Essential Novelists - Arthur Conan Doyle. Arthur Conan Doyle

blast the man who

      said them. At last in the stress of her fear she did that

      which might have daunted the bravest or most active man,

      for by the aid of the growth of ivy which covered (and

      still covers) the south wall she came down from under the

      eaves, and so homeward across the moor, there being three

      leagues betwixt the Hall and her father’s farm.

      “It chanced that some little time later Hugo left his

      guests to carry food and drink—with other worse things,

      perchance—to his captive, and so found the cage empty

      and the bird escaped. Then, as it would seem, he became

      as one that hath a devil, for, rushing down the stairs

      into the dining-hall, he sprang upon the great table,

      flagons and trenchers flying before him, and he cried

      aloud before all the company that he would that very

      night render his body and soul to the Powers of Evil if

      he might but overtake the wench. And while the revellers

      stood aghast at the fury of the man, one more wicked or,

      it may be, more drunken than the rest, cried out that

      they should put the hounds upon her. Whereat Hugo ran

      from the house, crying to his grooms that they should

      saddle his mare and unkennel the pack, and giving the

      hounds a kerchief of the maid’s, he swung them to the

      line, and so off full cry in the moonlight over the moor.

      “Now, for some space the revellers stood agape, unable

      to understand all that had been done in such haste. But

      anon their bemused wits awoke to the nature of the deed

      which was like to be done upon the moorlands. Everything

      was now in an uproar, some calling for their pistols,

      some for their horses, and some for another flask of

      wine. But at length some sense came back to their crazed

      minds, and the whole of them, thirteen in number, took

      horse and started in pursuit. The moon shone clear above

      them, and they rode swiftly abreast, taking that course

      which the maid must needs have taken if she were to reach

      her own home.

      “They had gone a mile or two when they passed one of the

      night shepherds upon the moorlands, and they cried to

      him to know if he had seen the hunt. And the man, as

      the story goes, was so crazed with fear that he could

      scarce speak, but at last he said that he had indeed seen

      the unhappy maiden, with the hounds upon her track. ‘But

      I have seen more than that,’ said he, ‘for Hugo Baskerville

      passed me upon his black mare, and there ran mute behind

      him such a hound of hell as God forbid should ever be at

      my heels.’ So the drunken squires cursed the shepherd

      and rode onward. But soon their skins turned cold, for

      there came a galloping across the moor, and the black

      mare, dabbled with white froth, went past with trailing

      bridle and empty saddle. Then the revellers rode close

      together, for a great fear was on them, but they still

      followed over the moor, though each, had he been alone,

      would have been right glad to have turned his horse’s

      head. Riding slowly in this fashion they came at last

      upon the hounds. These, though known for their valour

      and their breed, were whimpering in a cluster at the

      head of a deep dip or goyal, as we call it, upon the

      moor, some slinking away and some, with starting hackles

      and staring eyes, gazing down the narrow valley before them.

      “The company had come to a halt, more sober men, as you

      may guess, than when they started. The most of them

      would by no means advance, but three of them, the boldest,

      or it may be the most drunken, rode forward down the goyal.

      Now, it opened into a broad space in which stood two of

      those great stones, still to be seen there, which were

      set by certain forgotten peoples in the days of old.

      The moon was shining bright upon the clearing, and there

      in the centre lay the unhappy maid where she had fallen,

      dead of fear and of fatigue. But it was not the sight

      of her body, nor yet was it that of the body of Hugo

      Baskerville lying near her, which raised the hair upon

      the heads of these three dare-devil roysterers, but it

      was that, standing over Hugo, and plucking at his throat,

      there stood a foul thing, a great, black beast, shaped

      like a hound, yet larger than any hound that ever mortal

      eye has rested upon. And even as they looked the thing

      tore the throat out of Hugo Baskerville, on which, as it

      turned its blazing eyes and dripping jaws upon them, the

      three shrieked with fear and rode for dear life, still

      screaming, across the moor. One, it is said, died that

      very night of what he had seen, and the other twain were

      but broken men for the rest of their days.

      “Such is the tale, my sons, of the coming of the hound

      which is said to have plagued the family so sorely ever

      since. If I have set it down it is because that which

      is clearly known hath less terror than that which is but

      hinted at and guessed. Nor can it be denied that many

      of the family have been unhappy in their deaths, which

      have been sudden, bloody, and mysterious. Yet may we

      shelter ourselves in the infinite goodness of Providence,

      which would not forever punish the innocent beyond that

      third or fourth generation which is threatened in Holy

      Writ. To that Providence, my sons, I hereby commend

      you, and I counsel you by way of caution to forbear from

      crossing the moor in those dark hours when the powers of

      evil are exalted.

      “[This from Hugo Baskerville to his