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sir charles had the reputation of being rich but we did not know how very rich he was until we came to examine his securities . the total value of the estate was close on to a million .
dear me ! it is a stake for which a man might well play a desperate game . and one more question dr . mortimer . supposing that anything happened to our young friend hereyou will forgive the unpleasant hypothesis ! who would inherit the estate ?
since rodger baskerville sir charless younger brother died unmarried the estate would descend to the desmonds who are distant cousins . james desmond is an elderly clergyman in westmoreland .
thank you . these details are all of great interest . have you met mr . james desmond ?
yes he once came down to visit sir charles . he is a man of venerable appearance and of saintly life . i remember that he refused to accept any settlement from sir charles though he pressed it upon him .
and this man of simple tastes would be the heir to sir charless thousands .
he would be the heir to the estate because that is entailed . he would also be the heir to the money unless it were willed otherwise by the present owner who can of course do what he likes with it .
and have you made your will sir henry ?
no mr . holmes i have not . ive had no time for it was only yesterday that i learned how matters stood . but in any case i feel that the money should go with the title and estate . that was my poor uncles idea . how is the owner going to restore the glories of the baskervilles if he has not money enough to keep up the property ? house land and dollars must go together .
quite so . well sir henry i am of one mind with you as to the advisability of your going down to devonshire without delay . there is only one provision which i must make . you certainly must not go alone .
dr . mortimer returns with me .
but dr . mortimer has his practice to attend to and his house is miles away from yours . with all the goodwill in the world he may be unable to help you . no sir henry you must take with you someone a trusty man who will be always by your side .
is it possible that you could come yourself mr . holmes ?
if matters came to a crisis i should endeavour to be present in person but you can understand that with my extensive consulting practice and with the constant appeals which reach me from many quarters it is impossible for me to be absent from london for an indefinite time . at the present instant one of the most revered names in england is being besmirched by a blackmailer and only i can stop a disastrous scandal . you will see how impossible it is for me to go to dartmoor .
whom would you recommend then ?
if my friend would undertake it there is no man who is better worth having at your side when you are in a tight place . no one can say so more confidently than i .
i will come with pleasure i do not know how i could employ my time better .
and you will report very carefully to me when a crisis comes as it will do i will direct how you shall act . i suppose that by saturday all might be ready ?
would that suit dr . watson ?
perfectly .
then on saturday unless you hear to the contrary we shall meet at the tenthirty train from paddington .
my missing boot !
may all our difficulties vanish as easily !
but it is a very singular thing i searched this room carefully before lunch .
and so did i every inch of it .
there was certainly no boot in it then .
in that case the waiter must have placed it there while we were lunching .
there go two of my threads watson . there is nothing more stimulating than a case where everything goes against you . we must cast round for another scent .
we have still the cabman who drove the spy .
exactly . i have wired to get his name and address from the official registry . i should not be surprised if this were an answer to my question .
i got a message from the head office that a gent at this address had been inquiring for no . 2704 ive driven my cab this seven years and never a word of complaint . i came here straight from the yard to ask you to your face what you had against me .
i have nothing in the world against you my good man on the contrary i have half a sovereign for you if you will give me a clear answer to my questions .
well ive had a good day and no mistake what was it you wanted to ask sir ?
first of all your name and address in case i want you again .
john clayton 3 turpey street the borough . my cab is out of shipleys yard near waterloo station .
now clayton tell me all about the fare who came and watched this house at ten oclock this morning and afterwards followed the two gentlemen down regent street .
why theres no good my telling you things for you seem to know as much as i do already the truth is that the gentleman told me that he was a detective and that i was to say nothing about him to anyone .
my good fellow this is a very serious business and you may find yourself in a pretty bad position if you try to hide anything from me . you say that your fare told you that he was a detective ?
yes he did .
when did he say this ?
when he left me .
did he say anything more ?
he mentioned his name .
oh he mentioned his name did he ? that was imprudent . what was the name that he mentioned ?
his name was mr . sherlock holmes .
a touch watsonan undeniable touch ! i feel a foil as quick and supple as my own . he got home upon me very prettily that time . so his name was sherlock holmes was it ?
yes sir that was the gentlemans name .
excellent ! tell me where you picked him up and all that occurred .
he hailed me at halfpast nine in trafalgar square . he said that he was a detective and he offered me two guineas if i would do exactly what he wanted all day and ask no questions . i was glad enough to agree . first we drove down to the northumberland hotel and waited there until two gentlemen came out and took a cab from the rank . we followed their cab until it pulled up somewhere near here .
this very door
well i couldnt be sure of that but i dare say my fare knew all about it . we pulled up halfway down the street and waited an hour and a half . then the two gentlemen passed us walking and we followed down baker street and along
i know
until we got threequarters down regent street . then my gentleman threw up the trap and he cried that i should drive right away to waterloo station as hard as i could go . i whipped up the mare and we were there under the ten minutes . then he paid up his two guineas like a good one and away he went into the station . only just as he was leaving he turned round and he said it might interest you to know that you have been driving mr . sherlock holmes . thats how i come to know the name .
i see . and you saw no more of him ?
not after he went into the station .
and how would you describe mr . sherlock holmes ?
well he wasnt altogether such an easy gentleman to describe . id put him at forty years of age and he was of a middle height two or three inches shorter than you sir . he was dressed like a toff and he had a black beard cut square at the end and a pale face . i dont know as i could say more than that .
colour of his eyes ?
no i cant say that .
nothing more that you can remember ?
no sir nothing .
well then here is your halfsovereign . theres another one waiting for you if you can bring any more information . goodnight !
goodnight sir and thank you !
snap goes our third thread and we end where we began the cunning rascal ! he knew our number knew that sir henry baskerville had consulted me spotted who i was in regent street conjectured that i had got the number of the cab and would lay my hands on the driver and so sent back this audacious message . i tell you watson this time we have got a foeman who is worthy of our steel . ive been checkmated in london . i can only wish you better luck in devonshire . but im not easy in my mind about it .
about what ?
about sending you . its an ugly business watson an ugly dangerous business and the more i see of it the less i like it . yes my dear fellow you may laugh but i give you my word that i shall be very glad to have you back safe and sound in baker street once more .
i will not bias your mind by suggesting theories or suspicions watson i wish you simply to report facts in the fullest possible manner to me and you can leave me to do the theorizing .
what sort of facts ?
i will do my best .
you have arms i suppose ?
yes i thought it as well to take them .
most certainly . keep your revolver near you night and day and never relax your precautions .
no we have no news of any kind i can swear to one thing and that is that we have not been shadowed during the last two days . we have never gone out without keeping a sharp watch and no one could have escaped our notice .
you have always kept together i presume ?
except yesterday afternoon . i usually give up one day to pure amusement when i come to town so i spent it at the museum of the college of surgeons .
and i went to look at the folk in the park
but we had no trouble of any kind .
it was imprudent all the same i beg sir henry that you will not go about alone . some great misfortune will befall you if you do . did you get your other boot ?
no sir it is gone forever .
indeed . that is very interesting . well goodbye bear in mind sir henry one of the phrases in that queer old legend which dr . mortimer has read to us and avoid the moor in those hours of darkness when the powers of evil are exalted .
ive been over a good part of the world since i left it dr . watson but i have never seen a place to compare with it .
i never saw a devonshire man who did not swear by his county
it depends upon the breed of men quite as much as on the county a glance at our friend here reveals the rounded head of the celt which carries inside it the celtic enthusiasm and power of attachment . poor sir charless head was of a very rare type half gaelic half ivernian in its characteristics . but you were very young when you last saw baskerville hall were you not ?
i was a boy in my teens at the time of my fathers death and had never seen the hall for he lived in a little cottage on the south coast . thence i went straight to a friend in america . i tell you it is all as new to me as it is to dr . watson and im as keen as possible to see the moor .
are you ? then your wish is easily granted for there is your first sight of the moor
what is this perkins ?
theres a convict escaped from princetown sir . hes been out three days now and the warders watch every road and every station but theyve had no sight of him yet . the farmers about here dont like it sir and thats a fact .
well i understand that they get five pounds if they can give information .
yes sir but the chance of five pounds is but a poor thing compared to the chance of having your throat cut . you see it isnt like any ordinary convict . this is a man that would stick at nothing .
who is he then ?
it is selden the notting hill murderer .