Speaker 1: Chapter four, Sir Henry Baskerville. Our breakfast table was cleared early,
Speaker 1: and Holmes waited in his dressing gown for the promised interview.
Speaker 1: Our clients were punctual to their appointment, for the clerk
Speaker 1: had just struck ten when Doctor Mortimer was shown up,
Speaker 1: followed by the young baronet. The latter was a small, alert,
Speaker 1: dark eyed man about thirty years of age, very sturdily built,
Speaker 1: with thick black eyebrows and a strong, pugnacious face. He
Speaker 1: wore a ruddy tinted tweed suit and had the weather
Speaker 1: beaten appearance of one who spent most of his time
Speaker 1: in the open air. And yet there was something in
Speaker 1: his steady eye and the quiet assurance of his bearing,
Speaker 1: which indicated the gentleman. This is Sir Henry Baskerville, said
Speaker 1: doctor Mortimer. Why yes, said he. And the strange thing is,
Speaker 1: mister Sherlock Holmes, that if my friend here had not
Speaker 1: proposed coming round to you this morning, I should have
Speaker 1: come on my own account. I understand that you think
Speaker 1: out little puzzles, and I've had one this morning which,
Speaker 1: once more thinking out than I am able to give it. Pray,
Speaker 1: take a seat, Sir Henry do I understand you to
Speaker 1: say that you have yourself had some remarkable experience since
Speaker 1: you arrived in London. Nothing of much importance, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: Only a joke, as like as not. It was this letter,
Speaker 1: if you can call it, a letter, which reached me
Speaker 1: this morning. He laid an envelope on the table and
Speaker 1: we all bent over it. It was of common quality,
Speaker 1: grayish in color. The address Sir Henry Baskerville, Northumberland Hotel
Speaker 1: was printed in rough characters, the post mark Charing Cross,
Speaker 1: and the date of posting the preceding evening. Who knew
Speaker 1: that you were going to the Northumberland Hotel, asked Holmes,
Speaker 1: glancing keenly across at our visitor. No one could have known.
Speaker 1: We only decided after I met doctor Mortimer. Doctor Mortimer
Speaker 1: was no doubt already stopping there. No, I had been
Speaker 1: staying with a friend, said the doctor. There was no
Speaker 1: possible indication that we intended to go to this hotel. Hm,
Speaker 1: someone seems to be very deeply interested in your movements.
Speaker 1: Out of the envelope, he took a half sheet of
Speaker 1: full scap paper folded into four This he opened and
Speaker 1: spread flat upon the table across the middle of it,
Speaker 1: a single sentence had been formed by the expedient of
Speaker 1: pasting printed words upon it. It ran, as you value
Speaker 1: your life or your reason, keep away from the more.
Speaker 1: The word more only was printed in ink. Now, said
Speaker 1: Sir Henry Baskerville. Perhaps you will tell me, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: what in thunder is the meaning of that? And who
Speaker 1: it is that takes so much interest in my affairs?
Speaker 1: What do you make fit, doctor Mortimer? You must allow
Speaker 1: that there is nothing supernatural about this at any rate, No, sir,
Speaker 1: but it might very well come from someone who was
Speaker 1: convinced that the business is supernatural? What business? Asked Sir
Speaker 1: Henry Sharply. It seems to me that all you gentlemen
Speaker 1: know a great deal more than I do about my
Speaker 1: own affairs. You shall share our knowledge before you leave
Speaker 1: this room, Sir Henry, I promise you that, said Sherlock Holmes.
Speaker 1: We will confine ourselves for the present, with your permission,
Speaker 1: to this very interesting document, which must have been put
Speaker 1: together and posted yesterday evening. Have you yesterday's Times, Watson?
Speaker 1: It is here in the corner. Might I trouble you
Speaker 1: for it? The inside page please, with the leading articles.
Speaker 1: He glanced swiftly over it, running his eyes up and
Speaker 1: down the columns capital article this on free trade. Permit
Speaker 1: me to give you an extract from it. You may
Speaker 1: be cajoled into imagining that your own special trade or
Speaker 1: your own industry will be encouraged by a protective tariff.
Speaker 1: But it stands to reason that such legislation must, in
Speaker 1: the long run, keep away wealth from the country, diminish
Speaker 1: the value of our imports, and lower the general conditions
Speaker 1: of life in this island. What do you think of that? Watson,
Speaker 1: cried Holmes in high glee, rubbing his hands together with satisfaction.
Speaker 1: Don't you think that is an admirable sentiment? Doctor Mortimer
Speaker 1: looked at Holmes with an air of professional interest, and
Speaker 1: Sir Henry Baskerville turned a pair of puzzled dark eyes
Speaker 1: upon me. I don't know much about the tariff and
Speaker 1: things of that kind, said he, but it seems to
Speaker 1: me we've got a bit off the trail so far
Speaker 1: as that note is concerned. On the contrary, I think
Speaker 1: we are particularly hot upon the trail. Sir Henry Watson
Speaker 1: here knows more about my methods than you do. But
Speaker 1: I fear that even he has not quite grasped the
Speaker 1: significance of this sentence. No, I confess that I see
Speaker 1: no connection. And yet, my dear Watson, there is so
Speaker 1: very close a connection that the one is extracted out
Speaker 1: of the other. You your your life, reason value, keep away
Speaker 1: from the don't you see? Now? Whence these words have
Speaker 1: been taken by thunder? You're right? Well, if that isn't smart,
Speaker 1: cried Sir Henry. If any possible doubt remained, it is
Speaker 1: settled by the fact that keep away and from the
Speaker 1: are cut out in one piece. Well, now, so it is, really,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, this exceeds anything which I could have imagined,
Speaker 1: said doctor Mortimer, gazing at my friend in amazement. I
Speaker 1: could understand anyone saying that the words were from a newspaper,
Speaker 1: but that you should name which and add that it
Speaker 1: came from the leading article. Is really one of the
Speaker 1: most remarkable things which I have ever known. How did
Speaker 1: you do it? I presume, doctor, that you could tell
Speaker 1: the skull of a negro from that of an Esquimaux,
Speaker 1: most certainly, But how because that is my special hobby.
Speaker 1: The differences are obvious. These superorbital crest, the facial angle,
Speaker 1: the maxillary curve the But this is my special hobby,
Speaker 1: and the differences are equally obvious. There is as much
Speaker 1: difference to my eyes between the leading bourgeois type of
Speaker 1: a Times article print of an evening Hapenny paper as
Speaker 1: there could be between your Negro and your Esquimaux. The
Speaker 1: detection of types is one of the most elementary branches
Speaker 1: of knowledge to the special expert in crime. Though I
Speaker 1: confess that once, when I was very young, I confused
Speaker 1: the Leeds Mercury with the Western Morning News. But a
Speaker 1: Times Leader is entirely distinctive, and these words could have
Speaker 1: been taken from nothing else. As it was done yesterday.
Speaker 1: The strong probability was that we should find the words
Speaker 1: in yesterday's issue. So far as I can follow you, then,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, said Sir Henry Baskerville. Someone cut out this
Speaker 1: message with the scissors nail scissors, said Holmes. You can
Speaker 1: see that it was a very short bladed scissors, since
Speaker 1: the cutter had to take two snips over keep away.
Speaker 1: That is so. Someone then cut out the message with
Speaker 1: a pair of short bladed scissors, pasted it with paste gum,
Speaker 1: said Holmes. With gum auntwer the paper. But I want
Speaker 1: to know why the word more should have been written
Speaker 1: because he could not find it in print. The other
Speaker 1: words were all simple and might be found in any issue,
Speaker 1: but more would be less common. Why, of course, that
Speaker 1: would explain it. Have you read anything else in this message,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, There are one or two indications, and yet
Speaker 1: the utmost pains have been taken to remove all clues.
Speaker 1: The address, you observe is printed in rough characters, but
Speaker 1: the Times is a paper which is seldom found in
Speaker 1: any hands but those of the highly educated. We may
Speaker 1: take it therefore that the letter was composed by an
Speaker 1: educated man who wished to pose as an uneducated one,
Speaker 1: and his effort to conceal his own writing suggests that
Speaker 1: that writing might be known or come to be known
Speaker 1: by you. Again, you will observe that the words are
Speaker 1: not gummed on in an accurate line, but that some
Speaker 1: are much higher than others. Life, for example, is quite
Speaker 1: out of its proper place. That may point to carelessness,
Speaker 1: or it may point to agitation and hurry upon the
Speaker 1: part of the cutter. On the whole I inclined to
Speaker 1: the latter you, since the matter was evidently important, and
Speaker 1: it is unlikely that the composer of such a letter
Speaker 1: would be careless if he were in a hurry. It
Speaker 1: opens up the interesting question why he should be in
Speaker 1: a hurry, since any letter posted up to early morning
Speaker 1: would reach Sir Henry before he would leave his hotel.
Speaker 1: Did the composer fear an interruption? And from whom we
Speaker 1: are coming now? Rather into the region of guesswork, said
Speaker 1: Doctor Mortimer. Say, rather into the region where we balance
Speaker 1: probabilities and choose the most likely It is the scientific
Speaker 1: use of the imagination. But we have always some material
Speaker 1: basis on which to start our speculation. Now you would
Speaker 1: call it a guess, no doubt. But I am almost
Speaker 1: certain that this address has been written in a hotel.
Speaker 1: How in the world can you say that? If you
Speaker 1: examine it carefully, you will see that both the pen
Speaker 1: and the ink have given the writer trouble. The pen
Speaker 1: has spluttered twice in a single word, and has run
Speaker 1: dry three times in a short address, showing that there
Speaker 1: was very little ink in the bottle. Now, a private
Speaker 1: pen or ink bottle is seldom allowed to be in
Speaker 1: such a state. The combination of the two must be
Speaker 1: quite rare. But you know, the hotel ink and the
Speaker 1: hotel pen where it is rare to get anything else. Yes,
Speaker 1: I have very little hesitation in saying that, could we
Speaker 1: examine the waste paper baskets of the hotels around Charing
Speaker 1: Cross until we found the remains of the mutilated Times leader,
Speaker 1: we could lay our hands straight upon the person who
Speaker 1: sent this singular message, Hello, Hello? What's this? He was
Speaker 1: carefully examining the foolscap upon which the words were pasted,
Speaker 1: holding it an inch or two from his eyes. Well, nothing,
Speaker 1: said he throwing it down. It is a blank half
Speaker 1: sheet of paper without even a water mark upon it.
Speaker 1: I think we have drawn as much as we can
Speaker 1: from this curious letter. And now, Sir Henry, has anything
Speaker 1: else of interest happened to you since you have been
Speaker 1: in London? Why no, mister Holmes, I think not. You
Speaker 1: have not observed anyone follow or watch you. I seem
Speaker 1: to have walked right into the thick of a dime novel,
Speaker 1: said our visitor. Why in thunder should anyone follow or
Speaker 1: watch me? We are coming to that you have nothing
Speaker 1: else to report to us before we go into this matter. Well,
Speaker 1: it depends upon what you think worth reporting. I think
Speaker 1: anything out of the ordinary routine of life well worth reporting,
Speaker 1: Sir Henry smiled, I don't know much of British life yet,
Speaker 1: for I have spent nearly all my time in the
Speaker 1: States and in Canada. But I hope that to lose
Speaker 1: one of your boots is not part of the ordinary
Speaker 1: routine of life over here. You have lost one of
Speaker 1: your boots, my dear sir, cried doctor Mortimer. It is
Speaker 1: only mislaid. You will find it when you return to
Speaker 1: the hotel. What is the use of traveling, mister Holmes
Speaker 1: with trifles of this kind? Well, he asked me for
Speaker 1: anything outside the ordinary routine, exactly, said Holmes. However foolish
Speaker 1: the incident may seem. You have lost one of your boots,
Speaker 1: you say, well, mislaidd anyhow, I put them both outside
Speaker 1: my door last night, and there was only one in
Speaker 1: the morning. I could get no sense out of the
Speaker 1: chap who cleans them. The worst of it is that
Speaker 1: I only bought the pair last night in the strand,
Speaker 1: and I've never had them on. If you have never
Speaker 1: worn them, why did you put them out to be cleaned.
Speaker 1: They were tan boots and had never been varnished. That
Speaker 1: was why I put them out. Then I understand that
Speaker 1: on your arrival in London yesterday you went out at
Speaker 1: once and bought a pair of boots. I did a
Speaker 1: good deal of shopping, Doctor Mortimer here went round with me.
Speaker 1: You see, if I am to be squire down there,
Speaker 1: I must dress the part. And it may be that
Speaker 1: I've got a little careless in my ways out west.
Speaker 1: Among other things, I bought these brown boots, gave six
Speaker 1: dollars for them, and had once stolen before ever I
Speaker 1: had them on my feet. It seems a singularly useless
Speaker 1: thing to steal, said Sherlock Holmes. I confess that I
Speaker 1: share doctor Mortimer's belief that it will not be long
Speaker 1: before the missing boot is found. And now, gentlemen, said
Speaker 1: the baronet with decision. It seems to me that I
Speaker 1: have spoken quite enough about the little that I know.
Speaker 1: It is time that you kept your promise and gave
Speaker 1: me a full account of what we are all driving at.
Speaker 1: Your request is a very reasonable one, Holmes answered doctor Mortimer.
Speaker 1: I think you could not do better than to tell
Speaker 1: your story as you told it to us. Thus, encouraged,
Speaker 1: our scientific friend drew his papers from his pocket, Van
Speaker 1: presented the whole case as he had done upon the
Speaker 1: morning before. Sir Henry Baskerville listened with the deepest attention
Speaker 1: and with an occasional exclamation of surprise. Well, I seem
Speaker 1: to have come into an inheritance with a vengeance, said he,
Speaker 1: when the long narrative was finished. Of course, I've heard
Speaker 1: of the hound ever since I was in the nursery.
Speaker 1: It's the pet story of the family, though I never
Speaker 1: thought of taking it serious before. But as to my
Speaker 1: uncle's health, well, it all seems boiling up in my
Speaker 1: head and I can't get it clear yet. You don't
Speaker 1: seem quite to have made up your mind whether it's
Speaker 1: a case for a policeman or a clergyman. Precisely. Now
Speaker 1: there's this affair of the letter to me at the hotel.
Speaker 1: I suppose that fits into its place. It seems to
Speaker 1: show that someone knows more than we do about what
Speaker 1: goes on upon the moor, said doctor Mortimer, and also
Speaker 1: said Holmes, that someone is not ill disposed towards you,
Speaker 1: since they warn you of danger, or it may be
Speaker 1: that they wish, for their own purposes to scare me away. Well,
Speaker 1: of course that is possible. Also, I am very much
Speaker 1: indebted to you, Doctor Mortimer for introducing me to a
Speaker 1: problem which presents several interesting alternatives. But the practical point
Speaker 1: which we now have to decide, Sir Henry, is whether
Speaker 1: it is or is not advisable for you to go
Speaker 1: to Baskerville Hall. Why should I not go there? Seems
Speaker 1: to be Do you mean danger from this family fiend?
Speaker 1: Or do you mean danger from human beings? Well, that
Speaker 1: is what we have to find out. Whichever it is.
Speaker 1: My answer is fixed. There is no devil in hell,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, and there is no man upon earth who
Speaker 1: can prevent me from going to the home of my
Speaker 1: own people. And you may take that to be my
Speaker 1: final answer. His dark brows knitted and his face flushed
Speaker 1: to a dusky red as he spoke. It was evident
Speaker 1: that the fiery temper of the Baskervilles was not extinct
Speaker 1: in this Their last representative, meanwhile, said he I have
Speaker 1: hardly had time to think over all that you have
Speaker 1: told me. It's a big thing for a man to
Speaker 1: have to understand and to decide at one sitting. I
Speaker 1: should like to have a quiet hour by myself to
Speaker 1: make up my mind. Now look here, mister Holmes, it's
Speaker 1: half past eleven. Now, and I'm going back right away
Speaker 1: to my hotel. Suppose you and your friend doctor Watson
Speaker 1: come round and lunch with us at two. I'll be
Speaker 1: able to tell you more clearly then how this thing
Speaker 1: strikes me. Is that convenient to you, Watson perfectly? Then
Speaker 1: you may expect us. Shall I have a cab called
Speaker 1: I'd prefer to walk, for this affair has flurried me. Rather,
Speaker 1: I'll join you in a walk with pleasure, said his companion.
Speaker 1: Then we meet again at two o'clock au Revoir, and
Speaker 1: good morning. We heard the steps of our visitors descend
Speaker 1: the stair and the bang of the front door. In
Speaker 1: an instant, homes had changed from the languid dreamer to
Speaker 1: the man of action. Your hat and boots, Watson quick,
Speaker 1: not a moment to lose. He rushed into his room
Speaker 1: in his dressing gown and was back again in a
Speaker 1: few seconds in a frock coat. We hurried together down
Speaker 1: the stairs and into the street. Doctor Mortimer and Baskerville
Speaker 1: were still visible about two hundred yards ahead of us,
Speaker 1: in the direction of Oxford Street. Shall I run on
Speaker 1: and stop them? Not for the world, my dear Watson,
Speaker 1: I am perfectly satisfied with your company, if you will
Speaker 1: tolerate mine. Our friends are wise, for it is certainly
Speaker 1: a very fine morning for a walk. He quickened his
Speaker 1: pace until we had decreased the distance, which divided us
Speaker 1: by about half. Then, still keeping one hundred yards behind,
Speaker 1: we followed into Oxford Street, and so down Regent Street.
Speaker 1: Once our friend stopped and stared into a shop window,
Speaker 1: upon which Holmes did the same. An instant afterwards, he
Speaker 1: gave a little cry of satisfaction, and following the direction
Speaker 1: of his eager eyes, I saw that a handsome cab
Speaker 1: with a man inside, which had halted on the other
Speaker 1: side of the street, was now proceeding slowly onward. Again,
Speaker 1: there's our man, Watson. Come along. We'll have a good
Speaker 1: look at him if we can do no more. At
Speaker 1: that instant I was aware of a bushy black beard,
Speaker 1: and a pair of piercing eyes turned upon us through
Speaker 1: the side window of the cab. Instantly, the trap door
Speaker 1: at the top flew up. Something was screamed to the driver,
Speaker 1: and the cab flew madly off down Regent Street. Holmes
Speaker 1: looked eagerly round for another but no empty one was
Speaker 1: in sight. Then he dashed in wild pursuit amid the
Speaker 1: stream of the traffic, But the start was too great,
Speaker 1: and already the cab was out of sight. There now,
Speaker 1: said Holmes bitterly, as he emerged, panting and white with
Speaker 1: vexation from the tide of vehicles. Was ever such bad
Speaker 1: luck and such bad management too? Watson? Watson, if you
Speaker 1: are an honest man, you will record this also and
Speaker 1: set it against my successes. Who was the man? I
Speaker 1: have not an idea a spy? Well, it was evident
Speaker 1: from what we have heard that Baskerville has been very
Speaker 1: closely shadowed by some one since he has been in town.
Speaker 1: How else could it be known so quickly that it
Speaker 1: was the Northumberland Hotel which he had chosen. If they
Speaker 1: had followed him the first day, I argued that they
Speaker 1: would follow him also the second. You may have observed
Speaker 1: that I twice strolled over to the window while doctor
Speaker 1: Mortimer was reading his legend. Yes, I remember I was
Speaker 1: looking out for loiterers in the street, but I saw none.
Speaker 1: We are dealing with a clever man, Watson. This matter
Speaker 1: cuts very deep, and though I have not finally made
Speaker 1: up my mind whether it is a benevolent or a
Speaker 1: malevolent agency, which is in touch with us. I am
Speaker 1: conscious always of power and design. When our friends left,
Speaker 1: I at once followed them, in the hopes of marking
Speaker 1: down their invisible attendant. So wily was he that he
Speaker 1: had not trusted himself upon foot, but he had availed
Speaker 1: himself of a cab, so that he could loiter behind
Speaker 1: or dash past them, and so escape their notice. His
Speaker 1: method had the additional advantage that if they were to
Speaker 1: take a cab, he was all ready to follow them.
Speaker 1: It has, however, one obvious disadvantage. It puts them in
Speaker 1: the power of the cabman. Exactly what a pity we
Speaker 1: did not get the number, my dear Watson. Clumsy as
Speaker 1: I have been, you surely do not seriously imagine that
Speaker 1: I neglected to get the number. Nowber two seven zero
Speaker 1: four is our man. But that is no use to us.
Speaker 1: For the moment I failed to see how you could
Speaker 1: have done more. On observing the cab, I should have
Speaker 1: instantly turned and walked in the other direction. I should, then,
Speaker 1: at my leisure, have hired a second cab and followed
Speaker 1: the first at a respectful distance, or better still, have
Speaker 1: driven to the Northumberland Hotel and waited there. When our
Speaker 1: unknown had followed Baskerville home, we should have had the
Speaker 1: opportunity of playing his own game upon himself and seeing
Speaker 1: where he made. For as it is by an indiscreet eagerness,
Speaker 1: which was taken advantage of with extraordinary quickness and energy
Speaker 1: by our opponent, we have betrayed ourselves and lost our man.
Speaker 1: We had been sauntering slowly down Regent Street during this conversation,
Speaker 1: and doctor Mortimer with his companion, had long vanished in
Speaker 1: front of us. There is no object in our following them,
Speaker 1: said Holmes. The shadow has departed and will not return.
Speaker 1: We must see what further cards we have in our
Speaker 1: hands and play them with decision. Could you swear to
Speaker 1: that man's face within the cab? I could swear only
Speaker 1: to the beard, and so could I, from which I
Speaker 1: gather that in all probability it was a false one.
Speaker 1: A clever man upon so delicate an errand has no
Speaker 1: use for a beard save to conceal his features. Come
Speaker 1: in here, Watson. He turned into one of the district
Speaker 1: messenger offices, where he was warmly greeted by the manager,
Speaker 1: Ah Wilson, I see you have not forgotten the little
Speaker 1: case in which I had the good fortune to help you. No, sir,
Speaker 1: indeed I have none. You saved my good name and
Speaker 1: perhaps my life. My dear fellow, you exaggerate. I have
Speaker 1: some recollection, Wilson, that you had among your boys, a
Speaker 1: lad named Cartwright, who showed some ability during the investigation. Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: he is still with us. Could you ring him up?
Speaker 1: Thank you, and I should be glad to have change
Speaker 1: of this five pound note. A lad of fourteen, with
Speaker 1: a bright, keen face had obeyed the summons of the manager.
Speaker 1: He stood now gazing with great reverence at the famous detective.
Speaker 1: Let me have the hotel directory, said Holmes. Thank you now, Cartwright.
Speaker 1: There are the names of twenty three hotels here, all
Speaker 1: in the immediate neighborhood of Charing Cross, you see, Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: you will visit each of these in turn. Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: you will begin in each case by giving the outside
Speaker 1: porter one shilling. Here are twenty three shillings. Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: you will tell him that you want to see the
Speaker 1: waste paper of yesterday. You will say that an important
Speaker 1: telegram has miscarried and that you are looking for it.
Speaker 1: You understand, yes, sir, But what you are really looking
Speaker 1: for is the center page of the Times, with some
Speaker 1: holes cut in it with scissors. Here is a copy
Speaker 1: of the Times. It is this page. You could easily
Speaker 1: recognize it, could you not, yes, sir. In each case,
Speaker 1: the outside porter will send for the hall porter, to
Speaker 1: whom you also will give a shilling. Here are twenty
Speaker 1: three shillings. You will then learn, in possibly twenty cases
Speaker 1: out of the twenty three, that the waste of the
Speaker 1: day before has been burned or removed. In the three
Speaker 1: other cases, you will be shown a heap of paper,
Speaker 1: and you will look for this page of the Times
Speaker 1: among it. The odds are enormously against your finding it.
Speaker 1: There are ten shillings over. In case of emergencies, let
Speaker 1: me have a report by wire at Baker Street before evening,
Speaker 1: And now, Watson, it only remains for us to find
Speaker 1: out by wire the identity of the cabman number two
Speaker 1: seven zero four, and then we will drop into one
Speaker 1: of the Bond Street picture galleries and fill in the
Speaker 1: time until we are due at the hotel.