‘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 endorse 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 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 seems 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!’
3
The Problem
I confess that 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 sheepdogs on the moor?’
‘No doubt, but this was no sheepdog.’
‘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 path 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 desire 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, absentminded 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 brok
en 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 Stanford’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.’
Sherlock Holmes Page 31