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Chapter 7 The Stapletons of Merripit House from THE · Sherlock Holmes

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  Speaker 1: Chapter seven, The Stapletons of Merry Pitt House. The fresh
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  Speaker 1: beauty of the following morning did something to efface from
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  Speaker 1: our minds the grim and gray impression which had been
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  Speaker 1: left upon both of us by our first experience of
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  Speaker 1: Baskerville Hall. As Sir Henry and I sat at breakfast,
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  Speaker 1: the sunlight flooded in through the high mullioned windows, throwing
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  Speaker 1: watery patches of color from the coats of arms which
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  Speaker 1: covered them. The dark paneling glowed like bronze in the
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  Speaker 1: golden rays, and it was hard to realize that this
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  Speaker 1: was indeed the chamber which had struck such a gloom
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  Speaker 1: into our souls upon the evening before. I guess it
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  Speaker 1: is ourselves and not the house, that we have to blame,
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  Speaker 1: said the Baronet. We were tired with our journey and
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  Speaker 1: chilled by our drive, so we took a gray view
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  Speaker 1: of the place. Now we are freshened well, so it
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  Speaker 1: is all cheerful once more. And yet it was not
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  Speaker 1: entirely a question of imagination, I answered, did you, for example,
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  Speaker 1: happened to hear someone a woman I think sobbing in
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  Speaker 1: the night? That is curious, for I did when I
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  Speaker 1: was half asleep, fancy that I heard something of the sort.
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  Speaker 1: I waited quite a time, but there was no more
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  Speaker 1: of it, so I concluded that it was all a dream.
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  Speaker 1: I heard it distinctly, and I'm sure that it was
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  Speaker 1: really the sob of a woman. We must ask about
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  Speaker 1: this right away. He rang the bell and asked Barrymore
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  Speaker 1: whether he could account for our experience. It seemed to
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  Speaker 1: me that the pallid features of the butler turned a
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  Speaker 1: shade paler still as he listened to his master's question.
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  Speaker 1: There are only two women in the house, Sir Henry,
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  Speaker 1: he answered. One is this scullery maid who sleeps in
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  Speaker 1: the other wing. The other is my wife, and I
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  Speaker 1: can answer for it that the sound could not have
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  Speaker 1: come from her. And yet he lied as he said it.
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  Speaker 1: For it chanced that after breakfast I met missus Barrymore
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  Speaker 1: in the long corridor, with the sun full upon her face.
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  Speaker 1: She was a large, impassive, heavy featured woman, with a
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  Speaker 1: stern set expression of mouth. But her telltale eyes were
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  Speaker 1: red and glanced at me from between swollen lids. It
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  Speaker 1: was she, then, who wept in the night, and if
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  Speaker 1: she did so, her husband must know it. Yet he
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  Speaker 1: had taken the obvious risk of discovery in declaring that
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  Speaker 1: it was not so. Why had he done this? And
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  Speaker 1: why did she weep so bitterly? Already round this pale faced, handsome,
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  Speaker 1: black bearded man there was gathering an atmosphere of mystery
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  Speaker 1: and of gloom. It was he who had been the
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  Speaker 1: first to discover the body of Sir Charles, and we
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  Speaker 1: had only his word for all the circumstances which led
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  Speaker 1: up to the old man's death. Was it possible that
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  Speaker 1: it was Barrymore, after all, whom we had seen in
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  Speaker 1: the cab in Regent Street. The beard might well have
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  Speaker 1: been the same the cabman had described a somewhat short man.
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  Speaker 1: But such an impression might easily have been erroneous. How
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  Speaker 1: could I settle the point forever? Obviously the first thing
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  Speaker 1: to do was to see the grimp and postmaster and
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  Speaker 1: find whether the test telegram had really been placed in
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  Speaker 1: Barrymore's own hands. Be the answer, what it might, I
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  Speaker 1: should at least have something to report to Sherlock Holmes.
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  Speaker 1: Sir Henry had numerous papers to examine after breakfast, so
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  Speaker 1: that the time was propitious for my excursion. It was
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  Speaker 1: a pleasant walk of four miles along the edge of
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  Speaker 1: the moor, leading me at last to a small gray hamlet,
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  Speaker 1: in which two larger buildings, which proved to be the
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  Speaker 1: Inn and the house of Doctor Mortimer, stood high above
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  Speaker 1: the rest. The postmaster, who was also the village grocer,
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  Speaker 1: had a clear recollection of the telegram. Certainly, sir, said he.
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  Speaker 1: I had the telegram delivered to mister Barrymore exactly as directed.
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  Speaker 1: Who delivered it? My boy, here, James, you delivered that
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  Speaker 1: telegram to mister Barrymore at the hall last week, did
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  Speaker 1: you not? Yes, Father, I delivered it into his own hands,
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  Speaker 1: I asked, Well, he was up in the loft at
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  Speaker 1: the time, so that I could not put it into
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  Speaker 1: his own hands. But I gave it into missus Barrymore's hands,
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  Speaker 1: and she promised to deliver it at once. Did you
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  Speaker 1: see mister Barrymore, No, Sir, I tell you he was
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  Speaker 1: in the loft. If you didn't see him, how do
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  Speaker 1: you know he was in the loft. Well, surely his
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  Speaker 1: own wife ought to know where he is, said the
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  Speaker 1: postmaster testily. Didn't he get the telegram? If there is
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  Speaker 1: any mistake, it is for mister Barrymore himself to complain.
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  Speaker 1: It seemed hopeless to pursue the inquiry any farther. But
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  Speaker 1: it was clear that, in spite of Holmes's ruse, we
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  Speaker 1: had no proof that Barrymore had not been in London
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  Speaker 1: all the time. Suppose that it was so, Suppose that
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  Speaker 1: the same man had been the last who had seen
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  Speaker 1: Sir Charles alive, and the first to dog the new
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  Speaker 1: heir when he he returned to England. What then, was
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  Speaker 1: he the agent of others? Or had he some sinister
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  Speaker 1: design of his own? What interest could he have in
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  Speaker 1: persecuting the Baskerville family? I thought of the strange warning
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  Speaker 1: clipped out of the leading article of the Times? Was
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  Speaker 1: that his work? Or was it possibly the doing of
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  Speaker 1: someone who was bent upon counteracting his schemes? The only
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  Speaker 1: conceivable motive was that which had been suggested by Sir Henry,
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  Speaker 1: that if the family could be scared away, a comfortable
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  Speaker 1: and permanent home would be secured for the Barrymoors. But
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  Speaker 1: surely such an explanation as that would be quite inadequate
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  Speaker 1: to account for the deep and subtle scheming which seemed
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  Speaker 1: to be weaving an invisible net round the young baronet.
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  Speaker 1: Holmes himself had said that no more complex case had
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  Speaker 1: come to him in all the long series of his
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  Speaker 1: sensational investigations. I prayed, as I walked back along the gray,
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  Speaker 1: lonely road, that my friend might soon be freed from
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  Speaker 1: his preoccupations and able to come down to take this
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  Speaker 1: heavy burden of responsibilities from my shoulders. Suddenly, my thoughts
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  Speaker 1: were interrupted by the sound of running feet behind me,
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  Speaker 1: and by a voice which called me by name. I turned,
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  Speaker 1: expecting to see doctor Mortimer, but to my surprise, it
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  Speaker 1: was a stranger who was pursuing me. He was a small, slim,
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  Speaker 1: clean shaven, prim faced man, flaxen head and lean jawed,
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  Speaker 1: between thirty and forty years of age, dressed in a
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  Speaker 1: gray suit and wearing a straw hat. A tin box
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  Speaker 1: for botanical specimens hung over his shoulder, and he carried
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  Speaker 1: a green butterfly net in one of his hands. You will,
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  Speaker 1: I am sure, excuse my presumption, doctor Watson, said he
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  Speaker 1: as he came panting up to where I stood here
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  Speaker 1: on the moor. We are homely folk, and do not
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  Speaker 1: wait for formal introductions. You may possibly have heard my
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  Speaker 1: name from our mutual friend Mortimer. I am Stapleton of
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  Speaker 1: Mary pitt House. Your net and box would have told
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  Speaker 1: me as much, said I, for I knew that mister
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  Speaker 1: Stapleton was a naturalist. But how did you know me?
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  Speaker 1: I have been calling on Mortimer, and he pointed you
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  Speaker 1: out to me from the window of his surgery as
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  Speaker 1: you passed, as our road lay the same way, I
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  Speaker 1: thought that I would overtake you and introduce myself. I
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  Speaker 1: trust that Sir Henry is none the worse for his journey.
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  Speaker 1: He is very well, Thank you. We were all rather
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  Speaker 1: afraid that, after the sad death of Sir Charles, the
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  Speaker 1: new baronet might refuse to live here. It is asking
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  Speaker 1: much of a wealthy man to come down and bury
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  Speaker 1: himself in a place of this kind. But I need
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  Speaker 1: not tell you that it means a very great deal
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  Speaker 1: to the countryside. Sir Henry has, I suppose no superstitious
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  Speaker 1: fears in the matter. I do not think that is likely.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, you know the legend of the fiend dog
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  Speaker 1: which haunts the family. I have heard it. It is
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  Speaker 1: extraordinary how credulous the peasants are about here. Any number
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  Speaker 1: of them are ready to swear that they have seen
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  Speaker 1: such a creature upon them. More, he spoke with a
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  Speaker 1: smile that I seemed to read in his eyes eyes
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  Speaker 1: that he took the matter more seriously. The story took
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  Speaker 1: a great hold upon the imagination of Sir Charles, and
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  Speaker 1: I have no doubt that it led to his tragic end.
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  Speaker 1: But how his nerves were so worked up that the
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  Speaker 1: appearance of any dog might have had a fatal effect
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  Speaker 1: upon his diseased heart. I fancied that he really did
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  Speaker 1: see something of the kind. Upon that last day in
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  Speaker 1: the yew alley, I feared that some disaster might occur,
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  Speaker 1: for I was very fond of the old man, and
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  Speaker 1: I knew that his heart was weak. How did you
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  Speaker 1: know that, my friend Mortimer told me? You think then,
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  Speaker 1: that some dog pursued Sir Charles, and that he died
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  Speaker 1: of fright in consequence? Have you any better explanation? I
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  Speaker 1: have not come to any conclusion, as mister Sherlock Holmes.
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  Speaker 1: The words took away my breath for an instant, but
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  Speaker 1: a glance at the placid face and steadfast eyes of
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  Speaker 1: my companion showed that no surprise was intended. It is
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  Speaker 1: useless for us to pretend that we do not know you,
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  Speaker 1: doctor Watson, said he the records of your detective have
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  Speaker 1: reached us here, and you could not celebrate him without
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  Speaker 1: being known yourself. When Mortimer told me your name, he
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  Speaker 1: could not deny your identity. If you are here, then
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  Speaker 1: it follows that mister Sherlock Holmes is interesting himself in
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  Speaker 1: the matter, and I am naturally curious to know what
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  Speaker 1: view he may take. I am afraid that I cannot
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  Speaker 1: answer that question. May I ask if he is going
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  Speaker 1: to honor us with a visit himself. He cannot leave
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  Speaker 1: town at present. He has other cases which engage his attention.
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  Speaker 1: What a pity he might throw some light on that
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  Speaker 1: which is so dark to us. But as to your
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  Speaker 1: own researches, if there is any possible way in which
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  Speaker 1: I can be of service to you, I trust that
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  Speaker 1: you will command me. If I had any indication of
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  Speaker 1: the nature of your suspicions, or how you propose to
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  Speaker 1: investigate the case, I might perhaps even now give you
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  Speaker 1: some aid or advice. I assure you that I am
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  Speaker 1: simply here upon a visit to my friend Sir Henry,
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  Speaker 1: and that I need no help of any kind. Excellent,
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  Speaker 1: said Stapleton. You are perfectly right to be wary and discreet.
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  Speaker 1: I am justly reproved for what I feel was an
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  Speaker 1: unjustifiable intrusion, and I promise you that I will not
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  Speaker 1: mention the matter again. We had come to a point
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  Speaker 1: where a narrow, grassy path struck off from the road
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  Speaker 1: and wound away across the moor. A steep, bolder sprinkled
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  Speaker 1: hill lay upon the right, which had in by gone
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  Speaker 1: days been cut into a granite quarry. The face, which
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  Speaker 1: was turned towards us, formed a dark cliff, with ferns
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  Speaker 1: and brambles growing in its niches. From over a distant
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  Speaker 1: rise there floated a gray plume of smoke. A moderate
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  Speaker 1: walk along this moor path brings us to Merry pit House,
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  Speaker 1: said he, perhaps you will spare an hour that I
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  Speaker 1: may have the pleasure of introducing you to my sister.
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  Speaker 1: My first thought was that I should be by Sir
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  Speaker 1: Henry's side, but then I remembered the pile of papers
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  Speaker 1: and bills with which his study table was littered. It
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  Speaker 1: was certain that I could not help with those, and
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  Speaker 1: Holmes had expressly said that I should study the neighbors
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  Speaker 1: upon the moor. I accepted Stapleton's invitation, and we turned
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  Speaker 1: together down the path. It is a wonderful place the more,
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  Speaker 1: said he, looking round over the undulating downs, long green
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  Speaker 1: rollers with crests of jagged granite foaming up into fantastic surges.
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  Speaker 1: You never tire of the more. You cannot think the
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  Speaker 1: wonderful secrets which it contains. It is so vast and
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  Speaker 1: so barren and so mysterious. You know it well? Then,
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  Speaker 1: I have only been here two years. The residents would
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  Speaker 1: call me a new comer. We came shortly after Sir
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  Speaker 1: Charles settled. But my tastes led me to explore every
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  Speaker 1: part of the country round. And I should think that
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  Speaker 1: there are few men who know it better than I do.
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  Speaker 1: Is it hard to know? Very hard? You see, for example,
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  Speaker 1: this great plain to the north here, with the Queer
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  Speaker 1: hills breaking out of it. Do you observe anything remarkable
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  Speaker 1: about that? It would be a rare place for a gallop,
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  Speaker 1: You would naturally think so, and the thought has cost
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  Speaker 1: several of their lives before. Now you notice those bright
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  Speaker 1: green spots scattered thickly over it. Yes, they seem more
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  Speaker 1: fertile than the rest. Stapleton laughed. That is the great
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  Speaker 1: grimpen mire, said he. A false step yonder means death
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  Speaker 1: to man. Or beast. Only yesterday I saw one of
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  Speaker 1: the more ponies wander into it. He never came out.
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  Speaker 1: I saw his head for quite a long time, craning
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  Speaker 1: out of the bog hole, but it sucked him down
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  Speaker 1: at last. Even in dry seasons it is a danger
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  Speaker 1: to cross it. But after these autumn rains it is
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  Speaker 1: an awful place. And yet I can find my way
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  Speaker 1: to the very heart of it and return alive. By George,
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  Speaker 1: there is another of those miserable ponies. Something brown was
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  Speaker 1: rolling and tossing among the green sedges. Then a long, agonized,
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  Speaker 1: writhing neck shot upward, and a dreadful cry echoed over
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  Speaker 1: the moor. It turned me cold with horror, But my
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  Speaker 1: companion's nerves seemed to be stronger than mine. It's gone,
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  Speaker 1: said he. The mire has him two in two days,
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  Speaker 1: and many more perhaps, for they get in the way
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  Speaker 1: of going there in the dry weather and never know
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  Speaker 1: the difference until the meyre has them in its clutches.
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  Speaker 1: It's a bad place, the great grimpen mire. And you
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  Speaker 1: say you can penetrate it. Yes, there are one or
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  Speaker 1: two paths which a very active man can take. I
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  Speaker 1: have found them out. But why should you wish to
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  Speaker 1: go into so horrible a place. Well, you see the
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  Speaker 1: hills beyond. They are really islands, cut off on all
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: sides by the impassable mire which has crawled round them
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  Speaker 1: in the course of years. That is where the rare
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  Speaker 1: plants and the butterflies are. If you have the wit
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  Speaker 1: to reach them, I shall try my luck some day.
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  Speaker 1: He looked at me with a surprised face. For God's sake,
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: puts such an eye out of your mind, said he,
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  Speaker 1: Your blood would be upon my head. I assure you
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  Speaker 1: that there would not be the least chance of your
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  Speaker 1: coming back alive. It is only by remembering certain complex
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  Speaker 1: landmarks that I am able to do it. Hallo, I cried,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: what is that? A long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept
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  Speaker 1: over the moor. It filled the whole air, and yet
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  Speaker 1: it was impossible to say whence it came? From a
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  Speaker 1: dull murmur. It swelled into a deep roar, and then
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: sank back into a melancholy, throbbing murmur. Once again, Stapleton
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: looked at me with a curious expression in his face.
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  Speaker 1: Queer place the more, said he, But what is it?
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  Speaker 1: The peasants say it is the hound of the Baskervilles
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  Speaker 1: calling for its prey. I've heard it once or twice before,
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  Speaker 1: but never quite so loud. I looked round with a
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: chill of fear in my heart that the huge swelling
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: plane mottled with the green patter of rushes. Nothing stirred
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  Speaker 1: over the vast expanse, save a pair of ravens, which
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  Speaker 1: croaked loudly from a tour behind us. You are an
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  Speaker 1: educated man. You don't believe such nonsense as that said?
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: I What do you think is the cause of so
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  Speaker 1: strange a sound? Bogs make queer noises. Sometimes it's the
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: mud settling, or the water rising or something. No, no,
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  Speaker 1: that was a living voice. Well perhaps it was. Did
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: you ever hear a bitten booming? No? I never did.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: It's a very rare bird, practically extinct in England now.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: But all things are possible upon the moor. Yes, I
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: should not be surprised to learn that what we have
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: heard is the cry of the last of the bittens.
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  Speaker 1: It's the weirdest, strangest thing that ever I heard in
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  Speaker 1: my life. Yes, it's rather an uncanny place altogether. Look
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: at the hillside yonder, What do you make of those?
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: The whole steep slope was covered with gray circular rings
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: of stone, a score of them at least. What are
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: they sheep pens? No, they are the homes of our
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: worthy ancestors. Prehistoric man lived thickly on the moor, and
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: as no one in particular has lived there since, we
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: find all his little arrangements exactly as he left them.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: These are his wigwams, with the roofs aft. You can
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: even see his hearth and his couch if you have
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: the curiosity to go inside. But it is quite a town.
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  Speaker 1: When was it inhabited Neolithic man? No date? What did
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: he do? He grazed his cattle on these slopes, and
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: he learned to dig for tin when the bronze sword
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: began to supersede the stone axe. Look at the great
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: trench in the opposite hill. That is his mark. Yes,
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: you will find some very singular points about the moor,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: Doctor Watson, Oh, excuse me an instant, it is surely cyclopades.
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  Speaker 1: A small fly or moth had fluttered across our path,
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  Speaker 1: and in an instant Stapleton was rushing with extraordinary energy
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  Speaker 1: and speed in pursuit of it. To my dismay, the
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  Speaker 1: creature flew straight for the great mire, and my acquaintance
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  Speaker 1: never paused for an instant, bounding from tuft to tuft
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  Speaker 1: behind it, his green net waving in the air, his
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  Speaker 1: gray clothes and jerky zigzag irregular progress made him not
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  Speaker 1: unlike some huge moth himself. I was standing watching his pursuit,
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  Speaker 1: with a mixture of admiration for his extraordinary activity, and
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  Speaker 1: fear lest he should lose his footing in the treacherous mire,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: when I heard the sound of steps, and turning round,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: found a woman near me upon the path. She had
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: come from the direction in which the plume of smoke
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  Speaker 1: indicated the position of Mary pitt House, but the dip
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  Speaker 1: of the moor had hid her until she was quite close.
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  Speaker 1: I could not doubt that this was the miss Stapleton
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  Speaker 1: of whom I had been told, since ladies of any
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  Speaker 1: sort must be few upon the moor, and I remembered
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  Speaker 1: that I had heard someone describe her as being a beauty.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: The woman who approached me was certainly that, and of
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  Speaker 1: a most uncommon type. There could not have been a
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: greater contrast between brother and sister, for Stapleton was neutral, tinted,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: with light hair and gray eyes, while she was darker
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  Speaker 1: than any brunette whom I have seen in England, Slim,
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  Speaker 1: elegant and tall. She had a proud, finely cut face,
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  Speaker 1: so regular that it might have seemed impassive were it
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  Speaker 1: not for the sensitive mouth and the beautiful, dark, eager eyes.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: With her perfect figure and elegant dress, she was indeed
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: a strange apparition upon a lonely Moorland path. Her eyes
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: were on her brother as I turned, and then she
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: quickened her pace towards me. I had raised my hat
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: and was about to make some explanatory remark when her
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: own words turned all my thoughts into a new channel.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Go back, she said, go straight back to London. Instantly,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: I could only stare at her in stupid surprise. Her
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: eyes blazed at me, and she tapped the ground impatiently
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: with her foot. Why should I go back, I asked,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: I cannot explain, she spoke in a low, eager voice,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: with a curious lisp in her utterance. But for God's sake,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: do what I ask you. Go back and never set
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: foot upon the moor again. But I've only just come, man, man,
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: she cried, Can you not tell when a warning is
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: for your own good? Go? Back to London. Start to night.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: Get away from this place at all costs. Hush, my
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: brother is coming. Not a word of what I have said?
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: Would you mind getting that orchid for me? Among the
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: Mayor's tales yonder, we are very rich in orchids on
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: the mo or, though, of course you are rather late
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: to see the beauties of the place. Stapleton had abandoned
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: the chase and came back to us, breathing hard and
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: flushed with his exertions. Hello, Beryl, said he, and it
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: seemed to me that the tone of his greeting was
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: not altogether a cordial one. Well, Jack, you are very hot. Yes,
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: I was chasing a cyclopadies. He is very rare and
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: seldom found in the late autumn. What a pity that
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: I should have missed him, he spoke unconcernedly, but his
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: small light eyes glanced incessantly from the girl to me.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: You have introduced yourselves, I can see. Yet I was
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: telling Sir Henry that it was rather late for him
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: to see the true beauties of the more. Why who
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: do you think this is? I imagine that it must be
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Sir Henry Baskerville. No, no, said I, only a humble commoner,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: but his friend my name is doctor Watson. A flush
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: of vexation passed over her expressive face. We have been
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: talking at cross purposes, said she. Why you have not
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: very much time for talk? Her brother remarked with the
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: same questioning eyes. I talked as if doctor Watson were
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: a resident instead of being merely a visitor, said she.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: It cannot much matter to him whether it is early
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: or late for the orchids. But you will come on,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: will you not, and see Mery Pitt House. A short
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: walk brought us to it, a bleak moorland house, once
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: the farm of some grazier in the old prosperous days,
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: but now put into repair and turned into a modern dwelling.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: An orchard surrounded it, but the trees, as is usual
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: upon the moor, were stunted and nipped. The effect of
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: the whole place was mean and melancholy. We were admitted
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: by a strange, wizened, rusty coated old man servant, who
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: seemed in keeping with the house. Inside, however, there were
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: large rooms furnished with an elegance in which I seemed
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: to recognize the taste of the lady as I looked
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: from their windows At the interminable granite flecked moor, rolling
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: unbroken to the farthest horizon. I could not but marvel
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: at what could have brought this highly educated man and
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: this beautiful woman to live in such a place. Queer
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: spart to choose, is it not, said he, as if
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: in answer to my thought? And yet we manage to
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: make ourselves fairly happy, do we not? Beryl quite happy?
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: Said she, But there was no ring of conviction in
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: her words. I had a school, said Stapleton. It was
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: in the north country. The work, to a man of
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: my temperament, was mechanical and uninteresting, But the privilege of
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: living with youth, of helping to mold those young minds,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: and of impressing them with one's own character and ideals,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: was very dear to me. However, the fates were against us.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: Serious epidemic broke out in the school, and three of
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: the boys died. It never recovered from the blow, and
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: much of my capital was irretrievably swallowed up. And yet,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: if it were not for the loss of the charming
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: companionship of the boys, I could rejoice over my own misfortune, For,
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: with my strong tastes for botany and zoology. I find
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: an unlimited field of work here, and my sister is
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: as devoted to nature as I am. All this, doctor Watson,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: has been brought upon your head by your expression as
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: you surveyed the moor out of our window. It certainly
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: did cross my mind that it might be a little
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: dull less for you, perhaps than for your sister. No, no,
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: I am never dull, said she quickly. We have books,
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: we have our studies, and we have interesting neighbors. Doctor
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Mortimer is a most learned man in his own line,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: who as a child was also an admirable companion. We
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: knew him well and missed him more than I can tell.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: Do you think that I should intrude if I were
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: to call this afternoon and make the acquaintance of Sir Henry.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: I'm sure that he would be delighted. Then perhaps you
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: would mention that I proposed to do. So we may,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: in our humble way, do something to make things more
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: easy for him until he becomes accustomed to his new surroundings.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: Will you come upstairs, doctor Watson, and inspect my collection
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: of lepidoptera. I think it is the most complete one
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: in the Southwest of England by the time that you
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: have looked through them, lunch will be almost ready. But
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: I was eager to get back to my charge. The
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: melancholy of the more, the death of the unfortunate pony,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: the weird sound which had been associated with the grim
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: legend of the Baskervilles. All these things tinged my thoughts
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: with sadness. Then on the top of these more or
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: less vague impressions, there had come the definite and distinct
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: warning of Miss Stapleton, delivered with such intense earnestness that
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: I could not doubt that some grave and deep reason
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: lay behind it. I resisted all pressure to stay for lunch,
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: and I set off at once upon my return journey,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: taking the grass grown path by which we had come.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: It seems, however, that there must have been some short
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: cut for those who knew it, for before I had
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: reached the road, I was astounded to see Miss Stapleton
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: sitting upon a rock by the side of the track.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: Her face was beautifully flushed with her exertions, and she
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: held her hand to her side. I have run all
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: the way in order to cut you off, doctor Watson,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: said she. I had not even time to put on
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: my hat. I must not stop, or my brother may
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: miss me. I wanted to say to you how sorry
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: I am about the stupid mistake I made in thinking
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: that you were Sir Henry. Please forget the words I said,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: which have no application whatever to you. But I can't
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: forget the Miss Stapleton said. I I am Sir Henry's friend,
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: and his welfare is a very close concern of mine.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: Tell me why it was that you were so eager
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: that Sir Henry should return to London. A woman's whim,
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: Doctor Watson. When you know me better, you will understand
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: that I cannot always give reasons for what I say
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: or do. No. No, I remember the thrill in your voice,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: I remember the look in your eyes. Please please be
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: frank with me, Miss Stapleton. For ever since I have
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: been here, I have been conscious of shadows all round me.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: Life has become like that great grimpen mire with little
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: green patches everywhere into which one may sink, and with
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: no guide to point the track. Tell me then, what
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: it was that you meant, and I will promise to
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: convey your warning to Sir Henry. An expression of irresolution
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: passed for an instant over her face, but her eyes
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: had hardened again when she answered me, you make two
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: much of it. Doctor Watson said she, my brother and
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: I were very much shocked by the death of Sir Charles.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: We knew him very intimately, for his favorite walk was
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: over the moor to our house. He was deeply impressed
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: with the curse which hung over the family, and when
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: this tragedy came, I naturally felt that there must be
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: some grounds for the fears which he had expressed. I
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: was distressed therefore when another member of the family came
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: down to live here, and I felt that he should
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: be warned of the danger which he will run. That
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: was all which I intended to convey. But what is
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: the danger? You know the story of the hound. I
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: do not believe in such nonsense, but I do if
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: you have any influence with Sir Henry, take him away
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: from a place which has always been fatal to his family.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: The world is wide. Why should he wish to live
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: at the place of danger? Because it is the place
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: of danger that is Sir Henry's nature. I fear that
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: unless you can give me some more definite information than this,
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: it would be impossible to get him to move. I
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: cannot say anything definite for I do not know anything definite.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: I would ask you one more question, Miss Stapleton, If
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: you meant no more than this when you first spoke
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: to me, why should you not wish your brother to
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: overhear what you said. There is nothing to which he
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: or any one else could object. My brother is very
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: anxious to have the hall inhabited, for he thinks it
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: is for the good of the poor folk upon the moor.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: He would be very angry if he knew that I
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: had said anything which might induce Sir Henry to go away.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: But I have done my duty now, and I will
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: say no more. I must go back, or he will
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: miss me and suspect that I have seen you. Good Bye.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: She turned and had disappeared in a few minutes among
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: the scattered boulders, while I, with my soul full of
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: vague fears, pursued my way to Baskerville Hall.