The Hound of the Baskervilles Part 18 (1/2)
”And you go in disgrace By thunder, you may well be ashamed of yourself Your family has lived with mine for over a hundred years under this roof, and here I find you deep in soainst you!” It was a woman's voice, and Mrs
Barrymore, paler andat the door Her bulky figure in a shawl and skirtupon her face
”We have to go, Eliza This is the end of it You can pack our things,”
said the butler
”Oh, John, John, have I brought you to this? It isexcept for my sake and because I asked him”
”Speak out, then! What does iton the ht is a signal to hiht out yonder is to show the spot to which to bring it”
”Then your brother is--”
”The escaped convict, sir--Selden, the criminal”
”That's the truth, sir,” said Barrymore ”I said that it was not my secret and that I could not tell it to you But now you have heard it, and you will see that if there was a plot it was not against you”
This, then, was the explanation of the stealthy expeditions at night and the light at theSir Henry and I both stared at the woman in amazement Was it possible that this stolidly respectable person was of the same blood as one of the most notorious criminals in the country?
”Yes, sir, er brother We huave hi until he came to think that the world was made for his pleasure, and that he could do what he liked in it Then as he grew older he met wicked companions, and the devil entered into hied our name in the dirt From crime to crime he sank lower and lower until it is only the mercy of God which has snatched him from the scaffold; but to me, sir, he was always the little curly-headed boy that I had nursed and played with as an elder sister would That hy he broke prison, sir He knew that I was here and that we could not refuse to help hi, with the warders hard at his heels, what could we do? We took him in and fed him and cared for hiht he would be safer on the moor than anywhere else until the hue and cry was over, so he lay in hiding there
But every second night we ht in the , and if there was an answer my husband took out soone, but as long as he was there we could not desert him That is the whole truth, as I am an honest Christian woman and you will see that if there is blame in the matter it does not lie with my husband but with me, for whose sake he has done all that he has”
The woman's words came with an intense earnestness which carried conviction with them
”Is this true, Barrymore?”
”Yes, Sir Henry Every word of it”
”Well, I cannot blaet what I have said Go to your room, you two, and we shall talk further about this one we looked out of theagain Sir Henry had flung it open, and the cold night wind beat in upon our faces Far away in the black distance there still glowed that one tiny point of yellow light
”I wonder he dares,” said Sir Henry
”It may be so placed as to be only visible from here”
”Very likely How far do you think it is?”
”Out by the Cleft Tor, I think”
”Not more than a mile or two off”
”Hardly that”
”Well, it cannot be far if Barry, this villain, beside that candle By thunder, Watson, I aht had crossed my own mind It was not as if the Barrymores had taken us into their confidence Their secret had been forced froated scoundrel for who our duty in taking this chance of putting him back where he could do no harm With his brutal and violent nature, others would have to pay the price if we held our hands Any night, for exaht be attacked by hiht of this which made Sir Henry so keen upon the adventure