WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:03.279 Chapter eleven of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir 2 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:06.639 Arthur Conan Doyle. This LibriVox according is in the public 3 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:14.400 domain Chapter eleven, The Man on the Tour. The extract 4 00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:17.640 from my private diary which forms the last chapter, has 5 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:20.920 brought my narrative up to the eighteenth of October, a 6 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:24.079 time when these strange events began to move swiftly towards 7 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:28.320 their terrible conclusion. The incidents of the next few days 8 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:32.280 are indelibly graven upon my recollection, and I can tell 9 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:34.799 them without reference to the notes made at the time 10 00:00:36.119 --> 00:00:38.520 I start them, from the day which succeeded that upon 11 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:42.359 which I had established two facts of great importance, the 12 00:00:42.439 --> 00:00:46.439 one that Missus Laura Lyons of Coombe Tracy had written 13 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:49.240 to Sir Charles Baskerville and made an appointment with him 14 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:51.799 at the very place and hour that he met his death. 15 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:55.799 The other that the lurking man upon the moor was 16 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:59.159 to be found among the stone huts upon the hillside. 17 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:02.119 With the use these two facts in my possession, I 18 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:05.040 felt that either my intelligence or my courage must be 19 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:07.840 deficient if I could not throw some further light upon 20 00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:12.640 these dark places. I had no opportunity to tell the 21 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:15.560 Baronet what I had learned about Missus Lyons. Upon the 22 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:19.120 evening before for doctor Mortimer remained with him at cards 23 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:23.560 until it was very late at breakfast. However, I informed 24 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:26.519 him about my discovery and asked him whether he would 25 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:30.319 care to accompany me to Coombe Tracy. At first he 26 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:33.439 was very eager to come, but on second thoughts, it 27 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:36.079 seemed to both of us that if I went alone, 28 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:40.000 the results might be better. The more formal we made the visit, 29 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:45.000 the less information we might obtain. I left Sir Henry 30 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:49.760 behind therefore, not without some prickings of conscience, and drove 31 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:53.760 off upon my new quest. When I reached Coombe Tracy, 32 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:57.120 I told Perkins to put up the horses, and I 33 00:01:57.159 --> 00:01:59.959 made inquiries for the lady whom I had come to interrogate. 34 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:03.760 I had no difficulty in finding her rooms, which were 35 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:09.039 central and well appointed. A maid showed me in without ceremony, 36 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:12.199 and as I entered the sitting room, a lady who 37 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:15.639 was sitting before a Remington typewriter sprang up with a 38 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:19.879 pleasant smile of welcome. Her face fell, however, when she 39 00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:22.639 saw that I was a stranger, and she sat down 40 00:02:22.680 --> 00:02:26.120 again and asked me the object of my visit. The 41 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:30.199 first impression left by missus Lyons was one of extreme beauty. 42 00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:34.120 Her eyes and hair were of the same rich hazel color, 43 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:38.400 and her cheeks, though considerably freckled, were flushed with the 44 00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:42.360 exquisite bloom of the brunette. The dainty pink which lurks 45 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:46.719 at the heart of the sulf arose admiration was I 46 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:51.840 repeat the first impression, but the second was criticism. There 47 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:56.039 was something subtly wrong with the face, some coarseness of expression, 48 00:02:56.680 --> 00:03:01.199 some hardness perhaps of eye, some looseness of lip, which 49 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:05.120 marred its perfect beauty. But these, of course are after thoughts. 50 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:08.240 At the moment, I was simply conscious that I was 51 00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:11.000 in the presence of a very handsome woman, and that 52 00:03:11.080 --> 00:03:14.280 she was asking me the reasons for my visit. I 53 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:17.759 had not quite understood until that instant how delicate my 54 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:23.280 mission was. I have the pleasure, said I of knowing 55 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:27.400 your father. It was a clumsy introduction, and the lady 56 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:31.560 made me feel it. There is nothing in common between 57 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:34.960 my father and me, she said, I owe him nothing, 58 00:03:35.479 --> 00:03:38.039 and his friends are not mine. If it were not 59 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:41.439 for the late Sir Charles Baskerville and some other kind hearts. 60 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:44.039 I might have starved for all that my father cared. 61 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:47.599 It was about the late Sir Charles Baskerville that I 62 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:51.039 have come here to see you. The freckles started out 63 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:54.479 on the lady's face. What can I tell you about him? 64 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:58.319 She asked, and her fingers played nervously over the stops 65 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:02.919 of her typewriter. You knew him, did you not? I 66 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:05.159 have already said that I owe a great deal to 67 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:08.759 his kindness. If I am able to support myself, it 68 00:04:08.840 --> 00:04:11.039 is largely due to the interest which he took in 69 00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:16.639 my unhappy situation. Did you correspond with him? The lady 70 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:19.839 looked quickly up with an angry gleam in her hazel eyes. 71 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:24.279 What is the object of these questions, she asked sharply. 72 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:28.480 The object is to avoid a public scandal. It is 73 00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:30.959 better that I should ask them here than that the 74 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:35.480 matter should pass outside our control. She was silent, and 75 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:39.079 her face was still very pale. At last, she looked 76 00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:43.040 up with something reckless and defiant in her manner. Well, 77 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:48.120 I'll answer, she said. What are your questions? Did you 78 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:52.000 correspond with Sir Charles? I certainly wrote to him once 79 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:56.560 or twice to acknowledge his delicacy and his generosity. Have 80 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.519 you the dates of these letters? No? Have you ever 81 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:05.199 met him? Yes, once or twice when he came into combtracy. 82 00:05:05.959 --> 00:05:08.600 He was a very retiring man, and he preferred to 83 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:12.079 do good by stealth. But if you saw him so 84 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:15.399 seldom and wrote so seldom, how did he know enough 85 00:05:15.399 --> 00:05:18.160 about your affairs to be able to help you as 86 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:21.560 you say that he has done. She met my difficulty 87 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:25.639 with the utmost readiness. There were several gentlemen who knew 88 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:29.480 my sad history and united to help me. One was 89 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:33.160 mister Stapleton, a neighbor and intimate friend of Sir Charles's. 90 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:36.839 He was exceedingly kind, and it was through him that 91 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:41.000 Sir Charles learned about my affairs. I knew already that 92 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:45.160 Sir Charles Baskerville had made Stapleton his almoner upon several occasions, 93 00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:48.680 so the lady's statement bore the impress of truth upon it. 94 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:52.560 Did you ever write to Sir Charles asking him to 95 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:58.519 meet you? I continued Missus Lyons, flushed with anger. Again, Really, sir, 96 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:02.759 this is very extra ordinary question. I am sorry, madam, 97 00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:08.240 but I must repeat it. Then I answer certainly not not. 98 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:11.879 On the very day of Sir Charles's death, the flush 99 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:15.120 had faded in an instant, and a deathly face was 100 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:18.319 before me. Her dry lips could not speak the no 101 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:23.480 which I saw rather than heard. Surely your memory deceives, 102 00:06:23.480 --> 00:06:26.639 you said I. I could even quote a passage of 103 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:30.759 your letter. It ran. Please, please, as you are a gentleman, 104 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:34.160 burn this letter and be at the gate by ten o'clock. 105 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:38.959 I thought that she had fainted, but she recovered herself 106 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:42.800 by a supreme effort. Is there no such thing as 107 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:47.399 a gentleman? She gasped, You do, Sir Charles an injustice. 108 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:51.240 He did burn the letter, but sometimes a letter may 109 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:54.879 be legible even when burned. You acknowledge now that you 110 00:06:54.959 --> 00:07:00.439 wrote it? Yes, I did write it, she cried, pouring 111 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:03.920 out her soul in a torrent of words. I did 112 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:06.720 write it. Why should I deny it? I have no 113 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:09.199 reason to be ashamed of it. I wished him to 114 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:12.120 help me. I believe that if I had an interview, 115 00:07:12.279 --> 00:07:14.800 I could gain his help. So I asked him to 116 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:19.839 meet me. But why at such an hour? Because I 117 00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:22.319 had only just learned that he was going to London 118 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:25.759 next day and might be away for months. There were 119 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:29.240 reasons why I could not get there earlier. But why 120 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:31.480 a rendezvous in the garden instead of a visit to 121 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:35.439 the house. Do you think a woman could go alone 122 00:07:35.480 --> 00:07:39.439 at that hour to a bachelor's house. Well, what happened 123 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:45.079 when you did get there? I never went, Missus Lyons, No, 124 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:48.399 I swear it to you, on all I hold sacred. 125 00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:53.439 I never went. Something intervened to prevent me going. What 126 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:57.959 was that? That is a private matter. I cannot tell it. 127 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:01.560 You acknowledged then that you made an appointment with Sir 128 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:04.160 Charles at the very hour and place at which he 129 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:07.639 met his death. But you deny that you kept the appointment. 130 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:12.879 That is the truth. Again and again I cross questioned her, 131 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:17.360 but I could never get past that point, Missus Lyons, 132 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:20.959 said I as I rose from this long and inconclusive interview, 133 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:25.079 you are taking a very great responsibility and putting yourself 134 00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:28.399 in a very false position by not making an absolute 135 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.480 clean breast of all that you know. If I have 136 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:33.879 to call in the aid of the police, you will 137 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:37.879 find how seriously you are compromised. If your position is innocent, 138 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:41.120 why did you, in the first instance deny having written 139 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:44.840 to Sir Charles upon that date, because I feared that 140 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:47.879 some false conclusion might be drawn from it, and that 141 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:51.960 I might find myself involved in a scandal. And why 142 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:54.679 were you so pressing that Sir Charles should destroy your letter? 143 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.879 If you had read the letter, you will know I 144 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:00.879 did not say that I had read all the letter. 145 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:05.919 You quoted some of it. I quoted the PostScript. The 146 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:08.840 letter had, as I said, been burned, and it was 147 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:12.720 not all legible. I ask you once again why it 148 00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:15.399 was that you were so pressing that Sir Charles should 149 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:17.919 destroy this letter, which he received on the day of 150 00:09:17.960 --> 00:09:23.159 his death. The matter is a very private one, the 151 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:27.480 more reason why you should avoid a public investigation. I 152 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:30.200 will tell you then, if you have heard anything of 153 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:33.000 my unhappy history, you will know that I made a 154 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:37.240 rash marriage and had reason to regret it. I have 155 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:41.720 heard so much. My life has been one incessant persecution 156 00:09:42.039 --> 00:09:45.360 from a husband whom I abhor. The law is upon 157 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:48.120 his side, and every day I am faced by the 158 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:51.320 possibility that he may force me to live with him. 159 00:09:51.639 --> 00:09:53.960 At the time that I wrote this letter to Sir Charles, 160 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:56.480 I had learned that there was a prospect of my 161 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:00.840 regaining my freedom if certain expenses could be met. It 162 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:07.320 meant everything to me, peace of mind, happiness, self respect, everything. 163 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:10.799 I knew Sir Charles's generosity, and I thought that if 164 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:13.159 he heard the story from my own lips, he would 165 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:16.159 help me. Then how is it that you did not 166 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:21.639 go because I received help in the interval from another source? 167 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:25.159 Why then did you not write to Sir Charles and 168 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:28.960 explain this so I should have done had I not 169 00:10:29.080 --> 00:10:33.279 seen his death in the paper next morning. The woman's 170 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:37.240 story hung coherently together, and all my questions were unable 171 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:40.240 to shake it. I could only check it by finding 172 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:44.000 if she had indeed instituted divorce proceedings against her husband 173 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:47.879 at or about the time of the tragedy. It was 174 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.039 unlikely that she would dare to say that she had 175 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:52.639 not been to Baskerville Hall. If she really had been, 176 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:55.559 for a trap would be necessary to take her there, 177 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:58.799 and could not have returned to Coombe Tracy until the 178 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:02.759 early hours of the morning. Such an excursion could not 179 00:11:02.840 --> 00:11:06.600 be kept secret. The probability was, therefore that she was 180 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:09.159 telling the truth, or at least a part of the truth. 181 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:14.840 I came away baffled and disheartened. Once again I had 182 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:17.600 reached that dead wall, which seemed to be built across 183 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:19.799 every path by which I tried to get at the 184 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:23.039 object of my mission. And yet the more I thought 185 00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:26.320 of the lady's face and of her manner, the more 186 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:28.759 I felt that something was being held back from me. 187 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:34.159 Why should she turn so pale, Why should she fight 188 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:38.320 against every admission until it was forced from her? Why 189 00:11:38.360 --> 00:11:40.600 should she have been so reticent at the time of 190 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:44.559 the tragedy. Surely the explanation of all this could not 191 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:48.519 be as innocent as she would have me believe. For 192 00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:51.799 the moment, I could proceed no farther in that direction, 193 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:55.960 but must turn back to that other clue, which was 194 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:58.799 to be sought for among the stone huts upon the moor. 195 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:03.519 And that was a most vague direction, I realized it 196 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:06.200 as I drove back, and noted how hill after hill 197 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:11.200 showed traces of the ancient people. Barrymore's only indication had 198 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:14.399 been that the stranger lived in one of those abandoned huts, 199 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:17.519 and many hundreds of them are scattered throughout the length 200 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:20.679 and breadth of the moor. But I had my own 201 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:23.600 experience for a guide, since it had shown me the 202 00:12:23.639 --> 00:12:26.519 man himself standing upon the summit of the Black tor, 203 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:31.200 that then should be the center of my search. From 204 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:34.080 there I should explore every hut upon the moor until 205 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:37.039 I lighted upon the right one. If this man were 206 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:39.679 inside it, I should find out from his own lips 207 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:43.720 at the point of my revolver, if necessary, who he was, 208 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:47.039 and why he had dogged us so long. He might 209 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:49.320 slip away from us in the crowd of Regent Street, 210 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:51.759 but it would puzzle him to do so upon the 211 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:56.240 lonely moor. On the other hand, if I should find 212 00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:58.759 the hut and its tenants should not be within it, 213 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:03.240 I must remain there, however long the vigil until he returned. 214 00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:07.360 Holmes had missed him in London. It would indeed be 215 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:09.799 a triumph for me if I could run him to 216 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:13.919 Earth where my master had failed. Luck had been against 217 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:16.919 us again and again in this inquiry, but now at 218 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.759 last it came to my aid, and the messenger of 219 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:23.080 good fortune was none other than mister Frankland, who was 220 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:26.480 standing gray, whiskered and red faced outside the gate of 221 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:29.360 his garden, which opened on to the high road along 222 00:13:29.399 --> 00:13:34.240 which I traveled. Good day, doctor Watson, cried he with 223 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:37.799 unwonted good humor. You must really give your horses a 224 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:40.120 rest and come in to have a glass of wine 225 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:44.080 and to congratulate me. My feelings towards him were very 226 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:46.720 far from being friendly, after what I had heard of 227 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:49.879 his treatment of his daughter. But I was anxious to 228 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:53.480 send Perkins and the wagonette home, and the opportunity was 229 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:56.759 a good one. I alighted and sent a message to 230 00:13:56.799 --> 00:13:59.799 Sir Henry that I should walk over in time for dinner. 231 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:04.320 Then I followed Franklin into his dining room. It is 232 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:06.879 a great day for me, sir, one of the red 233 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:10.120 letter days of my life, he cried, with many chuckles. 234 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:13.559 I've brought off a double event. I mean to teach 235 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:16.200 them in these parts that law is law, and that 236 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:18.360 there is a man here who does not fear to 237 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:21.480 invoke it. I have established a right of way through 238 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:25.600 the center of Old Middleton's Park, slap across it, sir, 239 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:28.440 within a hundred yards of his own front door. What 240 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:31.480 do you think of that? We'll teach these magnates that 241 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:34.200 they cannot ride roughshod over the rights of the commoners 242 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:37.279 can found them. And I have closed the wood where 243 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:41.360 the Fernworthy folk used to picnic. These infernal people seem 244 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:43.799 to think that there are no rights of property, and 245 00:14:43.879 --> 00:14:46.600 that they can swarm where they like with their papers 246 00:14:46.600 --> 00:14:50.919 and their bottles. Both cases decided Doctor Watson, and both 247 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:53.720 in my favor. I haven't had such a day since 248 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:56.600 side Sir John Morland for trespass because he's shut in 249 00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:59.639 his own warren. How on earth did you do that? 250 00:15:00.759 --> 00:15:03.519 Look it up in the book, sir. It'll repay reading 251 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:08.240 Franklin versus Morland, Court of Queen's Bench. It cost me 252 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:12.360 two hundred pounds, but I got my verdict. Did it 253 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:16.919 do you any good? None, sir none. I am proud 254 00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:18.759 to say that I have no interest in the matter. 255 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:22.759 I act entirely from a sense of public duty. I 256 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:25.720 have no doubt, for example, that the firm worthy people 257 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:28.600 will burn me in effigy to night. I told the 258 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:31.320 police last time they did it that they should stop 259 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:36.600 these disgraceful exhibitions. The County Constabulary is in a scandalous state, sir, 260 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:39.600 and it has not afforded me the protection to which 261 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:44.279 I am entitled. The case of Franklin versus Forragina will 262 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:47.399 bring the matter before the attention of the public. I 263 00:15:47.559 --> 00:15:49.840 told them that they would have occasion to regret their 264 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:54.039 treatment of me, And already my words have come true. 265 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:57.879 How so, I asked the old man, put on a 266 00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:01.480 very knowing expression, because I could tell them what they 267 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:04.559 are dying to know. But nothing could induce me to 268 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:08.440 help the rascals in any way. I had been casting 269 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:10.919 around for some excuse by which I could get away 270 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:13.879 from his gossip. But now I began to wish to 271 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:17.159 hear more of it. I'd seen enough of the contrary 272 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:20.360 nature of the old sinner to understand that any strong 273 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:23.320 sign of interest would be the surest way to stop 274 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:28.320 his confidences. Some poaching case, no doubt, said I, with 275 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:32.600 an indifferent manner. Aha, my boy, A very much more 276 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:35.919 important matter than that. What about the convict on the moor, 277 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:40.600 I stared, You don't mean that you know where he is? 278 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:44.360 Said I. I may not know exactly where he is, 279 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:46.879 but I'm quite certain that I could help the police 280 00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:49.480 to lay their hands on him. As it never struck 281 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:52.360 you that the wader catch that man was to find 282 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:54.759 out where he got his food and so trace it 283 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:58.559 to him. He certainly seemed to be getting uncomfortably near 284 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:02.919 the truth, no doubt, said I, But how do you 285 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:06.079 know that he is anywhere? Upon the moor. I know 286 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:09.079 it because I've seen with my own eyes the messenger 287 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:13.119 who takes him his food. My heart sank for Barrymore. 288 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:15.839 It was a serious thing to be in the power 289 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:19.680 of this spiteful, old, busybody. But his next remark took 290 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:23.440 a weight from my mind. You'll be surprised to hear 291 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:25.799 that his food is taken to him by a child. 292 00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:29.200 I see him every day through my telescope upon the roof. 293 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.359 He passes along the same path at the same hour. 294 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:36.079 And to whom should he be going except to the convict. 295 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:40.599 Here was luck, indeed, and yet I suppressed all appearance 296 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:45.480 of interest a child. Barrymore had said that our unknown 297 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:49.079 was supplied by a boy. It was on his track, 298 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:53.480 and not upon the convicts that Franklin had stumbled. If 299 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:56.000 I could get his knowledge, it might save me a 300 00:17:56.079 --> 00:18:00.799 long and weary hunt. But incredulity and indifferent were evidently 301 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:04.720 my strongest cards. I should say that it was much 302 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:06.559 more likely that it was the son of one of 303 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:10.960 the Moorland shepherds taking out his father's dinner. The least 304 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:14.640 appearance of opposition struck fire out of the old autocrat. 305 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:19.039 His eyes looked malignantly at me, and his gray whiskers 306 00:18:19.079 --> 00:18:23.559 bristled like those of an angry cat. Indeed, Sir, said he, 307 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:27.240 pointing out over the wide, stretching moor, Do you see 308 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:31.279 that black tour over yonder well? Do you see the 309 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:34.200 low hill beyond with the thorn bush upon it? It 310 00:18:34.279 --> 00:18:37.039 is the stoniest part of the whole moor? Is that 311 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:39.119 a place where a shepherd would be likely to take 312 00:18:39.160 --> 00:18:43.319 his station? Your suggestion, Sir, is a most absurd one. 313 00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:46.640 I meekly answered that I had spoken without knowing all 314 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:50.160 the facts. My submission pleased him and led him to 315 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:54.200 further confidences. You may be sure, sir, that I have 316 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:58.000 very good grounds before I came to an opinion. I 317 00:18:58.039 --> 00:19:00.480 have seen the boy again and again with his bundle 318 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:05.160 every day, and sometimes twice a day. I've been able 319 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.759 but white a moment, Doctor Watson. Do my eyes deceive me? 320 00:19:09.319 --> 00:19:11.640 Or is there at present moment something moving upon that 321 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:15.319 ill side? It was several miles off, but I could 322 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:18.480 distinctly see a small dark dot against the dull green 323 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:24.799 and gray. Come, sir, come, cried Franklin, rushing upstairs. You 324 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:27.519 will see with your own eyes and judge for yourself 325 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:33.839 the telescope, a formidable instrument mounted upon a tripod, stood 326 00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:37.599 upon the flat leads of the house. Franklin clapped his 327 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:41.440 eye to it and gave a cry of satisfaction. Quick, 328 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:45.960 doctor Watson, Quick before he passes over the ill. There 329 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.359 he was, sure enough, a small urchin with a little 330 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:54.839 bundle upon his shoulder, toiling slowly up the hill. When 331 00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:58.039 he reached the crest, I saw the ragged, uncouth figure 332 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:00.799 outlined for an instant against the cold, old blue sky. 333 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:04.240 He looked round him with a furtive and stealthy air, 334 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:09.279 as one who dreads pursuit. Then he vanished over the hill. Well, 335 00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:13.119 am I right, certainly there is a boy who seems 336 00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:17.039 to have some secret errand. And what that errand is 337 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:21.200 even a county constable could guess. But not one word 338 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:24.279 shall they have from me? And I bind you to secrecy, also, 339 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:29.200 doctor Watson, not a word, you understand, just as you wish. 340 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:33.960 They have treated me shamefully, shamefully when the facts come 341 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:37.000 out in Franklin versus Regina, I venture to think that 342 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:40.519 a thrill of indignation will run through the country. Nothing 343 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:42.640 would induce me to help the police in any way. 344 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:45.799 For all they cared it might have been me instead 345 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:48.759 of my effigy, which these rascals burned at the stake. 346 00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:52.599 Surely you are not going. You will help me to 347 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:56.480 empty the decanter in honor of this great occasion. But 348 00:20:56.559 --> 00:21:00.359 I resisted all his solicitations and succeeded in dis wading 349 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:03.480 him from his announced intention of walking home with me. 350 00:21:04.839 --> 00:21:06.759 I kept the road as long as his eye was 351 00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:09.720 on me, and then I struck off across the moor 352 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:12.640 and made for the stony hill over which the boy 353 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:17.079 had disappeared. Everything was working in my favor, and I 354 00:21:17.160 --> 00:21:19.359 swore that it should not be through lack of energy 355 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:22.720 or perseverance, that I should miss the chance which fortune 356 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:26.440 had thrown in my way. The sun was already sinking 357 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:28.880 when I reached the summit of the hill, and the 358 00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:31.559 long slopes beneath me were all gold and green on 359 00:21:31.559 --> 00:21:35.680 one side, and gray shadow on the other. A haze 360 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:38.720 lay low upon the farthest sky line, out of which 361 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:43.559 jutted the fantastic shapes of Belliver and Vixen tor over 362 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:47.039 the wide expanse. There was no sound and no movement. 363 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:52.359 One great gray bird, a gull or curlew, soared aloft 364 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:55.160 in the blue heaven. He and I seemed to be 365 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:57.920 the only living things between the huge arch of the 366 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:02.480 sky and the desert beneath it. The barren scene, the 367 00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:05.640 sense of loneliness, and the mystery and urgency of my 368 00:22:05.799 --> 00:22:10.279 task all struck a chill into my heart. The boy 369 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:13.119 was nowhere to be seen, but down beneath me, in 370 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:15.559 a cleft of the hills, there was a circle of 371 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:18.599 the old stone huts, and in the middle of them 372 00:22:18.920 --> 00:22:21.920 there was one which retained sufficient roof to act as 373 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:25.920 a screen against the weather. My heart leaped within me 374 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:28.799 as I saw it. This must be the burrow where 375 00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:32.119 the stranger lurked. At last, my foot was on the 376 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:37.920 threshold of his hiding place. His secret was within my grasp. 377 00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:42.000 As I approached the hut, walking as warily as Stapleton 378 00:22:42.039 --> 00:22:44.640 would do when with poised net he drew near the 379 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:49.119 settled butterfly, I satisfied myself that the place had indeed 380 00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:53.119 been used as a habitation. A vague pathway among the 381 00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:56.359 boulders led to the dilapidated opening which served as a door. 382 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:01.440 All was silent within. The known might be lurking there, 383 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:05.000 or he might be prowling on the moor, my nerves 384 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:09.119 tingled with the sense of adventure. Throwing aside my cigarette, 385 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:11.599 I closed my hand upon the butt of my revolver, 386 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:15.160 and walking swiftly up to the door, I looked in. 387 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:19.720 The place was empty, but there were ample signs that 388 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:22.759 I had not come upon a false scent. This was 389 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:26.319 certainly where the man lived. Some blankets, rolled in a 390 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:29.799 waterproof lay upon the very stone slab upon which neolithic 391 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:33.519 man had once slumbered. The ashes of a fire were 392 00:23:33.559 --> 00:23:37.200 heaped in a rude grate. Beside it lay some cooking 393 00:23:37.319 --> 00:23:41.400 utensils and a bucket half full of water. A litter 394 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:44.319 of empty tins showed that the place had been occupied 395 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:47.359 for some time, and I saw, as my eyes became 396 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:51.079 accustomed to the checkered light, a pannikin and a half 397 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:54.759 full bottle of spirits standing in the corner. In the 398 00:23:54.759 --> 00:23:57.880 middle of the hut, a flat stone served the purpose 399 00:23:57.880 --> 00:24:02.000 of a table, and upon this stood a small cloth bundle, 400 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:05.039 the same, no doubt, which I had seen through the 401 00:24:05.079 --> 00:24:08.759