Datasets:

willwade

/

Gutenberg-dialog-en

like 0

no .

damp and raw .

but not actually raining ?

no .

what is the alley like ?

there are two lines of old yew hedge twelve feet high and impenetrable . the walk in the centre is about eight feet across .

is there anything between the hedges and the walk ?

yes there is a strip of grass about six feet broad on either side .

i understand that the yew hedge is penetrated at one point by a gate ?

yes the wicketgate which leads on to the moor .

is there any other opening ?

none .

so that to reach the yew alley one either has to come down it from the house or else to enter it by the moorgate ?

there is an exit through a summerhouse at the far end .

had sir charles reached this ?

no he lay about fifty yards from it .

now tell me dr . mortimerand this is importantthe marks which you saw were on the path and not on the grass ?

no marks could show on the grass .

were they on the same side of the path as the moorgate ?

yes they were on the edge of the path on the same side as the moorgate .

you interest me exceedingly . another point . was the wicketgate closed ?

closed and padlocked .

how high was it ?

about four feet high .

then anyone could have got over it ?

yes .

and what marks did you see by the wicketgate ?

none in particular .

good heaven ! did no one examine ?

yes i examined myself .

and found nothing ?

it was all very confused . sir charles had evidently stood there for five or ten minutes .

how do you know that ?

because the ash had twice dropped from his cigar .

excellent ! this is a colleague watson after our own heart . but the marks ?

he had left his own marks all over that small patch of gravel . i could discern no others .

if i had only been there ! it is evidently a case of extraordinary interest and one which presented immense opportunities to the scientific expert . that gravel page upon which i might have read so much has been long ere this smudged by the rain and defaced by the clogs of curious peasants . oh dr . mortimer dr . mortimer to think that you should not have called me in ! you have indeed much to answer for .

i could not call you in mr . holmes without disclosing these facts to the world and i have already given my reasons for not wishing to do so . besides besides

why do you hesitate ?

there is a realm in which the most acute and most experienced of detectives is helpless .

you mean that the thing is supernatural ?

i did not positively say so .

no but you evidently think it .

since the tragedy mr . holmes there have come to my ears several incidents which are hard to reconcile with the settled order of nature .

for example ?

and you a trained man of science believe it to be supernatural ?

i do not know what to believe .

i have hitherto confined my investigations to this world in a modest way i have combated evil but to take on the father of evil himself would perhaps be too ambitious a task . yet you must admit that the footmark is material .

the original hound was material enough to tug a mans throat out and yet he was diabolical as well .

i see that you have quite gone over to the supernaturalists . but now dr . mortimer tell me this . if you hold these views why have you come to consult me at all ? you tell me in the same breath that it is useless to investigate sir charless death and that you desire me to do it .

i did not say that i desired you to do it .

then how can i assist you ?

by advising me as to what i should do with sir henry baskerville who arrives at waterloo station in exactly one hour and a quarter .

he being the heir ?

yes . on the death of sir charles we inquired for this young gentleman and found that he had been farming in canada . from the accounts which have reached us he is an excellent fellow in every way . i speak now not as a medical man but as a trustee and executor of sir charless will .

there is no other claimant i presume ?

put into plain words the matter is this in your opinion there is a diabolical agency which makes dartmoor an unsafe abode for a baskervillethat is your opinion ?

at least i might go the length of saying that there is some evidence that this may be so .

exactly . but surely if your supernatural theory be correct it could work the young man evil in london as easily as in devonshire . a devil with merely local powers like a parish vestry would be too inconceivable a thing .

you put the matter more flippantly mr . holmes than you would probably do if you were brought into personal contact with these things . your advice then as i understand it is that the young man will be as safe in devonshire as in london . he comes in fifty minutes . what would you recommend ?

i recommend sir that you take a cab call off your spaniel who is scratching at my front door and proceed to waterloo to meet sir henry baskerville .

and then ?

and then you will say nothing to him at all until i have made up my mind about the matter .

how long will it take you to make up your mind ?

twentyfour hours . at ten oclock tomorrow dr . mortimer i will be much obliged to you if you will call upon me here and it will be of help to me in my plans for the future if you will bring sir henry baskerville with you .

i will do so mr . holmes .

only one more question dr . mortimer . you say that before sir charles baskervilles death several people saw this apparition upon the moor ?

three people did .

did any see it after ?

i have not heard of any .

thank you . goodmorning .

going out watson ?

unless i can help you .

no my dear fellow it is at the hour of action that i turn to you for aid . but this is splendid really unique from some points of view . when you pass bradleys would you ask him to send up a pound of the strongest shag tobacco ? thank you . it would be as well if you could make it convenient not to return before evening . then i should be very glad to compare impressions as to this most interesting problem which has been submitted to us this morning .

caught cold watson ?

no its this poisonous atmosphere .

i suppose it is pretty thick now that you mention it .

thick ! it is intolerable .

open the window then ! you have been at your club all day i perceive .

my dear holmes !

am i right ?

certainly but how ?

there is a delightful freshness about you watson which makes it a pleasure to exercise any small powers which i possess at your expense . a gentleman goes forth on a showery and miry day . he returns immaculate in the evening with the gloss still on his hat and his boots . he has been a fixture therefore all day . he is not a man with intimate friends . where then could he have been ? is it not obvious ?

well it is rather obvious .

the world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes . where do you think that i have been ?

a fixture also .

on the contrary i have been to devonshire .

in spirit ?

exactly . my body has remained in this armchair and has i regret to observe consumed in my absence two large pots of coffee and an incredible amount of tobacco . after you left i sent down to stamfords for the ordnance map of this portion of the moor and my spirit has hovered over it all day . i flatter myself that i could find my way about .

a largescale map i presume ?

very large .

here you have the particular district which concerns us . that is baskerville hall in the middle .

with a wood round it ?

it must be a wild place .

yes the setting is a worthy one . if the devil did desire to have a hand in the affairs of men