The Hound of the Baskervilles Part 19 (1/2)
”It rose and fell with the wind Isn't that the direction of the great Grimpen Mire?”
”Yes, it is”
”Well, it was up there Come now, Watson, didn't you think yourself that it was the cry of a hound? I am not a child You need not fear to speak the truth”
”Stapleton ithof a strange bird”
”No, no, it was a hound My God, can there be some truth in all these stories? Is it possible that I aer from so dark a cause?
You don't believe it, do you, Watson?”
”No, no”
”And yet it was one thing to laugh about it in London, and it is another to stand out here in the darkness of the moor and to hear such a cry as that And my uncle! There was the footprint of the hound beside hiether I don't think that I am a coward, Watson, but that sound seemed to freeze my very blood Feel my hand!”
It was as cold as a block of ht toet that cry out of my head What do you advise that we do now?”
”Shall we turn back?”
”No, by thunder; we have coet our man, and ill do it We after the convict, and a hell-hound, as likely as not, after us Coh if all the fiends of the pit were loose upon thein the darkness, with the black looht burning steadily in front There is nothing so deceptive as the distance of a light upon a pitch-dark night, and solimmer seeht have been within a few yards of us
But at last we could see whence it cauttering candle was stuck in a crevice of the rocks which flanked it on each side so as to keep the wind fro visible, save in the direction of Baskerville Hall A boulder of granite concealed our approach, and crouching behind it we gazed over it at the signal light It was strange to see this single candle burning there in the n of life near it--just the one straight yellow flaleam of the rock on each side of it
”What shall we do nohispered Sir Henry
”Wait here He limpse of him”
The words were hardly out of my mouth e both saw him Over the rocks, in the crevice of which the candle burned, there was thrust out an evil yellow face, a terrible animal face, all seamed and scored with vile passions Foul withwith ed to one of those old savages elt in the burrows on the hillsides The light beneath hi eyes which peered fiercely to right and left through the darkness like a crafty and savage ani had evidently aroused his suspicions It nal which we had neglected to give, or the fellowthat all was not well, but I could read his fears upon his wicked face Any instant heforward therefore, and Sir Henry did the same At the same moment the convict screaainst the boulder which had sheltered us I caught one gli to his feet and turned to run
At the sah the clouds
We rushed over the brow of the hill, and there was ourover the stones in his ith the activity of a ht have crippled hiht it only to defend myself if attacked and not to shoot an unar away
We were both swift runners and in fairly good training, but we soon found that we had no chance of overtaking hiht until he was only a s the boulders upon the side of a distant hill We ran and ran until ere corew ever wider
Finally we stopped and sat panting on two rocks, while atched hi in the distance
And it was at thisWe had risen fro abandoned the hopeless chase The ranite tor stood up against the lower curve of its silver disc There, outlined as black as an ebony statue on that shi+ning background, I saw the figure of a man upon the tor Do not think that it was a delusion, Hol ure was that of a tall, thin s a little separated, his ar over that enorranite which lay before hiht have been the very spirit of that terrible place
It was not the convict This man was far from the place where the latter had disappeared Besides, he was a much taller man With a cry of surprise I pointed hi which I had turned to grasp his arranite still cutting the lower edge of the moon, but its peak bore no trace of that silent and o in that direction and to search the tor, but it was so from that cry, which recalled the dark story of his family, and he was not in the mood for fresh adventures He had not seen this lonely man upon the tor and could not feel the thrill which his strange presence and his coiven to me ”A warder, no doubt,” said he ”The moor has been thick with them since this fellow escaped” Well, perhaps his explanation ht one, but I should like to have some further proof of it Today we mean to communicate to the Princetown people where they should look for theirman, but it is hard lines that we have not actually had the triu him back as our own prisoner Such are the adventures of last night, and you e, my dear Holmes, that I have done you very well in the matter of a report Much of what I tell you is no doubt quite irrelevant, but still I feel that it is best that I should let you have all the facts and leave you to select for yourself those which will be ofyou to your conclusions We are certainly o we have found the motive of their actions, and that has cleared up the situation very e inhabitants remains as inscrutable as ever Perhaps in ht upon this also Best of all would it be if you could coain in the course of the next few days