Speaker 1: Chapter ten, extract from the Diary of Doctor Watson. So
Speaker 1: far I have been able to quote from the reports
Speaker 1: which I have forwarded during these early days to Sherlock Holmes. Now, however,
Speaker 1: I have arrived at a point in my narrative where
Speaker 1: I am compelled to abandon this method and to trust
Speaker 1: once more to my recollections, aided by the diary which
Speaker 1: I kept at the time. A few extracts from the
Speaker 1: latter will carry me on to those scenes which are
Speaker 1: indelibly fixed in every detail upon my memory. I proceed
Speaker 1: then from the morning which followed our abortive chase of
Speaker 1: the convict, and our other strange experiences upon the moor.
Speaker 1: October sixteenth, a dull and foggy day with a drizzle
Speaker 1: of rain. The house is banked in with rolling clouds,
Speaker 1: which rise now and then to show the dreary curves
Speaker 1: of the moor, with thin silver veins. Upon the sides
Speaker 1: of the hills, the distant boulders gleaming where the light
Speaker 1: strikes upon their wet faces. It is melancholy outside and
Speaker 1: in the baronet is in a black reaction. After the
Speaker 1: excitements of the night, I am conscious myself of a
Speaker 1: weight at my heart, and a feeling of impending danger,
Speaker 1: of a present danger which is the more terrible because
Speaker 1: I am unable to define it, and have I not
Speaker 1: caused for such a feeling. Consider the long sequence of
Speaker 1: incidents which have all pointed to some sinister influence which
Speaker 1: is at work around us. There is the death of
Speaker 1: the last occupant of the hall fulfilling so exactly the
Speaker 1: conditions of the family legend. There are the repeated reports
Speaker 1: from peasants of the appearance of a strange creature upon
Speaker 1: the moor. Twice I have with my own ears heard
Speaker 1: the sound which resembled the distant baying of a hound.
Speaker 1: It is incredible, impossible that it should really be outside
Speaker 1: the ordinary laws of nature. A spectral hound, which leaves
Speaker 1: material footmarks and fills the air with its howling, is
Speaker 1: surely not to be thought of. Stapleton may fall in
Speaker 1: with such a superstition, and Mortimer also. But if I
Speaker 1: have one quality upon Earth, it is common sense, and
Speaker 1: nothing will persuade me to believe in such a thing.
Speaker 1: To do so would be to dissent to the level
Speaker 1: of these poor peasants, who are not content with the
Speaker 1: mere fiend dog, but must needs describe him with hell
Speaker 1: fire shooting from his mouth and eyes. Holmes would not
Speaker 1: listen to such fancies, and I am his agent. But
Speaker 1: facts are facts, and I have twice heard this cry
Speaker 1: upon the More. Suppose that there were really some huge
Speaker 1: hound loose upon it, that would go far to explain everything.
Speaker 1: But where could such a hound lie concealed? Where did
Speaker 1: it get its food? Where did it come from? How
Speaker 1: was it that no one saw it by day? It
Speaker 1: must be confessed that the natural explanation offers almost as
Speaker 1: many difficulties as the other. And always apart from the hound,
Speaker 1: there is the fact of the human agency in London,
Speaker 1: the man in the cab, and the letter which warned
Speaker 1: Sir Henry against the More. This at least was real,
Speaker 1: But it might have been the work of a protecting
Speaker 1: friend as easily as of an enemy. Where is that
Speaker 1: friend or enemy? Now? Has he remained in London? Or
Speaker 1: has he followed us down here? Could he? Could he
Speaker 1: be the stranger whom I saw upon the tour? It
Speaker 1: is true that I have had only the one glance
Speaker 1: at him, and yet there are some things to which
Speaker 1: I am ready to swear. He is no one whom
Speaker 1: I have seen down here, and I have now met
Speaker 1: all the neighbors. The figure was far taller than that
Speaker 1: of Stapleton, far thinner than that of Franklin barry More.
Speaker 1: It might possibly have been, but we had left him
Speaker 1: behind us, and I'm certain that he could not have
Speaker 1: followed us. A stranger, then is still dogging us, just
Speaker 1: as a stranger dogged us in London. We have never
Speaker 1: shaken him off. If I could lay my hands upon
Speaker 1: that man, then at last we might find ourselves at
Speaker 1: the end of all our difficulties. To this one purpose.
Speaker 1: I must now devote all my energies. My first impulse
Speaker 1: was to tell Sir Henry all my plans. My second
Speaker 1: and wisest one is to play my own game and
Speaker 1: speak as little as possible to anyone. He is silent
Speaker 1: and distray. His nerves have been strangely shaken by that
Speaker 1: sound upon them, Moor. I will say nothing to add
Speaker 1: to his anxieties, but I will take my own steps
Speaker 1: to attain my own end. We had a small scene
Speaker 1: this morning. After breakfast. Barrymore asked leave to speak with
Speaker 1: Sir Henry, and they were closeted in his study some
Speaker 1: little time, sitting in the billiard room. I more than
Speaker 1: once heard the sound of voices raised, and I had
Speaker 1: a pretty good idea what the point was, which was
Speaker 1: under discussion. After a time, the baronet opened his door
Speaker 1: and called for me. Barrymore considers that he has a grievance.
Speaker 1: He said. He thinks that it was unfair on our
Speaker 1: part to hunt his brother in law down when he,
Speaker 1: of his own free will, had told us the secret.
Speaker 1: The butler, standing very pale but collected before us. I
Speaker 1: may have spoken too warmly, sir, said he, And if
Speaker 1: I have, I am sure that I beg your pardon.
Speaker 1: At the same time, I was very much surprised when
Speaker 1: I heard you two gentlemen come back this morning and
Speaker 1: learned that you had been chasing Selden. The poor fellow
Speaker 1: has enough to fight against without my putting more upon
Speaker 1: his track. If you had told us, if your own
Speaker 1: free will, it would have been a different thing, said
Speaker 1: the baronet. You only told us, or rather your wife
Speaker 1: only told us, when it was forced from you and
Speaker 1: you could not help yourself. I didn't think you would
Speaker 1: have taken advantage of it, Sir Henry. Indeed I didn't.
Speaker 1: The man is a public danger. There are lonely houses
Speaker 1: scattered over the moor, and he is a fellow who
Speaker 1: would stick at nothing. You only want to get a
Speaker 1: glimpse of his face to see that. Look at mister
Speaker 1: Stapleton's house, for example, with no one but himself to
Speaker 1: defend it. There's no safety for anyone until he is
Speaker 1: under lock and key. He'll break into no house, Sir.
Speaker 1: I give you my solemn word upon that. But he
Speaker 1: will never trouble anyone in this country again, I assure you, sir,
Speaker 1: Henry there in a very few days, the necessary arrangements
Speaker 1: will have been made and he will be on his
Speaker 1: way to South America. For God's sake, Sir, I beg
Speaker 1: of you not to let the police know that he's
Speaker 1: still on the moor. They have given up the chase
Speaker 1: there and he can lie quiet until the ship is
Speaker 1: ready for him. You can't tell on him without getting
Speaker 1: my wife and me into trouble. I beg you, sir,
Speaker 1: to say nothing to the police. What do you say, Watson?
Speaker 1: I shrugged my shoulders. If he were safely out of
Speaker 1: the country, it would relieve the taxpayer of a burden.
Speaker 1: But how bad the chance of his holding someone up
Speaker 1: before he goes, he would not do anything, so mad Sir.
Speaker 1: We have provided him with all that he can want
Speaker 1: to commit. A crime would be to show where he
Speaker 1: was hiding, That is true, said Sir Henry. Well, Barrymore,
Speaker 1: God bless you, sir, and thank you from my heart.
Speaker 1: It would have killed my poor wife had he been
Speaker 1: taken again. I guess we are aiding in the bedding
Speaker 1: of Felony Watson. But after what we have heard, I
Speaker 1: don't feel as if I could give the man up.
Speaker 1: So there is an end of it, all right, Barrymore,
Speaker 1: you can go with a few broken words of gratitude.
Speaker 1: The man turned, but he hesitated and then came back.
Speaker 1: You've been so kind of us, Sir, that I should
Speaker 1: like to do the best I can for you in return.
Speaker 1: I know something, Sir Henry, and perhaps I should have
Speaker 1: said it before, but it was long after the inquest
Speaker 1: that I've found it out. I've never breathed a word
Speaker 1: about it yet a mortal man. It's about or Sir
Speaker 1: Charles's death. The baronet and I were both upon our feet.
Speaker 1: Do you know how he died? No, Sir, I don't
Speaker 1: know that. What then I know why he was at
Speaker 1: the gate at that hour that was to me woman
Speaker 1: to meet a woman. He yes, sir, and the woman's name.
Speaker 1: I can't give you the name, sir, but I can
Speaker 1: give you the initials. Her initials were l L. How
Speaker 1: do you know this Barrymore? Well, sir, Henry, your uncle
Speaker 1: had a letter that morning. He had usually a great
Speaker 1: many letters, for he was a public man and well
Speaker 1: known for his kind heart, so that everyone who was
Speaker 1: in trouble was glad to turn to him. But that morning,
Speaker 1: as it chanced, there was only this one letter, so
Speaker 1: I took the more notice of it. It was from
Speaker 1: Coombe Tracy, and it was addressed in a woman's hand.
Speaker 1: Well well, sir, I thought no more of the matter,
Speaker 1: and never would have done had it not been for
Speaker 1: my wife. Only a few weeks ago, she was cleaning
Speaker 1: out Sir Charles's study. It had never been touched since
Speaker 1: his death, and she found the ashes of a burned
Speaker 1: letter in the back of the grate. The greater part
Speaker 1: of it was chaed to pieces, but one little slip
Speaker 1: the end of a page hung together, and the writing
Speaker 1: could still be read. Though it was gray on a
Speaker 1: black ground. It seemed to us to be a PostScript
Speaker 1: at the end of the letter, and it said, please, please,
Speaker 1: as you are gentleman, burn this letter and be at
Speaker 1: the gate by ten o'clock. Beneath it were as signed
Speaker 1: the initials l L. Have you got that slip? No, Sir,
Speaker 1: it crumbled old to bits after we moved it. Had
Speaker 1: Sir Charles received any other letters in the same writing, Well, Sir,
Speaker 1: I took no particular notice of his letters. I should
Speaker 1: not have noticed this one. Only it happened to come alone.
Speaker 1: And you have no idea who l L is, No, Sir,
Speaker 1: no more than you have. But I expect if we
Speaker 1: could lay our hands upon that lady, we should know
Speaker 1: more about Sir Charles's death. I cannot understand, barrymore, how
Speaker 1: you came to conceal this important information, while Sir, it
Speaker 1: was immediately after that our own trouble came to us.
Speaker 1: And then again, Sir, we were both of us very
Speaker 1: fond of Sir Charles, as we well might be, considering
Speaker 1: all that he has done for us. To rake this
Speaker 1: up couldn't help our poor master. And it's well to
Speaker 1: go carefully when there's a lady in the case. Even
Speaker 1: the best of us, you thought it might injure his reputation. Well, Sir,
Speaker 1: I thought no good could come of it, but now
Speaker 1: you've been kind to us, and I feel as if
Speaker 1: it would be treating you unfairly not to tell you
Speaker 1: all that I know about the matter. Very good, barrymore,
Speaker 1: you can go. When the butler had left us, Sir
Speaker 1: Henry turned to me, Well, Watson, what do you think
Speaker 1: of this new light? It seems to leave the darkness
Speaker 1: rather blacker than before, so I think. But if we
Speaker 1: can only trace LLL, it should clear up the whole business.
Speaker 1: We have gained that much. We know that there is
Speaker 1: someone who has the facts, if we can only find her.
Speaker 1: What do you think we should do? Let Holmes know
Speaker 1: all about it at once. It will give him the
Speaker 1: clue for which he has been seeking. I'm much mistaken,
Speaker 1: and if it does not bring him down. I went
Speaker 1: at once to my room and drew up my report
Speaker 1: of the morning's conversation for Holmes. It was evident to
Speaker 1: me that he had been very busy of late. For
Speaker 1: the notes which I had from Baker Street to a
Speaker 1: few and short, with no comments upon the information which
Speaker 1: I had supplied, and hardly any reference to my mission.
Speaker 1: No doubt his blackmailing case is absorbing all his faculties.
Speaker 1: And yet this new factor must surely arrest his attention
Speaker 1: and renew his interest. I wish that he were here.
Speaker 1: October seventeenth, All day to day, the rain poured down,
Speaker 1: rustling on the ivy and dripping from the eaves. I
Speaker 1: thought of the convict out upon the bleak, cold shelterless more,
Speaker 1: poor devil, whatever his crimes, he has suffered something to
Speaker 1: atone for them. And then I thought of that other one,
Speaker 1: the face in the cab, the figure against the moon.
Speaker 1: Was he also out in that luged the unseen Watcher,
Speaker 1: the man of darkness. In the evening, I put on
Speaker 1: my waterproof and I walked far upon the sodden moor,
Speaker 1: full of dark imaginings, the rain beating upon my face,
Speaker 1: and the wind whistling about my ears. God help those
Speaker 1: who wander into the great mire now, for even the
Speaker 1: firm uplands are becoming a morass. I found the black
Speaker 1: tor upon which I had seen the solitary Watcher, and
Speaker 1: from its craggy summit I looked out myself across the
Speaker 1: melancholy downs. Rain squalls drifted across their russet face and
Speaker 1: the heavy slate colored clouds hung low over the landscape,
Speaker 1: trailing in gray wreaths down the sides of the fantastic hills.
Speaker 1: In the distant hollow on the left, half hidden by
Speaker 1: the mist, the two thin towers of Baskerville Hall rose
Speaker 1: above the trees. They were the only signs of human
Speaker 1: life which I could see, save only those prehistoric huts
Speaker 1: which lay thickly upon the slopes of the hills. Nowhere
Speaker 1: was there any trace of that lonely man whom I
Speaker 1: had seen on the same spot two nights before. As
Speaker 1: I walked back, I was overtaken by Doctor Mortimer, driving
Speaker 1: in his dog cart over a rough moorland track which
Speaker 1: led from the outlying farm house of fowl Mere. He
Speaker 1: has been very attentive to us, and hardly a dairs
Speaker 1: passed that he has not called at the hall to
Speaker 1: see how we were getting on. He insisted upon my
Speaker 1: climbing into his dog cart, and he gave me a
Speaker 1: lift homeward. I found him much troubled over the disappearance
Speaker 1: of his little spaniel. It had wandered on to the
Speaker 1: moor and had never come back. I gave him such
Speaker 1: consolation as I might. But I thought of the pony
Speaker 1: on the grimp and mire, and I do not fancy
Speaker 1: that he will see his little dog again. By the way,
Speaker 1: Mortimer said, I as jolted along the rough road. I
Speaker 1: suppose there are a few people living within driving distance
Speaker 1: of this whom you do not know hardly any I think.
Speaker 1: Can you then tell me the name of any woman
Speaker 1: whose initials are l L? He thought for a few moments, No,
Speaker 1: said he. There are a few gypsies and laboring folk
Speaker 1: for whom I can't answer. But among the farmers or gentry,
Speaker 1: there is no one whose initials are those. Wait a bit, though,
Speaker 1: he added, after a pause, there is Laura Lyons. Her
Speaker 1: initials are l L, but she lives in Coombe. Tracy.
Speaker 1: Who is she? I asked? She is Franklin's daughter. What
Speaker 1: old Franklin the crank? Exactly? She married an artist named
Speaker 1: Lions who came sketching on them more he proved to
Speaker 1: be a blackguard and a desertedor The fault, from what
Speaker 1: I hear, may not have been entirely on one side.
Speaker 1: Her father refused to have anything to do with her
Speaker 1: because she had married without his consent, and perhaps for
Speaker 1: one or two other reasons as well. So between the
Speaker 1: old sinner and the young one, the girl has had
Speaker 1: a pretty bad time. How does she live? I fancy
Speaker 1: Eld Franklin allows her a pittance, but it cannot be more,
Speaker 1: for his own affairs are considerably involved. Whatever she may
Speaker 1: have deserved, one could not allow her to go hopelessly
Speaker 1: to the bad Her story got about, and several of
Speaker 1: the people here did something to enable her to earn
Speaker 1: an honest living. Stapleton did for one, and Sir Charles
Speaker 1: for another. I gave a trifle myself. It was to
Speaker 1: set her up in a typewriting business. He wanted to
Speaker 1: know the object of my inquiries, but I managed to
Speaker 1: satisfy his curiosity without telling him too much. For there
Speaker 1: is no reason why we should take anyone into our confidence.
Speaker 1: Tomorrow I shall find my way to coomb Tracy. And
Speaker 1: if I can see this, missus Laura Lyons of equivocal reputation,
Speaker 1: a long step will have been made towards clearing one
Speaker 1: incident in this chain of mysteries. I'm certainly developing the
Speaker 1: wisdom of the serpent. For when Mortimer pressed his questions
Speaker 1: to an inconvenient extent. I asked him casually to what
Speaker 1: type Franklin's skull belonged, and so heard nothing but craniology
Speaker 1: for the rest of our drive. I've not lived for
Speaker 1: years with Sherlock Holmes for nothing. I have only one
Speaker 1: other incident to record upon this tempestuous and melancholy day.
Speaker 1: This was my conversation with Barrymore just now, which gives
Speaker 1: me one more strong card, which I can play in
Speaker 1: due time. Mortimer had stayed to dinner, and he and
Speaker 1: the baronet played a cart Afterwards. The butler brought me
Speaker 1: my coffee into the library, and I took the chance
Speaker 1: to ask him a few questions. Well said, I, has
Speaker 1: this precious relation of yours departed? Or is he still
Speaker 1: lurking out yonder? I don't know her. I hope to
Speaker 1: Heaven that he is gone, for he has brought nothing
Speaker 1: but trouble here. I've not heard of him since I
Speaker 1: left out food for him last, and that was three
Speaker 1: days ago. Did you see him then, no, sir, But
Speaker 1: the food was gone When next I went that way,
Speaker 1: then he was certainly there, so you would think, sir,
Speaker 1: unless it was the other man who took it. I
Speaker 1: sat with my coffee cup halfway to my lips, and
Speaker 1: stared at Barrymore. You know that there is another man? Then, yes, sir,
Speaker 1: there is another man upon the moor. Have you seen him? No, sir,
Speaker 1: how do you know of him? Then? Selden told me
Speaker 1: of him, Sir, a week ago or more. He's in
Speaker 1: hiding too, but he's not a convict, as far as
Speaker 1: I can make out, I don't like it, Doctor Watson.
Speaker 1: I tell you straight, sir, that I don't like it.
Speaker 1: He spoke, with a sudden passion of earnestness. Now listen
Speaker 1: to me, Barrymore. I have no interest in this matter
Speaker 1: but that of your master. I've come here with no
Speaker 1: object except to help him. Tell me, frankly, what it
Speaker 1: is that you don't like. Barrymore hesitated for a moment,
Speaker 1: as if he regretted his outburst or found it difficult
Speaker 1: to express his own feelings in words. As all these
Speaker 1: goings answer, he cried at last, waving his hand towards
Speaker 1: the rain lashed window which faced the More. There's foul
Speaker 1: play somewhere, and there's black villainy brewing to that. I'll
Speaker 1: swear very glad I should be, sir, to see Sir
Speaker 1: Henry on his way back to London again. But what
Speaker 1: is it that alarms you? Look at Sir Charles's death.
Speaker 1: That was bad enough for all that, the coroner said,
Speaker 1: Look at the noises on the moor at night. There's
Speaker 1: not a man would cross it after sundown if he
Speaker 1: was paid for it. Look at this stranger hiding out
Speaker 1: yonder and watching and waiting. What's he waiting for? What
Speaker 1: does it mean? It means no good to anyone of
Speaker 1: the name of Baskerville. I'm very glad I shall be
Speaker 1: to be quit of it all on the day that
Speaker 1: Sir Henry's new servants are ready to take over the hall.
Speaker 1: But about this stranger, said, I can you tell me
Speaker 1: anything about him? What did Selden say? Did he find
Speaker 1: out where he hid or what he was doing? He
Speaker 1: saw him once or twice, but he is a deep
Speaker 1: one and gives nothing away. At first he thought that
Speaker 1: he was the police ba Zoon. He found that he
Speaker 1: had some lay of his own, a kind of gentleman.
Speaker 1: He was as far as he could see. But what
Speaker 1: he was doing he could not make out. And where
Speaker 1: did you say that? He lived? Among the old houses
Speaker 1: on the hillside, the stone nuts, where the old folk
Speaker 1: used to live, But how about his food? Zelden found
Speaker 1: out that he has got a lad who works for
Speaker 1: him and brings him all he needs. I dare say
Speaker 1: he goes to Coombe Tracy for what he was very
Speaker 1: good Barrymore. We may talk further of this some other time.
Speaker 1: When the butler had gone, I walked over to the
Speaker 1: black window, and I looked through a blurred pane at
Speaker 1: the driving clouds and at the tossing outline of the
Speaker 1: windswept trees. It is a wild night indoors. Must it
Speaker 1: be in a stone hut upon the moor? What passion
Speaker 1: of hatred can it be which leads a man to
Speaker 1: lurk in such a place at such a time, And
Speaker 1: what deep and earnest purpose can he have which calls
Speaker 1: for such a trial? There In that hut upon the
Speaker 1: moor seems to lie the very center of that problem
Speaker 1: which has vexed me so sorely. I swear that another
Speaker 1: day shall not have passed before I have done all
Speaker 1: that a man can do to reach the heart of
Speaker 1: the mystery.