet."
+
+"It seems a singularly useless thing to steal," said Sherlock Holmes.
+"I confess that I share Dr. Mortimer's belief that it will not be long
+before the missing boot is found."
+
+"And, now, gentlemen," said the baronet with decision, "it seems to me
+that I have spoken quite enough about the little that I know. It is time
+that you kept your promise and gave me a full account of what we are all
+driving at."
+
+"Your request is a very reasonable one," Holmes answered. "Dr. Mortimer,
+I think you could not do better than to tell your story as you told it
+to us."
+
+Thus encouraged, our scientific friend drew his papers from his pocket
+and presented the whole case as he had done upon the morning before.
+Sir Henry Baskerville listened with the deepest attention and with an
+occasional exclamation of surprise.
+
+"Well, I seem to have come into an inheritance with a vengeance," said
+he when the long narrative was finished. "Of course, I've heard of the
+hound ever since I was in the nursery. It's the pet story of the family,
+though I never thought of taking it seriously before. But as to my
+uncle's death--well, it all seems boiling up in my head, and I can't
+get it clear yet. You don't seem quite to have made up your mind whether
+it's a case for a policeman or a clergyman."
+
+"Precisely."
+
+"And now there's this affair of the letter to me at the hotel. I suppose
+that fits into its place."
+
+"It seems to show that someone knows more than we do about what goes on
+upon the moor," said Dr. Mortimer.
+
+"And also," said Holmes, "that someone is not ill-disposed towards you,
+since they warn you of danger."
+
+"Or it may be that they wish, for their own purposes, to scare me away."
+
+"Well, of course, that is possible also. I am very much indebted to you,
+Dr. Mortimer, for introducing me to a problem which presents several
+interesting alternatives. But the practical point which we now have to
+decide, Sir Henry, is whether it is or is not advisable for you to go to
+Baskerville Hall."
+
+"Why should I not go?"
+
+"There seems to be danger."
+
+"Do you mean danger from this family fiend or do you mean danger from
+human beings?"
+
+"Well, that is what we have to find out."
+
+"Whichever it is, my answer is fixed. There is no devil in hell, Mr.
+Holmes, and there is no man upon earth who can prevent me from going to
+the home of my own people, and you may take that to be my final answer."
+His dark brows knitted and his face flushed to a dusky red as he spoke.
+It was evident that the fiery temper of the Baskervilles was not extinct
+in this their last representative. "Meanwhile," said he, "I have hardly
+had time to think over all that you have told me. It's a big thing for a
+man to have to understand and to decide at one sitting. I should like
+to have a quiet hour by myself to make up my mind. Now, look here, Mr.
+Holmes, it's half-past eleven now and I am going back right away to my
+hotel. Suppose you and your friend, Dr. Watson, come round and lunch
+with us at two. I'll be able to tell you more clearly then how this
+thing strikes me."
+
+"Is that convenient to you, Watson?"
+
+"Perfectly."
+
+"Then you may expect us. Shall I have a cab called?"
+
+"I'd prefer to walk, for this affair has flurried me rather."
+
+"I'll join you in a walk, with pleasure," said his companion.
+
+"Then we meet again at two o'clock. Au revoir, and good-morning!"
+
+We heard the steps of our visitors descend the stair and the bang of the
+front door. In an instant Holmes had changed from the languid dreamer to
+the man of action.
+
+"Your hat and boots, Watson, quick! Not a moment to lose!" He rushed
+into his room in his dressing-gown and was back again in a few seconds
+in a frock-coat. We hurried together down the stairs and into the
+street. Dr. Mortimer and Baskerville were still visible about two
+hundred yards ahead of us in the direction of Oxford Street.
+
+"Shall I run on and stop them?"
+
+"Not for the world, my dear Watson. I am perfectly satisfied with your
+company if you will tolerate mine. Our friends are wise, for it is
+certainly a very fine morning for a walk."
+
+He quickened his pace until we had decreased the distance which divided
+us by about half. Then, still keeping a hundred yards behind, we
+followed into Oxford Street and so down Regent Street. Once our friends
+stopped and stared into a shop window, upon which Holmes did the
+same. An instant afterwards he gave a little cry of satisfaction, and,
+following the direction of his eager eyes, I saw that a hansom cab with
+a man inside which had halted on the other side of the street was now
+proceeding slowly onward again.
+
+
+"There's our man, Watson! Come along! We'll have a good look at him, if
+we can do no more."
+
+At that instant I was aware of a bushy black beard and a pair of
+piercing eyes turned upon us through the side window of the cab.
+Instantly the trapdoor at the top flew up, something was screamed to
+the driver, and the cab flew madly off down Regent Street. Holmes looked
+eagerly round for another, but no empty one was in sight. Then he dashed
+in wild pursuit amid the stream of the traffic, but the start was too
+great, and already the cab was out of sight.
+
+"There now!" said Holmes bitterly as he emerged panting and white with
+vexation from the tide of vehicles. "Was ever such bad luck and such
+bad management, too? Watson, Watson, if you are an honest man you will
+record this also and set it against my successes!"
+
+"Who was the man?"
+
+"I have not an idea."
+
+"A spy?"
+
+"Well, it was evident from what we have heard that Baskerville has been
+very closely shadowed by someone since he has been in town. How else
+could it be known so quickly that it was the Northumberland Hotel which
+he had chosen? If they had followed him the first day I argued that they
+would follow him also the second. You may have observed that I twice
+strolled over to the window while Dr. Mortimer was reading his legend."
+
+"Yes, I remember."
+
+"I was looking out for loiterers in the street, but I saw none. We
+are dealing with a clever man, Watson. This matter cuts very deep, and
+though I have not finally made up my mind whether it is a benevolent or
+a malevolent agency which is in touch with us, I am conscious always of
+power and design. When our friends left I at once followed them in the
+hopes of marking down their invisible attendant. So wily was he that he
+had not trusted himself upon foot, but he had availed himself of a cab
+so that he could loiter behind or dash past them and so escape their
+notice. His method had the additional advantage that if they were to
+take a cab he was all ready to follow them. It has, however, one obvious
+disadvantage."
+
+"It puts him in the power of the cabman."
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"What a pity we did not get the number!"
+
+"My dear Watson, clumsy as I have been, you surely do not seriously
+imagine that I neglected to get the number? No. 2704 is our man. But
+that is no use to us for the moment."
+
+"I fail to see how you could have done more."
+
+"On observing the cab I should have instantly turned and walked in the
+other direction. I should then at my leisure have hired a second cab
+and followed the first at a respectful distance, or, better still, have
+driven to the Northumberland Hotel and waited there. When our unknown
+had followed Baskerville home we should have had the opportunity of
+playing his own game upon himself and seeing where he made for. As
+it is, by an indiscreet eagerness, which was taken advantage of with
+extraordinary quickness and energy by our opponent, we have betrayed
+ourselves and lost our man."
+
+We had been sauntering slowly down Regent Street during this
+conversation, and Dr. Mortimer, with his companion, had long vanished in
+front of us.
+
+"There is no object in our following them," said Holmes. "The shadow has
+departed and will not return. We must see what further cards we have
+in our hands and play them with decision. Could you swear to that man's
+face within the cab?"
+
+"I could swear only to the beard."
+
+"And so could I--from which I gather that in all probability it was
+a false one. A clever man upon so delicate an errand has no use for a
+beard save to conceal his features. Come in here, Watson!"
+
+He turned into one of the district messenger offices, where he was
+warmly greeted by the manager.
+
+"Ah, Wilson, I see you have not forgotten the little case in which I had
+the good fortune to help you?"
+
+"No, sir, indeed I have not. You saved my good name, and perhaps my
+life."
+
+"My dear fellow, you exaggerate. I have some recollection, Wilson, that
+you had among your boys a lad named Cartwright, who showed some ability
+during the investigation."
+
+"Yes, sir, he is still with us."
+
+"Could you ring him up?--thank you! And I should be glad to have change
+of this five-pound note."
+
+A lad of fourteen, with a bright, keen face, had obeyed the summons
+of the manager. He stood now gazing with great reverence at the famous
+detective.
+
+"Let me have the Hotel Directory," said Holmes. "Thank you! Now,
+Cartwright, there are the names of twenty-three hotels here, all in the
+immediate neighbourhood of Charing Cross. Do you see?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"You will visit each of these in turn."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"You will begin in each case by giving the outside porter one shilling.
+Here are twenty-three shillings."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"You will tell him that you want to see the waste-paper of yesterday.
+You will say that an important telegram has miscarried and that you are
+looking for it. You understand?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"But what you are really looking for is the centre page of the Times
+with some holes cut in it with scissors. Here is a copy of the Times. It
+is this page. You could easily recognize it, could you not?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"In each case the outside porter will send for the hall porter, to whom
+also you will give a shilling. Here are twenty-three shillings. You will
+then learn in possibly twenty cases out of the twenty-three that the
+waste of the day before has been burned or removed. In the three other
+cases you will be shown a heap of paper and you will look for this page
+of the Times among it. The odds are enormously against your finding
+it. There are ten shillings over in case of emergencies. Let me have a
+report by wire at Baker Street before evening. And now, Watson, it only
+remains for us to find out by wire the identity of the cabman, No. 2704,
+and then we will drop into one of the Bond Street picture galleries and
+fill in the time until we are due at the hotel."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 5. Three Broken Threads
+
+
+
+Sherlock Holmes had, in a very remarkable degree, the power of detaching
+his mind at will. For two hours the strange business in which we had
+been involved appeared to be forgotten, and he was entirely absorbed in
+the pictures of the modern Belgian masters. He would talk of nothing
+but art, of which he had the crudest ideas, from our leaving the gallery
+until we found ourselves at the Northumberland Hotel.
+
+"Sir Henry Baskerville is upstairs expecting you," said the clerk. "He
+asked me to show you up at once when you came."
+
+"Have you any objection to my looking at your register?" said Holmes.
+
+"Not in the least."
+
+The book showed that two names had been added after that of Baskerville.
+One was Theophilus Johnson and family, of Newcastle; the other Mrs.
+Oldmore and maid, of High Lodge, Alton.
+
+"Surely that must be the same Johnson whom I used to know," said Holmes
+to the porter. "A lawyer, is he not, gray-headed, and walks with a
+limp?"
+
+"No, sir, this is Mr. Johnson, the coal-owner, a very active gentleman,
+not older than yourself."
+
+"Surely you are mistaken about his trade?"
+
+"No, sir! he has used this hotel for many years, and he is very well
+known to us."
+
+"Ah, that settles it. Mrs. Oldmore, too; I seem to remember the name.
+Excuse my curiosity, but often in calling upon one friend one finds
+another."
+
+"She is an invalid lady, sir. Her husband was once mayor of Gloucester.
+She always comes to us when she is in town."
+
+"Thank you; I am afraid I cannot claim her acquaintance. We have
+established a most important fact by these questions, Watson," he
+continued in a low voice as we went upstairs together. "We know now that
+the people who are so interested in our friend have not settled down
+in his own hotel. That means that while they are, as we have seen, very
+anxious to watch him, they are equally anxious that he should not see
+them. Now, this is a most suggestive fact."
+
+"What does it suggest?"
+
+"It suggests--halloa, my dear fellow, what on earth is the matter?"
+
+As we came round the top of the stairs we had run up against Sir Henry
+Baskerville himself. His face was flushed with anger, and he held an old
+and dusty boot in one of his hands. So furious was he that he was hardly
+articulate, and when he did speak it was in a much broader and more
+Western dialect than any which we had heard from him in the morning.
+
+"Seems to me they are playing me for a sucker in this hotel," he cried.
+"They'll find they've started in to monkey with the wrong man unless
+they are careful. By thunder, if that chap can't find my missing boot
+there will be trouble. I can take a joke with the best, Mr. Holmes, but
+they've got a bit over the mark this time."
+
+"Still looking for your boot?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and mean to find it."
+
+"But, surely, you said that it was a new brown boot?"
+
+"So it was, sir. And now it's an old black one."
+
+"What! you don't mean to say--?"
+
+"That's just what I do mean to say. I only had three pairs in the
+world--the new brown, the old black, and the patent leathers, which I am
+wearing. Last night they took one of my brown ones, and today they have
+sneaked one of the black. Well, have you got it? Speak out, man, and
+don't stand staring!"
+
+An agitated German waiter had appeared upon the scene.
+
+"No, sir; I have made inquiry all over the hotel, but I can hear no word
+of it."
+
+"Well, either that boot comes back before sundown or I'll see the
+manager and tell him that I go right straight out of this hotel."
+
+"It shall be found, sir--I promise you that if you will have a little
+patience it will be found."
+
+"Mind it is, for it's the last thing of mine that I'll lose in this den
+of thieves. Well, well, Mr. Holmes, you'll excuse my troubling you about
+such a trifle--"
+
+"I think it's well worth troubling about."
+
+"Why, you look very serious over it."
+
+"How do you explain it?"
+
+"I just don't attempt to explain it. It seems the very maddest, queerest
+thing that ever happened to me."
+
+"The queerest perhaps--" said Holmes thoughtfully.
+
+"What do you make of it yourself?"
+
+"Well, I don't profess to understand it yet. This case of yours is very
+complex, Sir Henry. When taken in conjunction with your uncle's death
+I am not sure that of all the five hundred cases of capital importance
+which I have handled there is one which cuts so deep. But we hold
+several threads in our hands, and the odds are that one or other of them
+guides us to the truth. We may waste time in following the wrong one,
+but sooner or later we must come upon the right."
+
+We had a pleasant luncheon in which little was said of the business
+which had brought us together. It was in the private sitting-room to
+which we afterwards repaired that Holmes asked Baskerville what were his
+intentions.
+
+"To go to Baskerville Hall."
+
+"And when?"
+
+"At the end of the week."
+
+"On the whole," said Holmes, "I think that your decision is a wise one.
+I have ample evidence that you are being dogged in London, and amid the
+millions of this great city it is difficult to discover who these people
+are or what their object can be. If their intentions are evil they might
+do you a mischief, and we should be powerless to prevent it. You did not
+know, Dr. Mortimer, that you were followed this morning from my house?"
+
+Dr. Mortimer started violently. "Followed! By whom?"
+
+"That, unfortunately, is what I cannot tell you. Have you among your
+neighbours or acquaintances on Dartmoor any man with a black, full
+beard?"
+
+"No--or, let me see--why, yes. Barrymore, Sir Charles's butler, is a man
+with a full, black beard."
+
+"Ha! Where is Barrymore?"
+
+"He is in charge of the Hall."
+
+"We had best ascertain if he is really there, or if by any possibility
+he might be in London."
+
+"How can you do that?"
+
+"Give me a telegraph form. 'Is all ready for Sir Henry?' That will
+do. Address to Mr. Barrymore, Baskerville Hall. What is the nearest
+telegraph-office? Grimpen. Very good, we will send a second wire to the
+postmaster, Grimpen: 'Telegram to Mr. Barrymore to be delivered into
+his own hand. If absent, please return wire to Sir Henry Baskerville,
+Northumberland Hotel.' That should let us know before evening whether
+Barrymore is at his post in Devonshire or not."
+
+"That's so," said Baskerville. "By the way, Dr. Mortimer, who is this
+Barrymore, anyhow?"
+
+"He is the son of the old caretaker, who is dead. They have looked after
+the Hall for four generations now. So far as I know, he and his wife are
+as respectable a couple as any in the county."
+
+"At the same time," said Baskerville, "it's clear enough that so long as
+there are none of the family at the Hall these people have a mighty fine
+home and nothing to do."
+
+"That is true."
+
+"Did Barrymore profit at all by Sir Charles's will?" asked Holmes.
+
+"He and his wife had five hundred pounds each."
+
+"Ha! Did they know that they would receive this?"
+
+"Yes; Sir Charles was very fond of talking about the provisions of his
+will."
+
+"That is very interesting."
+
+"I hope," said Dr. Mortimer, "that you do not look with suspicious eyes
+upon everyone who received a legacy from Sir Charles, for I also had a
+thousand pounds left to me."
+
+"Indeed! And anyone else?"
+
+"There were many insignificant sums to individuals, and a large number
+of public charities. The residue all went to Sir Henry."
+
+"And how much was the residue?"
+
+"Seven hundred and forty thousand pounds."
+
+Holmes raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I had no idea that so gigantic
+a sum was involved," said he.
+
+"Sir Charles had the reputation of being rich, but we did not know how
+very rich he was until we came to examine his securities. The total
+value of the estate was close on to a million."
+
+"Dear me! It is a stake for which a man might well play a desperate
+game. And one more question, Dr. Mortimer. Supposing that anything
+happened to our young friend here--you will forgive the unpleasant
+hypothesis!--who would inherit the estate?"
+
+"Since Rodger Baskerville, Sir Charles's younger brother died unmarried,
+the estate would descend to the Desmonds, who are distant cousins. James
+Desmond is an elderly clergyman in Westmoreland."
+
+"Thank you. These details are all of great interest. Have you met Mr.
+James Desmond?"
+
+"Yes; he once came down to visit Sir Charles. He is a man of venerable
+appearance and of saintly life. I remember that he refused to accept any
+settlement from Sir Charles, though he pressed it upon him."
+
+"And this man of simple tastes would be the heir to Sir Charles's
+thousands."
+
+"He would be the heir to the estate because that is entailed. He would
+also be the heir to the money unless it were willed otherwise by the
+present owner, who can, of course, do what he likes with it."
+
+"And have you made your will, Sir Henry?"
+
+"No, Mr. Holmes, I have not. I've had no time, for it was only yesterday
+that I learned how matters stood. But in any case I feel that the money
+should go with the title and estate. That was my poor uncle's idea. How
+is the owner going to restore the glories of the Baskervilles if he has
+not money enough to keep up the property? House, land, and dollars must
+go together."
+
+"Quite so. Well, Sir Henry, I am of one mind with you as to the
+advisability of your going down to Devonshire without delay. There is
+only one provision which I must make. You certainly must not go alone."
+
+"Dr. Mortimer returns with me."
+
+"But Dr. Mortimer has his practice to attend to, and his house is miles
+away from yours. With all the goodwill in the world he may be unable to
+help you. No, Sir Henry, you must take with you someone, a trusty man,
+who will be always by your side."
+
+"Is it possible that you could come yourself, Mr. Holmes?"
+
+"If matters came to a crisis I should endeavour to be present in person;
+but you can understand that, with my extensive consulting practice
+and with the constant appeals which reach me from many quarters, it is
+impossible for me to be absent from London for an indefinite time. At
+the present instant one of the most revered names in England is being
+besmirched by a blackmailer, and only I can stop a disastrous scandal.
+You will see how impossible it is for me to go to Dartmoor."
+
+"Whom would you recommend, then?"
+
+Holmes laid his hand upon my arm. "If my friend would undertake it there
+is no man who is better worth having at your side when you are in a
+tight place. No one can say so more confidently than I."
+
+The proposition took me completely by surprise, but before I had time to
+answer, Baskerville seized me by the hand and wrung it heartily.
+
+"Well, now, that is real kind of you, Dr. Watson," said he. "You see how
+it is with me, and you know just as much about the matter as I do. If
+you will come down to Baskerville Hall and see me through I'll never
+forget it."
+
+The promise of adventure had always a fascination for me, and I was
+complimented by the words of Holmes and by the eagerness with which the
+baronet hailed me as a companion.
+
+"I will come, with pleasure," said I. "I do not know how I could employ
+my time better."
+
+"And you will report very carefully to me," said Holmes. "When a crisis
+comes, as it will do, I will direct how you shall act. I suppose that by
+Saturday all might be ready?"
+
+"Would that suit Dr. Watson?"
+
+"Perfectly."
+
+"Then on Saturday, unless you hear to the contrary, we shall meet at the
+ten-thirty train from Paddington."
+
+We had risen to depart when Baskerville gave a cry, of triumph, and
+diving into one of the corners of the room he drew a brown boot from
+under a cabinet.
+
+"My missing boot!" he cried.
+
+"May all our difficulties vanish as easily!" said Sherlock Holmes.
+
+"But it is a very singular thing," Dr. Mortimer remarked. "I searched
+this room carefully before lunch."
+
+"And so did I," said Baskerville. "Every inch of it."
+
+"There was certainly no boot in it then."
+
+"In that case the waiter must have placed it there while we were
+lunching."
+
+The German was sent for but professed to know nothing of the matter,
+nor could any inquiry clear it up. Another item had been added to that
+constant and apparently purposeless series of small mysteries which had
+succeeded each other so rapidly. Setting aside the whole grim story of
+Sir Charles's death, we had a line of inexplicable incidents all within
+the limits of two days, which included the receipt of the printed
+letter, the black-bearded spy in the hansom, the loss of the new brown
+boot, the loss of the old black boot, and now the return of the new
+brown boot. Holmes sat in silence in the cab as we drove back to Baker
+Street, and I knew from his drawn brows and keen face that his mind,
+like my own, was busy in endeavouring to frame some scheme into which
+all these strange and apparently disconnected episodes could be fitted.
+All afternoon and late into the evening he sat lost in tobacco and
+thought.
+
+Just before dinner two telegrams were handed in. The first ran:
+
+Have just heard that Barrymore is at the Hall. BASKERVILLE.
+
+The second:
+
+Visited twenty-three hotels as directed, but sorry, to report unable to
+trace cut sheet of Times. CARTWRIGHT.
+
+"There go two of my threads, Watson. There is nothing more stimulating
+than a case where everything goes against you. We must cast round for
+another scent."
+
+"We have still the cabman who drove the spy."
+
+"Exactly. I have wired to get his name and address from the Official
+Registry. I should not be surprised if this were an answer to my
+question."
+
+The ring at the bell proved to be something even more satisfactory
+than an answer, however, for the door opened and a rough-looking fellow
+entered who was evidently the man himself.
+
+"I got a message from the head office that a gent at this address had
+been inquiring for No. 2704," said he. "I've driven my cab this seven
+years and never a word of complaint. I came here straight from the Yard
+to ask you to your face what you had against me."
+
+"I have nothing in the world against you, my good man," said Holmes.
+"On the contrary, I have half a sovereign for you if you will give me a
+clear answer to my questions."
+
+"Well, I've had a good day and no mistake," said the cabman with a grin.
+"What was it you wanted to ask, sir?"
+
+"First of all your name and address, in case I want you again."
+
+"John Clayton, 3 Turpey Street, the Borough. My cab is out of Shipley's
+Yard, near Waterloo Station."
+
+Sherlock Holmes made a note of it.
+
+"Now, Clayton, tell me all about the fare who came and watched this
+house at ten o'clock this morning and afterwards followed the two
+gentlemen down Regent Street."
+
+The man looked surprised and a little embarrassed. "Why, there's no good
+my telling you things, for you seem to know as much as I do already,"
+said he. "The truth is that the gentleman told me that he was a
+detective and that I was to say nothing about him to anyone."
+
+"My good fellow; this is a very serious business, and you may find
+yourself in a pretty bad position if you try to hide anything from me.
+You say that your fare told you that he was a detective?"
+
+"Yes, he did."
+
+"When did he say this?"
+
+"When he left me."
+
+"Did he say anything more?"
+
+"He mentioned his name."
+
+Holmes cast a swift glance of triumph at me. "Oh, he mentioned his name,
+did he? That was imprudent. What was the name that he mentioned?"
+
+"His name," said the cabman, "was Mr. Sherlock Holmes."
+
+Never have I seen my friend more completely taken aback than by the
+cabman's reply. For an instant he sat in silent amazement. Then he burst
+into a hearty laugh.
+
+"A touch, Watson--an undeniable touch!" said he. "I feel a foil as quick
+and supple as my own. He got home upon me very prettily that time. So
+his name was Sherlock Holmes, was it?"
+
+"Yes, sir, that was the gentleman's name."
+
+"Excellent! Tell me where you picked him up and all that occurred."
+
+"He hailed me at half-past nine in Trafalgar Square. He said that he was
+a detective, and he offered me two guineas if I would do exactly what he
+wanted all day and ask no questions. I was glad enough to agree. First
+we drove down to the Northumberland Hotel and waited there until two
+gentlemen came out and took a cab from the rank. We followed their cab
+until it pulled up somewhere near here."
+
+"This very door," said Holmes.
+
+"Well, I couldn't be sure of that, but I dare say my fare knew all about
+it. We pulled up halfway down the street and waited an hour and a half.
+Then the two gentlemen passed us, walking, and we followed down Baker
+Street and along--"
+
+"I know," said Holmes.
+
+"Until we got three-quarters down Regent Street. Then my gentleman threw
+up the trap, and he cried that I should drive right away to Waterloo
+Station as hard as I could go. I whipped up the mare and we were there
+under the ten minutes. Then he paid up his two guineas, like a good one,
+and away he went into the station. Only just as he was leaving he turned
+round and he said: 'It might interest you to know that you have been
+driving Mr. Sherlock Holmes.' That's how I come to know the name."
+
+"I see. And you saw no more of him?"
+
+"Not after he went into the station."
+
+"And how would you describe Mr. Sherlock Holmes?"
+
+The cabman scratched his head. "Well, he wasn't altogether such an easy
+gentleman to describe. I'd put him at forty years of age, and he was
+of a middle height, two or three inches shorter than you, sir. He was
+dressed like a toff, and he had a black beard, cut square at the end,
+and a pale face. I don't know as I could say more than that."
+
+"Colour of his eyes?"
+
+"No, I can't say that."
+
+"Nothing more that you can remember?"
+
+"No, sir; nothing."
+
+"Well, then, here is your half-sovereign. There's another one waiting
+for you if you can bring any more information. Good-night!"
+
+"Good-night, sir, and thank you!"
+
+John Clayton departed chuckling, and Holmes turned to me with a shrug of
+his shoulders and a rueful smile.
+
+"Snap goes our third thread, and we end where we began," said he. "The
+cunning rascal! He knew our number, knew that Sir Henry Baskerville had
+consulted me, spotted who I was in Regent Street, conjectured that I had
+got the number of the cab and would lay my hands on the driver, and so
+sent back this audacious message. I tell you, Watson, this time we have
+got a foeman who is worthy of our steel. I've been checkmated in London.
+I can only wish you better luck in Devonshire. But I'm not easy in my
+mind about it."
+
+"About what?"
+
+"About sending you. It's an ugly business, Watson, an ugly dangerous
+business, and the more I see of it the less I like it. Yes, my dear
+fellow, you may laugh, but I give you my word that I shall be very glad
+to have you back safe and sound in Baker Street once more."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 6. Baskerville Hall
+
+
+
+Sir Henry Baskerville and Dr. Mortimer were ready upon the appointed
+day, and we started as arranged for Devonshire. Mr. Sherlock Holmes
+drove with me to the station and gave me his last parting injunctions
+and advice.
+
+"I will not bias your mind by suggesting theories or suspicions,
+Watson," said he; "I wish you simply to report facts in the fullest
+possible manner to me, and you can leave me to do the theorizing."
+
+"What sort of facts?" I asked.
+
+"Anything which may seem to have a bearing however indirect upon the
+case, and especially the relations between young Baskerville and his
+neighbours or any fresh particulars concerning the death of Sir Charles.
+I have made some inquiries myself in the last few days, but the results
+have, I fear, been negative. One thing only appears to be certain, and
+that is that Mr. James Desmond, who is the next heir, is an elderly
+gentleman of a very amiable disposition, so that this persecution does
+not arise from him. I really think that we may eliminate him entirely
+from our calculations. There remain the people who will actually
+surround Sir Henry Baskerville upon the moor."
+
+"Would it not be well in the first place to get rid of this Barrymore
+couple?"
+
+"By no means. You could not make a greater mistake. If they are innocent
+it would be a cruel injustice, and if they are guilty we should be
+giving up all chance of bringing it home to them. No, no, we will
+preserve them upon our list of suspects. Then there is a groom at the
+Hall, if I remember right. There are two moorland farmers. There is our
+friend Dr. Mortimer, whom I believe to be entirely honest, and there is
+his wife, of whom we know nothing. There is this naturalist, Stapleton,
+and there is his sister, who is said to be a young lady of attractions.
+There is Mr. Frankland, of Lafter Hall, who is also an unknown factor,
+and there are one or two other neighbours. These are the folk who must
+be your very special study."
+
+"I will do my best."
+
+"You have arms, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, I thought it as well to take them."
+
+"Most certainly. Keep your revolver near you night and day, and never
+relax your precautions."
+
+Our friends had already secured a first-class carriage and were waiting
+for us upon the platform.
+
+"No, we have no news of any kind," said Dr. Mortimer in answer to my
+friend's questions. "I can swear to one thing, and that is that we
+have not been shadowed during the last two days. We have never gone
+out without keeping a sharp watch, and no one could have escaped our
+notice."
+
+"You have always kept together, I presume?"
+
+"Except yesterday afternoon. I usually give up one day to pure amusement
+when I come to town, so I spent it at the Museum of the College of
+Surgeons."
+
+"And I went to look at the folk in the park," said Baskerville.
+
+"But we had no trouble of any kind."
+
+"It was imprudent, all the same," said Holmes, shaking his head and
+looking very grave. "I beg, Sir Henry, that you will not go about alone.
+Some great misfortune will befall you if you do. Did you get your other
+boot?"
+
+"No, sir, it is gone forever."
+
+"Indeed. That is very interesting. Well, good-bye," he added as the
+train began to glide down the platform. "Bear in mind, Sir Henry, one of
+the phrases in that queer old legend which Dr. Mortimer has read to us,
+and avoid the moor in those hours of darkness when the powers of evil
+are exalted."
+
+I looked back at the platform when we had left it far behind and saw the
+tall, austere figure of Holmes standing motionless and gazing after us.
+
+The journey was a swift and pleasant one, and I spent it in making the
+more intimate acquaintance of my two companions and in playing with
+Dr. Mortimer's spaniel. In a very few hours the brown earth had
+become ruddy, the brick had changed to granite, and red cows grazed in
+well-hedged fields where the lush grasses and more luxuriant vegetation
+spoke of a richer, if a damper, climate. Young Baskerville stared
+eagerly out of the window and cried aloud with delight as he recognized
+the familiar features of the Devon scenery.
+
+"I've been over a good part of the world since I left it, Dr. Watson,"
+said he; "but I have never seen a place to compare with it."
+
+"I never saw a Devonshire man who did not swear by his county," I
+remarked.
+
+"It depends upon the breed of men quite as much as on the county," said
+Dr. Mortimer. "A glance at our friend here reveals the rounded head of
+the Celt, which carries inside it the Celtic enthusiasm and power
+of attachment. Poor Sir Charles's head was of a very rare type, half
+Gaelic, half Ivernian in its characteristics. But you were very young
+when you last saw Baskerville Hall, were you not?"
+
+"I was a boy in my teens at the time of my father's death and had never
+seen the Hall, for he lived in a little cottage on the South Coast.
+Thence I went straight to a friend in America. I tell you it is all as
+new to me as it is to Dr. Watson, and I'm as keen as possible to see the
+moor."
+
+"Are you? Then your wish is easily granted, for there is your first
+sight of the moor," said Dr. Mortimer, pointing out of the carriage
+window.
+
+Over the green squares of the fields and the low curve of a wood there
+rose in the distance a gray, melancholy hill, with a strange jagged
+summit, dim and vague in the distance, like some fantastic landscape in
+a dream. Baskerville sat for a long time, his eyes fixed upon it, and I
+read upon his eager face how much it meant to him, this first sight of
+that strange spot where the men of his blood had held sway so long
+and left their mark so deep. There he sat, with his tweed suit and his
+American accent, in the corner of a prosaic railway-carriage, and yet as
+I looked at his dark and expressive face I felt more than ever how
+true a descendant he was of that long line of high-blooded, fiery,
+and masterful men. There were pride, valour, and strength in his thick
+brows, his sensitive nostrils, and his large hazel eyes. If on that
+forbidding moor a difficult and dangerous quest should lie before us,
+this was at least a comrade for whom one might venture to take a risk
+with the certainty that he would bravely share it.
+
+The train pulled up at a small wayside station and we all descended.
+Outside, beyond the low, white fence, a wagonette with a pair of cobs
+was waiting. Our coming was evidently a great event, for station-master
+and porters clustered round us to carry out our luggage. It was a sweet,
+simple country spot, but I was surprised to observe that by the gate
+there stood two soldierly men in dark uniforms who leaned upon their
+short rifles and glanced keenly at us as we passed. The coachman, a
+hard-faced, gnarled little fellow, saluted Sir Henry Baskerville, and in
+a few minutes we were flying swiftly down the broad, white road. Rolling
+pasture lands curved upward on either side of us, and old gabled houses
+peeped out from amid the thick green foliage, but behind the peaceful
+and sunlit countryside there rose ever, dark against the evening sky,
+the long, gloomy curve of the moor, broken by the jagged and sinister
+hills.
+
+The wagonette swung round into a side road, and we curved upward through
+deep lanes worn by centuries of wheels, high banks on either side, heavy
+with dripping moss and fleshy hart's-tongue ferns. Bronzing bracken and
+mottled bramble gleamed in the light of the sinking sun. Still steadily
+rising, we passed over a narrow granite bridge and skirted a noisy
+stream which gushed swiftly down, foaming and roaring amid the gray
+boulders. Both road and stream wound up through a valley dense with
+scrub oak and fir. At every turn Baskerville gave an exclamation of
+delight, looking eagerly about him and asking countless questions. To
+his eyes all seemed beautiful, but to me a tinge of melancholy lay upon
+the countryside, which bore so clearly the mark of the waning year.
+Yellow leaves carpeted the lanes and fluttered down upon us as we
+passed. The rattle of our wheels died away as we drove through drifts of
+rotting vegetation--sad gifts, as it seemed to me, for Nature to throw
+before the carriage of the returning heir of the Baskervilles.
+
+"Halloa!" cried Dr. Mortimer, "what is this?"
+
+A steep curve of heath-clad land, an outlying spur of the moor, lay in
+front of us. On the summit, hard and clear like an equestrian statue
+upon its pedestal, was a mounted soldier, dark and stern, his rifle
+poised ready over his forearm. He was watching the road along which we
+travelled.
+
+"What is this, Perkins?" asked Dr. Mortimer.
+
+Our driver half turned in his seat. "There's a convict escaped from
+Princetown, sir. He's been out three days now, and the warders watch
+every road and every station, but they've had no sight of him yet. The
+farmers about here don't like it, sir, and that's a fact."
+
+"Well, I understand that they get five pounds if they can give
+information."
+
+"Yes, sir, but the chance of five pounds is but a poor thing compared
+to the chance of having your throat cut. You see, it isn't like any
+ordinary convict. This is a man that would stick at nothing."
+
+"Who is he, then?"
+
+"It is Selden, the Notting Hill murderer."
+
+I remembered the case well, for it was one in which Holmes had taken an
+interest on account of the peculiar ferocity of the crime and the
+wanton brutality which had marked all the actions of the assassin. The
+commutation of his death sentence had been due to some doubts as to his
+complete sanity, so atrocious was his conduct. Our wagonette had topped
+a rise and in front of us rose the huge expanse of the moor, mottled
+with gnarled and craggy cairns and tors. A cold wind swept down from
+it and set us shivering. Somewhere there, on that desolate plain, was
+lurking this fiendish man, hiding in a burrow like a wild beast, his
+heart full of malignancy against the whole race which had cast him out.
+It needed but this to complete the grim suggestiveness of the barren
+waste, the chilling wind, and the darkling sky. Even Baskerville fell
+silent and pulled his overcoat more closely around him.
+
+We had left the fertile country behind and beneath us. We looked back on
+it now, the slanting rays of a low sun turning the streams to threads of
+gold and glowing on the red earth new turned by the plough and the broad
+tangle of the woodlands. The road in front of us grew bleaker and wilder
+over huge russet and olive <DW72>s, sprinkled with giant boulders. Now
+and then we passed a moorland cottage, walled and roofed with stone,
+with no creeper to break its harsh outline. Suddenly we looked down into
+a cuplike depression, patched with stunted oaks and firs which had been
+twisted and bent by the fury of years of storm. Two high, narrow towers
+rose over the trees. The driver pointed with his whip.
+
+"Baskerville Hall," said he.
+
+Its master had risen and was staring with flushed cheeks and shining
+eyes. A few minutes later we had reached the lodge-gates, a maze of
+fantastic tracery in wrought iron, with weather-bitten pillars on either
+side, blotched with lichens, and surmounted by the boars' heads of the
+Baskervilles. The lodge was a ruin of black granite and bared ribs of
+rafters, but facing it was a new building, half constructed, the first
+fruit of Sir Charles's South African gold.
+
+Through the gateway we passed into the avenue, where the wheels were
+again hushed amid the leaves, and the old trees shot their branches in a
+sombre tunnel over our heads. Baskerville shuddered as he looked up
+the long, dark drive to where the house glimmered like a ghost at the
+farther end.
+
+"Was it here?" he asked in a low voice.
+
+"No, no, the yew alley is on the other side."
+
+The young heir glanced round with a gloomy face.
+
+"It's no wonder my uncle felt as if trouble were coming on him in such a
+place as this," said he. "It's enough to scare any man. I'll have a row
+of electric lamps up here inside of six months, and you won't know it
+again, with a thousand candle-power Swan and Edison right here in front
+of the hall door."
+
+The avenue opened into a broad expanse of turf, and the house lay before
+us. In the fading light I could see that the centre was a heavy block
+of building from which a porch projected. The whole front was draped in
+ivy, with a patch clipped bare here and there where a window or a coat
+of arms broke through the dark veil. From this central block rose the
+twin towers, ancient, crenelated, and pierced with many loopholes. To
+right and left of the turrets were more modern wings of black granite.
+A dull light shone through heavy mullioned windows, and from the high
+chimneys which rose from the steep, high-angled roof there sprang a
+single black column of smoke.
+
+"Welcome, Sir Henry! Welcome to Baskerville Hall!"
+
+A tall man had stepped from the shadow of the porch to open the door of
+the wagonette. The figure of a woman was silhouetted against the yellow
+light of the hall. She came out and helped the man to hand down our
+bags.
+
+"You don't mind my driving straight home, Sir Henry?" said Dr. Mortimer.
+"My wife is expecting me."
+
+"Surely you will stay and have some dinner?"
+
+"No, I must go. I shall probably find some work awaiting me. I would
+stay to show you over the house, but Barrymore will be a better guide
+than I. Good-bye, and never hesitate night or day to send for me if I
+can be of service."
+
+The wheels died away down the drive while Sir Henry and I turned
+into the hall, and the door clanged heavily behind us. It was a fine
+apartment in which we found ourselves, large, lofty, and heavily
+raftered with huge baulks of age-blackened oak. In the great
+old-fashioned fireplace behind the high iron dogs a log-fire crackled
+and snapped. Sir Henry and I held out our hands to it, for we were numb
+from our long drive. Then we gazed round us at the high, thin window
+of old stained glass, the oak panelling, the stags' heads, the coats
+of arms upon the walls, all dim and sombre in the subdued light of the
+central lamp.
+
+"It's just as I imagined it," said Sir Henry. "Is it not the very
+picture of an old family home? To think that this should be the same
+hall in which for five hundred years my people have lived. It strikes me
+solemn to think of it."
+
+I saw his dark face lit up with a boyish enthusiasm as he gazed about
+him. The light beat upon him where he stood, but long shadows trailed
+down the walls and hung like a black canopy above him. Barrymore had
+returned from taking our luggage to our rooms. He stood in front of
+us now with the subdued manner of a well-trained servant. He was a
+remarkable-looking man, tall, handsome, with a square black beard and
+pale, distinguished features.
+
+"Would you wish dinner to be served at once, sir?"
+
+"Is it ready?"
+
+"In a very few minutes, sir. You will find hot water in your rooms. My
+wife and I will be happy, Sir Henry, to stay with you until you have
+made your fresh arrangements, but you will understand that under the new
+conditions this house will require a considerable staff."
+
+"What new conditions?"
+
+"I only meant, sir, that Sir Charles led a very retired life, and we
+were able to look after his wants. You would, naturally, wish to have
+more company, and so you will need changes in your household."
+
+"Do you mean that your wife and you wish to leave?"
+
+"Only when it is quite convenient to you, sir."
+
+"But your family have been with us for several generations, have they
+not? I should be sorry to begin my life here by breaking an old family
+connection."
+
+I seemed to discern some signs of emotion upon the butler's white face.
+
+"I feel that also, sir, and so does my wife. But to tell the truth, sir,
+we were both very much attached to Sir Charles, and his death gave us
+a shock and made these surroundings very painful to us. I fear that we
+shall never again be easy in our minds at Baskerville Hall."
+
+"But what do you intend to do?"
+
+"I have no doubt, sir, that we shall succeed in establishing ourselves
+in some business. Sir Charles's generosity has given us the means to do
+so. And now, sir, perhaps I had best show you to your rooms."
+
+A square balustraded gallery ran round the top of the old hall,
+approached by a double stair. From this central point two long corridors
+extended the whole length of the building, from which all the bedrooms
+opened. My own was in the same wing as Baskerville's and almost next
+door to it. These rooms appeared to be much more modern than the
+central part of the house, and the bright paper and numerous candles
+did something to remove the sombre impression which our arrival had left
+upon my mind.
+
+But the dining-room which opened out of the hall was a place of shadow
+and gloom. It was a long chamber with a step separating the dais where
+the family sat from the lower portion reserved for their dependents.
+At one end a minstrel's gallery overlooked it. Black beams shot across
+above our heads, with a smoke-darkened ceiling beyond them. With rows of
+flaring torches to light it up, and the colour and rude hilarity of
+an old-time banquet, it might have softened; but now, when two
+black-clothed gentlemen sat in the little circle of light thrown by a
+shaded lamp, one's voice became hushed and one's spirit subdued. A
+dim line of ancestors, in every variety of dress, from the Elizabethan
+knight to the buck of the Regency, stared down upon us and daunted us by
+their silent company. We talked little, and I for one was glad when the
+meal was over and we were able to retire into the modern billiard-room
+and smoke a cigarette.
+
+"My word, it isn't a very cheerful place," said Sir Henry. "I suppose
+one can tone down to it, but I feel a bit out of the picture at present.
+I don't wonder that my uncle got a little jumpy if he lived all alone
+in such a house as this. However, if it suits you, we will retire early
+tonight, and perhaps things may seem more cheerful in the morning."
+
+I drew aside my curtains before I went to bed and looked out from my
+window. It opened upon the grassy space which lay in front of the hall
+door. Beyond, two copses of trees moaned and swung in a rising wind. A
+half moon broke through the rifts of racing clouds. In its cold light I
+saw beyond the trees a broken fringe of rocks, and the long, low curve
+of the melancholy moor. I closed the curtain, feeling that my last
+impression was in keeping with the rest.
+
+And yet it was not quite the last. I found myself weary and yet wakeful,
+tossing restlessly from side to side, seeking for the sleep which would
+not come. Far away a chiming clock struck out the quarters of the
+hours, but otherwise a deathly silence lay upon the old house. And then
+suddenly, in the very dead of the night, there came a sound to my
+ears, clear, resonant, and unmistakable. It was the sob of a woman, the
+muffled, strangling gasp of one who is torn by an uncontrollable sorrow.
+I sat up in bed and listened intently. The noise could not have been
+far away and was certainly in the house. For half an hour I waited with
+every nerve on the alert, but there came no other sound save the chiming
+clock and the rustle of the ivy on the wall.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 7. The Stapletons of Merripit House
+
+
+
+The fresh beauty of the following morning did something to efface from
+our minds the grim and gray impression which had been left upon both of
+us by our first experience of Baskerville Hall. As Sir Henry and I sat
+at breakfast the sunlight flooded in through the high mullioned windows,
+throwing watery patches of colour from the coats of arms which covered
+them. The dark panelling glowed like bronze in the golden rays, and it
+was hard to realize that this was indeed the chamber which had struck
+such a gloom into our souls upon the evening before.
+
+"I guess it is ourselves and not the house that we have to blame!" said
+the baronet. "We were tired with our journey and chilled by our drive,
+so we took a gray view of the place. Now we are fresh and well, so it is
+all cheerful once more."
+
+"And yet it was not entirely a question of imagination," I answered.
+"Did you, for example, happen to hear someone, a woman I think, sobbing
+in the night?"
+
+"That is curious, for I did when I was half asleep fancy that I heard
+something of the sort. I waited quite a time, but there was no more of
+it, so I concluded that it was all a dream."
+
+"I heard it distinctly, and I am sure that it was really the sob of a
+woman."
+
+"We must ask about this right away." He rang the bell and asked
+Barrymore whether he could account for our experience. It seemed to me
+that the pallid features of the butler turned a shade paler still as he
+listened to his master's question.
+
+"There are only two women in the house, Sir Henry," he answered. "One is
+the scullery-maid, who sleeps in the other wing. The other is my wife,
+and I can answer for it that the sound could not have come from her."
+
+And yet he lied as he said it, for it chanced that after breakfast I met
+Mrs. Barrymore in the long corridor with the sun full upon her face. She
+was a large, impassive, heavy-featured woman with a stern set expression
+of mouth. But her telltale eyes were red and glanced at me from between
+swollen lids. It was she, then, who wept in the night, and if she did so
+her husband must know it. Yet he had taken the obvious risk of discovery
+in declaring 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. It 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 man's
+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 a somewhat shorter man, but such an
+impression might easily have been erroneous. How could I settle the
+point forever? Obviously the first thing to do was to see the Grimpen
+postmaster and find whether the test telegram had really been placed in
+Barrymore's own hands. Be the answer what it might, I should at least
+have something to report to Sherlock Holmes.
+
+Sir Henry had numerous papers to examine after breakfast, so that the
+time was propitious for my excursion. It was a pleasant walk of four
+miles along the edge of the moor, leading me at last to a small gray
+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 recollection of the
+telegram.
+
+"Certainly, sir," said he, "I 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, I delivered it."
+
+"Into his own hands?" I asked.
+
+"Well, he was up in the loft at the time, so that I could not put it
+into his own hands, but I gave it into Mrs. Barrymore's hands, and she
+promised to deliver it at once."
+
+"Did you see Mr. Barrymore?"
+
+"No, sir; I tell you he was in the loft."
+
+"If 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
+postmaster testily. "Didn't he get the telegram? If there is any mistake
+it is for Mr. Barrymore himself to complain."
+
+It seemed hopeless to pursue the inquiry any farther, but it was clear
+that in spite of Holmes's 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 new heir when he returned to England. What then? Was he the
+agent of others or had he some sinister design of his own? What interest
+could he have in persecuting the Baskerville family? I thought of the
+strange warning clipped out of the leading article of the Times. Was
+that his work or was it possibly the doing of someone who was bent upon
+counteracting his schemes? The only conceivable motive was that which
+had been suggested by Sir Henry, that if the family could be scared away
+a comfortable and permanent home would be secured for the Barrymores.
+But surely 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 baronet. Holmes himself had said that
+no more complex case had come to him in all the long series of his
+sensational investigations. I prayed, as I walked back along the gray,
+lonely road, that my friend might soon be freed from his preoccupations
+and able to come down to take this heavy burden of responsibility from
+my shoulders.
+
+Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of running feet
+behind me and by a voice which called me by name. I turned, expecting to
+see Dr. Mortimer, but to my surprise it was a stranger who was pursuing
+me. He was a small, slim, clean-shaven, prim-faced man, flaxen-haired
+and leanjawed, between thirty and forty years of age, dressed in a gray
+suit and wearing a straw hat. A tin box for botanical specimens hung
+over his shoulder and he carried a green butterfly-net in one of his
+hands.
+
+"You will, I am sure, excuse my presumption, Dr. Watson," said he as he
+came panting up to where I stood. "Here on the moor we are homely folk
+and do not wait for formal introductions. You may possibly have heard
+my name from our mutual friend, Mortimer. I am Stapleton, of Merripit
+House."
+
+"Your net and box would have told me as much," said I, "for I knew that
+Mr. Stapleton was a naturalist. But how did you know me?"
+
+"I have been calling on Mortimer, and he pointed you out to me from
+the window of his surgery as you passed. As our road lay the same way I
+thought that I would overtake you and introduce myself. I trust that Sir
+Henry is none the worse for his journey?"
+
+"He is very well, thank you."
+
+"We were all rather afraid that after the sad death of Sir Charles the
+new baronet might refuse to live here. It is asking much of a wealthy
+man to come down and bury himself in a place of this kind, but I need
+not tell you that it means a very great deal to the countryside. Sir
+Henry has, I suppose, no superstitious fears in the matter?"
+
+"I do not think that it is likely."
+
+"Of course you know the legend of the fiend dog which haunts the
+family?"
+
+"I have heard it."
+
+"It is extraordinary how credulous the peasants are about here! Any
+number of them are ready to swear that they have seen such a creature
+upon the moor." He spoke with a smile, but I seemed to read in his eyes
+that he took the matter more seriously. "The story took a great hold
+upon the imagination of Sir Charles, and I have no doubt that it led to
+his tragic end."
+
+"But how?"
+
+"His nerves were so worked up that the appearance of any dog might have
+had a fatal effect upon his diseased heart. I fancy that he really
+did see something of the kind upon that last night in the yew alley. I
+feared that some disaster might occur, for I was very fond of the old
+man, and I knew that his heart was weak."
+
+"How did you know that?"
+
+"My friend Mortimer told me."
+
+"You think, then, that some dog pursued Sir Charles, and that he died of
+fright in consequence?"
+
+"Have you any better explanation?"
+
+"I have not come to any conclusion."
+
+"Has Mr. Sherlock Holmes?"
+
+The words took away my breath for an instant but a glance at the placid
+face and steadfast eyes of my companion showed that no surprise was
+intended.
+
+"It is useless for us to pretend that we do not know you, Dr. Watson,"
+said he. "The records of your detective have reached us here, and you
+could not celebrate him without being known yourself. When Mortimer told
+me your name he could not deny your identity. If you are here, then it
+follows that Mr. Sherlock Holmes is interesting himself in the matter,
+and I am naturally curious to know what view he may take."
+
+"I am afraid that I cannot answer that question."
+
+"May I ask if he is going to honour us with a visit himself?"
+
+"He cannot leave town at present. He has other cases which engage his
+attention."
+
+"What a pity! He might throw some light on that which is so dark to us.
+But as to your own researches, if there is any possible way in which I
+can be of service to you I trust that you will command me. If I had
+any indication of the nature of your suspicions or how you propose to
+investigate the case, I might perhaps even now give you some aid or
+advice."
+
+"I assure you that I am simply here upon a visit to my friend, Sir
+Henry, and that I need no help of any kind."
+
+"Excellent!" said Stapleton. "You are perfectly right to be wary and
+discreet. I am justly reproved for what I feel was an unjustifiable
+intrusion, and I promise you that I will not mention the matter again."
+
+We had come to a point where a narrow grassy path struck off from the
+road and wound away across the moor. A steep, boulder-sprinkled hill lay
+upon the right which had in bygone days been cut into a granite quarry.
+The face which was turned towards us formed a dark cliff, with ferns and
+brambles growing in its niches. From over a distant rise there floated a
+gray plume of smoke.
+
+"A moderate walk along this moor-path brings us to Merripit House,"
+said he. "Perhaps you will spare an hour that I may have the pleasure of
+introducing you to my sister."
+
+My first thought was that I should be by Sir Henry's side. But then I
+remembered the pile of papers and bills with which his study table was
+littered. It was certain that I could not help with those. And Holmes
+had expressly said that I should study the neighbours upon the moor. I
+accepted Stapleton's invitation, and we turned together down the path.
+
+"It is a wonderful place, the moor," said he, looking round over the
+undulating downs, long green rollers, with crests of jagged granite
+foaming up into fantastic surges. "You never tire of the moor. You
+cannot think the wonderful secrets which it contains. It is so vast, and
+so barren, and so mysterious."
+
+"You know it well, then?"
+
+"I have only been here two years. The residents would call me a
+newcomer. We came shortly after Sir Charles settled. But my tastes led
+me to explore every part of the country round, and I should think that
+there are few men who know it better than I do."
+
+"Is it hard to know?"
+
+"Very hard. You see, for example, this great plain to the north here
+with the queer hills breaking out of it. Do you observe anything
+remarkable about that?"
+
+"It would be a rare place for a gallop."
+
+"You would naturally think so and the thought has cost several their
+lives before now. You notice those bright green spots scattered thickly
+over it?"
+
+"Yes, they seem more fertile than the rest."
+
+Stapleton laughed. "That is the great Grimpen Mire," said he. "A false
+step yonder means death to man or beast. Only yesterday I saw one of the
+moor ponies wander into it. He never came out. I saw his head for quite
+a long time craning out of the bog-hole, but it sucked him down at last.
+Even in dry seasons it is a danger to cross it, but after these autumn
+rains it is an awful place. And yet I can find my way to the very heart
+of it and return alive. By George, there is another of those miserable
+ponies!"
+
+Something brown was rolling and tossing among the green sedges. Then a
+long, agonized, writhing neck shot upward and a dreadful cry echoed
+over the moor. It turned me cold with horror, but my companion's nerves
+seemed to be stronger than mine.
+
+"It's gone!" said he. "The mire has him. Two in two days, and many more,
+perhaps, for they get in the way of going there in the dry weather and
+never know the difference until the mire has them in its clutches. It's
+a bad place, the great Grimpen Mire."
+
+"And you say you can penetrate it?"
+
+"Yes, there are one or two paths which a very active man can take. I
+have found them out."
+
+"But why should you wish to go into so horrible a place?"
+
+"Well, you see the hills beyond? They are really islands cut off on all
+sides by the impassable mire, which has crawled round them in the course
+of years. That is where the rare plants and the butterflies are, if you
+have the wit to reach them."
+
+"I shall try my luck some day."
+
+He looked at me with a surprised face. "For God's sake put such an idea
+out of your mind," said he. "Your blood would be upon my head. I assure
+you that there would not be the least chance of your coming back alive.
+It is only by remembering certain complex landmarks that I am able to do
+it."
+
+"Halloa!" I cried. "What is that?"
+
+A long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept over the moor. It filled the
+whole air, and yet it was impossible to say whence it came. From a
+dull murmur it swelled into a deep roar, and then sank back into a
+melancholy, throbbing murmur once again. Stapleton looked at me with a
+curious expression in his face.
+
+"Queer place, the moor!" said he.
+
+"But what is it?"
+
+"The peasants say it is the Hound of the Baskervilles calling for its
+prey. I've heard it once or twice before, but never quite so loud."
+
+I looked round, with a chill of fear in my heart, at the huge swelling
+plain, mottled with the green patches of rushes. Nothing stirred over
+the vast expanse save a pair of ravens, which croaked loudly from a tor
+behind us.
+
+"You are an educated man. You don't believe such nonsense as that?" said
+I. "What do you think is the cause of so strange a sound?"
+
+"Bogs make queer noises sometimes. It's the mud settling, or the water
+rising, or something."
+
+"No, no, that was a living voice."
+
+"Well, perhaps it was. Did you ever hear a bittern booming?"
+
+"No, I never did."
+
+"It's a very rare bird--practically extinct--in England now, but all
+things are possible upon the moor. Yes, I should not be surprised to
+learn that what we have heard is the cry of the last of the bitterns."
+
+"It's the weirdest, strangest thing that ever I heard in my life."
+
+"Yes, it's rather an uncanny place altogether. Look at the hillside
+yonder. What do you make of those?"
+
+The whole steep <DW72> was covered with gray circular rings of stone, a
+score of them at least.
+
+"What are they? Sheep-pens?"
+
+"No, they are the homes of our worthy ancestors. Prehistoric man lived
+thickly on the moor, and as no one in particular has lived there since,
+we find all his little arrangements exactly as he left them. These are
+his wigwams with the roofs off. You can even see his hearth and his
+couch if you have the curiosity to go inside.
+
+"But it is quite a town. When was it inhabited?"
+
+"Neolithic man--no date."
+
+"What did he do?"
+
+"He grazed his cattle on these <DW72>s, and he learned to dig for tin
+when the bronze sword began to supersede the stone axe. Look at the
+great trench in the opposite hill. That is his mark. Yes, you will find
+some very singular points about the moor, Dr. Watson. Oh, excuse me an
+instant! It is surely Cyclopides."
+
+A small fly or moth had fluttered across our path, and in an instant
+Stapleton was rushing with extraordinary energy and speed in pursuit of
+it. To my dismay the creature flew straight for the great mire, and my
+acquaintance never paused for an instant, bounding from tuft to tuft
+behind it, his green net waving in the air. His gray clothes and jerky,
+zigzag, irregular progress made him not unlike some huge moth himself.
+I was standing watching his pursuit with a mixture of admiration for his
+extraordinary activity and fear lest he should lose his footing in the
+treacherous mire, when I heard the sound of steps and, turning round,
+found a woman near me upon the path. She had come from the direction in
+which the plume of smoke indicated the position of Merripit House, but
+the dip of the moor had hid her until she was quite close.
+
+I could not doubt that this was the Miss Stapleton of whom I had
+been told, since ladies of any sort must be few upon the moor, and I
+remembered that I had heard someone describe her as being a beauty. The
+woman who approached me was certainly that, and of a most uncommon type.
+There could not have been a greater contrast between brother and sister,
+for Stapleton was neutral tinted, with light hair and gray eyes, while
+she was darker than any brunette whom I have seen in England--slim,
+elegant, and tall. She had a proud, finely cut face, so regular that it
+might have seemed impassive were it not for the sensitive mouth and the
+beautiful dark, eager eyes. With her perfect figure and elegant dress
+she was, indeed, a strange apparition upon a lonely moorland path. Her
+eyes were on her brother as I turned, and then she quickened her pace
+towards me. I had raised my hat and was about to make some explanatory
+remark when her own words turned all my thoughts into a new channel.
+
+"Go back!" she said. "Go straight back to London, instantly."
+
+I could only stare at her in stupid surprise. Her eyes blazed at me, and
+she tapped the ground impatiently with her foot.
+
+"Why should I go back?" I asked.
+
+"I cannot explain." She spoke in a low, eager voice, with a curious lisp
+in her utterance. "But for God's sake do what I ask you. Go back and
+never set foot upon the moor again."
+
+"But I have only just come."
+
+"Man, man!" she cried. "Can you not tell when a warning is for your own
+good? Go back to London! Start tonight! Get away from this place at all
+costs! Hush, my brother is coming! Not a word of what I have said. Would
+you mind getting that orchid for me among the mare's-tails yonder? We
+are very rich in orchids on the moor, though, of course, you are rather
+late to see the beauties of the place."
+
+Stapleton had abandoned the chase and came back to us breathing hard and
+flushed with his exertions.
+
+"Halloa, Beryl!" said he, and it seemed to me that the tone of his
+greeting was not altogether a cordial one.
+
+"Well, Jack, you are very hot."
+
+"Yes, I was chasing a Cyclopides. He is very rare and seldom found in
+the late autumn. What a pity that I should have missed him!" He spoke
+unconcernedly, but his small light eyes glanced incessantly from the
+girl to me.
+
+"You have introduced yourselves, I can see."
+
+"Yes. I was telling Sir Henry that it was rather late for him to see the
+true beauties of the moor."
+
+"Why, who do you think this is?"
+
+"I imagine that it must be Sir Henry Baskerville."
+
+"No, no," said I. "Only a humble commoner, but his friend. My name is
+Dr. Watson."
+
+A flush of vexation passed over her expressive face. "We have been
+talking at cross purposes," said she.
+
+"Why, you had not very much time for talk," her brother remarked with
+the same questioning eyes.
+
+"I talked as if Dr. Watson were a resident instead of being merely a
+visitor," said she. "It cannot much matter to him whether it is early
+or late for the orchids. But you will come on, will you not, and see
+Merripit House?"
+
+A short walk brought us to it, a bleak moorland house, once the farm
+of some grazier in the old prosperous days, but now put into repair and
+turned into a modern dwelling. An orchard surrounded it, but the trees,
+as is usual upon the moor, were stunted and nipped, and the effect of
+the whole place was mean and melancholy. We were admitted by a strange,
+wizened, rusty-coated old manservant, who seemed in keeping with
+the house. Inside, however, there were large rooms furnished with an
+elegance in which I seemed to recognize the taste of the lady. As I
+looked from their windows at the interminable granite-flecked moor
+rolling unbroken to the farthest horizon I could not but marvel at what
+could have brought this highly educated man and this beautiful woman to
+live in such a place.
+
+"Queer spot to choose, is it not?" said he as if in answer to my
+thought. "And yet we manage to make ourselves fairly happy, do we not,
+Beryl?"
+
+"Quite happy," said she, but there was no ring of conviction in her
+words.
+
+"I had a school," said Stapleton. "It was in the north country. The work
+to a man of my temperament was mechanical and uninteresting, but the
+privilege of living with youth, of helping to mould those young minds,
+and of impressing them with one's own character and ideals was very dear
+to me. However, the fates were against us. A serious epidemic broke out
+in the school and three of the boys died. It never recovered from the
+blow, and much of my capital was irretrievably swallowed up. And yet,
+if it were not for the loss of the charming companionship of the boys,
+I could rejoice over my own misfortune, for, with my strong tastes
+for botany and zoology, I find an unlimited field of work here, and my
+sister is as devoted to Nature as I am. All this, Dr. Watson, has been
+brought upon your head by your expression as you surveyed the moor out
+of our window."
+
+"It certainly did cross my mind that it might be a little dull--less for
+you, perhaps, than for your sister."
+
+"No, no, I am never dull," said she quickly.
+
+"We have books, we have our studies, and we have interesting neighbours.
+Dr. Mortimer is a most learned man in his own line. Poor Sir Charles was
+also an admirable companion. We knew him well and miss him more than
+I can tell. Do you think that I should intrude if I were to call this
+afternoon and make the acquaintance of Sir Henry?"
+
+"I am sure that he would be delighted."
+
+"Then perhaps you would mention that I propose to do so. We may in
+our humble way do something to make things more easy for him until he
+becomes accustomed to his new surroundings. Will you come upstairs, Dr.
+Watson, and inspect my collection of Lepidoptera? I think it is the most
+complete one in the south-west of England. By the time that you have
+looked through them lunch will be almost ready."
+
+But I was eager to get back to my charge. The melancholy of the moor,
+the death of the unfortunate pony, the weird sound which had been
+associated with the grim legend of the Baskervilles, all these things
+tinged my thoughts with sadness. Then on the top of these more or less
+vague impressions there had come the definite and distinct warning of
+Miss Stapleton, delivered with such intense earnestness that I could
+not doubt that some grave and deep reason lay behind it. I resisted
+all pressure to stay for lunch, and I set off at once upon my return
+journey, taking the grass-grown path by which we had come.
+
+It seems, however, that there must have been some short cut for those
+who knew it, for before I had reached the road I was astounded to see
+Miss Stapleton sitting upon a rock by the side of the track. Her face
+was beautifully flushed with her exertions and she held her hand to her
+side.
+
+"I have run all the way in order to cut you off, Dr. Watson," said she.
+"I had not even time to put on my hat. I must not stop, or my brother
+may miss me. I wanted to say to you how sorry I am about the stupid
+mistake I made in thinking that you were Sir Henry. Please forget the
+words I said, which have no application whatever to you."
+
+"But I can't forget them, Miss Stapleton," said I. "I am Sir Henry's
+friend, and his welfare is a very close concern of mine. Tell me why it
+was that you were so eager that Sir Henry should return to London."
+
+"A woman's whim, Dr. Watson. When you know me better you will understand
+that I cannot always give reasons for what I say or do."
+
+"No, no. I remember the thrill in your voice. I remember the look in
+your eyes. Please, please, be frank with me, Miss Stapleton, for ever
+since I have been here I have been conscious of shadows all round me.
+Life has become like that great Grimpen Mire, with little green patches
+everywhere into which one may sink and with no guide to point the track.
+Tell me then what it was that you meant, and I will promise to convey
+your warning to Sir Henry."
+
+An expression of irresolution passed for an instant over her face, but
+her eyes had hardened again when she answered me.
+
+"You make too much of it, Dr. Watson," said she. "My brother and I
+were very much shocked by the death of Sir Charles. We knew him very
+intimately, for his favourite walk was over the moor to our house. He
+was deeply impressed with the curse which hung over the family, and when
+this tragedy came I naturally felt that there must be some grounds
+for the fears which he had expressed. I was distressed therefore when
+another member of the family came down to live here, and I felt that he
+should be warned of the danger which he will run. That was all which I
+intended to convey.
+
+"But what is the danger?"
+
+"You know the story of the hound?"
+
+"I do not believe in such nonsense."
+
+"But I do. If you have any influence with Sir Henry, take him away from
+a place which has always been fatal to his family. The world is wide.
+Why should he wish to live at the place of danger?"
+
+"Because it is the place of danger. That is Sir Henry's nature. I fear
+that unless you can give me some more definite information than this it
+would be impossible to get him to move."
+
+"I cannot say anything definite, for I do not know anything definite."
+
+"I would ask you one more question, Miss Stapleton. If you meant no
+more than this when you first spoke to me, why should you not wish your
+brother to overhear what you said? There is nothing to which he, or
+anyone else, could object."
+
+"My brother is very anxious to have the Hall inhabited, for he thinks it
+is for the good of the poor folk upon the moor. He would be very angry
+if he knew that I have said anything which might induce Sir Henry to
+go away. But I have done my duty now and I will say no more. I must go
+back, or he will miss me and suspect that I have seen you. Good-bye!"
+She turned and had disappeared in a few minutes among the scattered
+boulders, while I, with my soul full of vague fears, pursued my way to
+Baskerville Hall.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 8. First Report of Dr. Watson
+
+
+
+From this point onward I will follow the course of events by
+transcribing my own letters to Mr. Sherlock Holmes which lie before me
+on the table. One page is missing, but otherwise they are exactly
+as written and show my feelings and suspicions of the moment more
+accurately than my memory, clear as it is upon these tragic events, can
+possibly do.
+
+
+Baskerville Hall, October 13th. MY DEAR HOLMES: My previous letters
+and telegrams have kept you pretty well up to date as to all that has
+occurred in this most God-forsaken corner of the world. The longer one
+stays here the more does the spirit of the moor sink into one's soul,
+its vastness, and also its grim charm. When you are once out upon its
+bosom you have left all traces of modern England behind you, but, on the
+other hand, you are conscious everywhere of the homes and the work of
+the prehistoric people. On all sides of you as you walk are the houses
+of these forgotten folk, with their graves and the huge monoliths which
+are supposed to have marked their temples. As you look at their gray
+stone huts against the scarred hillsides you leave your own age behind
+you, and if you were to see a skin-clad, hairy man crawl out from the
+low door fitting a flint-tipped arrow on to the string of his bow, you
+would feel that his presence there was more natural than your own. The
+strange thing is that they should have lived so thickly on what must
+always have been most unfruitful soil. I am no antiquarian, but I could
+imagine that they were some unwarlike and harried race who were forced
+to accept that which none other would occupy.
+
+All this, however, is foreign to the mission on which you sent me and
+will probably be very uninteresting to your severely practical mind.
+I can still remember your complete indifference as to whether the sun
+moved round the earth or the earth round the sun. Let me, therefore,
+return to the facts concerning Sir Henry Baskerville.
+
+If you have not had any report within the last few days it is because
+up to today there was nothing of importance to relate. Then a very
+surprising circumstance occurred, which I shall tell you in due course.
+But, first of all, I must keep you in touch with some of the other
+factors in the situation.
+
+One of these, concerning which I have said little, is the escaped
+convict upon the moor. There is strong reason now to believe that he
+has got right away, which is a considerable relief to the lonely
+householders of this district. A fortnight has passed since his flight,
+during which he has not been seen and nothing has been heard of him. It
+is surely inconceivable that he could have held out upon the moor during
+all that time. Of course, so far as his concealment goes there is
+no difficulty at all. Any one of these stone huts would give him a
+hiding-place. But there is nothing to eat unless he were to catch and
+slaughter one of the moor sheep. We think, therefore, that he has gone,
+and the outlying farmers sleep the better in consequence.
+
+We are four able-bodied men in this household, so that we could take
+good care of ourselves, but I confess that I have had uneasy moments
+when I have thought of the Stapletons. They live miles from any help.
+There are one maid, an old manservant, the sister, and the brother, the
+latter not a very strong man. They would be helpless in the hands of a
+desperate fellow like this Notting Hill criminal if he could once effect
+an entrance. Both Sir Henry and I were concerned at their situation, and
+it was suggested that Perkins the groom should go over to sleep there,
+but Stapleton would not hear of it.
+
+The fact is that our friend, the baronet, begins to display a
+considerable interest in our fair neighbour. It is not to be wondered
+at, for time hangs heavily in this lonely spot to an active man like
+him, and she is a very fascinating and beautiful woman. There is
+something tropical and exotic about her which forms a singular contrast
+to her cool and unemotional brother. Yet he also gives the idea of
+hidden fires. He has certainly a very marked influence over her, for
+I have seen her continually glance at him as she talked as if seeking
+approbation for what she said. I trust that he is kind to her. There is
+a dry glitter in his eyes and a firm set of his thin lips, which goes
+with a positive and possibly a harsh nature. You would find him an
+interesting study.
+
+He came over to call upon Baskerville on that first day, and the very
+next morning he took us both to show us the spot where the legend of the
+wicked Hugo is supposed to have had its origin. It was an excursion of
+some miles across the moor to a place which is so dismal that it might
+have suggested the story. We found a short valley between rugged tors
+which led to an open, grassy space flecked over with the white cotton
+grass. In the middle of it rose two great stones, worn and sharpened at
+the upper end until they looked like the huge corroding fangs of some
+monstrous beast. In every way it corresponded with the scene of the old
+tragedy. Sir Henry was much interested and asked Stapleton more
+than once whether he did really believe in the possibility of the
+interference of the supernatural in the affairs of men. He spoke
+lightly, but it was evident that he was very much in earnest. Stapleton
+was guarded in his replies, but it was easy to see that he said less
+than he might, and that he would not express his whole opinion out of
+consideration for the feelings of the baronet. He told us of similar
+cases, where families had suffered from some evil influence, and he left
+us with the impression that he shared the popular view upon the matter.
+
+On our way back we stayed for lunch at Merripit House, and it was there
+that Sir Henry made the acquaintance of Miss Stapleton. From the first
+moment that he saw her he appeared to be strongly attracted by her, and
+I am much mistaken if the feeling was not mutual. He referred to her
+again and again on our walk home, and since then hardly a day has passed
+that we have not seen something of the brother and sister. They dine
+here tonight, and there is some talk of our going to them next week. One
+would imagine that such a match would be very welcome to Stapleton, and
+yet I have more than once caught a look of the strongest disapprobation
+in his face when Sir Henry has been paying some attention to his sister.
+He is much attached to her, no doubt, and would lead a lonely life
+without her, but it would seem the height of selfishness if he were to
+stand in the way of her making so brilliant a marriage. Yet I am certain
+that he does not wish their intimacy to ripen into love, and I have
+several times observed that he has taken pains to prevent them from
+being tete-a-tete. By the way, your instructions to me never to allow
+Sir Henry to go out alone will become very much more onerous if a love
+affair were to be added to our other difficulties. My popularity would
+soon suffer if I were to carry out your orders to the letter.
+
+The other day--Thursday, to be more exact--Dr. Mortimer lunched with us.
+He has been excavating a barrow at Long Down and has got a prehistoric
+skull which fills him with great joy. Never was there such a
+single-minded enthusiast as he! The Stapletons came in afterwards, and
+the good doctor took us all to the yew alley at Sir Henry's request to
+show us exactly how everything occurred upon that fatal night. It is
+a long, dismal walk, the yew alley, between two high walls of clipped
+hedge, with a narrow band of grass upon either side. At the far end is
+an old tumble-down summer-house. Halfway down is the moor-gate, where
+the old gentleman left his cigar-ash. It is a white wooden gate with
+a latch. Beyond it lies the wide moor. I remembered your theory of the
+affair and tried to picture all that had occurred. As the old man stood
+there he saw something coming across the moor, something which terrified
+him so that he lost his wits and ran and ran until he died of sheer
+horror and exhaustion. There was the long, gloomy tunnel down which
+he fled. And from what? A sheep-dog of the moor? Or a spectral hound,
+black, silent, and monstrous? Was there a human agency in the matter?
+Did the pale, watchful Barrymore know more than he cared to say? It was
+all dim and vague, but always there is the dark shadow of crime behind
+it.
+
+One other neighbour I have met since I wrote last. This is Mr.
+Frankland, of Lafter Hall, who lives some four miles to the south of us.
+He is an elderly man, red-faced, white-haired, and choleric. His passion
+is for the British law, and he has spent a large fortune in litigation.
+He fights for the mere pleasure of fighting and is equally ready to take
+up either side of a question, so that it is no wonder that he has found
+it a costly amusement. Sometimes he will shut up a right of way and defy
+the parish to make him open it. At others he will with his own hands
+tear down some other man's gate and declare that a path has existed
+there from time immemorial, defying the owner to prosecute him for
+trespass. He is learned in old manorial and communal rights, and he
+applies his knowledge sometimes in favour of the villagers of Fernworthy
+and sometimes against them, so that he is periodically either carried in
+triumph down the village street or else burned in effigy, according to
+his latest exploit. He is said to have about seven lawsuits upon his
+hands at present, which will probably swallow up the remainder of his
+fortune and so draw his sting and leave him harmless for the future.
+Apart from the law he seems a kindly, good-natured person, and I
+only mention him because you were particular that I should send some
+description of the people who surround us. He is curiously employed
+at present, for, being an amateur astronomer, he has an excellent
+telescope, with which he lies upon the roof of his own house and sweeps
+the moor all day in the hope of catching a glimpse of the escaped
+convict. If he would confine his energies to this all would be well, but
+there are rumours that he intends to prosecute Dr. Mortimer for opening
+a grave without the consent of the next of kin because he dug up the
+Neolithic skull in the barrow on Long Down. He helps to keep our lives
+from being monotonous and gives a little comic relief where it is badly
+needed.
+
+And now, having brought you up to date in the escaped convict, the
+Stapletons, Dr. Mortimer, and Frankland, of Lafter Hall, let me end on
+that which is most important and tell you more about the Barrymores, and
+especially about the surprising development of last night.
+
+First of all about the test telegram, which you sent from London in
+order to make sure that Barrymore was really here. I have already
+explained that the testimony of the postmaster shows that the test was
+worthless and that we have no proof one way or the other. I told Sir
+Henry how the matter stood, and he at once, in his downright fashion,
+had Barrymore up and asked him whether he had received the telegram
+himself. Barrymore said that he had.
+
+"Did the boy deliver it into your own hands?" asked Sir Henry.
+
+Barrymore looked surprised, and considered for a little time.
+
+"No," said he, "I was in the box-room at the time, and my wife brought
+it up to me."
+
+"Did you answer it yourself?"
+
+"No; I told my wife what to answer and she went down to write it."
+
+In the evening he recurred to the subject of his own accord.
+
+"I could not quite understand the object of your questions this morning,
+Sir Henry," said he. "I trust that they do not mean that I have done
+anything to forfeit your confidence?"
+
+Sir Henry had to assure him that it was not so and pacify him by giving
+him a considerable part of his old wardrobe, the London outfit having
+now all arrived.
+
+Mrs. Barrymore is of interest to me. She is a heavy, solid person, very
+limited, intensely respectable, and inclined to be puritanical. You
+could hardly conceive a less emotional subject. Yet I have told you how,
+on the first night here, I heard her sobbing bitterly, and since then
+I have more than once observed traces of tears upon her face. Some deep
+sorrow gnaws ever at her heart. Sometimes I wonder if she has a guilty
+memory which haunts her, and sometimes I suspect Barrymore of being a
+domestic tyrant. I have always felt that there was something singular
+and questionable in this man's character, but the adventure of last
+night brings all my suspicions to a head.
+
+And yet it may seem a small matter in itself. You are aware that I am
+not a very sound sleeper, and since I have been on guard in this house
+my slumbers have been lighter than ever. Last night, about two in the
+morning, I was aroused by a stealthy step passing my room. I rose,
+opened my door, and peeped out. A long black shadow was trailing down
+the corridor. It was thrown by a man who walked softly down the passage
+with a candle held in his hand. He was in shirt and trousers, with no
+covering to his feet. I could merely see the outline, but his height
+told me that it was Barrymore. He walked very slowly and circumspectly,
+and there was something indescribably guilty and furtive in his whole
+appearance.
+
+I have told you that the corridor is broken by the balcony which runs
+round the hall, but that it is resumed upon the farther side. I waited
+until he had passed out of sight and then I followed him. When I came
+round the balcony he had reached the end of the farther corridor, and
+I could see from the glimmer of light through an open door that he
+had entered one of the rooms. Now, all these rooms are unfurnished and
+unoccupied so that his expedition became more mysterious than ever. The
+light shone steadily as if he were standing motionless. I crept down
+the passage as noiselessly as I could and peeped round the corner of the
+door.
+
+Barrymore was crouching at the window with the candle held against the
+glass. His profile was half turned towards me, and his face seemed to be
+rigid with expectation as he stared out into the blackness of the moor.
+For some minutes he stood watching intently. Then he gave a deep groan
+and with an impatient gesture he put out the light. Instantly I made my
+way back to my room, and very shortly came the stealthy steps passing
+once more upon their return journey. Long afterwards when I had fallen
+into a light sleep I heard a key turn somewhere in a lock, but I could
+not tell whence the sound came. What it all means I cannot guess, but
+there is some secret business going on in this house of gloom which
+sooner or later we shall get to the bottom of. I do not trouble you with
+my theories, for you asked me to furnish you only with facts. I have
+had a long talk with Sir Henry this morning, and we have made a plan of
+campaign founded upon my observations of last night. I will not speak
+about it just now, but it should make my next report interesting
+reading.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 9. The Light upon the Moor [Second Report of Dr. Watson]
+
+
+
+Baskerville Hall, Oct. 15th. MY DEAR HOLMES: If I was compelled to
+leave you without much news during the early days of my mission you must
+acknowledge that I am making up for lost time, and that events are now
+crowding thick and fast upon us. In my last report I ended upon my top
+note with Barrymore at the window, and now I have quite a budget already
+which will, unless I am much mistaken, considerably surprise you. Things
+have taken a turn which I could not have anticipated. In some ways they
+have within the last forty-eight hours become much clearer and in some
+ways they have become more complicated. But I will tell you all and you
+shall judge for yourself.
+
+Before breakfast on the morning following my adventure I went down the
+corridor and examined the room in which Barrymore had been on the night
+before. The western window through which he had stared so intently has,
+I noticed, one peculiarity above all other windows in the house--it
+commands the nearest outlook on to the moor. There is an opening between
+two trees which enables one from this point of view to look right down
+upon it, while from all the other windows it is only a distant glimpse
+which can be obtained. It follows, therefore, that Barrymore, since
+only this window would serve the purpose, must have been looking out for
+something or somebody upon the moor. The night was very dark, so that I
+can hardly imagine how he could have hoped to see anyone. It had struck
+me that it was possible that some love intrigue was on foot. That would
+have accounted for his stealthy movements and also for the uneasiness
+of his wife. The man is a striking-looking fellow, very well equipped
+to steal the heart of a country girl, so that this theory seemed to
+have something to support it. That opening of the door which I had heard
+after I had returned to my room might mean that he had gone out to keep
+some clandestine appointment. So I reasoned with myself in the morning,
+and I tell you the direction of my suspicions, however much the result
+may have shown that they were unfounded.
+
+But whatever the true explanation of Barrymore's movements might be,
+I felt that the responsibility of keeping them to myself until I could
+explain them was more than I could bear. I had an interview with the
+baronet in his study after breakfast, and I told him all that I had
+seen. He was less surprised than I had expected.
+
+"I knew that Barrymore walked about nights, and I had a mind to speak
+to him about it," said he. "Two or three times I have heard his steps in
+the passage, coming and going, just about the hour you name."
+
+"Perhaps then he pays a visit every night to that particular window," I
+suggested.
+
+"Perhaps he does. If so, we should be able to shadow him and see what
+it is that he is after. I wonder what your friend Holmes would do if he
+were here."
+
+"I believe that he would do exactly what you now suggest," said I. "He
+would follow Barrymore and see what he did."
+
+"Then we shall do it together."
+
+"But surely he would hear us."
+
+"The man is rather deaf, and in any case we must take our chance of
+that. We'll sit up in my room tonight and wait until he passes." Sir
+Henry rubbed his hands with pleasure, and it was evident that he hailed
+the adventure as a relief to his somewhat quiet life upon the moor.
+
+The baronet has been in communication with the architect who prepared
+the plans for Sir Charles, and with a contractor from London, so that we
+may expect great changes to begin here soon. There have been decorators
+and furnishers up from Plymouth, and it is evident that our friend
+has large ideas and means to spare no pains or expense to restore the
+grandeur of his family. When the house is renovated and refurnished, all
+that he will need will be a wife to make it complete. Between ourselves
+there are pretty clear signs that this will not be wanting if the lady
+is willing, for I have seldom seen a man more infatuated with a woman
+than he is with our beautiful neighbour, Miss Stapleton. And yet the
+course of true love does not run quite as smoothly as one would under
+the circumstances expect. Today, for example, its surface was broken
+by a very unexpected ripple, which has caused our friend considerable
+perplexity and annoyance.
+
+After the conversation which I have quoted about Barrymore, Sir Henry
+put on his hat and prepared to go out. As a matter of course I did the
+same.
+
+"What, are you coming, Watson?" he asked, looking at me in a curious
+way.
+
+"That depends on whether you are going on the moor," said I.
+
+"Yes, I am."
+
+"Well, you know what my instructions are. I am sorry to intrude, but
+you heard how earnestly Holmes insisted that I should not leave you, and
+especially that you should not go alone upon the moor."
+
+Sir Henry put his hand upon my shoulder with a pleasant smile.
+
+"My dear fellow," said he, "Holmes, with all his wisdom, did not foresee
+some things which have happened since I have been on the moor. You
+understand me? I am sure that you are the last man in the world who
+would wish to be a spoil-sport. I must go out alone."
+
+It put me in a most awkward position. I was at a loss what to say or
+what to do, and before I had made up my mind he picked up his cane and
+was gone.
+
+But when I came to think the matter over my conscience reproached me
+bitterly for having on any pretext allowed him to go out of my sight.
+I imagined what my feelings would be if I had to return to you and to
+confess that some misfortune had occurred through my disregard for your
+instructions. I assure you my cheeks flushed at the very thought. It
+might not even now be too late to overtake him, so I set off at once in
+the direction of Merripit House.
+
+I hurried along the road at the top of my speed without seeing anything
+of Sir Henry, until I came to the point where the moor path branches
+off. There, fearing that perhaps I had come in the wrong direction after
+all, I mounted a hill from which I could command a view--the same hill
+which is cut into the dark quarry. Thence I saw him at once. He was on
+the moor path about a quarter of a mile off, and a lady was by his side
+who could only be Miss Stapleton. It was clear that there was already
+an understanding between them and that they had met by appointment. They
+were walking slowly along in deep conversation, and I saw her making
+quick little movements of her hands as if she were very earnest in what
+she was saying, while he listened intently, and once or twice shook his
+head in strong dissent. I stood among the rocks watching them, very much
+puzzled as to what I should do next. To follow them and break into their
+intimate conversation seemed to be an outrage, and yet my clear duty was
+never for an instant to let him out of my sight. To act the spy upon a
+friend was a hateful task. Still, I could see no better course than to
+observe him from the hill, and to clear my conscience by confessing to
+him afterwards what I had done. It is true that if any sudden danger had
+threatened him I was too far away to be of use, and yet I am sure that
+you will agree with me that the position was very difficult, and that
+there was nothing more which I could do.
+
+Our friend, Sir Henry, and the lady had halted on the path and were
+standing deeply absorbed in their conversation, when I was suddenly
+aware that I was not the only witness of their interview. A wisp of
+green floating in the air caught my eye, and another glance showed me
+that it was carried on a stick by a man who was moving among the broken
+ground. It was Stapleton with his butterfly-net. He was very much closer
+to the pair than I was, and he appeared to be moving in their direction.
+At this instant Sir Henry suddenly drew Miss Stapleton to his side. His
+arm was round her, but it seemed to me that she was straining away from
+him with her face averted. He stooped his head to hers, and she raised
+one hand as if in protest. Next moment I saw them spring apart and turn
+hurriedly round. Stapleton was the cause of the interruption. He was
+running wildly towards them, his absurd net dangling behind him. He
+gesticulated and almost danced with excitement in front of the lovers.
+What the scene meant I could not imagine, but it seemed to me that
+Stapleton was abusing Sir Henry, who offered explanations, which became
+more angry as the other refused to accept them. The lady stood by in
+haughty silence. Finally Stapleton turned upon his heel and beckoned in
+a peremptory way to his sister, who, after an irresolute glance at Sir
+Henry, walked off by the side of her brother. The naturalist's angry
+gestures showed that the lady was included in his displeasure. The
+baronet stood for a minute looking after them, and then he walked slowly
+back the way that he had come, his head hanging, the very picture of
+dejection.
+
+What all this meant I could not imagine, but I was deeply ashamed to
+have witnessed so intimate a scene without my friend's knowledge. I ran
+down the hill therefore and met the baronet at the bottom. His face was
+flushed with anger and his brows were wrinkled, like one who is at his
+wit's ends what to do.
+
+"Halloa, Watson! Where have you dropped from?" said he. "You don't mean
+to say that you came after me in spite of all?"
+
+I explained everything to him: how I had found it impossible to remain
+behind, how I had followed him, and how I had witnessed all that
+had occurred. For an instant his eyes blazed at me, but my frankness
+disarmed his anger, and he broke at last into a rather rueful laugh.
+
+"You would have thought the middle of that prairie a fairly safe
+place for a man to be private," said he, "but, by thunder, the whole
+countryside seems to have been out to see me do my wooing--and a mighty
+poor wooing at that! Where had you engaged a seat?"
+
+"I was on that hill."
+
+"Quite in the back row, eh? But her brother was well up to the front.
+Did you see him come out on us?"
+
+"Yes, I did."
+
+"Did he ever strike you as being crazy--this brother of hers?"
+
+"I can't say that he ever did."
+
+"I dare say not. I always thought him sane enough until today, but you
+can take it from me that either he or I ought to be in a straitjacket.
+What's the matter with me, anyhow? You've lived near me for some weeks,
+Watson. Tell me straight, now! Is there anything that would prevent me
+from making a good husband to a woman that I loved?"
+
+"I should say not."
+
+"He can't object to my worldly position, so it must be myself that he
+has this down on. What has he against me? I never hurt man or woman in
+my life that I know of. And yet he would not so much as let me touch the
+tips of her fingers."
+
+"Did he say so?"
+
+"That, and a deal more. I tell you, Watson, I've only known her these
+few weeks, but from the first I just felt that she was made for me,
+and she, too--she was happy when she was with me, and that I'll swear.
+There's a light in a woman's eyes that speaks louder than words. But he
+has never let us get together and it was only today for the first time
+that I saw a chance of having a few words with her alone. She was glad
+to meet me, but when she did it was not love that she would talk about,
+and she wouldn't have let me talk about it either if she could have
+stopped it. She kept coming back to it that this was a place of danger,
+and that she would never be happy until I had left it. I told her that
+since I had seen her I was in no hurry to leave it, and that if she
+really wanted me to go, the only way to work it was for her to arrange
+to go with me. With that I offered in as many words to marry her, but
+before she could answer, down came this brother of hers, running at us
+with a face on him like a madman. He was just white with rage, and those
+light eyes of his were blazing with fury. What was I doing with the
+lady? How dared I offer her attentions which were distasteful to her?
+Did I think that because I was a baronet I could do what I liked? If he
+had not been her brother I should have known better how to answer him.
+As it was I told him that my feelings towards his sister were such as
+I was not ashamed of, and that I hoped that she might honour me by
+becoming my wife. That seemed to make the matter no better, so then I
+lost my temper too, and I answered him rather more hotly than I should
+perhaps, considering that she was standing by. So it ended by his going
+off with her, as you saw, and here am I as badly puzzled a man as any
+in this county. Just tell me what it all means, Watson, and I'll owe you
+more than ever I can hope to pay."
+
+I tried one or two explanations, but, indeed, I was completely puzzled
+myself. Our friend's title, his fortune, his age, his character, and his
+appearance are all in his favour, and I know nothing against him unless
+it be this dark fate which runs in his family. That his advances should
+be rejected so brusquely without any reference to the lady's own wishes
+and that the lady should accept the situation without protest is very
+amazing. However, our conjectures were set at rest by a visit from
+Stapleton himself that very afternoon. He had come to offer apologies
+for his rudeness of the morning, and after a long private interview with
+Sir Henry in his study the upshot of their conversation was that the
+breach is quite healed, and that we are to dine at Merripit House next
+Friday as a sign of it.
+
+"I don't say now that he isn't a crazy man," said Sir Henry; "I can't
+forget the look in his eyes when he ran at me this morning, but I must
+allow that no man could make a more handsome apology than he has done."
+
+"Did he give any explanation of his conduct?"
+
+"His sister is everything in his life, he says. That is natural enough,
+and I am glad that he should understand her value. They have always been
+together, and according to his account he has been a very lonely man
+with only her as a companion, so that the thought of losing her was
+really terrible to him. He had not understood, he said, that I was
+becoming attached to her, but when he saw with his own eyes that it was
+really so, and that she might be taken away from him, it gave him such a
+shock that for a time he was not responsible for what he said or did.
+He was very sorry for all that had passed, and he recognized how foolish
+and how selfish it was that he should imagine that he could hold a
+beautiful woman like his sister to himself for her whole life. If she
+had to leave him he had rather it was to a neighbour like myself than to
+anyone else. But in any case it was a blow to him and it would take him
+some time before he could prepare himself to meet it. He would withdraw
+all opposition upon his part if I would promise for three months to let
+the matter rest and to be content with cultivating the lady's friendship
+during that time without claiming her love. This I promised, and so the
+matter rests."
+
+So there is one of our small mysteries cleared up. It is something to
+have touched bottom anywhere in this bog in which we are floundering.
+We know now why Stapleton looked with disfavour upon his sister's
+suitor--even when that suitor was so eligible a one as Sir Henry. And
+now I pass on to another thread which I have extricated out of the
+tangled skein, the mystery of the sobs in the night, of the tear-stained
+face of Mrs. Barrymore, of the secret journey of the butler to the
+western lattice window. Congratulate me, my dear Holmes, and tell me
+that I have not disappointed you as an agent--that you do not regret
+the confidence which you showed in me when you sent me down. All these
+things have by one night's work been thoroughly cleared.
+
+I have said "by one night's work," but, in truth, it was by two nights'
+work, for on the first we drew entirely blank. I sat up with Sir Henry
+in his rooms until nearly three o'clock in the morning, but no sound of
+any sort did we hear except the chiming clock upon the stairs. It was
+a most melancholy vigil and ended by each of us falling asleep in our
+chairs. Fortunately we were not discouraged, and we determined to try
+again. The next night we lowered the lamp and sat smoking cigarettes
+without making the least sound. It was incredible how slowly the hours
+crawled by, and yet we were helped through it by the same sort of
+patient interest which the hunter must feel as he watches the trap into
+which he hopes the game may wander. One struck, and two, and we had
+almost for the second time given it up in despair when in an instant we
+both sat bolt upright in our chairs with all our weary senses keenly on
+the alert once more. We had heard the creak of a step in the passage.
+
+Very stealthily we heard it pass along until it died away in the
+distance. Then the baronet gently opened his door and we set out in
+pursuit. Already our man had gone round the gallery and the corridor was
+all in darkness. Softly we stole along until we had come into the other
+wing. We were just in time to catch a glimpse of the tall, black-bearded
+figure, his shoulders rounded as he tiptoed down the passage. Then he
+passed through the same door as before, and the light of the candle
+framed it in the darkness and shot one single yellow beam across the
+gloom of the corridor. We shuffled cautiously towards it, trying every
+plank before we dared to put our whole weight upon it. We had taken the
+precaution of leaving our boots behind us, but, even so, the old boards
+snapped and creaked beneath our tread. Sometimes it seemed impossible
+that he should fail to hear our approach. However, the man is
+fortunately rather deaf, and he was entirely preoccupied in that which
+he was doing. When at last we reached the door and peeped through we
+found him crouching at the window, candle in hand, his white, intent
+face pressed against the pane, exactly as I had seen him two nights
+before.
+
+We had arranged no plan of campaign, but the baronet is a man to whom
+the most direct way is always the most natural. He walked into the room,
+and as he did so Barrymore sprang up from the window with a sharp hiss
+of his breath and stood, livid and trembling, before us. His dark eyes,
+glaring out of the white mask of his face, were full of horror and
+astonishment as he gazed from Sir Henry to me.
+
+"What are you doing here, Barrymore?"
+
+"Nothing, sir." His agitation was so great that he could hardly speak,
+and the shadows sprang up and down from the shaking of his candle. "It
+was the window, sir. I go round at night to see that they are fastened."
+
+"On the second floor?"
+
+"Yes, sir, all the windows."
+
+"Look here, Barrymore," said Sir Henry sternly, "we have made up our
+minds to have the truth out of you, so it will save you trouble to tell
+it sooner rather than later. Come, now! No lies! What were you doing at
+that window?"
+
+The fellow looked at us in a helpless way, and he wrung his hands
+together like one who is in the last extremity of doubt and misery.
+
+"I was doing no harm, sir. I was holding a candle to the window."
+
+"And why were you holding a candle to the window?"
+
+"Don't ask me, Sir Henry--don't ask me! I give you my word, sir, that it
+is not my secret, and that I cannot tell it. If it concerned no one but
+myself I would not try to keep it from you."
+
+A sudden idea occurred to me, and I took the candle from the trembling
+hand of the butler.
+
+"He must have been holding it as a signal," said I. "Let us see if
+there is any answer." I held it as he had done, and stared out into the
+darkness of the night. Vaguely I could discern the black bank of the
+trees and the lighter expanse of the moor, for the moon was behind the
+clouds. And then I gave a cry of exultation, for a tiny pinpoint of
+yellow light had suddenly transfixed the dark veil, and glowed steadily
+in the centre of the black square framed by the window.
+
+"There it is!" I cried.
+
+"No, no, sir, it is nothing--nothing at all!" the butler broke in; "I
+assure you, sir--"
+
+"Move your light across the window, Watson!" cried the baronet. "See,
+the other moves also! Now, you rascal, do you deny that it is a signal?
+Come, speak up! Who is your confederate out yonder, and what is this
+conspiracy that is going on?"
+
+The man's face became openly defiant. "It is my business, and not yours.
+I will not tell."
+
+"Then you leave my employment right away."
+
+"Very good, sir. If I must I must."
+
+"And you go in disgrace. By thunder, you may well be ashamed of
+yourself. Your family has lived with mine for over a hundred years under
+this roof, and here I find you deep in some dark plot against me."
+
+"No, no, sir; no, not against you!" It was a woman's voice, and Mrs.
+Barrymore, paler and more horror-struck than her husband, was standing
+at the door. Her bulky figure in a shawl and skirt might have been comic
+were it not for the intensity of feeling upon her face.
+
+"We have to go, Eliza. This is the end of it. You can pack our things,"
+said the butler.
+
+"Oh, John, John, have I brought you to this? It is my doing, Sir
+Henry--all mine. He has done nothing except for my sake and because I
+asked him."
+
+"Speak out, then! What does it mean?"
+
+"My unhappy brother is starving on the moor. We cannot let him perish at
+our very gates. The light is a signal to him that food is ready for him,
+and his light out yonder is to show the spot to which to bring it."
+
+"Then your brother is--"
+
+"The escaped convict, sir--Selden, the criminal."
+
+"That's the truth, sir," said Barrymore. "I said that it was not my
+secret and that I could not tell it to you. But now you have heard it,
+and you will see that if there was a plot it was not against you."
+
+This, then, was the explanation of the stealthy expeditions at night
+and the light at the window. Sir Henry and I both stared at the woman in
+amazement. Was it possible that this stolidly respectable person was of
+the same blood as one of the most notorious criminals in the country?
+
+"Yes, sir, my name was Selden, and he is my younger brother. We humoured
+him too much when he was a lad and gave him his own way in everything
+until he came to think that the world was made for his pleasure, and
+that he could do what he liked in it. Then as he grew older he met
+wicked companions, and the devil entered into him until he broke my
+mother's heart and dragged our name in the dirt. From crime to crime
+he sank lower and lower until it is only the mercy of God which has
+snatched him from the scaffold; but to me, sir, he was always the little
+curly-headed boy that I had nursed and played with as an elder sister
+would. That was why he broke prison, sir. He knew that I was here and
+that we could not refuse to help him. When he dragged himself here one
+night, weary and starving, with the warders hard at his heels, what
+could we do? We took him in and fed him and cared for him. Then you
+returned, sir, and my brother thought he would be safer on the moor than
+anywhere else until the hue and cry was over, so he lay in hiding there.
+But every second night we made sure if he was still there by putting a
+light in the window, and if there was an answer my husband took out some
+bread and meat to him. Every day we hoped that he was gone, but as long
+as he was there we could not desert him. That is the whole truth, as I
+am an honest Christian woman and you will see that if there is blame in
+the matter it does not lie with my husband but with me, for whose sake
+he has done all that he has."
+
+The woman's words came with an intense earnestness which carried
+conviction with them.
+
+"Is this true, Barrymore?"
+
+"Yes, Sir Henry. Every word of it."
+
+"Well, I cannot blame you for standing by your own wife. Forget what
+I have said. Go to your room, you two, and we shall talk further about
+this matter in the morning."
+
+When they were gone we looked out of the window again. Sir Henry had
+flung it open, and the cold night wind beat in upon our faces. Far away
+in the black distance there still glowed that one tiny point of yellow
+light.
+
+"I wonder he dares," said Sir Henry.
+
+"It may be so placed as to be only visible from here."
+
+"Very likely. How far do you think it is?"
+
+"Out by the Cleft Tor, I think."
+
+"Not more than a mile or two off."
+
+"Hardly that."
+
+"Well, it cannot be far if Barrymore had to carry out the food to it.
+And he is waiting, this villain, beside that candle. By thunder, Watson,
+I am going out to take that man!"
+
+The same thought had crossed my own mind. It was not as if the
+Barrymores had taken us into their confidence. Their secret had been
+forced from them. The man was a danger to the community, an unmitigated
+scoundrel for whom there was neither pity nor excuse. We were only doing
+our duty in taking this chance of putting him back where he could do no
+harm. With his brutal and violent nature, others would have to pay the
+price if we held our hands. Any night, for example, our neighbours the
+Stapletons might be attacked by him, and it may have been the thought of
+this which made Sir Henry so keen upon the adventure.
+
+"I will come," said I.
+
+"Then get your revolver and put on your boots. The sooner we start the
+better, as the fellow may put out his light and be off."
+
+In five minutes we were outside the door, starting upon our expedition.
+We hurried through the dark shrubbery, amid the dull moaning of the
+autumn wind and the rustle of the falling leaves. The night air was
+heavy with the smell of damp and decay. Now and again the moon peeped
+out for an instant, but clouds were driving over the face of the sky,
+and just as we came out on the moor a thin rain began to fall. The light
+still burned steadily in front.
+
+"Are you armed?" I asked.
+
+"I have a hunting-crop."
+
+"We must close in on him rapidly, for he is said to be a desperate
+fellow. We shall take him by surprise and have him at our mercy before
+he can resist."
+
+"I say, Watson," said the baronet, "what would Holmes say to this? How
+about that hour of darkness in which the power of evil is exalted?"
+
+As if in answer to his words there rose suddenly out of the vast gloom
+of the moor that strange cry which I had already heard upon the borders
+of the great Grimpen Mire. It came with the wind through the silence
+of the night, a long, deep mutter, then a rising howl, and then the sad
+moan in which it died away. Again and again it sounded, the whole air
+throbbing with it, strident, wild, and menacing. The baronet caught my
+sleeve and his face glimmered white through the darkness.
+
+"My God, what's that, Watson?"
+
+"I don't know. It's a sound they have on the moor. I heard it once
+before."
+
+It died away, and an absolute silence closed in upon us. We stood
+straining our ears, but nothing came.
+
+"Watson," said the baronet, "it was the cry of a hound."
+
+My blood ran cold in my veins, for there was a break in his voice which
+told of the sudden horror which had seized him.
+
+"What do they call this sound?" he asked.
+
+"Who?"
+
+"The folk on the countryside."
+
+"Oh, they are ignorant people. Why should you mind what they call it?"
+
+"Tell me, Watson. What do they say of it?"
+
+I hesitated but could not escape the question.
+
+"They say it is the cry of the Hound of the Baskervilles."
+
+He groaned and was silent for a few moments.
+
+"A hound it was," he said at last, "but it seemed to come from miles
+away, over yonder, I think."
+
+"It was hard to say whence it came."
+
+"It rose and fell with the wind. Isn't that the direction of the great
+Grimpen Mire?"
+
+"Yes, it is."
+
+"Well, it was up there. Come now, Watson, didn't you think yourself that
+it was the cry of a hound? I am not a child. You need not fear to speak
+the truth."
+
+"Stapleton was with me when I heard it last. He said that it might be
+the calling of a strange bird."
+
+"No, no, it was a hound. My God, can there be some truth in all these
+stories? Is it possible that I am really in danger from so dark a cause?
+You don't believe it, do you, Watson?"
+
+"No, no."
+
+"And yet it was one thing to laugh about it in London, and it is another
+to stand out here in the darkness of the moor and to hear such a cry as
+that. And my uncle! There was the footprint of the hound beside him as
+he lay. It all fits together. I don't think that I am a coward, Watson,
+but that sound seemed to freeze my very blood. Feel my hand!"
+
+It was as cold as a block of marble.
+
+"You'll be all right tomorrow."
+
+"I don't think I'll get that cry out of my head. What do you advise that
+we do now?"
+
+"Shall we turn back?"
+
+"No, by thunder; we have come out to get our man, and we will do it. We
+after the convict, and a hell-hound, as likely as not, after us. Come
+on! We'll see it through if all the fiends of the pit were loose upon
+the moor."
+
+We stumbled slowly along in the darkness, with the black loom of the
+craggy hills around us, and the yellow speck of light burning steadily
+in front. There is nothing so deceptive as the distance of a light upon
+a pitch-dark night, and sometimes the glimmer seemed to be far away upon
+the horizon and sometimes it might have been within a few yards of us.
+But at last we could see whence it came, and then we knew that we were
+indeed very close. A guttering candle was stuck in a crevice of the
+rocks which flanked it on each side so as to keep the wind from it
+and also to prevent it from being visible, save in the direction of
+Baskerville Hall. A boulder of granite concealed our approach, and
+crouching behind it we gazed over it at the signal light. It was strange
+to see this single candle burning there in the middle of the moor, with
+no sign of life near it--just the one straight yellow flame and the
+gleam of the rock on each side of it.
+
+"What shall we do now?" whispered Sir Henry.
+
+"Wait here. He must be near his light. Let us see if we can get a
+glimpse of him."
+
+The words were hardly out of my mouth when we both saw him. Over the
+rocks, in the crevice of which the candle burned, there was thrust out
+an evil yellow face, a terrible animal face, all seamed and scored with
+vile passions. Foul with mire, with a bristling beard, and hung with
+matted hair, it might well have belonged to one of those old savages
+who dwelt in the burrows on the hillsides. The light beneath him was
+reflected in his small, cunning eyes which peered fiercely to right and
+left through the darkness like a crafty and savage animal who has heard
+the steps of the hunters.
+
+Something had evidently aroused his suspicions. It may have been that
+Barrymore had some private signal which we had neglected to give, or
+the fellow may have had some other reason for thinking that all was not
+well, but I could read his fears upon his wicked face. Any instant he
+might dash out the light and vanish in the darkness. I sprang forward
+therefore, and Sir Henry did the same. At the same moment the convict
+screamed out a curse at us and hurled a rock which splintered up against
+the boulder which had sheltered us. I caught one glimpse of his short,
+squat, strongly built figure as he sprang to his feet and turned to run.
+At the same moment by a lucky chance the moon broke through the clouds.
+We rushed over the brow of the hill, and there was our man running with
+great speed down the other side, springing over the stones in his way
+with the activity of a mountain goat. A lucky long shot of my revolver
+might have crippled him, but I had brought it only to defend myself if
+attacked and not to shoot an unarmed man who was running away.
+
+We were both swift runners and in fairly good training, but we soon
+found that we had no chance of overtaking him. We saw him for a long
+time in the moonlight until he was only a small speck moving swiftly
+among the boulders upon the side of a distant hill. We ran and ran until
+we were completely blown, but the space between us grew ever wider.
+Finally we stopped and sat panting on two rocks, while we watched him
+disappearing in the distance.
+
+And it was at this moment that there occurred a most strange and
+unexpected thing. We had risen from our rocks and were turning to go
+home, having abandoned the hopeless chase. The moon was low upon the
+right, and the jagged pinnacle of a granite tor stood up against the
+lower curve of its silver disc. There, outlined as black as an ebony
+statue on that shining background, I saw the figure of a man upon the
+tor. Do not think that it was a delusion, Holmes. I assure you that
+I have never in my life seen anything more clearly. As far as I could
+judge, the figure was that of a tall, thin man. He stood with his legs
+a little separated, his arms folded, his head bowed, as if he were
+brooding over that enormous wilderness of peat and granite which lay
+before him. He might have been the very spirit of that terrible place.
+It was not the convict. This man was far from the place where the
+latter had disappeared. Besides, he was a much taller man. With a cry
+of surprise I pointed him out to the baronet, but in the instant during
+which I had turned to grasp his arm the man was gone. There was the
+sharp pinnacle of granite still cutting the lower edge of the moon, but
+its peak bore no trace of that silent and motionless figure.
+
+I wished to go in that direction and to search the tor, but it was some
+distance away. The baronet's nerves were still quivering from that cry,
+which recalled the dark story of his family, and he was not in the mood
+for fresh adventures. He had not seen this lonely man upon the tor and
+could not feel the thrill which his strange presence and his commanding
+attitude had given to me. "A warder, no doubt," said he. "The moor
+has been thick with them since this fellow escaped." Well, perhaps his
+explanation may be the right one, but I should like to have some further
+proof of it. Today we mean to communicate to the Princetown people where
+they should look for their missing man, but it is hard lines that
+we have not actually had the triumph of bringing him back as our
+own prisoner. Such are the adventures of last night, and you must
+acknowledge, my dear Holmes, that I have done you very well in
+the matter of a report. Much of what I tell you is no doubt quite
+irrelevant, but still I feel that it is best that I should let you have
+all the facts and leave you to select for yourself those which will
+be of most service to you in helping you to your conclusions. We are
+certainly making some progress. So far as the Barrymores go we have
+found the motive of their actions, and that has cleared up the situation
+very much. But the moor with its mysteries and its strange inhabitants
+remains as inscrutable as ever. Perhaps in my next I may be able to
+throw some light upon this also. Best of all would it be if you could
+come down to us. In any case you will hear from me again in the course
+of the next few days.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 10. Extract from the Diary of Dr. Watson
+
+
+
+So far I have been able to quote from the reports which I have forwarded
+during these early days to Sherlock Holmes. Now, however, I have arrived
+at a point in my narrative where I am compelled to abandon this method
+and to trust once more to my recollections, aided by the diary which
+I kept at the time. A few extracts from the latter will carry me on to
+those scenes which are indelibly fixed in every detail upon my memory. I
+proceed, then, from the morning which followed our abortive chase of the
+convict and our other strange experiences upon the moor.
+
+October 16th. A dull and foggy day with a drizzle of rain. The house
+is banked in with rolling clouds, which rise now and then to show the
+dreary curves of the moor, with thin, silver veins upon the sides of the
+hills, and the distant boulders gleaming where the light strikes upon
+their wet faces. It is melancholy outside and in. The baronet is in a
+black reaction after the excitements of the night. I am conscious myself
+of a weight at my heart and a feeling of impending danger--ever present
+danger, which is the more terrible because I am unable to define it.
+
+And have I not cause for such a feeling? Consider the long sequence of
+incidents which have all pointed to some sinister influence which is
+at work around us. There is the death of the last occupant of the Hall,
+fulfilling so exactly the conditions of the family legend, and there
+are the repeated reports from peasants of the appearance of a strange
+creature upon the moor. Twice I have with my own ears heard the sound
+which resembled the distant baying of a hound. It is incredible,
+impossible, that it should really be outside the ordinary laws of
+nature. A spectral hound which leaves material footmarks and fills the
+air with its howling is surely not to be thought of. Stapleton may
+fall in with such a superstition, and Mortimer also, but if I have one
+quality upon earth it is common sense, and nothing will persuade me to
+believe in such a thing. To do so would be to descend to the level of
+these poor peasants, who are not content with a mere fiend dog but must
+needs describe him with hell-fire shooting from his mouth and eyes.
+Holmes would not listen to such fancies, and I am his agent. But facts
+are facts, and I have twice heard this crying upon the moor. Suppose
+that there were really some huge hound loose upon it; that would go far
+to explain everything. But where could such a hound lie concealed, where
+did it get its food, where did it come from, how was it that no one
+saw it by day? It must be confessed that the natural explanation offers
+almost as many difficulties as the other. And always, apart from the
+hound, there is the fact of the human agency in London, the man in the
+cab, and the letter which warned Sir Henry against the moor. This at
+least was real, but it might have been the work of a protecting friend
+as easily as of an enemy. Where is that friend or enemy now? Has he
+remained in London, or has he followed us down here? Could he--could he
+be the stranger whom I saw upon the tor?
+
+It is true that I have had only the one glance at him, and yet there are
+some things to which I am ready to swear. He is no one whom I have seen
+down here, and I have now met all the neighbours. The figure was far
+taller than that of Stapleton, far thinner than that of Frankland.
+Barrymore it might possibly have been, but we had left him behind us,
+and I am certain that he could not have followed us. A stranger then is
+still dogging us, just as a stranger dogged us in London. We have never
+shaken him off. If I could lay my hands upon that man, then at last we
+might find ourselves at the end of all our difficulties. To this one
+purpose I must now devote all my energies.
+
+My first impulse was to tell Sir Henry all my plans. My second and
+wisest one is to play my own game and speak as little as possible to
+anyone. He is silent and distrait. His nerves have been strangely shaken
+by that sound upon the moor. I will say nothing to add to his anxieties,
+but I will take my own steps to attain my own end.
+
+We had a small scene this morning after breakfast. Barrymore asked leave
+to speak with Sir Henry, and they were closeted in his study some little
+time. Sitting in the billiard-room I more than once heard the sound of
+voices raised, and I had a pretty good idea what the point was which was
+under discussion. After a time the baronet opened his door and called
+for me. "Barrymore considers that he has a grievance," he said. "He
+thinks that it was unfair on our part to hunt his brother-in-law down
+when he, of his own free will, had told us the secret."
+
+The butler was standing very pale but very collected before us.
+
+"I may have spoken too warmly, sir," said he, "and if I have, I am sure
+that I beg your pardon. At the same time, I was very much surprised when
+I heard you two gentlemen come back this morning and learned that you
+had been chasing Selden. The poor fellow has enough to fight against
+without my putting more upon his track."
+
+"If you had told us of your own free will it would have been a different
+thing," said the baronet, "you only told us, or rather your wife only
+told us, when it was forced from you and you could not help yourself."
+
+"I didn't think you would have taken advantage of it, Sir Henry--indeed
+I didn't."
+
+"The man is a public danger. There are lonely houses scattered over the
+moor, and he is a fellow who would stick at nothing. You only want to
+get a glimpse of his face to see that. Look at Mr. Stapleton's house,
+for example, with no one but himself to defend it. There's no safety for
+anyone until he is under lock and key."
+
+"He'll break into no house, sir. I give you my solemn word upon that.
+But he will never trouble anyone in this country again. I assure you,
+Sir Henry, that in a very few days the necessary arrangements will have
+been made and he will be on his way to South America. For God's sake,
+sir, I beg of you not to let the police know that he is still on the
+moor. They have given up the chase there, and he can lie quiet until the
+ship is ready for him. You can't tell on him without getting my wife and
+me into trouble. I beg you, sir, to say nothing to the police."
+
+"What do you say, Watson?"
+
+I shrugged my shoulders. "If he were safely out of the country it would
+relieve the tax-payer of a burden."
+
+"But how about the chance of his holding someone up before he goes?"
+
+"He would not do anything so mad, sir. We have provided him with all
+that he can want. To commit a crime would be to show where he was
+hiding."
+
+"That is true," said Sir Henry. "Well, Barrymore--"
+
+"God bless you, sir, and thank you from my heart! It would have killed
+my poor wife had he been taken again."
+
+"I guess we are aiding and abetting a felony, Watson? But, after what
+we have heard I don't feel as if I could give the man up, so there is an
+end of it. All right, Barrymore, you can go."
+
+With a few broken words of gratitude the man turned, but he hesitated
+and then came back.
+
+"You've been so kind to us, sir, that I should like to do the best I
+can for you in return. I know something, Sir Henry, and perhaps I should
+have said it before, but it was long after the inquest that I found it
+out. I've never breathed a word about it yet to mortal man. It's about
+poor Sir Charles's death."
+
+The baronet and I were both upon our feet. "Do you know how he died?"
+
+"No, sir, I don't know that."
+
+"What then?"
+
+"I know why he was at the gate at that hour. It was to meet a woman."
+
+"To meet a woman! He?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And the woman's name?"
+
+"I can't give you the name, sir, but I can give you the initials. Her
+initials were L. L."
+
+"How do you know this, Barrymore?"
+
+"Well, Sir Henry, your uncle had a letter that morning. He had usually a
+great many letters, for he was a public man and well known for his kind
+heart, so that everyone who was in trouble was glad to turn to him. But
+that morning, as it chanced, there was only this one letter, so I took
+the more notice of it. It was from Coombe Tracey, and it was addressed
+in a woman's hand."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, sir, I thought no more of the matter, and never would have done
+had it not been for my wife. Only a few weeks ago she was cleaning out
+Sir Charles's study--it had never been touched since his death--and she
+found the ashes of a burned letter in the back of the grate. The greater
+part of it was charred to pieces, but one little slip, the end of a
+page, hung together, and the writing could still be read, though it was
+gray on a black ground. It seemed to us to be a postscript at the end
+of the letter and it said: 'Please, please, as you are a gentleman, burn
+this letter, and be at the gate by ten o clock. Beneath it were signed
+the initials L. L."
+
+"Have you got that slip?"
+
+"No, sir, it crumbled all to bits after we moved it."
+
+"Had Sir Charles received any other letters in the same writing?"
+
+"Well, sir, I took no particular notice of his letters. I should not
+have noticed this one, only it happened to come alone."
+
+"And you have no idea who L. L. is?"
+
+"No, sir. No more than you have. But I expect if we could lay our hands
+upon that lady we should know more about Sir Charles's death."
+
+"I cannot understand, Barrymore, how you came to conceal this important
+information."
+
+"Well, sir, it was immediately after that our own trouble came to us.
+And then again, sir, we were both of us very fond of Sir Charles, as we
+well might be considering all that he has done for us. To rake this
+up couldn't help our poor master, and it's well to go carefully when
+there's a lady in the case. Even the best of us--"
+
+"You thought it might injure his reputation?"
+
+"Well, sir, I thought no good could come of it. But now you have been
+kind to us, and I feel as if it would be treating you unfairly not to
+tell you all that I know about the matter."
+
+"Very good, Barrymore; you can go." When the butler had left us Sir
+Henry turned to me. "Well, Watson, what do you think of this new light?"
+
+"It seems to leave the darkness rather blacker than before."
+
+"So I think. But if we can only trace L. L. it should clear up the whole
+business. We have gained that much. We know that there is someone who
+has the facts if we can only find her. What do you think we should do?"
+
+"Let Holmes know all about it at once. It will give him the clue for
+which he has been seeking. I am much mistaken if it does not bring him
+down."
+
+I went at once to my room and drew up my report of the morning's
+conversation for Holmes. It was evident to me that he had been very busy
+of late, for the notes which I had from Baker Street were few and short,
+with no comments upon the information which I had supplied and hardly
+any reference to my mission. No doubt his blackmailing case is absorbing
+all his faculties. And yet this new factor must surely arrest his
+attention and renew his interest. I wish that he were here.
+
+October 17th. All day today the rain poured down, rustling on the ivy
+and dripping from the eaves. I thought of the convict out upon the
+bleak, cold, shelterless moor. Poor devil! Whatever his crimes, he has
+suffered something to atone for them. And then I thought of that other
+one--the face in the cab, the figure against the moon. Was he also out
+in that deluged--the unseen watcher, the man of darkness? In the evening
+I put on my waterproof and I walked far upon the sodden moor, full of
+dark imaginings, the rain beating upon my face and the wind whistling
+about my ears. God help those who wander into the great mire now, for
+even the firm uplands are becoming a morass. I found the black tor upon
+which I had seen the solitary watcher, and from its craggy summit I
+looked out myself across the melancholy downs. Rain squalls drifted
+across their russet face, and the heavy, slate- clouds hung
+low over the landscape, trailing in gray wreaths down the sides of the
+fantastic hills. In the distant hollow on the left, half hidden by the
+mist, the two thin towers of Baskerville Hall rose above the trees. They
+were the only signs of human life which I could see, save only those
+prehistoric huts which lay thickly upon the <DW72>s of the hills. Nowhere
+was there any trace of that lonely man whom I had seen on the same spot
+two nights before.
+
+As I walked back I was overtaken by Dr. Mortimer driving in his dog-cart
+over a rough moorland track which led from the outlying farmhouse of
+Foulmire. He has been very attentive to us, and hardly a day has passed
+that he has not called at the Hall to see how we were getting on. He
+insisted upon my climbing into his dog-cart, and he gave me a lift
+homeward. I found him much troubled over the disappearance of his little
+spaniel. It had wandered on to the moor and had never come back. I
+gave him such consolation as I might, but I thought of the pony on the
+Grimpen Mire, and I do not fancy that he will see his little dog again.
+
+"By the way, Mortimer," said I as we jolted along the rough road, "I
+suppose there are few people living within driving distance of this whom
+you do not know?"
+
+"Hardly any, I think."
+
+"Can you, then, tell me the name of any woman whose initials are L. L.?"
+
+He thought for a few minutes.
+
+"No," said he. "There are a few gipsies and labouring folk for whom
+I can't answer, but among the farmers or gentry there is no one whose
+initials are those. Wait a bit though," he added after a pause. "There
+is Laura Lyons--her initials are L. L.--but she lives in Coombe Tracey."
+
+"Who is she?" I asked.
+
+"She is Frankland's daughter."
+
+"What! Old Frankland the crank?"
+
+"Exactly. She married an artist named Lyons, who came sketching on the
+moor. He proved to be a blackguard and deserted her. The fault from what
+I hear may not have been entirely on one side. Her father refused to
+have anything to do with her because she had married without his consent
+and perhaps for one or two other reasons as well. So, between the old
+sinner and the young one the girl has had a pretty bad time."
+
+"How does she live?"
+
+"I fancy old Frankland allows her a pittance, but it cannot be more,
+for his own affairs are considerably involved. Whatever she may have
+deserved one could not allow her to go hopelessly to the bad. Her story
+got about, and several of the people here did something to enable her
+to earn an honest living. Stapleton did for one, and Sir Charles for
+another. I gave a trifle myself. It was to set her up in a typewriting
+business."
+
+He wanted to know the object of my inquiries, but I managed to satisfy
+his curiosity without telling him too much, for there is no reason why
+we should take anyone into our confidence. Tomorrow morning I shall
+find my way to Coombe Tracey, and if I can see this Mrs. Laura Lyons, of
+equivocal reputation, a long step will have been made towards clearing
+one incident in this chain of mysteries. I am certainly developing the
+wisdom of the serpent, for when Mortimer pressed his questions to an
+inconvenient extent I asked him casually to what type Frankland's skull
+belonged, and so heard nothing but craniology for the rest of our drive.
+I have not lived for years with Sherlock Holmes for nothing.
+
+I have only one other incident to record upon this tempestuous and
+melancholy day. This was my conversation with Barrymore just now, which
+gives me one more strong card which I can play in due time.
+
+Mortimer had stayed to dinner, and he and the baronet played ecarte
+afterwards. The butler brought me my coffee into the library, and I took
+the chance to ask him a few questions.
+
+"Well," said I, "has this precious relation of yours departed, or is he
+still lurking out yonder?"
+
+"I don't know, sir. I hope to heaven that he has gone, for he has
+brought nothing but trouble here! I've not heard of him since I left out
+food for him last, and that was three days ago."
+
+"Did you see him then?"
+
+"No, sir, but the food was gone when next I went that way."
+
+"Then he was certainly there?"
+
+"So you would think, sir, unless it was the other man who took it."
+
+I sat with my coffee-cup halfway to my lips and stared at Barrymore.
+
+"You know that there is another man then?"
+
+"Yes, sir; there is another man upon the moor."
+
+"Have you seen him?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"How do you know of him then?"
+
+"Selden told me of him, sir, a week ago or more. He's in hiding, too,
+but he's not a convict as far as I can make out. I don't like it, Dr.
+Watson--I tell you straight, sir, that I don't like it." He spoke with a
+sudden passion of earnestness.
+
+"Now, listen to me, Barrymore! I have no interest in this matter but
+that of your master. I have come here with no object except to help him.
+Tell me, frankly, what it is that you don't like."
+
+Barrymore hesitated for a moment, as if he regretted his outburst or
+found it difficult to express his own feelings in words.
+
+"It's all these goings-on, sir," he cried at last, waving his hand
+towards the rain-lashed window which faced the moor. "There's foul play
+somewhere, and there's black villainy brewing, to that I'll swear!
+Very glad I should be, sir, to see Sir Henry on his way back to London
+again!"
+
+"But what is it that alarms you?"
+
+"Look at Sir Charles's death! That was bad enough, for all that the
+coroner said. Look at the noises on the moor at night. There's not a
+man would cross it after sundown if he was paid for it. Look at this
+stranger hiding out yonder, and watching and waiting! What's he waiting
+for? What does it mean? It means no good to anyone of the name of
+Baskerville, and very glad I shall be to be quit of it all on the day
+that Sir Henry's new servants are ready to take over the Hall."
+
+"But about this stranger," said I. "Can you tell me anything about
+him? What did Selden say? Did he find out where he hid, or what he was
+doing?"
+
+"He saw him once or twice, but he is a deep one and gives nothing away.
+At first he thought that he was the police, but soon he found that he
+had some lay of his own. A kind of gentleman he was, as far as he could
+see, but what he was doing he could not make out."
+
+"And where did he say that he lived?"
+
+"Among the old houses on the hillside--the stone huts where the old folk
+used to live."
+
+"But how about his food?"
+
+"Selden found out that he has got a lad who works for him and brings all
+he needs. I dare say he goes to Coombe Tracey for what he wants."
+
+"Very good, Barrymore. We may talk further of this some other time."
+When the butler had gone I walked over to the black window, and I looked
+through a blurred pane at the driving clouds and at the tossing outline
+of the wind-swept trees. It is a wild night indoors, and what must it
+be in a stone hut upon the moor. What passion of hatred can it be which
+leads a man to lurk in such a place at such a time! And what deep and
+earnest purpose can he have which calls for such a trial! There, in that
+hut upon the moor, seems to lie the very centre of that problem which
+has vexed me so sorely. I swear that another day shall not have passed
+before I have done all that man can do to reach the heart of the
+mystery.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 11. The Man on the Tor
+
+
+
+The extract from my private diary which forms the last chapter has
+brought my narrative up to the eighteenth of October, a time when these
+strange events began to move swiftly towards their terrible conclusion.
+The incidents of the next few days are indelibly graven upon my
+recollection, and I can tell them without reference to the notes made
+at the time. I start them from the day which succeeded that upon which
+I had established two facts of great importance, the one that Mrs. Laura
+Lyons of Coombe Tracey had written to Sir Charles Baskerville and made
+an appointment with him at the very place and hour that he met his
+death, the other that the lurking man upon the moor was to be found
+among the stone huts upon the hillside. With these two facts in my
+possession I felt that either my intelligence or my courage must be
+deficient if I could not throw some further light upon these dark
+places.
+
+I had no opportunity to tell the baronet what I had learned about Mrs.
+Lyons upon the evening before, for Dr. Mortimer remained with him at
+cards until it was very late. At breakfast, however, I informed him
+about my discovery and asked him whether he would care to accompany
+me to Coombe Tracey. At first he was very eager to come, but on second
+thoughts it seemed to both of us that if I went alone the results might
+be better. The more formal we made the visit the less information we
+might obtain. I left Sir Henry behind, therefore, not without some
+prickings of conscience, and drove off upon my new quest.
+
+When I reached Coombe Tracey I told Perkins to put up the horses, and
+I made inquiries for the lady whom I had come to interrogate. I had no
+difficulty in finding her rooms, which were central and well appointed.
+A maid showed me in without ceremony, and as I entered the sitting-room
+a lady, who was sitting before a Remington typewriter, sprang up with a
+pleasant smile of welcome. Her face fell, however, when she saw that
+I was a stranger, and she sat down again and asked me the object of my
+visit.
+
+The first impression left by Mrs. Lyons was one of extreme beauty. Her
+eyes and hair were of the same rich hazel colour, and her cheeks, though
+considerably freckled, were flushed with the exquisite bloom of the
+brunette, the dainty pink which lurks at the heart of the sulphur rose.
+Admiration was, I repeat, the first impression. But the second was
+criticism. There was something subtly wrong with the face, some
+coarseness of expression, some hardness, perhaps, of eye, some looseness
+of lip which marred its perfect beauty. But these, of course, are
+afterthoughts. At the moment I was simply conscious that I was in
+the presence of a very handsome woman, and that she was asking me the
+reasons for my visit. I had not quite understood until that instant how
+delicate my mission was.
+
+"I have the pleasure," said I, "of knowing your father."
+
+It was a clumsy introduction, and the lady made me feel it. "There
+is nothing in common between my father and me," she said. "I owe him
+nothing, and his friends are not mine. If it were not for the late Sir
+Charles Baskerville and some other kind hearts I might have starved for
+all that my father cared."
+
+"It was about the late Sir Charles Baskerville that I have come here to
+see you."
+
+The freckles started out on the lady's face.
+
+"What can I tell you about him?" she asked, and her fingers played
+nervously over the stops of her typewriter.
+
+"You knew him, did you not?"
+
+"I have already said that I owe a great deal to his kindness. If I am
+able to support myself it is largely due to the interest which he took
+in my unhappy situation."
+
+"Did you correspond with him?"
+
+The lady looked quickly up with an angry gleam in her hazel eyes.
+
+"What is the object of these questions?" she asked sharply.
+
+"The object is to avoid a public scandal. It is better that I should ask
+them here than that the matter should pass outside our control."
+
+She was silent and her face was still very pale. At last she looked up
+with something reckless and defiant in her manner.
+
+"Well, I'll answer," she said. "What are your questions?"
+
+"Did you correspond with Sir Charles?"
+
+"I certainly wrote to him once or twice to acknowledge his delicacy and
+his generosity."
+
+"Have you the dates of those letters?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Have you ever met him?"
+
+"Yes, once or twice, when he came into Coombe Tracey. He was a very
+retiring man, and he preferred to do good by stealth."
+
+"But if you saw him so seldom and wrote so seldom, how did he know
+enough about your affairs to be able to help you, as you say that he has
+done?"
+
+She met my difficulty with the utmost readiness.
+
+"There were several gentlemen who knew my sad history and united to
+help me. One was Mr. Stapleton, a neighbour and intimate friend of Sir
+Charles's. He was exceedingly kind, and it was through him that Sir
+Charles learned about my affairs."
+
+I knew already that Sir Charles Baskerville had made Stapleton his
+almoner upon several occasions, so the lady's statement bore the impress
+of truth upon it.
+
+"Did you ever write to Sir Charles asking him to meet you?" I continued.
+
+Mrs. Lyons flushed with anger again. "Really, sir, this is a very
+extraordinary question."
+
+"I am sorry, madam, but I must repeat it."
+
+"Then I answer, certainly not."
+
+"Not on the very day of Sir Charles's death?"
+
+The flush had faded in an instant, and a deathly face was before me. Her
+dry lips could not speak the "No" which I saw rather than heard.
+
+"Surely your memory deceives you," said I. "I could even quote a passage
+of your letter. It ran 'Please, please, as you are a gentleman, burn
+this letter, and be at the gate by ten o'clock.'"
+
+I thought that she had fainted, but she recovered herself by a supreme
+effort.
+
+"Is there no such thing as a gentleman?" she gasped.
+
+"You do Sir Charles an injustice. He did burn the letter. But sometimes
+a letter may be legible even when burned. You acknowledge now that you
+wrote it?"
+
+"Yes, I did write it," she cried, pouring out her soul in a torrent of
+words. "I did write it. Why should I deny it? I have no reason to be
+ashamed of it. I wished him to help me. I believed that if I had an
+interview I could gain his help, so I asked him to meet me."
+
+"But why at such an hour?"
+
+"Because I had only just learned that he was going to London next day
+and might be away for months. There were reasons why I could not get
+there earlier."
+
+"But why a rendezvous in the garden instead of a visit to the house?"
+
+"Do you think a woman could go alone at that hour to a bachelor's
+house?"
+
+"Well, what happened when you did get there?"
+
+"I never went."
+
+"Mrs. Lyons!"
+
+"No, I swear it to you on all I hold sacred. I never went. Something
+intervened to prevent my going."
+
+"What was that?"
+
+"That is a private matter. I cannot tell it."
+
+"You acknowledge then that you made an appointment with Sir Charles at
+the very hour and place at which he met his death, but you deny that you
+kept the appointment."
+
+"That is the truth."
+
+Again and again I cross-questioned her, but I could never get past that
+point.
+
+"Mrs. Lyons," said I as I rose from this long and inconclusive
+interview, "you are taking a very great responsibility and putting
+yourself in a very false position by not making an absolutely clean
+breast of all that you know. If I have to call in the aid of the police
+you will find how seriously you are compromised. If your position is
+innocent, why did you in the first instance deny having written to Sir
+Charles upon that date?"
+
+"Because I feared that some false conclusion might be drawn from it and
+that I might find myself involved in a scandal."
+
+"And why were you so pressing that Sir Charles should destroy your
+letter?"
+
+"If you have read the letter you will know."
+
+"I did not say that I had read all the letter."
+
+"You quoted some of it."
+
+"I quoted the postscript. The letter had, as I said, been burned and it
+was not all legible. I ask you once again why it was that you were so
+pressing that Sir Charles should destroy this letter which he received
+on the day of his death."
+
+"The matter is a very private one."
+
+"The more reason why you should avoid a public investigation."
+
+"I will tell you, then. If you have heard anything of my unhappy history
+you will know that I made a rash marriage and had reason to regret it."
+
+"I have heard so much."
+
+"My life has been one incessant persecution from a husband whom I abhor.
+The law is upon his side, and every day I am faced by the possibility
+that he may force me to live with him. At the time that I wrote this
+letter to Sir Charles I had learned that there was a prospect of
+my regaining my freedom if certain expenses could be met. It meant
+everything to me--peace of mind, happiness, self-respect--everything. I
+knew Sir Charles's generosity, and I thought that if he heard the story
+from my own lips he would help me."
+
+"Then how is it that you did not go?"
+
+"Because I received help in the interval from another source."
+
+"Why then, did you not write to Sir Charles and explain this?"
+
+"So I should have done had I not seen his death in the paper next
+morning."
+
+The woman's story hung coherently together, and all my questions were
+unable to shake it. I could only check it by finding if she had, indeed,
+instituted divorce proceedings against her husband at or about the time
+of the tragedy.
+
+It was unlikely that she would dare to say that she had not been to
+Baskerville Hall if she really had been, for a trap would be necessary
+to take her there, and could not have returned to Coombe Tracey until
+the early hours of the morning. Such an excursion could not be kept
+secret. The probability was, therefore, that she was telling the truth,
+or, at least, a part of the truth. I came away baffled and disheartened.
+Once again I had reached that dead wall which seemed to be built across
+every path by which I tried to get at the object of my mission. And yet
+the more I thought of the lady's face and of her manner the more I felt
+that something was being held back from me. Why should she turn so pale?
+Why should she fight against every admission until it was forced from
+her? Why should she have been so reticent at the time of the tragedy?
+Surely the explanation of all this could not be as innocent as she
+would have me believe. For the moment I could proceed no farther in that
+direction, but must turn back to that other clue which was to be sought
+for among the stone huts upon the moor.
+
+And that was a most vague direction. I realized it as I drove back
+and noted how hill after hill showed traces of the ancient people.
+Barrymore's only indication had been that the stranger lived in one of
+these abandoned huts, and many hundreds of them are scattered throughout
+the length and breadth of the moor. But I had my own experience for a
+guide since it had shown me the man himself standing upon the summit of
+the Black Tor. That, then, should be the centre of my search. From there
+I should explore every hut upon the moor until I lighted upon the right
+one. If this man were inside it I should find out from his own lips, at
+the point of my revolver if necessary, who he was and why he had dogged
+us so long. He might slip away from us in the crowd of Regent Street,
+but it would puzzle him to do so upon the lonely moor. On the other
+hand, if I should find the hut and its tenant should not be within it I
+must remain there, however long the vigil, until he returned. Holmes had
+missed him in London. It would indeed be a triumph for me if I could run
+him to earth where my master had failed.
+
+Luck had been against us again and again in this inquiry, but now at
+last it came to my aid. And the messenger of good fortune was none other
+than Mr. Frankland, who was standing, gray-whiskered and red-faced,
+outside the gate of his garden, which opened on to the highroad along
+which I travelled.
+
+"Good-day, Dr. Watson," cried he with unwonted good humour, "you must
+really give your horses a rest and come in to have a glass of wine and
+to congratulate me."
+
+My feelings towards him were very far from being friendly after what I
+had heard of his treatment of his daughter, but I was anxious to send
+Perkins and the wagonette home, and the opportunity was a good one. I
+alighted and sent a message to Sir Henry that I should walk over in time
+for dinner. Then I followed Frankland into his dining-room.
+
+"It is a great day for me, sir--one of the red-letter days of my life,"
+he cried with many chuckles. "I have brought off a double event. I mean
+to teach them in these parts that law is law, and that there is a man
+here who does not fear to invoke it. I have established a right of way
+through the centre of old Middleton's park, slap across it, sir, within
+a hundred yards of his own front door. What do you think of that? We'll
+teach these magnates that they cannot ride roughshod over the rights
+of the commoners, confound them! And I've closed the wood where the
+Fernworthy folk used to picnic. These infernal people seem to think that
+there are no rights of property, and that they can swarm where they like
+with their papers and their bottles. Both cases decided, Dr. Watson, and
+both in my favour. I haven't had such a day since I had Sir John Morland
+for trespass because he shot in his own warren."
+
+"How on earth did you do that?"
+
+"Look it up in the books, sir. It will repay reading--Frankland v.
+Morland, Court of Queen's Bench. It cost me 200 pounds, but I got my
+verdict."
+
+"Did it do you any good?"
+
+"None, sir, none. I am proud to say that I had no interest in the
+matter. I act entirely from a sense of public duty. I have no doubt, for
+example, that the Fernworthy people will burn me in effigy tonight.
+I told the police last time they did it that they should stop these
+disgraceful exhibitions. The County Constabulary is in a scandalous
+state, sir, and it has not afforded me the protection to which I am
+entitled. The case of Frankland v. Regina will bring the matter before
+the attention of the public. I told them that they would have occasion
+to regret their treatment of me, and already my words have come true."
+
+"How so?" I asked.
+
+The old man put on a very knowing expression. "Because I could tell them
+what they are dying to know; but nothing would induce me to help the
+rascals in any way."
+
+I had been casting round for some excuse by which I could get away
+from his gossip, but now I began to wish to hear more of it. I had seen
+enough of the contrary nature of the old sinner to understand that any
+strong sign of interest would be the surest way to stop his confidences.
+
+"Some poaching case, no doubt?" said I with an indifferent manner.
+
+"Ha, ha, my boy, a very much more important matter than that! What about
+the convict on the moor?"
+
+I stared. "You don't mean that you know where he is?" said I.
+
+"I may not know exactly where he is, but I am quite sure that I could
+help the police to lay their hands on him. Has it never struck you that
+the way to catch that man was to find out where he got his food and so
+trace it to him?"
+
+He certainly seemed to be getting uncomfortably near the truth. "No
+doubt," said I; "but how do you know that he is anywhere upon the moor?"
+
+"I know it because I have seen with my own eyes the messenger who takes
+him his food."
+
+My heart sank for Barrymore. It was a serious thing to be in the power
+of this spiteful old busybody. But his next remark took a weight from my
+mind.
+
+"You'll be surprised to hear that his food is taken to him by a child.
+I see him every day through my telescope upon the roof. He passes along
+the same path at the same hour, and to whom should he be going except to
+the convict?"
+
+Here was luck indeed! And yet I suppressed all appearance of interest. A
+child! Barrymore had said that our unknown was supplied by a boy. It was
+on his track, and not upon the convict's, that Frankland had stumbled.
+If I could get his knowledge it might save me a long and weary hunt. But
+incredulity and indifference were evidently my strongest cards.
+
+"I should say that it was much more likely that it was the son of one of
+the moorland shepherds taking out his father's dinner."
+
+The least appearance of opposition struck fire out of the old autocrat.
+His eyes looked malignantly at me, and his gray whiskers bristled like
+those of an angry cat.
+
+"Indeed, sir!" said he, pointing out over the wide-stretching moor. "Do
+you see that Black Tor over yonder? Well, do you see the low hill beyond
+with the thornbush upon it? It is the stoniest part of the whole moor.
+Is that a place where a shepherd would be likely to take his station?
+Your suggestion, sir, is a most absurd one."
+
+I meekly answered that I had spoken without knowing all the facts. My
+submission pleased him and led him to further confidences.
+
+"You may be sure, sir, that I have very good grounds before I come to an
+opinion. I have seen the boy again and again with his bundle. Every
+day, and sometimes twice a day, I have been able--but wait a moment,
+Dr. Watson. Do my eyes deceive me, or is there at the present moment
+something moving upon that hillside?"
+
+It was several miles off, but I could distinctly see a small dark dot
+against the dull green and gray.
+
+"Come, sir, come!" cried Frankland, rushing upstairs. "You will see with
+your own eyes and judge for yourself."
+
+The telescope, a formidable instrument mounted upon a tripod, stood upon
+the flat leads of the house. Frankland clapped his eye to it and gave a
+cry of satisfaction.
+
+"Quick, Dr. Watson, quick, before he passes over the hill!"
+
+There he was, sure enough, a small urchin with a little bundle upon his
+shoulder, toiling slowly up the hill. When he reached the crest I saw
+the ragged uncouth figure outlined for an instant against the cold blue
+sky. He looked round him with a furtive and stealthy air, as one who
+dreads pursuit. Then he vanished over the hill.
+
+"Well! Am I right?"
+
+"Certainly, there is a boy who seems to have some secret errand."
+
+"And what the errand is even a county constable could guess. But not
+one word shall they have from me, and I bind you to secrecy also, Dr.
+Watson. Not a word! You understand!"
+
+"Just as you wish."
+
+"They have treated me shamefully--shamefully. When the facts come out in
+Frankland v. Regina I venture to think that a thrill of indignation will
+run through the country. Nothing would induce me to help the police in
+any way. For all they cared it might have been me, instead of my effigy,
+which these rascals burned at the stake. Surely you are not going! You
+will help me to empty the decanter in honour of this great occasion!"
+
+But I resisted all his solicitations and succeeded in dissuading him
+from his announced intention of walking home with me. I kept the road
+as long as his eye was on me, and then I struck off across the moor and
+made for the stony hill over which the boy had disappeared. Everything
+was working in my favour, and I swore that it should not be through lack
+of energy or perseverance that I should miss the chance which fortune
+had thrown in my way.
+
+The sun was already sinking when I reached the summit of the hill, and
+the long <DW72>s beneath me were all golden-green on one side and gray
+shadow on the other. A haze lay low upon the farthest sky-line, out of
+which jutted the fantastic shapes of Belliver and Vixen Tor. Over the
+wide expanse there was no sound and no movement. One great gray bird, a
+gull or curlew, soared aloft in the blue heaven. He and I seemed to be
+the only living things between the huge arch of the sky and the desert
+beneath it. The barren scene, the sense of loneliness, and the mystery
+and urgency of my task all struck a chill into my heart. The boy was
+nowhere to be seen. But down beneath me in a cleft of the hills there
+was a circle of the old stone huts, and in the middle of them there
+was one which retained sufficient roof to act as a screen against the
+weather. My heart leaped within me as I saw it. This must be the burrow
+where the stranger lurked. At last my foot was on the threshold of his
+hiding place--his secret was within my grasp.
+
+As I approached the hut, walking as warily as Stapleton would do when
+with poised net he drew near the settled butterfly, I satisfied myself
+that the place had indeed been used as a habitation. A vague pathway
+among the boulders led to the dilapidated opening which served as a
+door. All was silent within. The unknown might be lurking there, or
+he might be prowling on the moor. My nerves tingled with the sense of
+adventure. Throwing aside my cigarette, I closed my hand upon the butt
+of my revolver and, walking swiftly up to the door, I looked in. The
+place was empty.
+
+But there were ample signs that I had not come upon a false scent. This
+was certainly where the man lived. Some blankets rolled in a waterproof
+lay upon that very stone slab upon which Neolithic man had once
+slumbered. The ashes of a fire were heaped in a rude grate. Beside it
+lay some cooking utensils and a bucket half-full of water. A litter of
+empty tins showed that the place had been occupied for some time, and I
+saw, as my eyes became accustomed to the checkered light, a pannikin and
+a half-full bottle of spirits standing in the corner. In the middle of
+the hut a flat stone served the purpose of a table, and upon this stood
+a small cloth bundle--the same, no doubt, which I had seen through the
+telescope upon the shoulder of the boy. It contained a loaf of bread,
+a tinned tongue, and two tins of preserved peaches. As I set it down
+again, after having examined it, my heart leaped to see that beneath it
+there lay a sheet of paper with writing upon it. I raised it, and this
+was what I read, roughly scrawled in pencil: "Dr. Watson has gone to
+Coombe Tracey."
+
+For a minute I stood there with the paper in my hands thinking out the
+meaning of this curt message. It was I, then, and not Sir Henry, who was
+being dogged by this secret man. He had not followed me himself, but
+he had set an agent--the boy, perhaps--upon my track, and this was his
+report. Possibly I had taken no step since I had been upon the moor
+which had not been observed and reported. Always there was this feeling
+of an unseen force, a fine net drawn round us with infinite skill and
+delicacy, holding us so lightly that it was only at some supreme moment
+that one realized that one was indeed entangled in its meshes.
+
+If there was one report there might be others, so I looked round the hut
+in search of them. There was no trace, however, of anything of the kind,
+nor could I discover any sign which might indicate the character or
+intentions of the man who lived in this singular place, save that he
+must be of Spartan habits and cared little for the comforts of life.
+When I thought of the heavy rains and looked at the gaping roof I
+understood how strong and immutable must be the purpose which had kept
+him in that inhospitable abode. Was he our malignant enemy, or was he by
+chance our guardian angel? I swore that I would not leave the hut until
+I knew.
+
+Outside the sun was sinking low and the west was blazing with scarlet
+and gold. Its reflection was shot back in ruddy patches by the distant
+pools which lay amid the great Grimpen Mire. There were the two towers
+of Baskerville Hall, and there a distant blur of smoke which marked the
+village of Grimpen. Between the two, behind the hill, was the house
+of the Stapletons. All was sweet and mellow and peaceful in the golden
+evening light, and yet as I looked at them my soul shared none of the
+peace of Nature but quivered at the vagueness and the terror of that
+interview which every instant was bringing nearer. With tingling nerves
+but a fixed purpose, I sat in the dark recess of the hut and waited with
+sombre patience for the coming of its tenant.
+
+And then at last I heard him. Far away came the sharp clink of a boot
+striking upon a stone. Then another and yet another, coming nearer and
+nearer. I shrank back into the darkest corner and cocked the pistol in
+my pocket, determined not to discover myself until I had an opportunity
+of seeing something of the stranger. There was a long pause which showed
+that he had stopped. Then once more the footsteps approached and a
+shadow fell across the opening of the hut.
+
+"It is a lovely evening, my dear Watson," said a well-known voice. "I
+really think that you will be more comfortable outside than in."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 12. Death on the Moor
+
+
+
+For a moment or two I sat breathless, hardly able to believe my ears.
+Then my senses and my voice came back to me, while a crushing weight
+of responsibility seemed in an instant to be lifted from my soul. That
+cold, incisive, ironical voice could belong to but one man in all the
+world.
+
+"Holmes!" I cried--"Holmes!"
+
+"Come out," said he, "and please be careful with the revolver."
+
+I stooped under the rude lintel, and there he sat upon a stone outside,
+his gray eyes dancing with amusement as they fell upon my astonished
+features. He was thin and worn, but clear and alert, his keen face
+bronzed by the sun and roughened by the wind. In his tweed suit and
+cloth cap he looked like any other tourist upon the moor, and he had
+contrived, with that catlike love of personal cleanliness which was one
+of his characteristics, that his chin should be as smooth and his linen
+as perfect as if he were in Baker Street.
+
+"I never was more glad to see anyone in my life," said I as I wrung him
+by the hand.
+
+"Or more astonished, eh?"
+
+"Well, I must confess to it."
+
+"The surprise was not all on one side, I assure you. I had no idea that
+you had found my occasional retreat, still less that you were inside it,
+until I was within twenty paces of the door."
+
+"My footprint, I presume?"
+
+"No, Watson, I fear that I could not undertake to recognize your
+footprint amid all the footprints of the world. If you seriously desire
+to deceive me you must change your tobacconist; for when I see the stub
+of a cigarette marked Bradley, Oxford Street, I know that my friend
+Watson is in the neighbourhood. You will see it there beside the path.
+You threw it down, no doubt, at that supreme moment when you charged
+into the empty hut."
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"I thought as much--and knowing your admirable tenacity I was convinced
+that you were sitting in ambush, a weapon within reach, waiting for the
+tenant to return. So you actually thought that I was the criminal?"
+
+"I did not know who you were, but I was determined to find out."
+
+"Excellent, Watson! And how did you localize me? You saw me, perhaps, on
+the night of the convict hunt, when I was so imprudent as to allow the
+moon to rise behind me?"
+
+"Yes, I saw you then."
+
+"And have no doubt searched all the huts until you came to this one?"
+
+"No, your boy had been observed, and that gave me a guide where to
+look."
+
+"The old gentleman with the telescope, no doubt. I could not make it out
+when first I saw the light flashing upon the lens." He rose and peeped
+into the hut. "Ha, I see that Cartwright has brought up some supplies.
+What's this paper? So you have been to Coombe Tracey, have you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"To see Mrs. Laura Lyons?"
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"Well done! Our researches have evidently been running on parallel
+lines, and when we unite our results I expect we shall have a fairly
+full knowledge of the case."
+
+"Well, I am glad from my heart that you are here, for indeed the
+responsibility and the mystery were both becoming too much for my
+nerves. But how in the name of wonder did you come here, and what have
+you been doing? I thought that you were in Baker Street working out that
+case of blackmailing."
+
+"That was what I wished you to think."
+
+"Then you use me, and yet do not trust me!" I cried with some
+bitterness. "I think that I have deserved better at your hands, Holmes."
+
+"My dear fellow, you have been invaluable to me in this as in many other
+cases, and I beg that you will forgive me if I have seemed to play a
+trick upon you. In truth, it was partly for your own sake that I did it,
+and it was my appreciation of the danger which you ran which led me to
+come down and examine the matter for myself. Had I been with Sir Henry
+and you it is confident that my point of view would have been the
+same as yours, and my presence would have warned our very formidable
+opponents to be on their guard. As it is, I have been able to get about
+as I could not possibly have done had I been living in the Hall, and
+I remain an unknown factor in the business, ready to throw in all my
+weight at a critical moment."
+
+"But why keep me in the dark?"
+
+"For you to know could not have helped us and might possibly have led
+to my discovery. You would have wished to tell me something, or in your
+kindness you would have brought me out some comfort or other, and so an
+unnecessary risk would be run. I brought Cartwright down with me--you
+remember the little chap at the express office--and he has seen after
+my simple wants: a loaf of bread and a clean collar. What does man want
+more? He has given me an extra pair of eyes upon a very active pair of
+feet, and both have been invaluable."
+
+"Then my reports have all been wasted!"--My voice trembled as I recalled
+the pains and the pride with which I had composed them.
+
+Holmes took a bundle of papers from his pocket.
+
+"Here are your reports, my dear fellow, and very well thumbed, I assure
+you. I made excellent arrangements, and they are only delayed one day
+upon their way. I must compliment you exceedingly upon the zeal and
+the intelligence which you have shown over an extraordinarily difficult
+case."
+
+I was still rather raw over the deception which had been practised upon
+me, but the warmth of Holmes's praise drove my anger from my mind. I
+felt also in my heart that he was right in what he said and that it was
+really best for our purpose that I should not have known that he was
+upon the moor.
+
+"That's better," said he, seeing the shadow rise from my face. "And
+now tell me the result of your visit to Mrs. Laura Lyons--it was not
+difficult for me to guess that it was to see her that you had gone, for
+I am already aware that she is the one person in Coombe Tracey who might
+be of service to us in the matter. In fact, if you had not gone today it
+is exceedingly probable that I should have gone tomorrow."
+
+The sun had set and dusk was settling over the moor. The air had turned
+chill and we withdrew into the hut for warmth. There, sitting together
+in the twilight, I told Holmes of my conversation with the lady. So
+interested was he that I had to repeat some of it twice before he was
+satisfied.
+
+"This is most important," said he when I had concluded. "It fills up a
+gap which I had been unable to bridge in this most complex affair. You
+are aware, perhaps, that a close intimacy exists between this lady and
+the man Stapleton?"
+
+"I did not know of a close intimacy."
+
+"There can be no doubt about the matter. They meet, they write, there
+is a complete understanding between them. Now, this puts a very powerful
+weapon into our hands. If I could only use it to detach his wife--"
+
+"His wife?"
+
+"I am giving you some information now, in return for all that you have
+given me. The lady who has passed here as Miss Stapleton is in reality
+his wife."
+
+"Good heavens, Holmes! Are you sure of what you say? How could he have
+permitted Sir Henry to fall in love with her?"
+
+"Sir Henry's falling in love could do no harm to anyone except Sir
+Henry. He took particular care that Sir Henry did not make love to her,
+as you have yourself observed. I repeat that the lady is his wife and
+not his sister."
+
+"But why this elaborate deception?"
+
+"Because he foresaw that she would be very much more useful to him in
+the character of a free woman."
+
+All my unspoken instincts, my vague suspicions, suddenly took shape and
+centred upon the naturalist. In that impassive colourless man, with his
+straw hat and his butterfly-net, I seemed to see something terrible--a
+creature of infinite patience and craft, with a smiling face and a
+murderous heart.
+
+"It is he, then, who is our enemy--it is he who dogged us in London?"
+
+"So I read the riddle."
+
+"And the warning--it must have come from her!"
+
+"Exactly."
+
+The shape of some monstrous villainy, half seen, half guessed, loomed
+through the darkness which had girt me so long.
+
+"But are you sure of this, Holmes? How do you know that the woman is his
+wife?"
+
+"Because he so far forgot himself as to tell you a true piece of
+autobiography upon the occasion when he first met you, and I dare say
+he has many a time regretted it since. He was once a schoolmaster in
+the north of England. Now, there is no one more easy to trace than a
+schoolmaster. There are scholastic agencies by which one may identify
+any man who has been in the profession. A little investigation showed me
+that a school had come to grief under atrocious circumstances, and that
+the man who had owned it--the name was different--had disappeared with
+his wife. The descriptions agreed. When I learned that the missing man
+was devoted to entomology the identification was complete."
+
+The darkness was rising, but much was still hidden by the shadows.
+
+"If this woman is in truth his wife, where does Mrs. Laura Lyons come
+in?" I asked.
+
+"That is one of the points upon which your own researches have shed a
+light. Your interview with the lady has cleared the situation very
+much. I did not know about a projected divorce between herself and her
+husband. In that case, regarding Stapleton as an unmarried man, she
+counted no doubt upon becoming his wife."
+
+"And when she is undeceived?"
+
+"Why, then we may find the lady of service. It must be our first duty
+to see her--both of us--tomorrow. Don't you think, Watson, that you are
+away from your charge rather long? Your place should be at Baskerville
+Hall."
+
+The last red streaks had faded away in the west and night had settled
+upon the moor. A few faint stars were gleaming in a violet sky.
+
+"One last question, Holmes," I said as I rose. "Surely there is no need
+of secrecy between you and me. What is the meaning of it all? What is he
+after?"
+
+Holmes's voice sank as he answered:
+
+"It is murder, Watson--refined, cold-blooded, deliberate murder. Do not
+ask me for particulars. My nets are closing upon him, even as his are
+upon Sir Henry, and with your help he is already almost at my mercy.
+There is but one danger which can threaten us. It is that he should
+strike before we are ready to do so. Another day--two at the most--and
+I have my case complete, but until then guard your charge as closely
+as ever a fond mother watched her ailing child. Your mission today has
+justified itself, and yet I could almost wish that you had not left his
+side. Hark!"
+
+A terrible scream--a prolonged yell of horror and anguish--burst out of
+the silence of the moor. That frightful cry turned the blood to ice in
+my veins.
+
+"Oh, my God!" I gasped. "What is it? What does it mean?"
+
+Holmes had sprung to his feet, and I saw his dark, athletic outline at
+the door of the hut, his shoulders stooping, his head thrust forward,
+his face peering into the darkness.
+
+"Hush!" he whispered. "Hush!"
+
+The cry had been loud on account of its vehemence, but it had pealed out
+from somewhere far off on the shadowy plain. Now it burst upon our ears,
+nearer, louder, more urgent than before.
+
+"Where is it?" Holmes whispered; and I knew from the thrill of his voice
+that he, the man of iron, was shaken to the soul. "Where is it, Watson?"
+
+"There, I think." I pointed into the darkness.
+
+"No, there!"
+
+Again the agonized cry swept through the silent night, louder and much
+nearer than ever. And a new sound mingled with it, a deep, muttered
+rumble, musical and yet menacing, rising and falling like the low,
+constant murmur of the sea.
+
+"The hound!" cried Holmes. "Come, Watson, come! Great heavens, if we are
+too late!"
+
+He had started running swiftly over the moor, and I had followed at his
+heels. But now from somewhere among the broken ground immediately in
+front of us there came one last despairing yell, and then a dull, heavy
+thud. We halted and listened. Not another sound broke the heavy silence
+of the windless night.
+
+I saw Holmes put his hand to his forehead like a man distracted. He
+stamped his feet upon the ground.
+
+"He has beaten us, Watson. We are too late."
+
+"No, no, surely not!"
+
+"Fool that I was to hold my hand. And you, Watson, see what comes of
+abandoning your charge! But, by Heaven, if the worst has happened we'll
+avenge him!"
+
+Blindly we ran through the gloom, blundering against boulders, forcing
+our way through gorse bushes, panting up hills and rushing down <DW72>s,
+heading always in the direction whence those dreadful sounds had come.
+At every rise Holmes looked eagerly round him, but the shadows were
+thick upon the moor, and nothing moved upon its dreary face.
+
+"Can you see anything?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"But, hark, what is that?"
+
+A low moan had fallen upon our ears. There it was again upon our left!
+On that side a ridge of rocks ended in a sheer cliff which overlooked
+a stone-strewn <DW72>. On its jagged face was spread-eagled some dark,
+irregular object. As we ran towards it the vague outline hardened into
+a definite shape. It was a prostrate man face downward upon the ground,
+the head doubled under him at a horrible angle, the shoulders rounded
+and the body hunched together as if in the act of throwing a somersault.
+So grotesque was the attitude that I could not for the instant realize
+that that moan had been the passing of his soul. Not a whisper, not a
+rustle, rose now from the dark figure over which we stooped. Holmes laid
+his hand upon him and held it up again with an exclamation of horror.
+The gleam of the match which he struck shone upon his clotted fingers
+and upon the ghastly pool which widened slowly from the crushed skull
+of the victim. And it shone upon something else which turned our hearts
+sick and faint within us--the body of Sir Henry Baskerville!
+
+There was no chance of either of us forgetting that peculiar ruddy tweed
+suit--the very one which he had worn on the first morning that we had
+seen him in Baker Street. We caught the one clear glimpse of it, and
+then the match flickered and went out, even as the hope had gone out
+of our souls. Holmes groaned, and his face glimmered white through the
+darkness.
+
+"The brute! The brute!" I cried with clenched hands. "Oh Holmes, I shall
+never forgive myself for having left him to his fate."
+
+"I am more to blame than you, Watson. In order to have my case well
+rounded and complete, I have thrown away the life of my client. It is
+the greatest blow which has befallen me in my career. But how could I
+know--how could I know--that he would risk his life alone upon the moor
+in the face of all my warnings?"
+
+"That we should have heard his screams--my God, those screams!--and yet
+have been unable to save him! Where is this brute of a hound which drove
+him to his death? It may be lurking among these rocks at this instant.
+And Stapleton, where is he? He shall answer for this deed."
+
+"He shall. I will see to that. Uncle and nephew have been murdered--the
+one frightened to death by the very sight of a beast which he thought
+to be supernatural, the other driven to his end in his wild flight to
+escape from it. But now we have to prove the connection between the
+man and the beast. Save from what we heard, we cannot even swear to the
+existence of the latter, since Sir Henry has evidently died from the
+fall. But, by heavens, cunning as he is, the fellow shall be in my power
+before another day is past!"
+
+We stood with bitter hearts on either side of the mangled body,
+overwhelmed by this sudden and irrevocable disaster which had brought
+all our long and weary labours to so piteous an end. Then as the moon
+rose we climbed to the top of the rocks over which our poor friend had
+fallen, and from the summit we gazed out over the shadowy moor, half
+silver and half gloom. Far away, miles off, in the direction of Grimpen,
+a single steady yellow light was shining. It could only come from the
+lonely abode of the Stapletons. With a bitter curse I shook my fist at
+it as I gazed.
+
+"Why should we not seize him at once?"
+
+"Our case is not complete. The fellow is wary and cunning to the last
+degree. It is not what we know, but what we can prove. If we make one
+false move the villain may escape us yet."
+
+"What can we do?"
+
+"There will be plenty for us to do tomorrow. Tonight we can only perform
+the last offices to our poor friend."
+
+Together we made our way down the precipitous <DW72> and approached the
+body, black and clear against the silvered stones. The agony of those
+contorted limbs struck me with a spasm of pain and blurred my eyes with
+tears.
+
+"We must send for help, Holmes! We cannot carry him all the way to the
+Hall. Good heavens, are you mad?"
+
+He had uttered a cry and bent over the body. Now he was dancing and
+laughing and wringing my hand. Could this be my stern, self-contained
+friend? These were hidden fires, indeed!
+
+"A beard! A beard! The man has a beard!"
+
+"A beard?"
+
+"It is not the baronet--it is--why, it is my neighbour, the convict!"
+
+With feverish haste we had turned the body over, and that dripping beard
+was pointing up to the cold, clear moon. There could be no doubt about
+the beetling forehead, the sunken animal eyes. It was indeed the same
+face which had glared upon me in the light of the candle from over the
+rock--the face of Selden, the criminal.
+
+Then in an instant it was all clear to me. I remembered how the baronet
+had told me that he had handed his old wardrobe to Barrymore. Barrymore
+had passed it on in order to help Selden in his escape. Boots, shirt,
+cap--it was all Sir Henry's. The tragedy was still black enough, but
+this man had at least deserved death by the laws of his country. I told
+Holmes how the matter stood, my heart bubbling over with thankfulness
+and joy.
+
+"Then the clothes have been the poor devil's death," said he. "It is
+clear enough that the hound has been laid on from some article of
+Sir Henry's--the boot which was abstracted in the hotel, in all
+probability--and so ran this man down. There is one very singular thing,
+however: How came Selden, in the darkness, to know that the hound was on
+his trail?"
+
+"He heard him."
+
+"To hear a hound upon the moor would not work a hard man like this
+convict into such a paroxysm of terror that he would risk recapture
+by screaming wildly for help. By his cries he must have run a long way
+after he knew the animal was on his track. How did he know?"
+
+"A greater mystery to me is why this hound, presuming that all our
+conjectures are correct--"
+
+"I presume nothing."
+
+"Well, then, why this hound should be loose tonight. I suppose that it
+does not always run loose upon the moor. Stapleton would not let it go
+unless he had reason to think that Sir Henry would be there."
+
+"My difficulty is the more formidable of the two, for I think that we
+shall very shortly get an explanation of yours, while mine may remain
+forever a mystery. The question now is, what shall we do with this poor
+wretch's body? We cannot leave it here to the foxes and the ravens."
+
+"I suggest that we put it in one of the huts until we can communicate
+with the police."
+
+"Exactly. I have no doubt that you and I could carry it so far. Halloa,
+Watson, what's this? It's the man himself, by all that's wonderful and
+audacious! Not a word to show your suspicions--not a word, or my plans
+crumble to the ground."
+
+A figure was approaching us over the moor, and I saw the dull red glow
+of a cigar. The moon shone upon him, and I could distinguish the dapper
+shape and jaunty walk of the naturalist. He stopped when he saw us, and
+then came on again.
+
+"Why, Dr. Watson, that's not you, is it? You are the last man that I
+should have expected to see out on the moor at this time of night. But,
+dear me, what's this? Somebody hurt? Not--don't tell me that it is our
+friend Sir Henry!" He hurried past me and stooped over the dead man. I
+heard a sharp intake of his breath and the cigar fell from his fingers.
+
+"Who--who's this?" he stammered.
+
+"It is Selden, the man who escaped from Princetown."
+
+Stapleton turned a ghastly face upon us, but by a supreme effort he had
+overcome his amazement and his disappointment. He looked sharply from
+Holmes to me. "Dear me! What a very shocking affair! How did he die?"
+
+"He appears to have broken his neck by falling over these rocks. My
+friend and I were strolling on the moor when we heard a cry."
+
+"I heard a cry also. That was what brought me out. I was uneasy about
+Sir Henry."
+
+"Why about Sir Henry in particular?" I could not help asking.
+
+"Because I had suggested that he should come over. When he did not come
+I was surprised, and I naturally became alarmed for his safety when I
+heard cries upon the moor. By the way"--his eyes darted again from my
+face to Holmes's--"did you hear anything else besides a cry?"
+
+"No," said Holmes; "did you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"What do you mean, then?"
+
+"Oh, you know the stories that the peasants tell about a phantom
+hound, and so on. It is said to be heard at night upon the moor. I was
+wondering if there were any evidence of such a sound tonight."
+
+"We heard nothing of the kind," said I.
+
+"And what is your theory of this poor fellow's death?"
+
+"I have no doubt that anxiety and exposure have driven him off his head.
+He has rushed about the moor in a crazy state and eventually fallen over
+here and broken his neck."
+
+"That seems the most reasonable theory," said Stapleton, and he gave a
+sigh which I took to indicate his relief. "What do you think about it,
+Mr. Sherlock Holmes?"
+
+My friend bowed his compliments. "You are quick at identification," said
+he.
+
+"We have been expecting you in these parts since Dr. Watson came down.
+You are in time to see a tragedy."
+
+"Yes, indeed. I have no doubt that my friend's explanation will cover
+the facts. I will take an unpleasant remembrance back to London with me
+tomorrow."
+
+"Oh, you return tomorrow?"
+
+"That is my intention."
+
+"I hope your visit has cast some light upon those occurrences which have
+puzzled us?"
+
+Holmes shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"One cannot always have the success for which one hopes. An investigator
+needs facts and not legends or rumours. It has not been a satisfactory
+case."
+
+My friend spoke in his frankest and most unconcerned manner. Stapleton
+still looked hard at him. Then he turned to me.
+
+"I would suggest carrying this poor fellow to my house, but it would
+give my sister such a fright that I do not feel justified in doing it.
+I think that if we put something over his face he will be safe until
+morning."
+
+And so it was arranged. Resisting Stapleton's offer of hospitality,
+Holmes and I set off to Baskerville Hall, leaving the naturalist to
+return alone. Looking back we saw the figure moving slowly away over the
+broad moor, and behind him that one black smudge on the silvered <DW72>
+which showed where the man was lying who had come so horribly to his
+end.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 13. Fixing the Nets
+
+
+
+"We're at close grips at last," said Holmes as we walked together across
+the moor. "What a nerve the fellow has! How he pulled himself together
+in the face of what must have been a paralyzing shock when he found that
+the wrong man had fallen a victim to his plot. I told you in London,
+Watson, and I tell you now again, that we have never had a foeman more
+worthy of our steel."
+
+"I am sorry that he has seen you."
+
+"And so was I at first. But there was no getting out of it."
+
+"What effect do you think it will have upon his plans now that he knows
+you are here?"
+
+"It may cause him to be more cautious, or it may drive him to desperate
+measures at once. Like most clever criminals, he may be too confident in
+his own cleverness and imagine that he has completely deceived us."
+
+"Why should we not arrest him at once?"
+
+"My dear Watson, you were born to be a man of action. Your instinct is
+always to do something energetic. But supposing, for argument's sake,
+that we had him arrested tonight, what on earth the better off should
+we be for that? We could prove nothing against him. There's the devilish
+cunning of it! If he were acting through a human agent we could get some
+evidence, but if we were to drag this great dog to the light of day it
+would not help us in putting a rope round the neck of its master."
+
+"Surely we have a case."
+
+"Not a shadow of one--only surmise and conjecture. We should be laughed
+out of court if we came with such a story and such evidence."
+
+"There is Sir Charles's death."
+
+"Found dead without a mark upon him. You and I know that he died of
+sheer fright, and we know also what frightened him, but how are we to
+get twelve stolid jurymen to know it? What signs are there of a hound?
+Where are the marks of its fangs? Of course we know that a hound does
+not bite a dead body and that Sir Charles was dead before ever the
+brute overtook him. But we have to prove all this, and we are not in a
+position to do it."
+
+"Well, then, tonight?"
+
+"We are not much better off tonight. Again, there was no direct
+connection between the hound and the man's death. We never saw the
+hound. We heard it, but we could not prove that it was running upon this
+man's trail. There is a complete absence of motive. No, my dear fellow;
+we must reconcile ourselves to the fact that we have no case at present,
+and that it is worth our while to run any risk in order to establish
+one."
+
+"And how do you propose to do so?"
+
+"I have great hopes of what Mrs. Laura Lyons may do for us when the
+position of affairs is made clear to her. And I have my own plan as
+well. Sufficient for tomorrow is the evil thereof; but I hope before the
+day is past to have the upper hand at last."
+
+I could draw nothing further from him, and he walked, lost in thought,
+as far as the Baskerville gates.
+
+"Are you coming up?"
+
+"Yes; I see no reason for further concealment. But one last word,
+Watson. Say nothing of the hound to Sir Henry. Let him think that
+Selden's death was as Stapleton would have us believe. He will have a
+better nerve for the ordeal which he will have to undergo tomorrow,
+when he is engaged, if I remember your report aright, to dine with these
+people."
+
+"And so am I."
+
+"Then you must excuse yourself and he must go alone. That will be easily
+arranged. And now, if we are too late for dinner, I think that we are
+both ready for our suppers."
+
+Sir Henry was more pleased than surprised to see Sherlock Holmes, for he
+had for some days been expecting that recent events would bring him down
+from London. He did raise his eyebrows, however, when he found that my
+friend had neither any luggage nor any explanations for its absence.
+Between us we soon supplied his wants, and then over a belated supper
+we explained to the baronet as much of our experience as it seemed
+desirable that he should know. But first I had the unpleasant duty of
+breaking the news to Barrymore and his wife. To him it may have been an
+unmitigated relief, but she wept bitterly in her apron. To all the world
+he was the man of violence, half animal and half demon; but to her he
+always remained the little wilful boy of her own girlhood, the child who
+had clung to her hand. Evil indeed is the man who has not one woman to
+mourn him.
+
+"I've been moping in the house all day since Watson went off in the
+morning," said the baronet. "I guess I should have some credit, for I
+have kept my promise. If I hadn't sworn not to go about alone I might
+have had a more lively evening, for I had a message from Stapleton
+asking me over there."
+
+"I have no doubt that you would have had a more lively evening," said
+Holmes drily. "By the way, I don't suppose you appreciate that we have
+been mourning over you as having broken your neck?"
+
+Sir Henry opened his eyes. "How was that?"
+
+"This poor wretch was dressed in your clothes. I fear your servant who
+gave them to him may get into trouble with the police."
+
+"That is unlikely. There was no mark on any of them, as far as I know."
+
+"That's lucky for him--in fact, it's lucky for all of you, since you are
+all on the wrong side of the law in this matter. I am not sure that as
+a conscientious detective my first duty is not to arrest the whole
+household. Watson's reports are most incriminating documents."
+
+"But how about the case?" asked the baronet. "Have you made anything out
+of the tangle? I don't know that Watson and I are much the wiser since
+we came down."
+
+"I think that I shall be in a position to make the situation rather more
+clear to you before long. It has been an exceedingly difficult and most
+complicated business. There are several points upon which we still want
+light--but it is coming all the same."
+
+"We've had one experience, as Watson has no doubt told you. We heard the
+hound on the moor, so I can swear that it is not all empty superstition.
+I had something to do with dogs when I was out West, and I know one when
+I hear one. If you can muzzle that one and put him on a chain I'll be
+ready to swear you are the greatest detective of all time."
+
+"I think I will muzzle him and chain him all right if you will give me
+your help."
+
+"Whatever you tell me to do I will do."
+
+"Very good; and I will ask you also to do it blindly, without always
+asking the reason."
+
+"Just as you like."
+
+"If you will do this I think the chances are that our little problem
+will soon be solved. I have no doubt--"
+
+He stopped suddenly and stared fixedly up over my head into the air. The
+lamp beat upon his face, and so intent was it and so still that it might
+have been that of a clear-cut classical statue, a personification of
+alertness and expectation.
+
+"What is it?" we both cried.
+
+I could see as he looked down that he was repressing some internal
+emotion. His features were still composed, but his eyes shone with
+amused exultation.
+
+"Excuse the admiration of a connoisseur," said he as he waved his hand
+towards the line of portraits which covered the opposite wall. "Watson
+won't allow that I know anything of art but that is mere jealousy
+because our views upon the subject differ. Now, these are a really very
+fine series of portraits."
+
+"Well, I'm glad to hear you say so," said Sir Henry, glancing with some
+surprise at my friend. "I don't pretend to know much about these things,
+and I'd be a better judge of a horse or a steer than of a picture. I
+didn't know that you found time for such things."
+
+"I know what is good when I see it, and I see it now. That's a Kneller,
+I'll swear, that lady in the blue silk over yonder, and the stout
+gentleman with the wig ought to be a Reynolds. They are all family
+portraits, I presume?"
+
+"Every one."
+
+"Do you know the names?"
+
+"Barrymore has been coaching me in them, and I think I can say my
+lessons fairly well."
+
+"Who is the gentleman with the telescope?"
+
+"That is Rear-Admiral Baskerville, who served under Rodney in the West
+Indies. The man with the blue coat and the roll of paper is Sir William
+Baskerville, who was Chairman of Committees of the House of Commons
+under Pitt."
+
+"And this Cavalier opposite to me--the one with the black velvet and the
+lace?"
+
+"Ah, you have a right to know about him. That is the cause of all the
+mischief, the wicked Hugo, who started the Hound of the Baskervilles.
+We're not likely to forget him."
+
+I gazed with interest and some surprise upon the portrait.
+
+"Dear me!" said Holmes, "he seems a quiet, meek-mannered man enough, but
+I dare say that there was a lurking devil in his eyes. I had pictured
+him as a more robust and ruffianly person."
+
+"There's no doubt about the authenticity, for the name and the date,
+1647, are on the back of the canvas."
+
+Holmes said little more, but the picture of the old roysterer seemed to
+have a fascination for him, and his eyes were continually fixed upon it
+during supper. It was not until later, when Sir Henry had gone to his
+room, that I was able to follow the trend of his thoughts. He led me
+back into the banqueting-hall, his bedroom candle in his hand, and he
+held it up against the time-stained portrait on the wall.
+
+"Do you see anything there?"
+
+I looked at the broad plumed hat, the curling love-locks, the white lace
+collar, and the straight, severe face which was framed between them. It
+was not a brutal countenance, but it was prim, hard, and stern, with a
+firm-set, thin-lipped mouth, and a coldly intolerant eye.
+
+"Is it like anyone you know?"
+
+"There is something of Sir Henry about the jaw."
+
+"Just a suggestion, perhaps. But wait an instant!" He stood upon a
+chair, and, holding up the light in his left hand, he curved his right
+arm over the broad hat and round the long ringlets.
+
+"Good heavens!" I cried in amazement.
+
+The face of Stapleton had sprung out of the canvas.
+
+"Ha, you see it now. My eyes have been trained to examine faces and not
+their trimmings. It is the first quality of a criminal investigator that
+he should see through a disguise."
+
+"But this is marvellous. It might be his portrait."
+
+"Yes, it is an interesting instance of a throwback, which appears to be
+both physical and spiritual. A study of family portraits is enough
+to convert a man to the doctrine of reincarnation. The fellow is a
+Baskerville--that is evident."
+
+"With designs upon the succession."
+
+"Exactly. This chance of the picture has supplied us with one of our
+most obvious missing links. We have him, Watson, we have him, and I dare
+swear that before tomorrow night he will be fluttering in our net as
+helpless as one of his own butterflies. A pin, a cork, and a card, and
+we add him to the Baker Street collection!" He burst into one of his
+rare fits of laughter as he turned away from the picture. I have not
+heard him laugh often, and it has always boded ill to somebody.
+
+I was up betimes in the morning, but Holmes was afoot earlier still, for
+I saw him as I dressed, coming up the drive.
+
+"Yes, we should have a full day today," he remarked, and he rubbed his
+hands with the joy of action. "The nets are all in place, and the drag
+is about to begin. We'll know before the day is out whether we have
+caught our big, leanjawed pike, or whether he has got through the
+meshes."
+
+"Have you been on the moor already?"
+
+"I have sent a report from Grimpen to Princetown as to the death of
+Selden. I think I can promise that none of you will be troubled in the
+matter. And I have also communicated with my faithful Cartwright, who
+would certainly have pined away at the door of my hut, as a dog does at
+his master's grave, if I had not set his mind at rest about my safety."
+
+"What is the next move?"
+
+"To see Sir Henry. Ah, here he is!"
+
+"Good-morning, Holmes," said the baronet. "You look like a general who
+is planning a battle with his chief of the staff."
+
+"That is the exact situation. Watson was asking for orders."
+
+"And so do I."
+
+"Very good. You are engaged, as I understand, to dine with our friends
+the Stapletons tonight."
+
+"I hope that you will come also. They are very hospitable people, and I
+am sure that they would be very glad to see you."
+
+"I fear that Watson and I must go to London."
+
+"To London?"
+
+"Yes, I think that we should be more useful there at the present
+juncture."
+
+The baronet's face perceptibly lengthened.
+
+"I hoped that you were going to see me through this business. The Hall
+and the moor are not very pleasant places when one is alone."
+
+"My dear fellow, you must trust me implicitly and do exactly what I tell
+you. You can tell your friends that we should have been happy to have
+come with you, but that urgent business required us to be in town. We
+hope very soon to return to Devonshire. Will you remember to give them
+that message?"
+
+"If you insist upon it."
+
+"There is no alternative, I assure you."
+
+I saw by the baronet's clouded brow that he was deeply hurt by what he
+regarded as our desertion.
+
+"When do you desire to go?" he asked coldly.
+
+"Immediately after breakfast. We will drive in to Coombe Tracey, but
+Watson will leave his things as a pledge that he will come back to you.
+Watson, you will send a note to Stapleton to tell him that you regret
+that you cannot come."
+
+"I have a good mind to go to London with you," said the baronet. "Why
+should I stay here alone?"
+
+"Because it is your post of duty. Because you gave me your word that you
+would do as you were told, and I tell you to stay."
+
+"All right, then, I'll stay."
+
+"One more direction! I wish you to drive to Merripit House. Send back
+your trap, however, and let them know that you intend to walk home."
+
+"To walk across the moor?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But that is the very thing which you have so often cautioned me not to
+do."
+
+"This time you may do it with safety. If I had not every confidence in
+your nerve and courage I would not suggest it, but it is essential that
+you should do it."
+
+"Then I will do it."
+
+"And as you value your life do not go across the moor in any direction
+save along the straight path which leads from Merripit House to the
+Grimpen Road, and is your natural way home."
+
+"I will do just what you say."
+
+"Very good. I should be glad to get away as soon after breakfast as
+possible, so as to reach London in the afternoon."
+
+I was much astounded by this programme, though I remembered that Holmes
+had said to Stapleton on the night before that his visit would terminate
+next day. It had not crossed my mind however, that he would wish me to
+go with him, nor could I understand how we could both be absent at a
+moment which he himself declared to be critical. There was nothing for
+it, however, but implicit obedience; so we bade good-bye to our rueful
+friend, and a couple of hours afterwards we were at the station of
+Coombe Tracey and had dispatched the trap upon its return journey. A
+small boy was waiting upon the platform.
+
+"Any orders, sir?"
+
+"You will take this train to town, Cartwright. The moment you arrive you
+will send a wire to Sir Henry Baskerville, in my name, to say that if he
+finds the pocketbook which I have dropped he is to send it by registered
+post to Baker Street."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And ask at the station office if there is a message for me."
+
+The boy returned with a telegram, which Holmes handed to me. It ran:
+
+Wire received. Coming down with unsigned warrant. Arrive five-forty.
+Lestrade.
+
+"That is in answer to mine of this morning. He is the best of the
+professionals, I think, and we may need his assistance. Now, Watson, I
+think that we cannot employ our time better than by calling upon your
+acquaintance, Mrs. Laura Lyons."
+
+His plan of campaign was beginning to be evident. He would use the
+baronet in order to convince the Stapletons that we were really gone,
+while we should actually return at the instant when we were likely to
+be needed. That telegram from London, if mentioned by Sir Henry to the
+Stapletons, must remove the last suspicions from their minds. Already I
+seemed to see our nets drawing closer around that leanjawed pike.
+
+Mrs. Laura Lyons was in her office, and Sherlock Holmes opened his
+interview with a frankness and directness which considerably amazed her.
+
+"I am investigating the circumstances which attended the death of the
+late Sir Charles Baskerville," said he. "My friend here, Dr. Watson,
+has informed me of what you have communicated, and also of what you have
+withheld in connection with that matter."
+
+"What have I withheld?" she asked defiantly.
+
+"You have confessed that you asked Sir Charles to be at the gate at ten
+o'clock. We know that that was the place and hour of his death. You have
+withheld what the connection is between these events."
+
+"There is no connection."
+
+"In that case the coincidence must indeed be an extraordinary one. But
+I think that we shall succeed in establishing a connection, after all. I
+wish to be perfectly frank with you, Mrs. Lyons. We regard this case as
+one of murder, and the evidence may implicate not only your friend Mr.
+Stapleton but his wife as well."
+
+The lady sprang from her chair.
+
+"His wife!" she cried.
+
+"The fact is no longer a secret. The person who has passed for his
+sister is really his wife."
+
+Mrs. Lyons had resumed her seat. Her hands were grasping the arms of her
+chair, and I saw that the pink nails had turned white with the pressure
+of her grip.
+
+"His wife!" she said again. "His wife! He is not a married man."
+
+Sherlock Holmes shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Prove it to me! Prove it to me! And if you can do so--!"
+
+The fierce flash of her eyes said more than any words.
+
+"I have come prepared to do so," said Holmes, drawing several papers
+from his pocket. "Here is a photograph of the couple taken in York four
+years ago. It is indorsed 'Mr. and Mrs. Vandeleur,' but you will have no
+difficulty in recognizing him, and her also, if you know her by sight.
+Here are three written descriptions by trustworthy witnesses of Mr. and
+Mrs. Vandeleur, who at that time kept St. Oliver's private school. Read
+them and see if you can doubt the identity of these people."
+
+She glanced at them, and then looked up at us with the set, rigid face
+of a desperate woman.
+
+"Mr. Holmes," she said, "this man had offered me marriage on condition
+that I could get a divorce from my husband. He has lied to me, the
+villain, in every conceivable way. Not one word of truth has he ever
+told me. And why--why? I imagined that all was for my own sake. But now
+I see that I was never anything but a tool in his hands. Why should I
+preserve faith with him who never kept any with me? Why should I try to
+shield him from the consequences of his own wicked acts? Ask me what you
+like, and there is nothing which I shall hold back. One thing I swear
+to you, and that is that when I wrote the letter I never dreamed of any
+harm to the old gentleman, who had been my kindest friend."
+
+"I entirely believe you, madam," said Sherlock Holmes. "The recital of
+these events must be very painful to you, and perhaps it will make it
+easier if I tell you what occurred, and you can check me if I make any
+material mistake. The sending of this letter was suggested to you by
+Stapleton?"
+
+"He dictated it."
+
+"I presume that the reason he gave was that you would receive help from
+Sir Charles for the legal expenses connected with your divorce?"
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"And then after you had sent the letter he dissuaded you from keeping
+the appointment?"
+
+"He told me that it would hurt his self-respect that any other man
+should find the money for such an object, and that though he was a poor
+man himself he would devote his last penny to removing the obstacles
+which divided us."
+
+"He appears to be a very consistent character. And then you heard
+nothing until you read the reports of the death in the paper?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And he made you swear to say nothing about your appointment with Sir
+Charles?"
+
+"He did. He said that the death was a very mysterious one, and that I
+should certainly be suspected if the facts came out. He frightened me
+into remaining silent."
+
+"Quite so. But you had your suspicions?"
+
+She hesitated and looked down.
+
+"I knew him," she said. "But if he had kept faith with me I should
+always have done so with him."
+
+"I think that on the whole you have had a fortunate escape," said
+Sherlock Holmes. "You have had him in your power and he knew it, and yet
+you are alive. You have been walking for some months very near to the
+edge of a precipice. We must wish you good-morning now, Mrs. Lyons, and
+it is probable that you will very shortly hear from us again."
+
+"Our case becomes rounded off, and difficulty after difficulty thins
+away in front of us," said Holmes as we stood waiting for the arrival of
+the express from town. "I shall soon be in the position of being able
+to put into a single connected narrative one of the most singular
+and sensational crimes of modern times. Students of criminology will
+remember the analogous incidents in Godno, in Little Russia, in the year
+'66, and of course there are the Anderson murders in North Carolina, but
+this case possesses some features which are entirely its own. Even now
+we have no clear case against this very wily man. But I shall be very
+much surprised if it is not clear enough before we go to bed this
+night."
+
+The London express came roaring into the station, and a small, wiry
+bulldog of a man had sprung from a first-class carriage. We all three
+shook hands, and I saw at once from the reverential way in which
+Lestrade gazed at my companion that he had learned a good deal since
+the days when they had first worked together. I could well remember
+the scorn which the theories of the reasoner used then to excite in the
+practical man.
+
+"Anything good?" he asked.
+
+"The biggest thing for years," said Holmes. "We have two hours before
+we need think of starting. I think we might employ it in getting some
+dinner and then, Lestrade, we will take the London fog out of your
+throat by giving you a breath of the pure night air of Dartmoor. Never
+been there? Ah, well, I don't suppose you will forget your first visit."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 14. The Hound of the Baskervilles
+
+
+
+One of Sherlock Holmes's defects--if, indeed, one may call it a
+defect--was that he was exceedingly loath to communicate his full plans
+to any other person until the instant of their fulfilment. Partly it
+came no doubt from his own masterful nature, which loved to dominate and
+surprise those who were around him. Partly also from his professional
+caution, which urged him never to take any chances. The result, however,
+was very trying for those who were acting as his agents and assistants.
+I had often suffered under it, but never more so than during that long
+drive in the darkness. The great ordeal was in front of us; at last we
+were about to make our final effort, and yet Holmes had said nothing,
+and I could only surmise what his course of action would be. My nerves
+thrilled with anticipation when at last the cold wind upon our faces and
+the dark, void spaces on either side of the narrow road told me that we
+were back upon the moor once again. Every stride of the horses and every
+turn of the wheels was taking us nearer to our supreme adventure.
+
+Our conversation was hampered by the presence of the driver of the hired
+wagonette, so that we were forced to talk of trivial matters when our
+nerves were tense with emotion and anticipation. It was a relief to me,
+after that unnatural restraint, when we at last passed Frankland's
+house and knew that we were drawing near to the Hall and to the scene
+of action. We did not drive up to the door but got down near the gate of
+the avenue. The wagonette was paid off and ordered to return to Coombe
+Tracey forthwith, while we started to walk to Merripit House.
+
+"Are you armed, Lestrade?"
+
+The little detective smiled. "As long as I have my trousers I have a
+hip-pocket, and as long as I have my hip-pocket I have something in it."
+
+"Good! My friend and I are also ready for emergencies."
+
+"You're mighty close about this affair, Mr. Holmes. What's the game
+now?"
+
+"A waiting game."
+
+"My word, it does not seem a very cheerful place," said the detective
+with a shiver, glancing round him at the gloomy <DW72>s of the hill and
+at the huge lake of fog which lay over the Grimpen Mire. "I see the
+lights of a house ahead of us."
+
+"That is Merripit House and the end of our journey. I must request you
+to walk on tiptoe and not to talk above a whisper."
+
+We moved cautiously along the track as if we were bound for the house,
+but Holmes halted us when we were about two hundred yards from it.
+
+"This will do," said he. "These rocks upon the right make an admirable
+screen."
+
+"We are to wait here?"
+
+"Yes, we shall make our little ambush here. Get into this hollow,
+Lestrade. You have been inside the house, have you not, Watson? Can you
+tell the position of the rooms? What are those latticed windows at this
+end?"
+
+"I think they are the kitchen windows."
+
+"And the one beyond, which shines so brightly?"
+
+"That is certainly the dining-room."
+
+"The blinds are up. You know the lie of the land best. Creep forward
+quietly and see what they are doing--but for heaven's sake don't let
+them know that they are watched!"
+
+I tiptoed down the path and stooped behind the low wall which surrounded
+the stunted orchard. Creeping in its shadow I reached a point whence I
+could look straight through the uncurtained window.
+
+There were only two men in the room, Sir Henry and Stapleton. They sat
+with their profiles towards me on either side of the round table. Both
+of them were smoking cigars, and coffee and wine were in front of them.
+Stapleton was talking with animation, but the baronet looked pale and
+distrait. Perhaps the thought of that lonely walk across the ill-omened
+moor was weighing heavily upon his mind.
+
+As I watched them Stapleton rose and left the room, while Sir Henry
+filled his glass again and leaned back in his chair, puffing at his
+cigar. I heard the creak of a door and the crisp sound of boots upon
+gravel. The steps passed along the path on the other side of the wall
+under which I crouched. Looking over, I saw the naturalist pause at the
+door of an out-house in the corner of the orchard. A key turned in
+a lock, and as he passed in there was a curious scuffling noise from
+within. He was only a minute or so inside, and then I heard the key turn
+once more and he passed me and reentered the house. I saw him rejoin his
+guest, and I crept quietly back to where my companions were waiting to
+tell them what I had seen.
+
+"You say, Watson, that the lady is not there?" Holmes asked when I had
+finished my report.
+
+"No."
+
+"Where can she be, then, since there is no light in any other room
+except the kitchen?"
+
+"I cannot think where she is."
+
+I have said that over the great Grimpen Mire there hung a dense, white
+fog. It was drifting slowly in our direction and banked itself up like a
+wall on that side of us, low but thick and well defined. The moon shone
+on it, and it looked like a great shimmering ice-field, with the heads
+of the distant tors as rocks borne upon its surface. Holmes's face
+was turned towards it, and he muttered impatiently as he watched its
+sluggish drift.
+
+"It's moving towards us, Watson."
+
+"Is that serious?"
+
+"Very serious, indeed--the one thing upon earth which could have
+disarranged my plans. He can't be very long, now. It is already ten
+o'clock. Our success and even his life may depend upon his coming out
+before the fog is over the path."
+
+The night was clear and fine above us. The stars shone cold and bright,
+while a half-moon bathed the whole scene in a soft, uncertain light.
+Before us lay the dark bulk of the house, its serrated roof and
+bristling chimneys hard outlined against the silver-spangled sky. Broad
+bars of golden light from the lower windows stretched across the orchard
+and the moor. One of them was suddenly shut off. The servants had left
+the kitchen. There only remained the lamp in the dining-room where the
+two men, the murderous host and the unconscious guest, still chatted
+over their cigars.
+
+Every minute that white woolly plain which covered one-half of the moor
+was drifting closer and closer to the house. Already the first thin
+wisps of it were curling across the golden square of the lighted window.
+The farther wall of the orchard was already invisible, and the trees
+were standing out of a swirl of white vapour. As we watched it the
+fog-wreaths came crawling round both corners of the house and rolled
+slowly into one dense bank on which the upper floor and the roof
+floated like a strange ship upon a shadowy sea. Holmes struck his hand
+passionately upon the rock in front of us and stamped his feet in his
+impatience.
+
+"If he isn't out in a quarter of an hour the path will be covered. In
+half an hour we won't be able to see our hands in front of us."
+
+"Shall we move farther back upon higher ground?"
+
+"Yes, I think it would be as well."
+
+So as the fog-bank flowed onward we fell back before it until we were
+half a mile from the house, and still that dense white sea, with the
+moon silvering its upper edge, swept slowly and inexorably on.
+
+"We are going too far," said Holmes. "We dare not take the chance of his
+being overtaken before he can reach us. At all costs we must hold our
+ground where we are." He dropped on his knees and clapped his ear to the
+ground. "Thank God, I think that I hear him coming."
+
+A sound of quick steps broke the silence of the moor. Crouching among
+the stones we stared intently at the silver-tipped bank in front of us.
+The steps grew louder, and through the fog, as through a curtain, there
+stepped the man whom we were awaiting. He looked round him in surprise
+as he emerged into the clear, starlit night. Then he came swiftly along
+the path, passed close to where we lay, and went on up the long <DW72>
+behind us. As he walked he glanced continually over either shoulder,
+like a man who is ill at ease.
+
+"Hist!" cried Holmes, and I heard the sharp click of a cocking pistol.
+"Look out! It's coming!"
+
+There was a thin, crisp, continuous patter from somewhere in the heart
+of that crawling bank. The cloud was within fifty yards of where we lay,
+and we glared at it, all three, uncertain what horror was about to break
+from the heart of it. I was at Holmes's elbow, and I glanced for an
+instant at his face. It was pale and exultant, his eyes shining brightly
+in the moonlight. But suddenly they started forward in a rigid, fixed
+stare, and his lips parted in amazement. At the same instant Lestrade
+gave a yell of terror and threw himself face downward upon the ground.
+I sprang to my feet, my inert hand grasping my pistol, my mind paralyzed
+by the dreadful shape which had sprung out upon us from the shadows of
+the fog. A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a
+hound as mortal eyes have ever seen. Fire burst from its open mouth, its
+eyes glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlap
+were outlined in flickering flame. Never in the delirious dream of
+a disordered brain could anything more savage, more appalling, more
+hellish be conceived than that dark form and savage face which broke
+upon us out of the wall of fog.
+
+With long bounds the huge black creature was leaping down the track,
+following hard upon the footsteps of our friend. So paralyzed were we by
+the apparition that we allowed him to pass before we had recovered our
+nerve. Then Holmes and I both fired together, and the creature gave a
+hideous howl, which showed that one at least had hit him. He did not
+pause, however, but bounded onward. Far away on the path we saw Sir
+Henry looking back, his face white in the moonlight, his hands raised in
+horror, glaring helplessly at the frightful thing which was hunting him
+down. But that cry of pain from the hound had blown all our fears to the
+winds. If he was vulnerable he was mortal, and if we could wound him we
+could kill him. Never have I seen a man run as Holmes ran that night. I
+am reckoned fleet of foot, but he outpaced me as much as I outpaced the
+little professional. In front of us as we flew up the track we heard
+scream after scream from Sir Henry and the deep roar of the hound. I was
+in time to see the beast spring upon its victim, hurl him to the ground,
+and worry at his throat. But the next instant Holmes had emptied five
+barrels of his revolver into the creature's flank. With a last howl of
+agony and a vicious snap in the air, it rolled upon its back, four feet
+pawing furiously, and then fell limp upon its side. I stooped, panting,
+and pressed my pistol to the dreadful, shimmering head, but it was
+useless to press the trigger. The giant hound was dead.
+
+Sir Henry lay insensible where he had fallen. We tore away his collar,
+and Holmes breathed a prayer of gratitude when we saw that there was
+no sign of a wound and that the rescue had been in time. Already our
+friend's eyelids shivered and he made a feeble effort to move. Lestrade
+thrust his brandy-flask between the baronet's teeth, and two frightened
+eyes were looking up at us.
+
+"My God!" he whispered. "What was it? What, in heaven's name, was it?"
+
+"It's dead, whatever it is," said Holmes. "We've laid the family ghost
+once and forever."
+
+In mere size and strength it was a terrible creature which was lying
+stretched before us. It was not a pure bloodhound and it was not a pure
+mastiff; but it appeared to be a combination of the two--gaunt, savage,
+and as large as a small lioness. Even now in the stillness of death,
+the huge jaws seemed to be dripping with a bluish flame and the small,
+deep-set, cruel eyes were ringed with fire. I placed my hand upon the
+glowing muzzle, and as I held them up my own fingers smouldered and
+gleamed in the darkness.
+
+"Phosphorus," I said.
+
+"A cunning preparation of it," said Holmes, sniffing at the dead animal.
+"There is no smell which might have interfered with his power of scent.
+We owe you a deep apology, Sir Henry, for having exposed you to this
+fright. I was prepared for a hound, but not for such a creature as this.
+And the fog gave us little time to receive him."
+
+"You have saved my life."
+
+"Having first endangered it. Are you strong enough to stand?"
+
+"Give me another mouthful of that brandy and I shall be ready for
+anything. So! Now, if you will help me up. What do you propose to do?"
+
+"To leave you here. You are not fit for further adventures tonight. If
+you will wait, one or other of us will go back with you to the Hall."
+
+He tried to stagger to his feet; but he was still ghastly pale and
+trembling in every limb. We helped him to a rock, where he sat shivering
+with his face buried in his hands.
+
+"We must leave you now," said Holmes. "The rest of our work must be
+done, and every moment is of importance. We have our case, and now we
+only want our man.
+
+"It's a thousand to one against our finding him at the house," he
+continued as we retraced our steps swiftly down the path. "Those shots
+must have told him that the game was up."
+
+"We were some distance off, and this fog may have deadened them."
+
+"He followed the hound to call him off--of that you may be certain. No,
+no, he's gone by this time! But we'll search the house and make sure."
+
+The front door was open, so we rushed in and hurried from room to
+room to the amazement of a doddering old manservant, who met us in the
+passage. There was no light save in the dining-room, but Holmes caught
+up the lamp and left no corner of the house unexplored. No sign could we
+see of the man whom we were chasing. On the upper floor, however, one of
+the bedroom doors was locked.
+
+"There's someone in here," cried Lestrade. "I can hear a movement. Open
+this door!"
+
+A faint moaning and rustling came from within. Holmes struck the door
+just over the lock with the flat of his foot and it flew open. Pistol in
+hand, we all three rushed into the room.
+
+But there was no sign within it of that desperate and defiant villain
+whom we expected to see. Instead we were faced by an object so strange
+and so unexpected that we stood for a moment staring at it in amazement.
+
+The room had been fashioned into a small museum, and the walls were
+lined by a number of glass-topped cases full of that collection of
+butterflies and moths the formation of which had been the relaxation of
+this complex and dangerous man. In the centre of this room there was an
+upright beam, which had been placed at some period as a support for the
+old worm-eaten baulk of timber which spanned the roof. To this post a
+figure was tied, so swathed and muffled in the sheets which had been
+used to secure it that one could not for the moment tell whether it
+was that of a man or a woman. One towel passed round the throat and was
+secured at the back of the pillar. Another covered the lower part of
+the face, and over it two dark eyes--eyes full of grief and shame and a
+dreadful questioning--stared back at us. In a minute we had torn off
+the gag, unswathed the bonds, and Mrs. Stapleton sank upon the floor in
+front of us. As her beautiful head fell upon her chest I saw the clear
+red weal of a whiplash across her neck.
+
+"The brute!" cried Holmes. "Here, Lestrade, your brandy-bottle! Put her
+in the chair! She has fainted from ill-usage and exhaustion."
+
+She opened her eyes again.
+
+"Is he safe?" she asked. "Has he escaped?"
+
+"He cannot escape us, madam."
+
+"No, no, I did not mean my husband. Sir Henry? Is he safe?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And the hound?"
+
+"It is dead."
+
+She gave a long sigh of satisfaction.
+
+"Thank God! Thank God! Oh, this villain! See how he has treated me!"
+She shot her arms out from her sleeves, and we saw with horror that they
+were all mottled with bruises. "But this is nothing--nothing! It is my
+mind and soul that he has tortured and defiled. I could endure it all,
+ill-usage, solitude, a life of deception, everything, as long as I could
+still cling to the hope that I had his love, but now I know that in
+this also I have been his dupe and his tool." She broke into passionate
+sobbing as she spoke.
+
+"You bear him no good will, madam," said Holmes. "Tell us then where we
+shall find him. If you have ever aided him in evil, help us now and so
+atone."
+
+"There is but one place where he can have fled," she answered. "There is
+an old tin mine on an island in the heart of the mire. It was there that
+he kept his hound and there also he had made preparations so that he
+might have a refuge. That is where he would fly."
+
+The fog-bank lay like white wool against the window. Holmes held the
+lamp towards it.
+
+"See," said he. "No one could find his way into the Grimpen Mire
+tonight."
+
+She laughed and clapped her hands. Her eyes and teeth gleamed with
+fierce merriment.
+
+"He may find his way in, but never out," she cried. "How can he see the
+guiding wands tonight? We planted them together, he and I, to mark the
+pathway through the mire. Oh, if I could only have plucked them out
+today. Then indeed you would have had him at your mercy!"
+
+It was evident to us that all pursuit was in vain until the fog had
+lifted. Meanwhile we left Lestrade in possession of the house while
+Holmes and I went back with the baronet to Baskerville Hall. The story
+of the Stapletons could no longer be withheld from him, but he took
+the blow bravely when he learned the truth about the woman whom he had
+loved. But the shock of the night's adventures had shattered his nerves,
+and before morning he lay delirious in a high fever under the care of
+Dr. Mortimer. The two of them were destined to travel together round the
+world before Sir Henry had become once more the hale, hearty man that he
+had been before he became master of that ill-omened estate.
+
+And now I come rapidly to the conclusion of this singular narrative, in
+which I have tried to make the reader share those dark fears and vague
+surmises which clouded our lives so long and ended in so tragic a
+manner. On the morning after the death of the hound the fog had lifted
+and we were guided by Mrs. Stapleton to the point where they had found
+a pathway through the bog. It helped us to realize the horror of this
+woman's life when we saw the eagerness and joy with which she laid us
+on her husband's track. We left her standing upon the thin peninsula of
+firm, peaty soil which tapered out into the widespread bog. From the
+end of it a small wand planted here and there showed where the path
+zigzagged from tuft to tuft of rushes among those green-scummed pits
+and foul quagmires which barred the way to the stranger. Rank reeds and
+lush, slimy water-plants sent an odour of decay and a heavy miasmatic
+vapour onto our faces, while a false step plunged us more than once
+thigh-deep into the dark, quivering mire, which shook for yards in soft
+undulations around our feet. Its tenacious grip plucked at our heels as
+we walked, and when we sank into it it was as if some malignant hand was
+tugging us down into those obscene depths, so grim and purposeful was
+the clutch in which it held us. Once only we saw a trace that someone
+had passed that perilous way before us. From amid a tuft of cotton grass
+which bore it up out of the slime some dark thing was projecting. Holmes
+sank to his waist as he stepped from the path to seize it, and had we
+not been there to drag him out he could never have set his foot
+upon firm land again. He held an old black boot in the air. "Meyers,
+Toronto," was printed on the leather inside.
+
+"It is worth a mud bath," said he. "It is our friend Sir Henry's missing
+boot."
+
+"Thrown there by Stapleton in his flight."
+
+"Exactly. He retained it in his hand after using it to set the hound
+upon the track. He fled when he knew the game was up, still clutching
+it. And he hurled it away at this point of his flight. We know at least
+that he came so far in safety."
+
+But more than that we were never destined to know, though there was much
+which we might surmise. There was no chance of finding footsteps in the
+mire, for the rising mud oozed swiftly in upon them, but as we at last
+reached firmer ground beyond the morass we all looked eagerly for them.
+But no slightest sign of them ever met our eyes. If the earth told a
+true story, then Stapleton never reached that island of refuge towards
+which he struggled through the fog upon that last night. Somewhere in
+the heart of the great Grimpen Mire, down in the foul slime of the
+huge morass which had sucked him in, this cold and cruel-hearted man is
+forever buried.
+
+Many traces we found of him in the bog-girt island where he had hid his
+savage ally. A huge driving-wheel and a shaft half-filled with rubbish
+showed the position of an abandoned mine. Beside it were the crumbling
+remains of the cottages of the miners, driven away no doubt by the foul
+reek of the surrounding swamp. In one of these a staple and chain with
+a quantity of gnawed bones showed where the animal had been confined.
+A skeleton with a tangle of brown hair adhering to it lay among the
+debris.
+
+"A dog!" said Holmes. "By Jove, a curly-haired spaniel. Poor Mortimer
+will never see his pet again. Well, I do not know that this place
+contains any secret which we have not already fathomed. He could hide
+his hound, but he could not hush its voice, and hence came those cries
+which even in daylight were not pleasant to hear. On an emergency he
+could keep the hound in the out-house at Merripit, but it was always a
+risk, and it was only on the supreme day, which he regarded as the end
+of all his efforts, that he dared do it. This paste in the tin is no
+doubt the luminous mixture with which the creature was daubed. It was
+suggested, of course, by the story of the family hell-hound, and by the
+desire to frighten old Sir Charles to death. No wonder the poor devil of
+a convict ran and screamed, even as our friend did, and as we ourselves
+might have done, when he saw such a creature bounding through the
+darkness of the moor upon his track. It was a cunning device, for, apart
+from the chance of driving your victim to his death, what peasant would
+venture to inquire too closely into such a creature should he get sight
+of it, as many have done, upon the moor? I said it in London, Watson,
+and I say it again now, that never yet have we helped to hunt down a
+more dangerous man than he who is lying yonder"--he swept his long arm
+towards the huge mottled expanse of green-splotched bog which stretched
+away until it merged into the russet <DW72>s of the moor.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter 15. A Retrospection
+
+
+
+It was the end of November, and Holmes and I sat, upon a raw and foggy
+night, on either side of a blazing fire in our sitting-room in Baker
+Street. Since the tragic upshot of our visit to Devonshire he had been
+engaged in two affairs of the utmost importance, in the first of which
+he had exposed the atrocious conduct of Colonel Upwood in connection
+with the famous card scandal of the Nonpareil Club, while in the second
+he had defended the unfortunate Mme. Montpensier from the charge
+of murder which hung over her in connection with the death of her
+step-daughter, Mlle. Carere, the young lady who, as it will be
+remembered, was found six months later alive and married in New York.
+My friend was in excellent spirits over the success which had attended
+a succession of difficult and important cases, so that I was able to
+induce him to discuss the details of the Baskerville mystery. I had
+waited patiently for the opportunity for I was aware that he would never
+permit cases to overlap, and that his clear and logical mind would not
+be drawn from its present work to dwell upon memories of the past. Sir
+Henry and Dr. Mortimer were, however, in London, on their way to that
+long voyage which had been recommended for the restoration of his
+shattered nerves. They had called upon us that very afternoon, so that
+it was natural that the subject should come up for discussion.
+
+"The whole course of events," said Holmes, "from the point of view of
+the man who called himself Stapleton was simple and direct, although
+to us, who had no means in the beginning of knowing the motives of
+his actions and could only learn part of the facts, it all appeared
+exceedingly complex. I have had the advantage of two conversations with
+Mrs. Stapleton, and the case has now been so entirely cleared up that I
+am not aware that there is anything which has remained a secret to us.
+You will find a few notes upon the matter under the heading B in my
+indexed list of cases."
+
+"Perhaps you would kindly give me a sketch of the course of events from
+memory."
+
+"Certainly, though I cannot guarantee that I carry all the facts in my
+mind. Intense mental concentration has a curious way of blotting out
+what has passed. The barrister who has his case at his fingers' ends and
+is able to argue with an expert upon his own subject finds that a week
+or two of the courts will drive it all out of his head once more. So
+each of my cases displaces the last, and Mlle. Carere has blurred my
+recollection of Baskerville Hall. Tomorrow some other little problem may
+be submitted to my notice which will in turn dispossess the fair French
+lady and the infamous Upwood. So far as the case of the hound goes,
+however, I will give you the course of events as nearly as I can, and
+you will suggest anything which I may have forgotten.
+
+"My inquiries show beyond all question that the family portrait did not
+lie, and that this fellow was indeed a Baskerville. He was a son of that
+Rodger Baskerville, the younger brother of Sir Charles, who fled with
+a sinister reputation to South America, where he was said to have died
+unmarried. He did, as a matter of fact, marry, and had one child, this
+fellow, whose real name is the same as his father's. He married Beryl
+Garcia, one of the beauties of Costa Rica, and, having purloined a
+considerable sum of public money, he changed his name to Vandeleur and
+fled to England, where he established a school in the east of Yorkshire.
+His reason for attempting this special line of business was that he had
+struck up an acquaintance with a consumptive tutor upon the voyage
+home, and that he had used this man's ability to make the undertaking a
+success. Fraser, the tutor, died however, and the school which had begun
+well sank from disrepute into infamy. The Vandeleurs found it convenient
+to change their name to Stapleton, and he brought the remains of his
+fortune, his schemes for the future, and his taste for entomology to
+the south of England. I learned at the British Museum that he was a
+recognized authority upon the subject, and that the name of Vandeleur
+has been permanently attached to a certain moth which he had, in his
+Yorkshire days, been the first to describe.
+
+"We now come to that portion of his life which has proved to be of such
+intense interest to us. The fellow had evidently made inquiry and found
+that only two lives intervened between him and a valuable estate. When
+he went to Devonshire his plans were, I believe, exceedingly hazy, but
+that he meant mischief from the first is evident from the way in which
+he took his wife with him in the character of his sister. The idea of
+using her as a decoy was clearly already in his mind, though he may not
+have been certain how the details of his plot were to be arranged. He
+meant in the end to have the estate, and he was ready to use any tool
+or run any risk for that end. His first act was to establish himself as
+near to his ancestral home as he could, and his second was to cultivate
+a friendship with Sir Charles Baskerville and with the neighbours.
+
+"The baronet himself told him about the family hound, and so prepared
+the way for his own death. Stapleton, as I will continue to call him,
+knew that the old man's heart was weak and that a shock would kill him.
+So much he had learned from Dr. Mortimer. He had heard also that Sir
+Charles was superstitious and had taken this grim legend very seriously.
+His ingenious mind instantly suggested a way by which the baronet could
+be done to death, and yet it would be hardly possible to bring home the
+guilt to the real murderer.
+
+"Having conceived the idea he proceeded to carry it out with
+considerable finesse. An ordinary schemer would have been content
+to work with a savage hound. The use of artificial means to make the
+creature diabolical was a flash of genius upon his part. The dog he
+bought in London from Ross and Mangles, the dealers in Fulham Road. It
+was the strongest and most savage in their possession. He brought it
+down by the North Devon line and walked a great distance over the moor
+so as to get it home without exciting any remarks. He had already on his
+insect hunts learned to penetrate the Grimpen Mire, and so had found a
+safe hiding-place for the creature. Here he kennelled it and waited his
+chance.
+
+"But it was some time coming. The old gentleman could not be decoyed
+outside of his grounds at night. Several times Stapleton lurked about
+with his hound, but without avail. It was during these fruitless quests
+that he, or rather his ally, was seen by peasants, and that the legend
+of the demon dog received a new confirmation. He had hoped that his wife
+might lure Sir Charles to his ruin, but here she proved unexpectedly
+independent. She would not endeavour to entangle the old gentleman in
+a sentimental attachment which might deliver him over to his enemy.
+Threats and even, I am sorry to say, blows refused to move her. She
+would have nothing to do with it, and for a time Stapleton was at a
+deadlock.
+
+"He found a way out of his difficulties through the chance that Sir
+Charles, who had conceived a friendship for him, made him the minister
+of his charity in the case of this unfortunate woman, Mrs. Laura Lyons.
+By representing himself as a single man he acquired complete influence
+over her, and he gave her to understand that in the event of her
+obtaining a divorce from her husband he would marry her. His plans were
+suddenly brought to a head by his knowledge that Sir Charles was about
+to leave the Hall on the advice of Dr. Mortimer, with whose opinion he
+himself pretended to coincide. He must act at once, or his victim might
+get beyond his power. He therefore put pressure upon Mrs. Lyons to
+write this letter, imploring the old man to give her an interview on
+the evening before his departure for London. He then, by a specious
+argument, prevented her from going, and so had the chance for which he
+had waited.
+
+"Driving back in the evening from Coombe Tracey he was in time to get
+his hound, to treat it with his infernal paint, and to bring the beast
+round to the gate at which he had reason to expect that he would find
+the old gentleman waiting. The dog, incited by its master, sprang over
+the wicket-gate and pursued the unfortunate baronet, who fled screaming
+down the yew alley. In that gloomy tunnel it must indeed have been a
+dreadful sight to see that huge black creature, with its flaming jaws
+and blazing eyes, bounding after its victim. He fell dead at the end
+of the alley from heart disease and terror. The hound had kept upon the
+grassy border while the baronet had run down the path, so that no track
+but the man's was visible. On seeing him lying still the creature had
+probably approached to sniff at him, but finding him dead had turned
+away again. It was then that it left the print which was actually
+observed by Dr. Mortimer. The hound was called off and hurried away to
+its lair in the Grimpen Mire, and a mystery was left which puzzled
+the authorities, alarmed the countryside, and finally brought the case
+within the scope of our observation.
+
+"So much for the death of Sir Charles Baskerville. You perceive the
+devilish cunning of it, for really it would be almost impossible to make
+a case against the real murderer. His only accomplice was one who could
+never give him away, and the grotesque, inconceivable nature of
+the device only served to make it more effective. Both of the women
+concerned in the case, Mrs. Stapleton and Mrs. Laura Lyons, were left
+with a strong suspicion against Stapleton. Mrs. Stapleton knew that he
+had designs upon the old man, and also of the existence of the hound.
+Mrs. Lyons knew neither of these things, but had been impressed by the
+death occurring at the time of an uncancelled appointment which was only
+known to him. However, both of them were under his influence, and he had
+nothing to fear from them. The first half of his task was successfully
+accomplished but the more difficult still remained.
+
+"It is possible that Stapleton did not know of the existence of an heir
+in Canada. In any case he would very soon learn it from his friend Dr.
+Mortimer, and he was told by the latter all details about the arrival of
+Henry Baskerville. Stapleton's first idea was that this young stranger
+from Canada might possibly be done to death in London without coming
+down to Devonshire at all. He distrusted his wife ever since she had
+refused to help him in laying a trap for the old man, and he dared not
+leave her long out of his sight for fear he should lose his influence
+over her. It was for this reason that he took her to London with him.
+They lodged, I find, at the Mexborough Private Hotel, in Craven Street,
+which was actually one of those called upon by my agent in search
+of evidence. Here he kept his wife imprisoned in her room while
+he, disguised in a beard, followed Dr. Mortimer to Baker Street and
+afterwards to the station and to the Northumberland Hotel. His wife had
+some inkling of his plans; but she had such a fear of her husband--a
+fear founded upon brutal ill-treatment--that she dare not write to warn
+the man whom she knew to be in danger. If the letter should fall into
+Stapleton's hands her own life would not be safe. Eventually, as we
+know, she adopted the expedient of cutting out the words which would
+form the message, and addressing the letter in a disguised hand. It
+reached the baronet, and gave him the first warning of his danger.
+
+"It was very essential for Stapleton to get some article of Sir Henry's
+attire so that, in case he was driven to use the dog, he might always
+have the means of setting him upon his track. With characteristic
+promptness and audacity he set about this at once, and we cannot doubt
+that the boots or chamber-maid of the hotel was well bribed to help him
+in his design. By chance, however, the first boot which was procured for
+him was a new one and, therefore, useless for his purpose. He then had
+it returned and obtained another--a most instructive incident, since it
+proved conclusively to my mind that we were dealing with a real hound,
+as no other supposition could explain this anxiety to obtain an old
+boot and this indifference to a new one. The more outre and grotesque an
+incident is the more carefully it deserves to be examined, and the very
+point which appears to complicate a case is, when duly considered and
+scientifically handled, the one which is most likely to elucidate it.
+
+"Then we had the visit from our friends next morning, shadowed always
+by Stapleton in the cab. From his knowledge of our rooms and of my
+appearance, as well as from his general conduct, I am inclined to think
+that Stapleton's career of crime has been by no means limited to this
+single Baskerville affair. It is suggestive that during the last three
+years there have been four considerable burglaries in the west country,
+for none of which was any criminal ever arrested. The last of these, at
+Folkestone Court, in May, was remarkable for the cold-blooded pistolling
+of the page, who surprised the masked and solitary burglar. I cannot
+doubt that Stapleton recruited his waning resources in this fashion, and
+that for years he has been a desperate and dangerous man.
+
+"We had an example of his readiness of resource that morning when he got
+away from us so successfully, and also of his audacity in sending back
+my own name to me through the cabman. From that moment he understood
+that I had taken over the case in London, and that therefore there was
+no chance for him there. He returned to Dartmoor and awaited the arrival
+of the baronet."
+
+"One moment!" said I. "You have, no doubt, described the sequence
+of events correctly, but there is one point which you have left
+unexplained. What became of the hound when its master was in London?"
+
+"I have given some attention to this matter and it is undoubtedly of
+importance. There can be no question that Stapleton had a confidant,
+though it is unlikely that he ever placed himself in his power by
+sharing all his plans with him. There was an old manservant at Merripit
+House, whose name was Anthony. His connection with the Stapletons can
+be traced for several years, as far back as the school-mastering days,
+so that he must have been aware that his master and mistress were really
+husband and wife. This man has disappeared and has escaped from the
+country. It is suggestive that Anthony is not a common name in England,
+while Antonio is so in all Spanish or Spanish-American countries. The
+man, like Mrs. Stapleton herself, spoke good English, but with a curious
+lisping accent. I have myself seen this old man cross the Grimpen
+Mire by the path which Stapleton had marked out. It is very probable,
+therefore, that in the absence of his master it was he who cared for the
+hound, though he may never have known the purpose for which the beast
+was used.
+
+"The Stapletons then went down to Devonshire, whither they were soon
+followed by Sir Henry and you. One word now as to how I stood myself at
+that time. It may possibly recur to your memory that when I examined
+the paper upon which the printed words were fastened I made a close
+inspection for the water-mark. In doing so I held it within a few inches
+of my eyes, and was conscious of a faint smell of the scent known as
+white jessamine. There are seventy-five perfumes, which it is very
+necessary that a criminal expert should be able to distinguish from each
+other, and cases have more than once within my own experience depended
+upon their prompt recognition. The scent suggested the presence of a
+lady, and already my thoughts began to turn towards the Stapletons. Thus
+I had made certain of the hound, and had guessed at the criminal before
+ever we went to the west country.
+
+"It was my game to watch Stapleton. It was evident, however, that I
+could not do this if I were with you, since he would be keenly on his
+guard. I deceived everybody, therefore, yourself included, and I came
+down secretly when I was supposed to be in London. My hardships were
+not so great as you imagined, though such trifling details must never
+interfere with the investigation of a case. I stayed for the most
+part at Coombe Tracey, and only used the hut upon the moor when it was
+necessary to be near the scene of action. Cartwright had come down with
+me, and in his disguise as a country boy he was of great assistance
+to me. I was dependent upon him for food and clean linen. When I was
+watching Stapleton, Cartwright was frequently watching you, so that I
+was able to keep my hand upon all the strings.
+
+"I have already told you that your reports reached me rapidly, being
+forwarded instantly from Baker Street to Coombe Tracey. They were of
+great service to me, and especially that one incidentally truthful piece
+of biography of Stapleton's. I was able to establish the identity of
+the man and the woman and knew at last exactly how I stood. The case
+had been considerably complicated through the incident of the escaped
+convict and the relations between him and the Barrymores. This also you
+cleared up in a very effective way, though I had already come to the
+same conclusions from my own observations.
+
+"By the time that you discovered me upon the moor I had a complete
+knowledge of the whole business, but I had not a case which could go to
+a jury. Even Stapleton's attempt upon Sir Henry that night which ended
+in the death of the unfortunate convict did not help us much in proving
+murder against our man. There seemed to be no alternative but to
+catch him red-handed, and to do so we had to use Sir Henry, alone and
+apparently unprotected, as a bait. We did so, and at the cost of a
+severe shock to our client we succeeded in completing our case and
+driving Stapleton to his destruction. That Sir Henry should have been
+exposed to this is, I must confess, a reproach to my management of the
+case, but we had no means of foreseeing the terrible and paralyzing
+spectacle which the beast presented, nor could we predict the fog which
+enabled him to burst upon us at such short notice. We succeeded in our
+object at a cost which both the specialist and Dr. Mortimer assure me
+will be a temporary one. A long journey may enable our friend to recover
+not only from his shattered nerves but also from his wounded feelings.
+His love for the lady was deep and sincere, and to him the saddest part
+of all this black business was that he should have been deceived by her.
+
+"It only remains to indicate the part which she had played throughout.
+There can be no doubt that Stapleton exercised an influence over her
+which may have been love or may have been fear, or very possibly both,
+since they are by no means incompatible emotions. It was, at least,
+absolutely effective. At his command she consented to pass as his
+sister, though he found the limits of his power over her when he
+endeavoured to make her the direct accessory to murder. She was ready to
+warn Sir Henry so far as she could without implicating her husband, and
+again and again she tried to do so. Stapleton himself seems to have been
+capable of jealousy, and when he saw the baronet paying court to the
+lady, even though it was part of his own plan, still he could not help
+interrupting with a passionate outburst which revealed the fiery soul
+which his self-contained manner so cleverly concealed. By encouraging
+the intimacy he made it certain that Sir Henry would frequently come
+to Merripit House and that he would sooner or later get the opportunity
+which he desired. On the day of the crisis, however, his wife turned
+suddenly against him. She had learned something of the death of the
+convict, and she knew that the hound was being kept in the outhouse on
+the evening that Sir Henry was coming to dinner. She taxed her husband
+with his intended crime, and a furious scene followed in which he showed
+her for the first time that she had a rival in his love. Her fidelity
+turned in an instant to bitter hatred, and he saw that she would betray
+him. He tied her up, therefore, that she might have no chance of warning
+Sir Henry, and he hoped, no doubt, that when the whole countryside put
+down the baronet's death to the curse of his family, as they certainly
+would do, he could win his wife back to accept an accomplished fact and
+to keep silent upon what she knew. In this I fancy that in any case
+he made a miscalculation, and that, if we had not been there, his doom
+would none the less have been sealed. A woman of Spanish blood does
+not condone such an injury so lightly. And now, my dear Watson, without
+referring to my notes, I cannot give you a more detailed account of
+this curious case. I do not know that anything essential has been left
+unexplained."
+
+"He could not hope to frighten Sir Henry to death as he had done the old
+uncle with his bogie hound."
+
+"The beast was savage and half-starved. If its appearance did not
+frighten its victim to death, at least it would paralyze the resistance
+which might be offered."
+
+"No doubt. There only remains one difficulty. If Stapleton came into the
+succession, how could he explain the fact that he, the heir, had been
+living unannounced under another name so close to the property? How
+could he claim it without causing suspicion and inquiry?"
+
+"It is a formidable difficulty, and I fear that you ask too much when
+you expect me to solve it. The past and the present are within the field
+of my inquiry, but what a man may do in the future is a hard question
+to answer. Mrs. Stapleton has heard her husband discuss the problem on
+several occasions. There were three possible courses. He might claim the
+property from South America, establish his identity before the British
+authorities there and so obtain the fortune without ever coming to
+England at all, or he might adopt an elaborate disguise during the
+short time that he need be in London; or, again, he might furnish an
+accomplice with the proofs and papers, putting him in as heir, and
+retaining a claim upon some proportion of his income. We cannot doubt
+from what we know of him that he would have found some way out of the
+difficulty. And now, my dear Watson, we have had some weeks of severe
+work, and for one evening, I think, we may turn our thoughts into more
+pleasant channels. I have a box for 'Les Huguenots.' Have you heard the
+De Reszkes? Might I trouble you then to be ready in half an hour, and we
+can stop at Marcini's for a little dinner on the way?"
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Hound of the Baskervilles, by A. Conan Doyle
+
+*** 
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