WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.159 --> 00:00:03.799 Chapter fourteen of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir 2 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:07.679 Arthur Conan Doyle. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, 3 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:15.320 Chapter fourteen, The Hound of the Baskervilles. One of Sherlock 4 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:19.359 Holmes's defects, if indeed one may call it a defect, 5 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:22.239 was that he was exceedingly loth to communicate his full 6 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:27.440 plans to any other person until the instant of their fulfillment. Partly, 7 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:30.600 it came, no doubt, from his own masterful nature, which 8 00:00:30.679 --> 00:00:33.960 loved to dominate and surprise those who were around him. 9 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:38.119 Partly also from his professional caution, which urged him never 10 00:00:38.200 --> 00:00:41.679 to take any chances. The result, however, was very trying 11 00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:44.600 for those who were acting as his agents and assistants. 12 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:47.920 I had often suffered under it, but never more so 13 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:51.399 than during that long drive in the darkness. The great 14 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:54.920 Ordeal was in front of us. At last, we were 15 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:58.320 about to make our final effort, and yet Holmes had 16 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:01.479 said nothing, and I could only surmise what his course 17 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:06.159 of action would be. My nerves thrilled with anticipation, when 18 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:08.760 at last, the cold wind upon our faces and the 19 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:11.760 dark void spaces on either side of the narrow road 20 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:14.840 told me that we were back upon the moor once again. 21 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:19.079 Every stride of the horses and every turn of the 22 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:23.760 wheels was taking us nearer to our supreme adventure. Our 23 00:01:23.799 --> 00:01:26.439 conversation was hampered by the presence of the driver of 24 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:29.359 the hired wagonette, so that we were forced to talk 25 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:32.680 on trivial matters when our nerves were tense with emotion 26 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:38.040 and anticipation. It was a relief to me after that 27 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:42.159 unnatural restraint, when we were at last passed Franklin's house 28 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:44.560 and knew that we were drawing near to the hall 29 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:48.359 and to the scene of action. We did not drive 30 00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:50.840 up to the door, but got down near the gate 31 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:54.480 of the avenue. The wagonette was paid off and ordered 32 00:01:54.519 --> 00:01:57.920 to return to Coombe Tracy forthwith while we started to 33 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:03.680 walk to Merripit house. Are you armed, lestrade? The little 34 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:07.200 detective smiled. As long as I have my trousers, I 35 00:02:07.239 --> 00:02:08.919 have a hip pocket, and as long as I have 36 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:13.360 my hip pocket, I have something in it. Good. My 37 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:17.520 friend and I are also ready for emergencies. You're mighty 38 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:20.680 close about this affair, mister Olmes. What's the game now? 39 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:25.479 A waiting game? My word, it does not seem a 40 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:29.520 very cheerful place, said the detective, with a shiver, glancing 41 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:32.159 round him, at the gloomy slopes of the hill, and 42 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:34.879 at the huge lake of fog which lay over the 43 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:38.080 grimp and mire. I see the lights of our house, 44 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:42.240 said of us. That is merripit house, and the end 45 00:02:42.280 --> 00:02:45.319 of our journey. I must request you to walk on 46 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:50.520 tiptoe and not talk above a whisper. We moved cautiously 47 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:52.840 along the track as if we were bound for the house, 48 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:56.080 but Holmes halted us when we were about two hundred 49 00:02:56.120 --> 00:03:00.919 yards from it. This will do, said he. These rocks 50 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:06.439 upon the right make an admirable screen. We're to wait here. Yes, 51 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:09.560 we shall make our little ambush here. Get into this 52 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:13.280 hollow lestrade. You have been inside the house, have you not? Watson? 53 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:16.360 Can you tell the position of the rooms? What are 54 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:20.120 those latticed windows at this end? I think they are 55 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:24.599 the kitchen windows, and the one beyond which shine so brightly, 56 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.400 that is certainly the dining room. The blinds are up. 57 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:32.840 You know the lie of the land. Best creep forward 58 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:37.639 quietly and see what they are doing. But for Heaven's sake, 59 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:41.960 don't let them know that they are watched. I tiptoed 60 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:44.919 down the path and stooped behind the low wall which 61 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:49.360 surrounded the stunted orchard, creeping in its shadow. I reached 62 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:52.639 a point whence I could look straight through the uncurtained window. 63 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:56.400 There were only two men in the room, Sir Henry 64 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:00.159 and Stapleton. They sat with their profiles toward me, on 65 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:03.360 either side of the round table. Both of them were 66 00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:07.240 smoking cigars, and coffee and wine were in front of them. 67 00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:12.280 Stapleton was talking with animation, but the Baronet looked pale 68 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:16.279 and distray. Perhaps the thought of that lonely walk across 69 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:19.800 the ill omened moor was weighing heavily upon his mind. 70 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:24.759 As I watched them, Stapleton rose and left the room, 71 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:28.160 while Sir Henry filled his glass again and leaned back 72 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:32.240 in his chair, puffing at his cigar. I heard the 73 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:35.040 creak of a door and the crisp sound of boots 74 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:38.399 upon the gravel. The steps passed along the path on 75 00:04:38.439 --> 00:04:40.959 the other side of the wall under which I crouched. 76 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:45.560 Looking over, I saw the naturalist pause at the door 77 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:48.879 of an outhouse in the corner of the orchard. A 78 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:52.120 key turned in a lock, and as he passed in 79 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:56.120 there was a curious scuffling noise from within. He was 80 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:59.000 only a minute or so inside, and then I heard 81 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:01.680 the key turn once more, and he passed me and 82 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:05.680 re entered the house. I saw him rejoin his guest, 83 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:08.759 and I crept quietly back to where my companions were 84 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:13.240 waiting to tell them what I had seen. You say, Watson, 85 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:16.240 that the lady is not there, Holmes asked, when I 86 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:22.120 had finished my report. No where can she be? Since 87 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:25.399 there is no light in any other room except the kitchen, 88 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:29.879 I cannot think where she is. I have said that 89 00:05:29.959 --> 00:05:32.480 over the great grimp and Meire there hung a dense 90 00:05:32.600 --> 00:05:36.839 white fog. It was drifting slowly in our direction and 91 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:39.639 banked itself up like a war on that side of us, 92 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:44.079 low but thickened, well defined. The moon shone on it, 93 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:47.639 and it looked like a great shimmering ice field, with 94 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:50.959 the heads of the distant tours as rocks borne upon 95 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:55.439 its surface. Holmes's face was turned towards it, and he 96 00:05:55.519 --> 00:06:00.000 muttered impatiently as he watched its sluggish drift, its move 97 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:05.519 moving towards us. Watson, is that serious? Very serious? Indeed? 98 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:09.839 The one thing upon earth which could have disarranged my plans? 99 00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:14.000 He can't be very long. Now it is already ten o'clock. 100 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:19.360 Our success and even his life, may depend upon his 101 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:22.920 coming out before the fog is over the path. The 102 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:26.560 night was clear and fine. Above us, the stars shone 103 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:29.480 cold and bright, while the half moon bade the whole 104 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:33.759 scene in a soft, uncertain light. Before us lay the 105 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:38.120 dark bulk of the house, its serrated roof and bristling chimneys, 106 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:42.680 hard outlined against the silver spangled sky. Broad bars of 107 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:46.279 golden light from the lower windows stretched across the orchard 108 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:50.000 and the moor. One of them was suddenly shut off. 109 00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:54.360 The servants had left the kitchen. There only remained the 110 00:06:54.439 --> 00:06:57.000 lamp in the dining room, where the two men, the 111 00:06:57.079 --> 00:07:02.000 murderous host and the unconscious guest, still chatted over their cigars. 112 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:06.160 Every minute, that white wooly plain, which covered one half 113 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:09.480 of the moor, was drifting closer and closer to the house. 114 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:13.720 Already the first thin wisps of it were curling across 115 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:17.759 the golden square of the lighted window. The farther wall 116 00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:21.199 of the orchard was already invisible, and the trees were 117 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:24.600 standing out of a swirl of a white vapor. As 118 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:28.240 we watched it, the fog wreaths came crawling round both 119 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:32.240 corners of the house and rolled slowly into one dense bank, 120 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:35.319 on which the upper floor and the roof floated like 121 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:39.600 a strange ship upon a shadowy sea. Holmes struck his 122 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:42.920 hand passionately upon the rock in front of us, and 123 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:47.360 stamped his feet in his impatience. If he isn't out 124 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:49.360 in a quarter of an hour, the path will be 125 00:07:49.399 --> 00:07:51.800 covered in half an hour. We won't be able to 126 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:54.959 see our hands in front of us. Shall we move 127 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:58.680 further back upon high ground? Yes, I think it would 128 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:03.360 be as well. So as the fog bank flowed onward, 129 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:06.439 we fell back before it until we were half a 130 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:10.279 mile from the house, and still that dense white sea, 131 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:14.360 with the moon silvering its upper edge, swept slowly and 132 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:19.439 inexorably on. We are going too far, said Holmes. We 133 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:22.079 dare not take the chance of his being overtaken before 134 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:25.439 he can reach us. At all costs, we must hold 135 00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:28.839 our ground where we are. He dropped on his knees 136 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:32.720 and clapped his ear to the ground. Thank God, I 137 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:36.120 think that I hear him coming. A sound of quick 138 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:40.320 steps broke the silence of the moor. Crouching among the stones. 139 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:43.679 We stared intently at the silver tipped bank in front 140 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:47.480 of us. The steps grew louder, and through the fog 141 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:50.440 as through a curtain, there stepped the man whom we 142 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:54.039 were awaiting. He looked round him in surprise as he 143 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:58.120 emerged into the clear, starlit night. Then he came swiftly 144 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:01.039 along the path, passed close to where we lay, and 145 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:04.960 went on up the long slope behind us. As he walked, 146 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:09.519 he glanced continually over either shoulder, like a man who 147 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:14.320 is ill at ease. Hist cried Holmes, and I heard 148 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:18.559 the sharp click of a cocking pistol. Look out, it's coming. 149 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:23.240 There was a thin, crisp, continuous patter from somewhere in 150 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:27.000 the heart of that crawling bank. The cloud was within 151 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:30.360 fifty yards of where we lay, and we glared at it, 152 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:33.600 all three, uncertain what horror was about to break from 153 00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:36.960 the heart of it. I was at Holmes's elbow, and 154 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:40.039 I glanced for an instant at his face. It was 155 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:44.080 pale and exultant, his eyes shining brightly in the moonlight. 156 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:48.799 But suddenly they started forward in a rigid, fixed stare, 157 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:52.879 and his lips parted in amazement. At the same instant, 158 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:55.960 the strade gave a yell of terror, and threw himself 159 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.440 face downward upon the ground. I sprang to my feet, 160 00:09:59.799 --> 00:10:03.679 my inert hand grasping my pistol, my mind paralyzed by 161 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:06.440 the dreadful shape which had sprung out upon us from 162 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:11.120 the shadows of the fog. A hound. It was an enormous, 163 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:14.720 cold black hound, but not such a hound as mortal 164 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:18.519 eyes have ever seen. Fire burst from its open mouth. 165 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:22.879 Its eyes glowed with a smoldering glare. Its muzzle and 166 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:27.799 hackles and dew lap were outlined in flickering flame. Never 167 00:10:27.879 --> 00:10:31.399 in the delirious dream of a disordered brain could anything 168 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:35.879 more savage, more appalling, more hellish be conceived than that 169 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:39.559 dark form and savage face which broke upon us out 170 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:43.480 of the wall of fog with long bounds. The huge 171 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:47.039 black creature was leaping down the track, following hard upon 172 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:51.159 the footsteps of our friend. So paralyzed were we by 173 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:53.840 the apparition that we allowed him to pass before we 174 00:10:53.879 --> 00:10:57.879 had recovered our nerve. Then Holmes and I both fired together, 175 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:01.559 and the creature gave a hit howl, which showed that 176 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:04.159 at one at least had hit him. He did not 177 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:08.360 pause however, but bounded onward. Far away on the path, 178 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:11.639 we saw Sir Henry looking back, his face white in 179 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:15.759 the moonlight, his hands raised in horror, glaring helplessly at 180 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:19.279 the frightful thing which was hunting him down. But that 181 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:22.159 cry of pain from the hound had blown all our 182 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:26.639 fears to the winds. If he was vulnerable, he was mortal, 183 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:30.120 and if we could wound him, we could kill him. 184 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:33.600 Never have I seen a man run as Holmes ran 185 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:38.039 that night. I am reckoned fleet of foot, but he 186 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:41.279 outpaced me as much as I uppaced the little professional 187 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:44.399 in front of us. As we flew up the track, 188 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:48.360 we heard scream after scream from Sir Henry, and the 189 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:51.600 deep roar of the hound. I was in time to 190 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:54.519 see the beast spring upon its victim, hurl him to 191 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:58.039 the ground, and worry at his throat. But the next 192 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:01.720 instant Holmes had emptied five barrels of his revolver into 193 00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:05.600 the creature's flank, with a last howl of agony and 194 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:08.679 a vicious snap in the air, which rolled upon its 195 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:13.720 back four feet, pawing furiously, and then fell limp upon 196 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:19.399 its side. I stooped, panting, and pressed my pistol to 197 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:23.159 the dreadful shimmering head, but it was useless to press 198 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:28.840 the trigger. The giant hound was dead. Sir Henry lay 199 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:32.480 insensible where he had fallen. We tore away his collar, 200 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:36.000 and Holmes breathed a prayer of gratitude when we saw 201 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:38.440 that there was no sign of a wound, and that 202 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:43.879 the rescue had been in time already. Our friend's eyelids shivered, 203 00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:47.840 and he made a feeble effort to move. Lestrade thrust 204 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:51.720 his brandy flask between the baronet's teeth, and two frightened 205 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:56.039 eyes were looking up at us. My God, he whispered, 206 00:12:56.600 --> 00:13:02.519 what was it? What in Heaven's name was it? It's dead, 207 00:13:02.759 --> 00:13:06.840 whatever it is, said Holmes, we've laid the family ghost 208 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:11.320 once and for ever. In mere size and strength. It 209 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:14.480 was a terrible creature which was lying stretched before us. 210 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:17.960 It was not a pure bloodhound, and it was not 211 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:21.120 a pure mastiff, but it appeared to be a combination 212 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:25.120 of the two gaunt, savage, and as large as a 213 00:13:25.159 --> 00:13:29.320 small lioness. Even now in the stillness of death, the 214 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:32.360 huge jaws seemed to be dripping with a bluish flame, 215 00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:36.320 and the small, deep set, cruel eyes were ringed with fire. 216 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:40.399 I placed my hand upon the glowing muzzle, and as 217 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:43.519 I held them up, my own fingers smoldered and gleamed 218 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:49.840 in the darkness. Phosphorus, I said, A cunning preparation of it, 219 00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:53.120 said Holmes, sniffing at the dead animal. There is no 220 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:55.840 smell which might have interfered with his power of scent. 221 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:00.720 We owe you a deep apology, sir Henry, for having 222 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:04.600 exposed you to this fright. I was prepared for a hound, 223 00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:08.120 but not for such a creature as this, and the 224 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:11.759 fog gave us little time to receive him. You have 225 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:16.919 saved my life, having first endangered it. Are you strong 226 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:20.679 enough to stand? Give me another mouthful of that brandy, 227 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:24.600 and I shall be ready for anything. So now, if 228 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:26.759 you will help me up, what do you propose to 229 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:30.759 do to leave you here? You are not fit for 230 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:34.320 further adventures to night. If you will wait, one or 231 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.279 other of us will go back with you to the hall. 232 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:40.080 He tried to stagger to his feet, but he was 233 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:44.159 still ghastly, pale, and trembling in every limb. We helped 234 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:46.440 him to a rock, where he sat shivering, with his 235 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:50.960 face buried in his hands. We must leave you now, 236 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:54.399 said Holmes, the rest of our work must be done, 237 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:58.879 and every moment is of importance. We have our case, 238 00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:04.080 and now we only one hour. Man, it's a thousand 239 00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:07.600 to one against our finding him at the house, he continued, 240 00:15:07.639 --> 00:15:11.519 as we retraced our steps swiftly down the path. Those 241 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:14.000 shots must have told him that the game was up. 242 00:15:15.559 --> 00:15:18.440 We were some distance off, and this fog may have 243 00:15:18.519 --> 00:15:21.960 deadened them. He followed the hound to call him off 244 00:15:22.279 --> 00:15:25.279 of that. You may be certain. No, no, he's gone 245 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:28.159 by this time. But we'll search the house and make 246 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:32.039 sure the front door was open. So we rushed in 247 00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:34.879 and hurried from room to room, to the amazement of 248 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:38.440 a doddering old man servant, who met us in the passage. 249 00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:41.279 There was no light save in the dining room, but 250 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:44.080 Holmes caught up the lamp and left no corner of 251 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:48.000 the house unexplored. No sign could we see of the 252 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:51.480 man whom we were chasing. On the upper floor, however, 253 00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:55.000 one of the bedroom doors was locked. It's some one 254 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:58.840 in here, cried Lestrade, R. Can he a movement open 255 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:02.799 this door? A faint moaning and rustling came from within. 256 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:06.240 Homes struck the door just over the lock with the 257 00:16:06.279 --> 00:16:10.320 flat of his foot, and it flew open, pistol in hand. 258 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:13.840 We all three rushed into the room, but there was 259 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:16.840 no sign within it of that desperate and defiant villain 260 00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:21.240 whom we expected to see. Instead, we were faced by 261 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:25.159 an object so strange and so unexpected that we stood 262 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:29.159 for a moment staring at it in amazement. The room 263 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:32.519 had been fashioned into a small museum, and the walls 264 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:35.159 were lined by a number of glass topped cases full 265 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:38.600 of that collection of butterflies and moths, the formation of 266 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:42.559 which had been the relaxation of this complex and dangerous man. 267 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:46.600 In the center of this room there was an upright beam, 268 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:49.919 which had been placed at some period as a support 269 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:53.039 for the old, worm eaten bulk of timber which spanned 270 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:57.440 the roof to this post. A figure was tied, so 271 00:16:57.639 --> 00:16:59.960 swathed and muffled in the sheets which had been us 272 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:02.360 used to secure it, that one could not for the 273 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:04.839 moment tell whether it was that of a man or 274 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:09.359 a woman. One towel passed round the throat and was 275 00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:13.079 secured at the back of the pillar. Another covered the 276 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:16.680 lower part of the face, and over it two dark eyes, 277 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:22.119 eyes full of grief and shame, and a dreadful questioning, 278 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:26.279 stared back at us. In a minute, we had torn 279 00:17:26.279 --> 00:17:30.720 off the gag, unswathed the bonds, and Missus Stapleton sank 280 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:33.960 upon the floor in front of us. As her beautiful 281 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:36.519 head fell upon her chest, I saw the clear red 282 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:42.839 wheel of a whiplash across her neck. The brute cried, Holmes, here, lestrade, 283 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:46.200 your brandy bottle. Put her in a chair. She is 284 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:50.720 fainted from ill usage and exhaustion. She opened her eyes again. 285 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:56.680 Is he safe, she asked? Has he escaped? He cannot 286 00:17:56.759 --> 00:18:01.240 escape us? Madam, No, no, I did not mean my husband, 287 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:07.440 Sir Henry. Is he safe? Yes? And the hound, it 288 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:13.359 is dead. She gave a long sigh of satisfaction. Thank God, 289 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:18.200 thank God, Oh, this villain. See how he has treated me. 290 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:21.319 She shut her arms out from her sleeves, and we 291 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:24.279 saw with horror that they were all mottled with bruises. 292 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:29.559 But this is nothing, nothing. It is my mind and 293 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:33.319 soul that he has tortured and defiled. I could endure 294 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:38.200 it all, ill usage, solitude, a life of deception, everything, 295 00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:40.440 as long as I could still cling to the hope 296 00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:43.240 that I had his love. But now I know that 297 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:47.079 in this also I have been his dupe and his fool. 298 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:52.119 She broke into a passionate sobbing as she spoke. You 299 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:55.960 bear him no good will, madam, said Holmes. Tell us, then, 300 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.480 where we shall find him if you have ever aided 301 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:03.319 him an evil us now and so atone. There is 302 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:06.799 but one place where he can have fled. She answered. 303 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:11.359 There is an old tin mine on an island in 304 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:13.960 the heart of the Miya. It was there that he 305 00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:17.680 kept his hound, and there also he had made preparations 306 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:20.759 so that he might have a refuge. That is where 307 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:24.680 he would fly. The fog bank lay like white wall 308 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:30.200 against the window. Holmes held a lamp towards it. See 309 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:33.319 said he no one could find his way into the 310 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:37.440 grimp and maya to night. She laughed and clapped her hands. 311 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:41.839 Her eyes and teeth gleamed with fierce merriment. He may 312 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:45.279 find his way in, but never out, she cried. How 313 00:19:45.319 --> 00:19:48.799 can he see the guiding ones to night? We planted 314 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:51.480 them together, he and I to mark the pathway through 315 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:54.680 the mire. Oh, if I could only have plucked them 316 00:19:54.680 --> 00:19:57.480 out to day, then indeed you would have had him 317 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:01.119 at your mercy. It was evident to us that all 318 00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:05.279 pursuit was in vain until the fog had lifted. Meanwhile, 319 00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:08.599 we left Lestrade in possession of the house, while Holmes 320 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:11.200 and I went back with the Baronet to Baskerville Hall. 321 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:14.920 The story of the Stapletons could no longer be withheld 322 00:20:14.920 --> 00:20:17.680 from him, But he took the blow bravely when he 323 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:20.279 learned the truth about the woman whom he had loved. 324 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:24.440 But the shock of the Knight's adventures had shattered his nerves, 325 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.039 and before morning he lay delirious in a high fever, 326 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:31.440 under the care of Doctor Mortimer. The two of them 327 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:34.640 were destined to travel together round the world before Sir 328 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:38.279 Henry had become once more the hale, hearty man that 329 00:20:38.359 --> 00:20:40.960 he had been before he became master of that ill 330 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:45.640 omened estate. And now I come rapidly to the conclusion 331 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:48.440 of this singular narrative in which I have tried to 332 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:52.119 make the reader share those dark fears and vague surmises 333 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:55.960 which cloud our lives so long, and ended in so 334 00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:59.720 tragic a manner. On the morning after the death of 335 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:03.200 the the fog had lifted, and we were guided by 336 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:05.960 Missus Stapleton to the point where they had found a 337 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:09.720 pathway through the bog. It helped us to realize the 338 00:21:09.799 --> 00:21:12.839 horror of this woman's life when we saw the eagerness 339 00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:15.880 and joy with which she laid us on her husband's track. 340 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:21.039 We left her standing upon the thin peninsula of firm, 341 00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:25.799 peaty soil, which tapered out into the widespread bog. From 342 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:28.640 the end of it a small wand planted here and 343 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:32.519 there showed where the path zigzagged from tuft to tuft 344 00:21:32.599 --> 00:21:37.319 of rushes among those green, scummed pits and foul quagmires 345 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:42.440 which barred the way to the stranger. Rank reeds and lush, 346 00:21:42.599 --> 00:21:46.240 slimy water plants sent an odor of decay and a 347 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:50.599 heavy miasmatic vapor onto our faces, while a false step 348 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:53.720 plunged us more than once thigh deep into the dark, 349 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:58.359 quivering mire, which shook for yards in soft undulations around 350 00:21:58.359 --> 00:22:03.160 our feet. Its tenacious grip plucked at our heels as 351 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:06.759 we walked, and when we sank into it, it was 352 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.799 as if some malignant hand was tugging us down into 353 00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:13.960 those obscene depths. So grim and purposeful was the clutch 354 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:17.799 in which had held us once. Only we saw a 355 00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:21.039 trace that some one had passed that perilous way before us, 356 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.480 from amid a tuft of cotton grass, which bore it 357 00:22:24.599 --> 00:22:27.720 up out of the slime. Some dark thing was projecting. 358 00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:31.319 Holmes sank to his waist as he stepped from the 359 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.079 path to seize it, and had we not been there 360 00:22:34.119 --> 00:22:36.279 to drag him out, he could never have set his 361 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:40.039 foot upon firm land again. He held an old black 362 00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:44.519 boot in the air. Myia's toronto was printed on the 363 00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:49.599 leather inside. It is worth a mudbath, said he. It 364 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:53.759 is our friend, Sir Henry's missing boot, thrown here by 365 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:58.559 Stapleton in his flight. Exactly he retained it in his 366 00:22:58.680 --> 00:23:01.319 hand after using it to set the hound upon the track. 367 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:04.160 He fled when he knew the game was up, still 368 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:07.000 clutching it, and he hurled it away. At this point 369 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:09.880 of his flight, we know at least that he came 370 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:13.920 so far in safety, But more than that we were 371 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:16.799 never destined to know. Though there was much which we 372 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:20.920 might surmise. There was no chance of finding footsteps in 373 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:24.920 the maya, for the rising mud oozed swiftly in upon them. 374 00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:27.960 But as we at last reached firmer ground beyond the morass, 375 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:31.759 we all looked eagerly for them, but no slightest sign 376 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:34.839 of them ever met our eyes. If the earth told 377 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:38.279 a true story, then Stapleton never reached that island of 378 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:41.279 refuge towards which he struggled through the fog upon that 379 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:45.079 last night, somewhere in the heart of the great grimp, 380 00:23:45.079 --> 00:23:48.319 and maya down in the foul slime of the huge 381 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:52.079 morass which had sucked him in, this cold and cruel 382 00:23:52.119 --> 00:23:57.440 hearted man is forever buried. Many traces we found of 383 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:00.839 him in the Boggirt island where he had hid his savage. Ally, 384 00:24:02.279 --> 00:24:05.519 a huge driving wheel and a shaft, half filled with 385 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:09.799 rubbish showed the position of an abandoned mine. Beside it 386 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:12.559 were the crumbling remains of the cottages of the miners, 387 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:15.240 driven away, no doubt by the foul reek of the 388 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:19.880 surrounding swamp. In one of these, a staple and chain 389 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:23.079 with a quantity of gnawed bones showed where the animal 390 00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:26.720 had been confined. A skeleton with a tangle of brown 391 00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:31.000 hair adhering to it lay among the debris. A dog, 392 00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:36.839 said Holmes, by jove, a curly haired spaniel. Poor Mortimer 393 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:39.680 will never see his pet again. Well, I do not 394 00:24:39.880 --> 00:24:42.720 know that this place contains any secret which we would 395 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:46.160 not already fathomed. He could hide his hound but he 396 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:50.680 could not hush its voice, and hence came those cries, which, 397 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:55.160 even in daylight were not pleasant to hear. On an emergency, 398 00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:57.720 he could keep the hound in the outhouse at Merrypit, 399 00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:00.839 but it was always a risk, and it was only 400 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:03.880 on the Supreme Day, which he regarded as the end 401 00:25:03.880 --> 00:25:07.559