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Chapter 4 Sir Henry Baskerville from THE HOUND OF TH · Sherlock Holmes

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Chapter four, Sir Henry Baskerville. Our breakfast table was cleared early,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: and Holmes waited in his dressing gown for the promised interview.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Our clients were punctual to their appointment, for the clerk
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: had just struck ten when Doctor Mortimer was shown up,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: followed by the young baronet. The latter was a small, alert,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: dark eyed man about thirty years of age, very sturdily built,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: with thick black eyebrows and a strong, pugnacious face. He
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: wore a ruddy tinted tweed suit and had the weather
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: beaten appearance of one who spent most of his time
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: in the open air. And yet there was something in
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: his steady eye and the quiet assurance of his bearing,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: which indicated the gentleman. This is Sir Henry Baskerville, said
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: doctor Mortimer. Why yes, said he. And the strange thing is,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: mister Sherlock Holmes, that if my friend here had not
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: proposed coming round to you this morning, I should have
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: come on my own account. I understand that you think
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: out little puzzles, and I've had one this morning which,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: once more thinking out than I am able to give it. Pray,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: take a seat, Sir Henry do I understand you to
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: say that you have yourself had some remarkable experience since
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: you arrived in London. Nothing of much importance, mister Holmes,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Only a joke, as like as not. It was this letter,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: if you can call it, a letter, which reached me
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: this morning. He laid an envelope on the table and
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: we all bent over it. It was of common quality,
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: grayish in color. The address Sir Henry Baskerville, Northumberland Hotel
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: was printed in rough characters, the post mark Charing Cross,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: and the date of posting the preceding evening. Who knew
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: that you were going to the Northumberland Hotel, asked Holmes,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: glancing keenly across at our visitor. No one could have known.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: We only decided after I met doctor Mortimer. Doctor Mortimer
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: was no doubt already stopping there. No, I had been
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: staying with a friend, said the doctor. There was no
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: possible indication that we intended to go to this hotel. Hm,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: someone seems to be very deeply interested in your movements.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Out of the envelope, he took a half sheet of
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: full scap paper folded into four This he opened and
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: spread flat upon the table across the middle of it,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: a single sentence had been formed by the expedient of
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: pasting printed words upon it. It ran, as you value
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: your life or your reason, keep away from the more.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: The word more only was printed in ink. Now, said
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Sir Henry Baskerville. Perhaps you will tell me, mister Holmes,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: what in thunder is the meaning of that? And who
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: it is that takes so much interest in my affairs?
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: What do you make fit, doctor Mortimer? You must allow
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: that there is nothing supernatural about this at any rate, No, sir,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: but it might very well come from someone who was
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: convinced that the business is supernatural? What business? Asked Sir
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Henry Sharply. It seems to me that all you gentlemen
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: know a great deal more than I do about my
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: own affairs. You shall share our knowledge before you leave
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: this room, Sir Henry, I promise you that, said Sherlock Holmes.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: We will confine ourselves for the present, with your permission,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: to this very interesting document, which must have been put
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: together and posted yesterday evening. Have you yesterday's Times, Watson?
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: It is here in the corner. Might I trouble you
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: for it? The inside page please, with the leading articles.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: He glanced swiftly over it, running his eyes up and
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: down the columns capital article this on free trade. Permit
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: me to give you an extract from it. You may
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: be cajoled into imagining that your own special trade or
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: your own industry will be encouraged by a protective tariff.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: But it stands to reason that such legislation must, in
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: the long run, keep away wealth from the country, diminish
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: the value of our imports, and lower the general conditions
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: of life in this island. What do you think of that? Watson,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: cried Holmes in high glee, rubbing his hands together with satisfaction.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Don't you think that is an admirable sentiment? Doctor Mortimer
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: looked at Holmes with an air of professional interest, and
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Sir Henry Baskerville turned a pair of puzzled dark eyes
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: upon me. I don't know much about the tariff and
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: things of that kind, said he, but it seems to
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: me we've got a bit off the trail so far
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: as that note is concerned. On the contrary, I think
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: we are particularly hot upon the trail. Sir Henry Watson
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: here knows more about my methods than you do. But
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: I fear that even he has not quite grasped the
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: significance of this sentence. No, I confess that I see
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: no connection. And yet, my dear Watson, there is so
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: very close a connection that the one is extracted out
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: of the other. You your your life, reason value, keep away
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: from the don't you see? Now? Whence these words have
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: been taken by thunder? You're right? Well, if that isn't smart,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: cried Sir Henry. If any possible doubt remained, it is
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: settled by the fact that keep away and from the
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: are cut out in one piece. Well, now, so it is, really,
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: mister Holmes, this exceeds anything which I could have imagined,
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: said doctor Mortimer, gazing at my friend in amazement. I
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: could understand anyone saying that the words were from a newspaper,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: but that you should name which and add that it
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: came from the leading article. Is really one of the
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: most remarkable things which I have ever known. How did
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: you do it? I presume, doctor, that you could tell
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: the skull of a negro from that of an Esquimaux,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: most certainly, But how because that is my special hobby.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: The differences are obvious. These superorbital crest, the facial angle,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: the maxillary curve the But this is my special hobby,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: and the differences are equally obvious. There is as much
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: difference to my eyes between the leading bourgeois type of
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: a Times article print of an evening Hapenny paper as
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: there could be between your Negro and your Esquimaux. The
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: detection of types is one of the most elementary branches
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: of knowledge to the special expert in crime. Though I
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: confess that once, when I was very young, I confused
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: the Leeds Mercury with the Western Morning News. But a
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: Times Leader is entirely distinctive, and these words could have
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: been taken from nothing else. As it was done yesterday.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: The strong probability was that we should find the words
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: in yesterday's issue. So far as I can follow you, then,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: mister Holmes, said Sir Henry Baskerville. Someone cut out this
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: message with the scissors nail scissors, said Holmes. You can
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: see that it was a very short bladed scissors, since
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: the cutter had to take two snips over keep away.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: That is so. Someone then cut out the message with
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: a pair of short bladed scissors, pasted it with paste gum,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: said Holmes. With gum auntwer the paper. But I want
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: to know why the word more should have been written
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: because he could not find it in print. The other
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: words were all simple and might be found in any issue,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: but more would be less common. Why, of course, that
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: would explain it. Have you read anything else in this message,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: mister Holmes, There are one or two indications, and yet
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: the utmost pains have been taken to remove all clues.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: The address, you observe is printed in rough characters, but
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: the Times is a paper which is seldom found in
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: any hands but those of the highly educated. We may
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: take it therefore that the letter was composed by an
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: educated man who wished to pose as an uneducated one,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: and his effort to conceal his own writing suggests that
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: that writing might be known or come to be known
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: by you. Again, you will observe that the words are
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: not gummed on in an accurate line, but that some
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: are much higher than others. Life, for example, is quite
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: out of its proper place. That may point to carelessness,
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: or it may point to agitation and hurry upon the
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: part of the cutter. On the whole I inclined to
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: the latter you, since the matter was evidently important, and
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: it is unlikely that the composer of such a letter
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: would be careless if he were in a hurry. It
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: opens up the interesting question why he should be in
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: a hurry, since any letter posted up to early morning
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: would reach Sir Henry before he would leave his hotel.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Did the composer fear an interruption? And from whom we
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: are coming now? Rather into the region of guesswork, said
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Doctor Mortimer. Say, rather into the region where we balance
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: probabilities and choose the most likely It is the scientific
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: use of the imagination. But we have always some material
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: basis on which to start our speculation. Now you would
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: call it a guess, no doubt. But I am almost
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: certain that this address has been written in a hotel.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: How in the world can you say that? If you
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: examine it carefully, you will see that both the pen
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: and the ink have given the writer trouble. The pen
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: has spluttered twice in a single word, and has run
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: dry three times in a short address, showing that there
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: was very little ink in the bottle. Now, a private
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: pen or ink bottle is seldom allowed to be in
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: such a state. The combination of the two must be
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: quite rare. But you know, the hotel ink and the
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: hotel pen where it is rare to get anything else. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: I have very little hesitation in saying that, could we
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: examine the waste paper baskets of the hotels around Charing
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Cross until we found the remains of the mutilated Times leader,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: we could lay our hands straight upon the person who
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: sent this singular message, Hello, Hello? What's this? He was
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: carefully examining the foolscap upon which the words were pasted,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: holding it an inch or two from his eyes. Well, nothing,
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  Speaker 1: said he throwing it down. It is a blank half
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: sheet of paper without even a water mark upon it.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: I think we have drawn as much as we can
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: from this curious letter. And now, Sir Henry, has anything
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: else of interest happened to you since you have been
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: in London? Why no, mister Holmes, I think not. You
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: have not observed anyone follow or watch you. I seem
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: to have walked right into the thick of a dime novel,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: said our visitor. Why in thunder should anyone follow or
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: watch me? We are coming to that you have nothing
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: else to report to us before we go into this matter. Well,
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: it depends upon what you think worth reporting. I think
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: anything out of the ordinary routine of life well worth reporting,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: Sir Henry smiled, I don't know much of British life yet,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: for I have spent nearly all my time in the
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: States and in Canada. But I hope that to lose
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: one of your boots is not part of the ordinary
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: routine of life over here. You have lost one of
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: your boots, my dear sir, cried doctor Mortimer. It is
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: only mislaid. You will find it when you return to
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: the hotel. What is the use of traveling, mister Holmes
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: with trifles of this kind? Well, he asked me for
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: anything outside the ordinary routine, exactly, said Holmes. However foolish
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: the incident may seem. You have lost one of your boots,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: you say, well, mislaidd anyhow, I put them both outside
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: my door last night, and there was only one in
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: the morning. I could get no sense out of the
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: chap who cleans them. The worst of it is that
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: I only bought the pair last night in the strand,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: and I've never had them on. If you have never
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: worn them, why did you put them out to be cleaned.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: They were tan boots and had never been varnished. That
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: was why I put them out. Then I understand that
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: on your arrival in London yesterday you went out at
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: once and bought a pair of boots. I did a
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: good deal of shopping, Doctor Mortimer here went round with me.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: You see, if I am to be squire down there,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: I must dress the part. And it may be that
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: I've got a little careless in my ways out west.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: Among other things, I bought these brown boots, gave six
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: dollars for them, and had once stolen before ever I
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: had them on my feet. It seems a singularly useless
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: thing to steal, said Sherlock Holmes. I confess that I
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: share doctor Mortimer's belief that it will not be long
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: before the missing boot is found. And now, gentlemen, said
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: the baronet with decision. It seems to me that I
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: have spoken quite enough about the little that I know.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: It is time that you kept your promise and gave
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: me a full account of what we are all driving at.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: Your request is a very reasonable one, Holmes answered doctor Mortimer.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: I think you could not do better than to tell
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: your story as you told it to us. Thus, encouraged,
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: our scientific friend drew his papers from his pocket, Van
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: presented the whole case as he had done upon the
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: morning before. Sir Henry Baskerville listened with the deepest attention
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: and with an occasional exclamation of surprise. Well, I seem
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: to have come into an inheritance with a vengeance, said he,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: when the long narrative was finished. Of course, I've heard
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: of the hound ever since I was in the nursery.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: It's the pet story of the family, though I never
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: thought of taking it serious before. But as to my
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: uncle's health, well, it all seems boiling up in my
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: head and I can't get it clear yet. You don't
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: seem quite to have made up your mind whether it's
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: a case for a policeman or a clergyman. Precisely. Now
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: there's this affair of the letter to me at the hotel.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: I suppose that fits into its place. It seems to
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: show that someone knows more than we do about what
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: goes on upon the moor, said doctor Mortimer, and also
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: said Holmes, that someone is not ill disposed towards you,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: since they warn you of danger, or it may be
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: that they wish, for their own purposes to scare me away. Well,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: of course that is possible. Also, I am very much
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: indebted to you, Doctor Mortimer for introducing me to a
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: problem which presents several interesting alternatives. But the practical point
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: which we now have to decide, Sir Henry, is whether
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: it is or is not advisable for you to go
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: to Baskerville Hall. Why should I not go there? Seems
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: to be Do you mean danger from this family fiend?
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: Or do you mean danger from human beings? Well, that
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: is what we have to find out. Whichever it is.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: My answer is fixed. There is no devil in hell,
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: mister Holmes, and there is no man upon earth who
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: can prevent me from going to the home of my
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: own people. And you may take that to be my
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: final answer. His dark brows knitted and his face flushed
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: to a dusky red as he spoke. It was evident
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: that the fiery temper of the Baskervilles was not extinct
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: in this Their last representative, meanwhile, said he I have
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: hardly had time to think over all that you have
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: told me. It's a big thing for a man to
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: have to understand and to decide at one sitting. I
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: should like to have a quiet hour by myself to
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: make up my mind. Now look here, mister Holmes, it's
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: half past eleven. Now, and I'm going back right away
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: to my hotel. Suppose you and your friend doctor Watson
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: come round and lunch with us at two. I'll be
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: able to tell you more clearly then how this thing
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: strikes me. Is that convenient to you, Watson perfectly? Then
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: you may expect us. Shall I have a cab called
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: I'd prefer to walk, for this affair has flurried me. Rather,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: I'll join you in a walk with pleasure, said his companion.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Then we meet again at two o'clock au Revoir, and
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: good morning. We heard the steps of our visitors descend
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: the stair and the bang of the front door. In
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: an instant, homes had changed from the languid dreamer to
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: the man of action. Your hat and boots, Watson quick,
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: not a moment to lose. He rushed into his room
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: in his dressing gown and was back again in a
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: few seconds in a frock coat. We hurried together down
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: the stairs and into the street. Doctor Mortimer and Baskerville
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: were still visible about two hundred yards ahead of us,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: in the direction of Oxford Street. Shall I run on
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: and stop them? Not for the world, my dear Watson,
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: I am perfectly satisfied with your company, if you will
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: tolerate mine. Our friends are wise, for it is certainly
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: a very fine morning for a walk. He quickened his
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: pace until we had decreased the distance, which divided us
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: by about half. Then, still keeping one hundred yards behind,
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: we followed into Oxford Street, and so down Regent Street.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Once our friend stopped and stared into a shop window,
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: upon which Holmes did the same. An instant afterwards, he
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: gave a little cry of satisfaction, and following the direction
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: of his eager eyes, I saw that a handsome cab
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: with a man inside, which had halted on the other
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: side of the street, was now proceeding slowly onward. Again,
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: there's our man, Watson. Come along. We'll have a good
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: look at him if we can do no more. At
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: that instant I was aware of a bushy black beard,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: and a pair of piercing eyes turned upon us through
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: the side window of the cab. Instantly, the trap door
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: at the top flew up. Something was screamed to the driver,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: and the cab flew madly off down Regent Street. Holmes
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: looked eagerly round for another but no empty one was
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: in sight. Then he dashed in wild pursuit amid the
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: stream of the traffic, But the start was too great,
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: and already the cab was out of sight. There now,
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: said Holmes bitterly, as he emerged, panting and white with
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: vexation from the tide of vehicles. Was ever such bad
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: luck and such bad management too? Watson? Watson, if you
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: are an honest man, you will record this also and
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: set it against my successes. Who was the man? I
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: have not an idea a spy? Well, it was evident
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: from what we have heard that Baskerville has been very
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: closely shadowed by some one since he has been in town.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: How else could it be known so quickly that it
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: was the Northumberland Hotel which he had chosen. If they
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: had followed him the first day, I argued that they
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: would follow him also the second. You may have observed
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: that I twice strolled over to the window while doctor
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Mortimer was reading his legend. Yes, I remember I was
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: looking out for loiterers in the street, but I saw none.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: We are dealing with a clever man, Watson. This matter
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: cuts very deep, and though I have not finally made
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: up my mind whether it is a benevolent or a
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: malevolent agency, which is in touch with us. I am
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: conscious always of power and design. When our friends left,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: I at once followed them, in the hopes of marking
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: down their invisible attendant. So wily was he that he
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: had not trusted himself upon foot, but he had availed
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: himself of a cab, so that he could loiter behind
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: or dash past them, and so escape their notice. His
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: method had the additional advantage that if they were to
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: take a cab, he was all ready to follow them.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: It has, however, one obvious disadvantage. It puts them in
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: the power of the cabman. Exactly what a pity we
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: did not get the number, my dear Watson. Clumsy as
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: I have been, you surely do not seriously imagine that
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: I neglected to get the number. Nowber two seven zero
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: four is our man. But that is no use to us.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: For the moment I failed to see how you could
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: have done more. On observing the cab, I should have
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: instantly turned and walked in the other direction. I should, then,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: at my leisure, have hired a second cab and followed
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: the first at a respectful distance, or better still, have
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: driven to the Northumberland Hotel and waited there. When our
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: unknown had followed Baskerville home, we should have had the
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: opportunity of playing his own game upon himself and seeing
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: where he made. For as it is by an indiscreet eagerness,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: which was taken advantage of with extraordinary quickness and energy
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: by our opponent, we have betrayed ourselves and lost our man.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: We had been sauntering slowly down Regent Street during this conversation,
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: and doctor Mortimer with his companion, had long vanished in
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: front of us. There is no object in our following them,
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: said Holmes. The shadow has departed and will not return.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: We must see what further cards we have in our
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: hands and play them with decision. Could you swear to
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: that man's face within the cab? I could swear only
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: to the beard, and so could I, from which I
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: gather that in all probability it was a false one.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: A clever man upon so delicate an errand has no
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: use for a beard save to conceal his features. Come
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: in here, Watson. He turned into one of the district
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: messenger offices, where he was warmly greeted by the manager,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: Ah Wilson, I see you have not forgotten the little
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: case in which I had the good fortune to help you. No, sir,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: indeed I have none. You saved my good name and
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: perhaps my life. My dear fellow, you exaggerate. I have
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: some recollection, Wilson, that you had among your boys, a
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: lad named Cartwright, who showed some ability during the investigation. Yes, sir,
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: he is still with us. Could you ring him up?
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Thank you, and I should be glad to have change
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: of this five pound note. A lad of fourteen, with
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: a bright, keen face had obeyed the summons of the manager.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: He stood now gazing with great reverence at the famous detective.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Let me have the hotel directory, said Holmes. Thank you now, Cartwright.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: There are the names of twenty three hotels here, all
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: in the immediate neighborhood of Charing Cross, you see, Yes, sir,
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: you will visit each of these in turn. Yes, sir,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: you will begin in each case by giving the outside
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: porter one shilling. Here are twenty three shillings. Yes, sir,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: you will tell him that you want to see the
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: waste paper of yesterday. You will say that an important
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: telegram has miscarried and that you are looking for it.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: You understand, yes, sir, But what you are really looking
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: for is the center page of the Times, with some
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: holes cut in it with scissors. Here is a copy
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: of the Times. It is this page. You could easily
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: recognize it, could you not, yes, sir. In each case,
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: the outside porter will send for the hall porter, to
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: whom you also will give a shilling. Here are twenty
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: three shillings. You will then learn, in possibly twenty cases
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: out of the twenty three, that the waste of the
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: day before has been burned or removed. In the three
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: other cases, you will be shown a heap of paper,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: and you will look for this page of the Times
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: among it. The odds are enormously against your finding it.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: There are ten shillings over. In case of emergencies, let
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: me have a report by wire at Baker Street before evening,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: And now, Watson, it only remains for us to find
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: out by wire the identity of the cabman number two
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: seven zero four, and then we will drop into one
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: of the Bond Street picture galleries and fill in the
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: time until we are due at the hotel.