WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:09.480 Chapter eleven, The Man on the Tour. The extract from 2 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:13.199 my private diary which forms the last chapter, has brought 3 00:00:13.240 --> 00:00:17.120 my narrative up to the eighteenth October, a time when 4 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:21.120 these strange events began to move swiftly towards their terrible conclusion. 5 00:00:22.120 --> 00:00:25.000 The incidents of the next few days are indelibly graven 6 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:28.480 upon my recollection, and I can tell them without reference 7 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:31.719 to the notes made at the time I start them, 8 00:00:31.719 --> 00:00:34.399 from the day which succeeded that upon which I had 9 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:38.679 established two facts of great importance, the one that Missus 10 00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:41.759 Laura Lyons of Coombe Tracy had written to Sir Charles 11 00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:44.880 Baskerville and made an appointment with him at the very 12 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:48.479 place and hour that he met his death. The other 13 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:51.600 that the lurking man upon the Moor was to be 14 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:56.119 found among the stone huts upon the hillside. With these 15 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:59.679 two facts in my possession, I felt that either my 16 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.759 intelligence or my courage must be deficient if I could 17 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:06.959 not throw some further light upon these dark places. I 18 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:09.359 had no opportunity to tell the Baronet what I had 19 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:13.319 learned about Missus Lyons upon the evening before, but Doctor 20 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:15.920 Mortimer remained with him at cards until it was very 21 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:20.480 late at breakfast. However, I informed him about my discovery 22 00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:22.640 and asked him whether he would care to accompany me 23 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:26.159 to Coombe Tracy. At first he was very eager to come, 24 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:28.959 but on second thoughts, it seemed to both of us 25 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:33.359 that if I went alone the results might be better. The 26 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:35.879 more formal we made the visit, the less information we 27 00:01:35.959 --> 00:01:40.159 might obtain. I left Sir Henry behind, therefore, not without 28 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:43.959 some prickings of conscience, and drove off upon my new quest. 29 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:48.159 When I reached comb Tracy, I told Perkins to put 30 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:51.480 up the horses, and I made inquiries for the lady 31 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:55.040 whom I had come to interrogate. I had no difficulty 32 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:57.840 in finding her rooms, which were central and well appointed. 33 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:01.400 A maid showed me in without ceremony, and as I 34 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:04.359 entered the sitting room, a lady who was sitting before 35 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:08.439 a Remington typewriter sprang up with a pleasant smile of welcome. 36 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:12.000 Her face fell, however, when she saw that I was 37 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:15.159 a stranger, and she sat down again and asked me 38 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:19.479 the object of my visit. The first impression left by 39 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:23.240 missus Lyons was one of extreme beauty. Her eyes and 40 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:26.919 hair were of the same rich hazel color, and her cheeks, 41 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:31.199 though considerably freckled, were flushed with the exquisite bloom of 42 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:35.680 the brunette, the dainty pink which lurks at the heart 43 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:41.080 of the sulfur rose. Admiration was I repeat the first impression, 44 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:47.199 but the second was criticism. There was something subtly wrong 45 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:51.840 with the face, some coarseness of expression, some hardness perhaps 46 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:57.560 of eye, some looseness of lip, which marred its perfect beauty. 47 00:02:58.439 --> 00:03:02.080 But these, of course are after thoughts. At the moment, 48 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:04.120 I was simply conscious that I was in the presence 49 00:03:04.120 --> 00:03:06.759 of a very handsome woman, and that she was asking 50 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:10.439 me the reasons for my visit. I had not quite 51 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:15.360 understood until that instant how delicate my mission was. I 52 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:19.479 have the pleasure, said I, of knowing your father. It 53 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:22.120 was a clumsy introduction, and the lady made me feel it. 54 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:25.000 There is nothing in common between my father and me, 55 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:27.840 she said. I owe him nothing, and his friends are 56 00:03:27.879 --> 00:03:30.159 not mine. If it were not for the late Sir 57 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:33.560 Charles Baskerville and some other kind hearts, I might have 58 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:37.319 starved for all that my father cared. It was about 59 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:39.599 the late Sir Charles Baskerville that I have come here 60 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:43.759 to see you. The freckles started out on the lady's face. 61 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:47.719 What can I tell you about him? She asked, and 62 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:50.520 her fingers played nervously over the stops of her typewriter. 63 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:54.039 You knew him, did you not? I have already said 64 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:56.680 that I owe a great deal to his kindness. If 65 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:59.039 I am able to support myself, it is largely due 66 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:01.560 to the interest which he took in my unhappy situation. 67 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:06.360 Did you correspond with him? The lady looked quickly up 68 00:04:06.599 --> 00:04:10.159 with an angry gleam in her hazel eyes. What is 69 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:14.400 the object of these questions? She asked sharply. The object 70 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:17.519 is to avoid a public scandal. It is better that 71 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:19.959 I should ask them here than that the matter should 72 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.240 pass outside our control. She was silent, and her face 73 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:27.600 was still very pale. At last, she looked up with 74 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:31.079 something reckless and defiant in her manner. Well, I'll answer, 75 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:35.120 she said. What are your questions? Did you correspond with 76 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:38.120 sir Charles? I certainly wrote to him once or twice 77 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:41.720 to acknowledge his delicacy and his generosity. Have you the 78 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:45.519 dates of those letters? No? Have you ever met him? Yes, 79 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:48.439 once or twice when he came into Coomb Tracy. He 80 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:50.879 was a very retiring man, and he preferred to do 81 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:54.319 good by stealth. But if you saw him so seldom 82 00:04:54.519 --> 00:04:57.920 and wrote so seldom, how did he know enough about 83 00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:00.480 your affairs to be able to help you? As you 84 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:03.519 say that he has done. She met my difficulty with 85 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:07.160 the utmost readiness. There were several gentlemen who knew my 86 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:10.600 sad history and united to help me. One was mister Stapleton, 87 00:05:10.759 --> 00:05:13.759 a neighbor and intimate friend of Sir Charles's. He was 88 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:17.120 exceedingly kind, and it was through him that Sir Charles 89 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:21.040 learned about my affairs. I knew already that Sir Charles 90 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:26.319 Baskerville had made Stapleton his almona upon several occasions, so 91 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:29.319 the lady's statement bore the impress of truth upon it. 92 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:32.399 Did you ever write to Sir Charles asking him to 93 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:37.959 meet you? I continued, Missus Lyons flushed with anger. Again, Really, sir, 94 00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:41.040 this is a very extraordinary question. I am sorry, madam, 95 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:44.800 but I must repeat it. Then I answer, certainly not. Not. 96 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:48.000 On the very day of Sir Charles's death, the flush 97 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.720 had faded in an instant, and a deathly face was 98 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:53.600 before me. Her dry lips could not speak the no 99 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:58.399 which I saw rather than heard. Surely your memory deceives you, 100 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:01.720 said I. I could even quote a passage of your letter. 101 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:04.959 It ran, Please, please, as you are a gentleman, burn 102 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:07.639 this letter and be at the gate by ten o'clock. 103 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:12.720 I thought that she had fainted, but she recovered herself 104 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:16.519 by a supreme effort. Is there no such thing as 105 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:21.040 a gentleman? She gasped, You do, sir, Charles an injustice. 106 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:24.519 He did burn the letter, But sometimes a letter may 107 00:06:24.519 --> 00:06:28.439 be legible even when burned. You acknowledge now that you 108 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:32.199 wrote it? Yes, I did write it, she cried, pouring 109 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:34.680 out her soul in a torrent of words. I did 110 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:36.879 write it. Why should I deny it? I have no 111 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:39.480 reason to be ashamed of it. I wished him to 112 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:42.480 help me. I believed that if I had an interview, 113 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:45.120 I could gain his help. So I asked him to 114 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:48.560 meet me. But why at such an hour? Because I 115 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:50.759 had only just learned that he was going to London 116 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:53.439 next day and might be away for months. There were 117 00:06:53.480 --> 00:06:56.720 reasons why I could not get there earlier. But why 118 00:06:56.759 --> 00:06:59.040 a rendezvous in the garden instead of a visit to 119 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:01.639 the house. Do you think a woman could go alone 120 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:04.959 at that hour to a bachelor's house. Well, what happened 121 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:08.519 when you did get there? I never went, Missus Lyons, No, 122 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:11.319 I swear it to you, on all I hold sacred. 123 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:15.680 I never went. Something intervened to prevent my going. What 124 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:18.920 was that? That is a private matter. I cannot tell it. 125 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:21.800 You acknowledge then that you made an appointment with Sir 126 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:24.000 Charles at the very hour and place at which he 127 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:27.399 met his death, But you deny that you kept the appointment. 128 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:31.360 That is the truth. Again and again I cross questioned her, 129 00:07:31.480 --> 00:07:34.639 but I could never get past that point, Missus Lyons, 130 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:38.000 said I as I rose from this long and inconclusive interview. 131 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:41.399 You are taking a very great responsibility and putting yourself 132 00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:44.319 in a very false position by not making an absolutely 133 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:47.120 clean breast of all that you know, if I have 134 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:49.240 to call in the aid of the police, you will 135 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:53.399 find how seriously you are compromised. If your position is innocent, 136 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:57.240 why did you, in the first instance deny having written 137 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:00.360 to Sir Charles upon that date? Because I feared that 138 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.959 some false conclusion might be drawn from it, and that 139 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:06.120 I might find myself involved in a scandal. And why 140 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:08.959 were you so pressing that Sir Charles should destroy your letter. 141 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:12.120 If you have read the letter, you will know I 142 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:14.079 did not say that I had read all the letter. 143 00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:17.480 You quoted some of it. I quoted the PostScript. The 144 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:20.519 letter had, as I said, been burned, and it was 145 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:24.120 not all legible. I ask you once again why it 146 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:26.920 was that you were so pressing that Sir Charles should 147 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:29.639 destroy this letter, which he received on the day of 148 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:32.840 his death. The matter is a very private one, the 149 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:36.039 more reason why you should avoid a public investigation. I 150 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:38.919 will tell you then, if you have heard anything of 151 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:41.600 my unhappy history, you will know that I made a 152 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:44.639 rash marriage and had reason to regret it. I have 153 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:48.399 heard so much. My life had been one incessant persecution 154 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:51.679 from a husband whom I abhore. The law is upon 155 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:54.720 his side, and every day I am faced by the 156 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.480 possibility that he may force me to live with him. 157 00:08:57.679 --> 00:08:59.919 At the time that I wrote this letter to Sir Charles, 158 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:02.120 I had learned that there was a prospect of my 159 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:06.200 regaining my freedom if certain expenses could be met. It 160 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:10.559 meant everything to me, peace of mind, happiness, self respect, everything. 161 00:09:11.080 --> 00:09:14.320 I knew Sir Charles's generosity, and I thought that if 162 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:16.200 he heard the story from my own lips, he would 163 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:18.960 help me. Then how is it that you did not 164 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:22.840 go because I received help in the interval from another source? 165 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:25.320 Why then did you not write to Sir Charles and 166 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:28.480 explain this so I should have done had I not 167 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:32.200 seen his death in the paper next morning. The woman's 168 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:35.919 story hung coherently together, and all my questions were unable 169 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:39.240 to shake it. I could only check it by finding 170 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:43.039 if she had indeed instituted divorce proceedings against her husband 171 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:46.799 at or about the time of the tragedy. It was 172 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:49.600 unlikely that she would dare to say that she had 173 00:09:49.639 --> 00:09:52.559 not been to Baskerville Hall. If she really had been, 174 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:55.559 for a trap would be necessary to take her there, 175 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:58.759 and could not have returned to Coombe Tracy until the 176 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:02.759 early hours of the morning. Such an excursion could not 177 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:06.480 be kept secret. The probability was, therefore, that she was 178 00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:09.799 telling the truth, or at least a part of the truth. 179 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:14.720 I came away baffled and disheartened. Once again I had 180 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:17.320 reached that dead wall which seemed to be built across 181 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:19.399 every path by which I tried to get at the 182 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:22.759 object of my mission. And yet the more I thought 183 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:25.639 of the lady's face and of her manner, the more 184 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:27.919 I felt that something was being held back from me. 185 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:33.559 Why should she turn so pale? Why should she fight 186 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:37.639 against every admission until it was forced from her? Why 187 00:10:37.639 --> 00:10:39.639 should she have been so reticent at the time of 188 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:42.600 the tragedy. Surely the explanation of all this could not 189 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:45.879 be as innocent as she would have me believe. For 190 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:48.720 the moment, I could proceed no farther in that direction, 191 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:51.639 but must turn back to that other clue, which was 192 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:54.480 to be sought for among the stone huts upon the moor. 193 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:59.840 And that was a most vague direction, I realized it. 194 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:03.200 I drove back and noted how hill after hill showed 195 00:11:03.240 --> 00:11:08.240 traces of the ancient people. Barrymore's only indication had been 196 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:11.279 that the stranger lived in one of these abandoned huts, 197 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:14.799 and many hundreds of them are scattered throughout the length 198 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:17.919 and breadth of the moor. But I had my own 199 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:20.840 experience for a guide, since it had shown me the 200 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:24.200 man himself standing upon the summit of the Black tor. 201 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:28.759 That then should be the center of my search. From 202 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:31.799 there I should explore every hut upon the moor until 203 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:35.039 I lighted upon the right one. If this man were 204 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:37.440 inside it, I should find out from his own lips 205 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:40.360 at the point of my revolver, if necessary, who he was, 206 00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:44.200 and why he had dogged us so long. He might 207 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.440 slip away from us in the crowd of Regent Street, 208 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:49.080 but it would puzzle him to do so upon the 209 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:53.320 lonely moor. On the other hand, if I should find 210 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:55.480 the hut and its tenant should not be within it, 211 00:11:56.039 --> 00:11:59.200 I must remain there, however long the vigil until he 212 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:03.279 returned Holmes had missed him in London. It would indeed 213 00:12:03.320 --> 00:12:05.279 be a triumph for me if I could run him 214 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:09.879 to Earth where my master had failed. Luck had been 215 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:13.399 against us again and again in this inquiry, but now 216 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:17.200 at last it came to my aid, and the messenger 217 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:20.919 of good fortune was none other than mister Frankland, who 218 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:23.879 was standing gray, whiskered and red faced outside the gate 219 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:26.679 of his garden, which opened on to the high road 220 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:30.679 along which I traveled. Good day, doctor Watson, cried he, 221 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:34.159 with unwonted good humor. You must really give your horses 222 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:35.799 a rest and come in to have a glass of 223 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:40.519 wine and to congratulate me. My feelings towards him were 224 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:43.240 very far from being friendly, after what I had heard 225 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:46.440 of his treatment of his daughter. But I was anxious 226 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:50.120 to send Perkins and the wagonette home, and the opportunity 227 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:53.480 was a good one. I alighted and sent a message 228 00:12:53.480 --> 00:12:55.919 to Sir Henry that I should walk over in time 229 00:12:55.960 --> 00:13:00.519 for dinner. Then I followed Frankland into his dining room. 230 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:02.720 It is a great day for me, sir, one of 231 00:13:02.759 --> 00:13:05.600 the red letter days of my life, he cried, with 232 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:09.440 many chuckles. I have brought off a double event. I 233 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:11.919 mean to teach them in these parts that law is law, 234 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:14.559 and that there is a man here who does not 235 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:17.600 fear to invoke it. I have established a right of 236 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:21.360 way through the center of Old Middleton's Park, slap across it, sir, 237 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:24.320 within a hundred yards of his own front door. What 238 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.639 do you think of that will teach these magnets that 239 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:30.279 they cannot ride roughshod over the rights of the commoners 240 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:34.919 confound them. And I've closed the wood where the Fernworthy 241 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:37.960 folk used to picnic. These infernal people seem to think 242 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:39.679 that there are no rights of property, and that they 243 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:42.320 can swarm where they like with their papers and their bottles. 244 00:13:42.519 --> 00:13:45.799 Both cases decided Doctor Watson, and both in my favor. 245 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:48.480 I haven't had such a day since I had Sir 246 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:52.360 John Morland for trespass because he shot in his own warren. 247 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:55.200 How on earth did you do that? Look it up 248 00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:58.960 in the book, sir. It will repay reading Franklin versus Morland, 249 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:01.960 Court of Queen's Bench. It cost me two hundred pounds, 250 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:05.799 but I got my verdict. Did it do you any good? None, 251 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:08.600 sir none. I am proud to say that I had 252 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:11.279 no interest in the matter. I act entirely from a 253 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.559 sense of public duty. I have no doubt, for example, 254 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:17.519 that the Fernworthy people will burn me in effigy to night. 255 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.320 I told the police last time they did it that 256 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:24.519 they should stop these disgraceful exhibitions. The County Constabulary is 257 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:27.240 in a scandalous state, sir, and it has not afforded 258 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:30.080 me the protection to which I am entitled. The case 259 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:33.039 of Franklin versus Regina. Will bring the matter before the 260 00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:35.759 attention of the public. I told them that they would 261 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:39.039 have occasion to regret their treatment of me, and already 262 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:42.879 my words have come true. How so I asked the 263 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:46.279 old man, put on a very knowing expression, because I 264 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:48.559 could tell them what they are dying to know. But 265 00:14:48.600 --> 00:14:51.720 nothing would induce me to help the rascals in any way. 266 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:55.519 I had been casting round for some excuse by which 267 00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:58.080 I could get away from his gossip. But now I 268 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:00.879 began to wish to hear more of it. I'd seen 269 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:04.039 enough of the contrary nature of the old sinner to 270 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:07.000 understand that any strong sign of interest would be the 271 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:12.320 surest way to stop his confidences. Some poaching case, no doubt, 272 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:15.360 said I, with an indifferent manner. Ha ha, my boy. 273 00:15:15.559 --> 00:15:18.759 A very much more important matter than that. What about 274 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:23.440 the convict? On the more, I stared, you don't mean 275 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:26.759 that you know where he is? Said I. I may 276 00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:28.960 not know exactly where he is, but I am quite 277 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:30.840 sure that I could help the police to lay their 278 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:33.679 hands on him. As it never struck you that the 279 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:36.039 way to catch that man was to find out where 280 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:39.759 he got his food and so trace it to him. 281 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:43.000 He certainly seemed to be getting uncomfortably near the truth, 282 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:46.360 no doubt, said I, But how do you know that 283 00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:49.559 he is anywhere? Upon the more I know it because 284 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:52.440 I have seen with my own eyes the messenger who 285 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:57.120 takes him his food. My heart sank for barrymore. It 286 00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:59.200 was a serious thing to be in the power of 287 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:03.120 this spiteful, old, busybody. But his next remark took a 288 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:05.919 weight from my mind. You'll be surprised to hear that 289 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:09.480 his food is taken to him by a child. I 290 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:12.159 see him every day through my telescope upon the roof. 291 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:14.720 He passes along the same path at the same hour. 292 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:18.000 And to whom should he be going except to the convict? 293 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:22.840 Here was luck, indeed, and yet I suppressed all appearance 294 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:27.000 of interest a child. Barrymore had said that our unknown 295 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:30.919 was supplied by a boy. It was on his track, 296 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:35.159 and not upon the convicts that Franklin had stumbled. If 297 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:37.440 I could get his knowledge, it might save me a 298 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:42.200 long and weary hunt. But incredulity and indifference were evidently 299 00:16:42.279 --> 00:16:45.559 my strongest cards. I should say that it was much 300 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:47.559 more likely that it was the son of one of 301 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:52.000 the Moorland shepherds taking out his father's dinner. The least 302 00:16:52.039 --> 00:16:55.639 appearance of opposition struck fire out of the old autocrat. 303 00:16:56.600 --> 00:17:00.440 His eyes looked malignantly at me, and his gray whiskers 304 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:04.640 bristled like those of an angry cat. Indeed, Sir, said 305 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:08.359 he pointing out over the wide stretching more. Indeed, Sir, 306 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:12.599 said he, pointing out over the wide stretching More, would 307 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:15.559 you see that black tor over yonder? Well? Do you 308 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:18.720 see the low hill beyond with the thornbush upon it? 309 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.720 It is the stoniest part of the whole. More, is 310 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:23.680 that a place where a shepherd would be likely to 311 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:28.799 take his station? Your suggestion, Sir, is a most absurd one. 312 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:31.640 I meekly answered that I had spoken without knowing all 313 00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:35.240 the facts. My submission pleased him and led him to 314 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:38.119 further confidences. You may be sure, sir, that I have 315 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:41.359 very good grounds before I come to an opinion. I've 316 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:44.559 seen the boy again and again with his bundle every day, 317 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:47.599 and sometimes twice a day. I've been able. But wait 318 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:51.640 a moment, doctor Watson, to my eyes deceived me? Or 319 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:56.640 is there, at the present moment something moving upon that hillside? 320 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:00.160 It was several miles off, but I could distinctly see 321 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:05.079 a small dark dot against the dull green and gray. Come, sir, come, 322 00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:08.759 cried Franklin, rushing upstairs. You will see with your own 323 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:13.319 eyes and judge for yourself. The telescope, a formidable instrument 324 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:16.400 mounted upon a tripod, stood upon the flat leads of 325 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:19.880 the house. Franklin clapped his eye to it and gave 326 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:23.599 a cry of satisfaction. Quick, Dr Watson, Quick before he 327 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:27.640 passes over the hill. There he was, sure enough, a 328 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:31.279 small urchin with a little bundle upon his shoulder, toiling 329 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:34.720 slowly up the hill. When he reached the crest, I 330 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:38.279 saw the ragged, uncouth figure outlined for an instant against 331 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:41.200 the cold blue sky. He looked round him with a 332 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:45.599 furtive and stealthy air, as one who dreads pursuit. Then 333 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:49.240 he vanished over the hill. Well, am I right, certainly 334 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:51.960 there is a boy who seems to have some secret errand. 335 00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:56.039 And what the errand is even a county constable could guess. 336 00:18:56.440 --> 00:18:59.160 But not one word shall they have from me? And 337 00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:02.759 I bind you to secrecy, also, doctor Watson, not a word, 338 00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:07.720 you understand, just as you wish. They have treated me shamefully, shamefully. 339 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:11.519 When the facts come out in Franklin versus Regina, I 340 00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:14.039 venture to think that a thrill of indignation will run 341 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:16.720 through the country. Nothing would induce me to help the 342 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:19.480 police in any way. For all they cared, it might 343 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:22.559 have been me instead of my effigy which these rascals 344 00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:25.680 burned at the stake. Oh, surely you're not going, you 345 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:28.680 will help me to empty the decanter in honor of 346 00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:33.599 this great occasion. But I resisted all his solicitations and 347 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.880 succeeded in dissuading him from his announced intention of walking 348 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:39.839 home with me. I kept the road as long as 349 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:42.400 his eye was on me, and then I struck off 350 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:46.079 across the moor and made for the stony hill over 351 00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:50.559 which the boy had disappeared. Everything was working in my favor, 352 00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:53.160 and I swore that it should not be through lack 353 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:55.960 of energy or perseverance that I should miss the chance 354 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:01.039 which fortune had thrown in my way. Was already sinking 355 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:03.640 when I reached the summit of the hill, and the 356 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:06.400 long slopes beneath me were all gold and green on 357 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:10.720 one side, and gray shadow on the other. A haze 358 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:14.640 lay low upon the farthest skyline, out of which jutted 359 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:19.079 the fantastic shapes of Belliver and Vixen tore over the 360 00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:22.759 wide expanse. There was no sound and no movement. One 361 00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:26.200 great gray bird, a gull or curlew, soared aloft in 362 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:29.039 the blue heaven. He and I seemed to be the 363 00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:31.960 only living things between the huge arch of the sky 364 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:36.160 and the desert. Beneath it. The barren scene, the sense 365 00:20:36.200 --> 00:20:39.279 of loneliness, and the mystery and urgency of my task 366 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:43.079 all struck a chill into my heart. The boy was 367 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:45.759 nowhere to be seen, but down beneath me, in a 368 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:47.839 cleft of the hills, there was a circle of the 369 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:50.680 old stone huts, and in the middle of them there 370 00:20:50.759 --> 00:20:53.640 was one which retained sufficient roof to act as a 371 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:57.599 screen against the weather. My heart leapt within me as 372 00:20:57.640 --> 00:21:01.240 I saw it. This must be the burrow where the 373 00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:05.359 stranger lurked. At last my foot was on the threshold 374 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:08.599 of his hiding place. His secret was within my grasp. 375 00:21:09.799 --> 00:21:13.640 As I approached the hut, walking as warily as Stapleton 376 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:16.119 would do when with poised net he drew near the 377 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:20.119 settled butterfly, I satisfied myself that the place had indeed 378 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:23.960 been used as a habitation. A vague pathway among the 379 00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:27.319 boulders led to the dilapidated opening which served as a door. 380 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:32.559 All were silent within. The unknown might be lurking there, 381 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:36.200 or he might be prowling on the moor. My nerves 382 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:40.279 tingled with the sense of adventure. Throwing aside my cigarette, 383 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:42.759 I closed my hand upon the butt of my revolver, 384 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:46.400 and walking swiftly up to the door, I looked in. 385 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:51.599 The place was empty, but there were ample signs that 386 00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:54.519 I had not come upon a false scent. This was 387 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:58.240 certainly where the man lived. Some blankets, rolled in a 388 00:21:58.279 --> 00:22:02.240 waterproof lay upon that very stone slab upon which neolithic 389 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:06.160 man had once slumbered. The ashes of a fire were 390 00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:10.319 heaped in a rude grate. Beside it lay some cooking 391 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:14.519 utensils and a bucket half full of water. A litter 392 00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:17.599 of empty tins showed that the place had been occupied 393 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:20.599 for some time, and I saw, as my eyes became 394 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:24.000 accustomed to the checkered light, a pannikin and a half 395 00:22:24.039 --> 00:22:27.799 full bottle of spirits standing in the corner. In the 396 00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:30.599 middle of the hut, a flat stone served the purpose 397 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:33.920 of a table, and upon this stood a small cloth bundle, 398 00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:36.319 the same, no doubt, which I had seen through the 399 00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:40.079 telescope upon the shoulder of the boy. It contained a 400 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:43.200 loaf of bread, a tinned tongue, and two tins of 401 00:22:43.240 --> 00:22:47.240