Sherlock Holmes complete collection by sir arthur conan doyle

The Hound of the Baskervilles Chapter 4 SIR HENRY BASKERVILLE

OUR breakfast table was cleared early, and Holmes waited in his dressinggown for the promised interview. Our clients were punctual to theirappointment, for the clock had just struck ten when Dr. Mortimer wasshown up, followed by the young baronet. The latter was a small, alert,dark-eyed man about thirty years of age, very sturdily built, with thickblack eyebrows and a strong, pugnacious face. He wore a ruddy-tintedtweed suit and had the weather-beaten appearance of one who has spentmost of his time in the open air, and yet there was something in his steadyeye 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 morningI should have come on my own account. I understand that you think outlittle puzzles, and I've had one this morning which wants more thinkingout than I am able to give it." "Pray take a seat, Sir Henry. Do I understand you to say that you haveyourself 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 thismorning."He laid an envelope upon the table, and we all bent over it. It was ofcommon 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?" askedHolmes, 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 nopossible indication that we intended to go to this hotel.""Hum! Someone seems to be very deeply interested in yourmovements." Out of the envelope he took a half-sheet of foolscap paperfolded into four. This he opened and spread flat upon the table. Across themiddle of it a single sentence had been formed by the expedient of pastingprinted 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 somuch interest in my affairs?"[686] "What do you make of it, Dr. Mortimer? You must allow thatthere is nothing supernatural about this, at any rate?""No, sir, but it might very well come from someone who wasconvinced that the business is supernatural.""What business?" asked Sir Henry sharply. "It seems to me that all yougentlemen 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 ourselvesfor the present with your permission to this very interesting document,which must have been put together and posted yesterday evening. Haveyou yesterday's Times, Watson?""It is here in the corner.""Might I trouble you for it-the inside page, please, with the leadingarticles?" He glanced swiftly over it, running his eyes up and down thecolumns. "Capital article this on free trade. Permit me to give you anextract from it."You may be cajoled into imagining that your own special tradeor your own industry will be encouraged by a protective tariff, butit stands to reason that such legislation must in the long run keepaway 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 anadmirable sentiment?"Dr. Mortimer looked at Holmes with an air of professional interest, andSir 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 isconcerned.""On the contrary, I think we are particularly hot upon the trail, SirHenry. Watson here knows more about my methods than you do, but Ifear 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 theone is extracted out of the other. 'You,' 'your,' 'your,' 'life,' 'reason,''value,' 'keep away,' 'from the.' Don't you see now whence these wordshave 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 haveimagined," said Dr. Mortimer, gazing at my friend in amazement. "Icould understand anyone saying that the words were from a newspaper;but that you should name which, and add that it came from the leadingarticle, is really one of the most remarkable things which I have everknown. How did you do it?""I presume, Doctor, that you could tell the skull of a negro from that ofan Esquimau?""Most certainly.""But how?""Because that is my special hobby. The differences are obvious. Thesupra-orbital crest, the facial angle, the maxillary curve, the- -""But this is my special hobby, and the differences are equally obvious.There is [687] as much difference to my eyes between the leadedbourgeois type of a Times article and the slovenly print of an evening halfpenny paper as there could be between your negro and your Esquimau.The detection of types is one of the most elementary branches ofknowledge to the special expert in crime, though I confess that once whenI was very young I confused the Leeds Mercury with the WesternMorning News. But a Times leader is entirely distinctive, and these wordscould have been taken from nothing else. As it was done yesterday thestrong probability was that we should find the words in yesterday's issue.""So far as I can follow you, then, Mr. Holmes," said Sir HenryBaskerville, "someone cut out this message with a scissors- -""Nail-scissors," said Holmes. "You can see that it was a very shortbladed 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 shortbladed 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 simpleand might be found in any issue, but 'moor' would be less common.""Why, of course, that would explain it. Have you read anything else inthis message, Mr. Holmes?""There are one or two indications, and yet the utmost pains have beentaken to remove all clues. The address, you observe, is printed in roughcharacters. But the Times is a paper which is seldom found in any handsbut those of the highly educated. We may take it, therefore, that the letterwas composed by an educated man who wished to pose as an uneducatedone, and his effort to conceal his own writing suggests that that writingmight be known, or come to be known, by you. Again, you will observethat the words are not gummed on in an accurate line, but that some aremuch higher than others. 'Life,' for example, is quite out of its properplace. That may point to carelessness or it may point to agitation andhurry 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 thecomposer 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 letterposted up to early morning would reach Sir Henry before he would leavehis 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 choosethe most likely. It is the scientific use of the imagination, but we havealways some material basis on which to start our speculation. Now, youwould call it a guess, no doubt, but I am almost certain that this addresshas 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 inkhave given the writer trouble. The pen has spluttered twice in a singleword and has run dry three times in a short address, showing that therewas very little ink in the bottle. Now, a private pen or ink-bottle is seldomallowed to be in such a state, and the combination of the two must bequite rare. But you know the hotel ink and the hotel pen, where it is rareto get anything else. Yes, I have very little hesitation in saying that couldwe examine the waste-paper baskets of the hotels [688] around CharingCross until we found the remains of the mutilated Times leader we couldlay 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 werepasted, 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 wecan from this curious letter; and now, Sir Henry, has anything else ofinterest 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 ourvisitor. "Why in thunder should anyone follow or watch me?""We are coming to that. You have nothing else to report to us beforewe go into this matter?""Well, it depends upon what you think worth reporting.""I think anything out of the ordinary routine of life well worthreporting."Sir Henry smiled."I don't know much of British life yet, for I have spent nearly all mytime in the States and in Canada. But I hope that to lose one of your bootsis 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 itwhen you return to the hotel. What is the use of troubling Mr. Holmeswith trifles of this kind?""Well, he asked me for anything outside the ordinary routine.""Exactly," said Holmes, "however foolish the incident may seem. Youhave 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 thechap who cleans them. The worst of it is that I only bought the pair lastnight in the Strand, and I have never had them on.""If you have never worn them, why did you put them out to becleaned?""They were tan boots and had never been varnished. That was why Iput them out.""Then I understand that on your arrival in London yesterday you wentout 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 maybe that I have got a little careless in my ways out West. Among otherthings I bought these brown boots-gave six dollars for them-and had onestolen before ever I had them on my feet.""It seems a singularly useless thing to steal," said Sherlock Holmes. "Iconfess that I share Dr. Mortimer's belief that it will not be long beforethe missing boot is found.""And, now, gentlemen," said the baronet with decision, "it seems to methat I have spoken quite enough about the little that I know. It is time thatyou kept your promise and gave me a full account of what we are alldriving at."[689] "Your request is a very reasonable one," Holmes answered. "Dr.Mortimer, I think you could not do better than to tell your story as youtold it to us." Thus encouraged, our scientific friend drew his papers from his pocketand presented the whole case as he had done upon the morning before. SirHenry Baskerville listened with the deepest attention and with anoccasional exclamation of surprise."Well, I seem to have come into an inheritance with a vengeance," saidhe when the long narrative was finished. "Of course, I've heard of thehound 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'sdeath-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 apoliceman or a clergyman.""Precisely.""And now there's this affair of the letter to me at the hotel. I supposethat fits into its place.""It seems to show that someone knows more than we do about whatgoes on upon the moor," said Dr. Mortimer."And also," said Holmes, "that someone is not ill-disposed towardsyou, 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 severalinteresting alternatives. But the practical point which we now have todecide, Sir Henry, is whether it is or is not advisable for you to go toBaskerville Hall.""Why should I not go?""There seems to be danger.""Do you mean danger from this family fiend or do you mean dangerfrom 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 goingto the home of my own people, and you may take that to be my finalanswer." His dark brows knitted and his face flushed to a dusky red as hespoke. It was evident that the fiery temper of the Baskervilles was notextinct in this their last representative. "Meanwhile," said he, "I havehardly had time to think over all that you have told me. It's a big thing fora man to have to understand and to decide at one sitting. I should like tohave 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 myhotel. Suppose you and your friend, Dr. Watson, come round and lunchwith us at two. I'll be able to tell you more clearly then how this thingstrikes 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 tothe man of action.[690] "Your hat and boots, Watson, quick! Not a moment to lose!" Herushed into his room in his dressing-gown and was back again in a fewseconds in a frock-coat. We hurried together down the stairs and into thestreet. Dr. Mortimer and Baskerville were still visible about two hundredyards 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 yourcompany if you will tolerate mine. Our friends are wise, for it is certainlya very fine morning for a walk."He quickened his pace until we had decreased the distance whichdivided us by about half. Then, still keeping a hundred yards behind, wefollowed into Oxford Street and so down Regent Street. Once our friendsstopped and stared into a shop window, upon which Holmes did the same.An instant afterwards he gave a little cry of satisfaction, and, followingthe direction of his eager eyes, I saw that a hansom cab with a man insidewhich had halted on the other side of the street was now proceedingslowly onward again."There's our man, Watson! Come along! We'll have a good look athim, if we can do no more."At that instant I was aware of a bushy black beard and a pair of piercingeyes turned upon us through the side window of the cab. Instantly thetrapdoor at the top flew up, something was screamed to the driver, and the cab flew madly off down Regent Street. Holmes looked eagerly round foranother, but no empty one was in sight. Then he dashed in wild pursuitamid the stream of the traffic, but the start was too great, and already thecab was out of sight."There now!" said Holmes bitterly as he emerged panting and whitewith vexation from the tide of vehicles. "Was ever such bad luck and suchbad management, too? Watson, Watson, if you are an honest man youwill 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 hasbeen very closely shadowed by someone since he has been in town. Howelse could it be known so quickly that it was the Northumberland Hotelwhich he had chosen? If they had followed him the first day I argued thatthey would follow him also the second. You may have observed that Itwice strolled over to the window while Dr. Mortimer was reading hislegend.""Yes, I remember.""I was looking out for loiterers in the street, but I saw none. We aredealing with a clever man, Watson. This matter cuts very deep, andthough I have not finally made up my mind whether it is a benevolent or amalevolent agency which is in touch with us, I am conscious always ofpower and design. When our friends left I at once followed them in thehopes of marking down their invisible attendant. So wily was he that hehad not trusted himself upon foot, but he had availed himself of a cab sothat 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 hewas all ready to follow them. It has, however, one obvious disadvantage.""It puts him in the power of the cabman.""Exactly."[691] "What a pity we did not get the number!""My dear Watson, clumsy as I have been, you surely do not seriouslyimagine that I neglected to get the number? No. 2704 is our man. But thatis 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 theother direction. I should then at my leisure have hired a second cab andfollowed the first at a respectful distance, or, better still, have driven tothe Northumberland Hotel and waited there. When our unknown hadfollowed Baskerville home we should have had the opportunity of playinghis own game upon himself and seeing where he made for. As it is, by anindiscreet eagerness, which was taken advantage of with extraordinaryquickness and energy by our opponent, we have betrayed ourselves andlost our man."We had been sauntering slowly down Regent Street during thisconversation, and Dr. Mortimer, with his companion, had long vanishedin 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 havein our hands and play them with decision. Could you swear to that man'sface within the cab?""I could swear only to the beard.""And so could I-from which I gather that in all probability it was afalse one. A clever man upon so delicate an errand has no use for a beardsave to conceal his features. Come in here, Watson!"He turned into one of the district messenger offices, where he waswarmly greeted by the manager."Ah, Wilson, I see you have not forgotten the little case in which I hadthe good fortune to help you?""No, sir, indeed I have not. You saved my good name, and perhaps mylife.""My dear fellow, you exaggerate. I have some recollection, Wilson,that you had among your boys a lad named Cartwright, who showed someability during the investigation.""Yes, sir, he is still with us.""Could you ring him up?-thank you! And I should be glad to havechange of this five-pound note."A lad of fourteen, with a bright, keen face, had obeyed the summons ofthe manager. He stood now gazing with great reverence at the famousdetective."Let me have the Hotel Directory," said Holmes. "Thank you! Now,Cartwright, there are the names of twenty-three hotels here, all in theimmediate 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 arelooking for it. You understand?""Yes, sir.""But what you are really looking for is the centre page of the Timeswith some [692] 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 whomalso you will give a shilling. Here are twenty-three shillings. You willthen learn in possibly twenty cases out of the twenty-three that the wasteof the day before has been burned or removed. In the three other casesyou will be shown a heap of paper and you will look for this page of theTimes among it. The odds are enormously against your finding it. Thereare ten shillings over in case of emergencies. Let me have a report by wireat Baker Street before evening. And now, Watson, it only remains for usto find out by wire the identity of the cabman, No. 2704, and then we willdrop into one of the Bond Street picture galleries and fill in the time untilwe are due at the hotel."