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Chapter 8 First Report of Dr Watson from THE HOUND O · Sherlock Holmes

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Speaker 1: Chapter eight, first Report of Doctor Watson. From this point onward,
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Speaker 1: I will follow the course of events by transcribing my
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Speaker 1: own letters to mister Sherlock Holmes, which lie before me
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Speaker 1: on the table. One page is missing, but otherwise they
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Speaker 1: are exactly as written, and show my feelings and suspicions
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Speaker 1: of the moment more accurately than my memory, clear as
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Speaker 1: it is upon these tragic events, can possibly do. Baskerville Hall,
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Speaker 1: October thirteenth, My dear Holmes, my previous letters and telegrams
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Speaker 1: have kept you pretty well up to date as to
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Speaker 1: all that has occurred in this most god forsaken corner
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Speaker 1: of the world. The longer one stays here, the more
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Speaker 1: does the spirit of the more sink into one's soul,
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Speaker 1: its vastness and also its grim charm. When you are
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Speaker 1: once out upon its bosom, you have left all traces
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Speaker 1: of modern England behind you. But on the other hand,
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Speaker 1: you were conscious everywhere of the homes and the work
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Speaker 1: of the prehistoric people. On all sides of you as
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Speaker 1: you walk are the houses of these forgotten folk, with
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Speaker 1: their graves and the huge monoliths which are supposed to
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Speaker 1: have marked their temples. As you look at their graystone
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Speaker 1: huts against the scarred hillsides. You leave your own age
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Speaker 1: behind you, and if you were to see a skin
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Speaker 1: clad hairy man crawl out from the low door, fitting
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Speaker 1: a flint tipped arrow onto the string of his bow,
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Speaker 1: you would feel that his presence there was more natural
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Speaker 1: than your own. The strange thing is that they should
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Speaker 1: have lived so thickly on what must always have been
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Speaker 1: most unfruitful soil. I am no antiquarian, but I could
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Speaker 1: imagine that they were some unwarlike and harried race who
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Speaker 1: were forced to accept that which none other would occupy.
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Speaker 1: All this, however, foreign to the mission on which you
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Speaker 1: sent me, and will probably be very uninteresting to your
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Speaker 1: severely practical mind. I could still remember your complete indifference
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Speaker 1: as to whether the Sun moved round the Earth or
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Speaker 1: the Earth round the Sun. Let me therefore return to
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Speaker 1: the facts concerning Sir Henry Baskerville. If you have not
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Speaker 1: had any report within the last few days, it is
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Speaker 1: because up to today there was nothing of importance to relate.
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Speaker 1: Then a very surprising circumstance occurred, which I shall tell
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Speaker 1: you in due course. But first of all I must
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Speaker 1: keep you in touch with some of the other factors
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Speaker 1: in the situation. One of these, concerning which I have
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Speaker 1: said little, is the escaped convict upon the moor. There
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Speaker 1: is strong reason now to believe that he has got
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Speaker 1: right away, which is a considerable relief to the lonely
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Speaker 1: householders of this district. The fortnight has passed since his flight,
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Speaker 1: during which he has not been seen, and nothing has
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Speaker 1: been heard of him. It is surely inconceivable that he
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Speaker 1: could have held out upon the moor during all that time.
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Speaker 1: Of course, so far as his concealment goes, there is
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Speaker 1: no difficulty at all. Any one of these stone huts
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Speaker 1: would give him a hiding place, but there is nothing
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Speaker 1: to eat unless he were to catch and slaughter one
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Speaker 1: of the more sheep. We think, therefore that he has gone,
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Speaker 1: and the outlying farmers sleep the better. In consequence, we
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Speaker 1: are for able bodied men in this household, so that
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Speaker 1: we could take good care of ourselves. But I confess
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Speaker 1: that I have had uneasy moments when I have thought
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Speaker 1: of the Stapletons. They live miles from any help. There
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Speaker 1: are one maid, an old man servant, the sister, and
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Speaker 1: the brother, the latter not a very strong man. They
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Speaker 1: would be helpless in the hands of a desperate fellow
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Speaker 1: like this notting Hill criminal, if he could once effect
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Speaker 1: an entrance. Both Sir Henry and I were concern at
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Speaker 1: their situation, and it was suggested that Perkins the Groom
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Speaker 1: should go over to sleep there, but Stapleton would not
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Speaker 1: hear of it. The fact is that our friend the
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Speaker 1: Baronet begins to display a considerable interest in our fair neighbor.
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Speaker 1: It is not to be wondered at, for time hangs
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Speaker 1: heavily in this lonely spot to an active man like him,
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Speaker 1: and she is a very fascinating and beautiful woman. There
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Speaker 1: is something tropical and exotic about her which forms a
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Speaker 1: singular contrast to her cool and unemotional brother. Yet he
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Speaker 1: also gives the idea of hidden fires. He has certainly
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Speaker 1: a very marked influence over her, for I have seen
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Speaker 1: her continually glance at him as she talked, as if
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Speaker 1: seeking approbation for what she said. I trust that he
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Speaker 1: is kind to her. There is a dry glitter in
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Speaker 1: his eyes and a firm set of his thin lips,
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Speaker 1: which goes with a positive and possibly a harsh nature.
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Speaker 1: You would find him an interesting study. He came over
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Speaker 1: to call upon Baskerville on that first day and the
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Speaker 1: very next morning he took us both to show us
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Speaker 1: the spot where the legend of the Wicked Hugo is
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Speaker 1: supposed to have had its origin. It was an excursion
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Speaker 1: of some miles across the moor to a place which
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Speaker 1: is so dismal that it might have suggested the story.
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Speaker 1: We found a short valley between rugged tours, which led
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Speaker 1: to an open, grassy space flecked over with the white
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Speaker 1: cotton grass. In the middle of it rose two great stones,
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Speaker 1: worn and sharpened at the upper end until they looked
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Speaker 1: like the huge, corroding fangs of some monstrous beast. In
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Speaker 1: every way it corresponded with the scene of the old tragedy.
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Speaker 1: Sir Henry was much interested, and asked Stapleton more than
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Speaker 1: once whether he did really believe in the possibility of
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Speaker 1: the interference of the supernatural in the affairs of men.
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Speaker 1: He spoke lightly, but it was evident that he was
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Speaker 1: very much in earnest. Stapleton was guarded in his replies,
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Speaker 1: but it was easy to see that he said less
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Speaker 1: than he might, and that he would not express his
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Speaker 1: whole opinion out of considerations for the feelings of the baronet.
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Speaker 1: He told us of similar cases where families had suffered
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Speaker 1: from some evil influence, and he left us with the
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Speaker 1: impression that he shared the popular view upon the matter.
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Speaker 1: On our way back, we stayed for lunch at Mary
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Speaker 1: Pitt House, and it was there that Sir Henry made
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Speaker 1: the acquaintance of Miss Stapleton. From the first moment that
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Speaker 1: he saw her, he appeared to be strongly attracted by her,
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Speaker 1: and I'm much mistaken if the feeling was not mutual.
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Speaker 1: He referred to her again and again on our walk home,
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Speaker 1: and since then, hardly a day has passed that we
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Speaker 1: have not seen something of the brother and sister. They
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Speaker 1: dine here tonight, and there is some talk of our
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Speaker 1: going to them next week. One would imagine that such
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Speaker 1: a match would be very welcome to Stapleton, And yet
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Speaker 1: I have more than once caught a look of the
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Speaker 1: strongest disapprobation in his face when Sir Henry has been
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Speaker 1: paying some attention to his sister. He is much attached
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Speaker 1: to her, no doubt, and would lead a lonely life
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Speaker 1: without her. But it would seem the height of selfishness
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Speaker 1: if he were to stand in the way of her
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Speaker 1: making so brilliant a marriage. Yet I am certain that
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Speaker 1: he does not wish their intimacy to ripen into love,
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Speaker 1: and I have several times observed that he has taken
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Speaker 1: pains to prevent them from being tete a tete. By
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Speaker 1: the way, your instructions to me never to allow Sir
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Speaker 1: Henry to go out alone, will become very much more
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Speaker 1: onerous if a love affair were to be added to
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Speaker 1: our other difficulties. My popularity would soon suffer if I
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Speaker 1: were to carry out your orders to the letter. The
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Speaker 1: other day, Thursday, to be more exact, Doctor Mortimer lunched
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Speaker 1: with us. He has been ex excavating a barrow at
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Speaker 1: Long Down and has got a prehistoric skull, which fills
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Speaker 1: him with great joy. Never was there such a single
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Speaker 1: minded enthusiast as he. The Stapletons came in afterwards, and
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Speaker 1: the good Doctor took us all to the U Alley
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Speaker 1: at Sir Henry's request, to show us exactly how everything
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Speaker 1: occurred upon that fatal night. It is a long dismal
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Speaker 1: walk the U Alley, between two high walls of clipped
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Speaker 1: hedge with a narrow band of grass upon either side.
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Speaker 1: At the far end is an old tumble down summer
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Speaker 1: house Halfway down is the moor gate where the old
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Speaker 1: gentleman left his cigar ash. It is a white wooden
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Speaker 1: gate with a latch. Beyond it lies the wide moor.
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Speaker 1: I remember your theory of the affair and tried to
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Speaker 1: picture all that had occurred. As the old man stood there,
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Speaker 1: he saw something coming across the moor, something which terrified
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Speaker 1: him so that he lost his wits and ran, and
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Speaker 1: ran until he died of sheer horror and exhaustion. There
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Speaker 1: was the long, gloomy tunnel which he fled. And from
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Speaker 1: what a sheep dog of the moor or a spectral hound, black,
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Speaker 1: silent and monstrous? Was there a human agency in the matter?
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Speaker 1: Did the pale, watchful barrymore know more than he cared
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Speaker 1: to say? It was all dim and vague, but always
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Speaker 1: there is the dark shadow of crime behind it. One
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Speaker 1: other neighbor I have met since I wrote last. This
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Speaker 1: is mister Franklin of Laughter Hall, who lived some four
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Speaker 1: miles to the south of us. He is an elderly man,
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Speaker 1: red faced, white haired, and choleric. His passion is for
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Speaker 1: the British law, and he has spent a large fortune
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Speaker 1: in litigation. He fights for the mere pleasure of fighting,
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Speaker 1: and is equally ready to take up either side of
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Speaker 1: a question, so that it is no wonder that he
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Speaker 1: has found it a costly amusement. Sometimes he will shut
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Speaker 1: up a right of way and defy the parish to
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Speaker 1: make him open it. At others he will with his
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Speaker 1: own hands tear down some other man's gait and declare
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Speaker 1: that a path has existed there from time immemorial, defying
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Speaker 1: the owner to prosecute him for trespass. He is learned
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Speaker 1: in old memorial and communal rights, and he applies his knowledge,
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Speaker 1: sometimes in favor of the villagers of Fernworthy, and sometimes
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Speaker 1: against them, so that he is periodically either carried in
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Speaker 1: triumph down the village street, or else burned in effigy.
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Speaker 1: According to his latest exploit, he is said to have
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Speaker 1: about seven lawsuits upon his hands at present, which will
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Speaker 1: probably swallow up the remainder of his fortune, and so
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Speaker 1: draw his sting and leave him harmless for the future.
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Speaker 1: Apart from the law he seems a kindly good natured person,
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Speaker 1: and I only mention him because you were particular that
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Speaker 1: I should send some description of the people who surround us.
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Speaker 1: He is curiously employed at present for being an amateur astronomer.
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Speaker 1: He has an excellent telescope with which he lies upon
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Speaker 1: the roof of his own house and sweeps the moor
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Speaker 1: all day in the hope of catching a glimpse of
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Speaker 1: the escaped convict. If he would confine his energies to this,
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Speaker 1: all would be well. But there are rumors that he
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Speaker 1: intends to prosecute Doctor Mortimer for opening a grave without
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Speaker 1: the consent of the next of kin because he dug
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Speaker 1: up the neolithic skull in the barrow on long Down.
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Speaker 1: He helps to keep our lives from being monotonous and
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Speaker 1: gives a little comic relief where it is badly needed.
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Speaker 1: And now, having brought you up to date in the
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Speaker 1: Escaped Convict, the Stapletons, Doctor Mortimer, and Franklin of Laughter Hall,
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Speaker 1: let me end on that which is most important, and
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Speaker 1: tell you more about the Barrymore's and especially about the
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Speaker 1: surprising development of last night. First of all, about the
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Speaker 1: test telegram which you sent from London in order to
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Speaker 1: make sure that Barrymore was really here. I've already explained
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Speaker 1: that the testimony of the postmaster shows that the test
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Speaker 1: was worthless, that we have no proof one way or
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Speaker 1: the other. I told Sir Henry how the matter stood,
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Speaker 1: and he, at once, in his downright fashion, had Barrymore
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Speaker 1: up and asked him whether he had received the telegram himself.
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Speaker 1: Barrymore said that he had. Did the boy deliver it
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Speaker 1: into your own hands? Asked Sir Henry. Barrymore looked surprised
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Speaker 1: and considered for a little time. No, said he. I
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Speaker 1: was in the box room at the time, and my
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Speaker 1: wife brought it up to me. Did you answer it yourself? No?
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Speaker 1: I told my wife what to answer, and she went
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Speaker 1: down to write it in the evening, he recurred to
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Speaker 1: the subject of his own accord. I could not quite
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Speaker 1: understand the object of your questions this morning, Sir Henry said, he.
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Speaker 1: I trust that they do not mean that I have
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Speaker 1: done anything to forfeit your confidence. Sir Henry had to
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Speaker 1: assure him that it was not so, and pacify him
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Speaker 1: by giving him a considerable part of his old wardrobe.
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Speaker 1: The London outfit having now all arrived, Missus Barrymore is
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Speaker 1: of interest to me. She's a heavy, solid person, very limited,
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Speaker 1: intensely respectable, and inclined to be puritanical. You could hardly
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Speaker 1: conceive a less emotional subject. Yet I have told you
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Speaker 1: how on the first night here I heard her sobbing bitterly,
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Speaker 1: and since then I have more than once observed traces
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Speaker 1: of tears upon her face. Some deep sorrow gnaws ever
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Speaker 1: at her heart. Sometimes I wonder if she has a
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Speaker 1: guilty memory which haunts her. And sometimes I suspect Barrymore
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Speaker 1: of being a domestic tyrant. I've always felt that there
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Speaker 1: was something singular and questionable in this man's character. That
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Speaker 1: the adventure of last night brings all my suspicions to
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Speaker 1: a head. And yet it may seem a small matter
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Speaker 1: in itself. You are aware that I am not a
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Speaker 1: very sound sleeper, and since I have been on guard
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Speaker 1: in this house, my slumbers have been lighter than ever.
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Speaker 1: Last night, about two in the morning, I was aroused
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Speaker 1: by a stealthy step passing my room. I rose opened
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Speaker 1: my door and peeped out. A long, black shadow was
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Speaker 1: trailing down the corridor. It was thrown by a man
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Speaker 1: who walked softly down the passage with a candle held
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Speaker 1: in his hand. He was in shirt and trousers, with
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Speaker 1: no covering to his feet. I could merely see the outline,
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Speaker 1: but his height told me that it was Barrymore. He
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Speaker 1: walked very slowly and circumspectly, and there was something indescribably
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Speaker 1: guilty and furtive in his whole appearance. I have told
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Speaker 1: you that the corridor is broken by the balcony which
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Speaker 1: runs round the hall, but that it is resumed upon
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Speaker 1: the farther side. I waited until he had passed out
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Speaker 1: of sight, and then I followed him. When I came
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Speaker 1: round the balcony, he had reached the end of the
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Speaker 1: farther corridor, and I could see from the glimmer of
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Speaker 1: the light through an open door that he had entered
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Speaker 1: one of the rooms. Now, all these rooms are unfurnished
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Speaker 1: and unoccupied, so that his expedition became more mysterious than ever.
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Speaker 1: The light shone steadily, as if he were standing motionless
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Speaker 1: down the passage as noiselessly as I could, and peeped
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Speaker 1: around the corner of the door. Barrymore was crouching at
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Speaker 1: the window with the candle held against the glass. His
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Speaker 1: profile was half turned towards me, and his face seemed
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Speaker 1: to be rigid with expectation as he stared out into
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Speaker 1: the blackness of the moor. For some minutes he stood,
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Speaker 1: watching intently then he gave a deep groan, and with
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Speaker 1: an impatient gesture, he put out the light. Instantly, I
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Speaker 1: made my way back to my room, and very shortly
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Speaker 1: came the stealthy steps, passing once more upon their return journey.
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Speaker 1: Long afterwards, when I had fallen into a light sleep,
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Speaker 1: I heard a key turn somewhere in a lock, but
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Speaker 1: I could not tell whence the sound came. What it
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Speaker 1: all means I cannot get. But there is some secret
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Speaker 1: business going on in this house of Gloom, which, sooner
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Speaker 1: or later, we shall get to the bottom. I do
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Speaker 1: not trouble you with my theories, for you asked me
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Speaker 1: to furnish you only with facts. I have had a
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Speaker 1: long talk with Sir Henry this morning, and we have
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Speaker 1: made a plan of campaign founded upon my observations of
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Speaker 1: last night. I will not speak about it just now,
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Speaker 1: but it should make my next report interesting reading.