Essential Novelists - Arthur Conan Doyle. Arthur Conan Doyle

instructions that they say nothing thereof to their

      sister Elizabeth.]”

      When Dr. Mortimer had finished reading this singular narrative he pushed his spectacles up on his forehead and stared across at Mr. Sherlock Holmes. The latter yawned and tossed the end of his cigarette into the fire.

      “Well?” said he.

      “Do you not find it interesting?”

      “To a collector of fairy tales.”

      Dr. Mortimer drew a folded newspaper out of his pocket.

      “Now, Mr. Holmes, we will give you something a little more recent. This is the Devon County Chronicle of May 14th of this year. It is a short account of the facts elicited at the death of Sir Charles Baskerville which occurred a few days before that date.”

      My friend leaned a little forward and his expression became intent. Our visitor readjusted his glasses and began:

      “The recent sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville, whose

      name has been mentioned as the probable Liberal candidate

      for Mid-Devon at the next election, has cast a gloom over

      the county. Though Sir Charles had resided at Baskerville

      Hall for a comparatively short period his amiability of

      character and extreme generosity had won the affection

      and respect of all who had been brought into contact with

      him. In these days of nouveaux riches it is refreshing

      to find a case where the scion of an old county family

      which has fallen upon evil days is able to make his own

      fortune and to bring it back with him to restore the

      fallen grandeur of his line. Sir Charles, as is well known,

      made large sums of money in South African speculation.

      More wise than those who go on until the wheel turns

      against them, he realized his gains and returned to England

      with them. It is only two years since he took up his

      residence at Baskerville Hall, and it is common talk how

      large were those schemes of reconstruction and improvement

      which have been interrupted by his death. Being himself

      childless, it was his openly expressed desire that the

      whole countryside should, within his own lifetime, profit

      by his good fortune, and many will have personal reasons

      for bewailing his untimely end. His generous donations

      to local and county charities have been frequently

      chronicled in these columns.

      “The circumstances connected with the death of Sir Charles

      cannot be said to have been entirely cleared up by the

      inquest, but at least enough has been done to dispose of

      those rumours to which local superstition has given rise.

      There is no reason whatever to suspect foul play, or to

      imagine that death could be from any but natural causes.

      Sir Charles was a widower, and a man who may be said to

      have been in some ways of an eccentric habit of mind.

      In spite of his considerable wealth he was simple in his

      personal tastes, and his indoor servants at Baskerville

      Hall consisted of a married couple named Barrymore, the

      husband acting as butler and the wife as housekeeper.

      Their evidence, corroborated by that of several friends,

      tends to show that Sir Charles’s health has for some time

      been impaired, and points especially to some affection

      of the heart, manifesting itself in changes of colour,

      breathlessness, and acute attacks of nervous depression.

      Dr. James Mortimer, the friend and medical attendant of

      the deceased, has given evidence to the same effect.

      “The facts of the case are simple. Sir Charles Baskerville

      was in the habit every night before going to bed of walking

      down the famous yew alley of Baskerville Hall. The evidence

      of the Barrymores shows that this had been his custom.

      On the fourth of May Sir Charles had declared his intention

      of starting next day for London, and had ordered Barrymore

      to prepare his luggage. That night he went out as usual

      for his nocturnal walk, in the course of which he was in

      the habit of smoking a cigar. He never returned. At

      twelve o’clock Barrymore, finding the hall door still open,

      became alarmed, and, lighting a lantern, went in search

      of his master. The day had been wet, and Sir Charles’s

      footmarks were easily traced down the alley. Halfway down

      this walk there is a gate which leads out on to the moor.

      There were indications that Sir Charles had stood for some

      little time here. He then proceeded down the alley, and

      it was at the far end of it that his body was discovered.

      One fact which has not been explained is the statement

      of Barrymore that his master’s footprints altered their

      character from the time that he passed the moor-gate, and

      that he appeared from thence onward to have been walking

      upon his toes. One Murphy, a gipsy horse-dealer, was on

      the moor at no great distance at the time, but he appears

      by his own confession to have been the worse for drink.

      He declares that he heard cries but is unable to state

      from what direction they came. No signs of violence were

      to be discovered upon Sir Charles’s person, and though

      the doctor’s evidence pointed to an almost incredible

      facial distortion—so great that Dr. Mortimer refused at

      first to believe that it was indeed his friend and patient

      who lay before him—it was explained that that is a symptom

      which is not unusual in cases of dyspnoea and death from

      cardiac exhaustion. This explanation was borne out by

      the post-mortem examination, which showed long-standing

      organic disease, and the coroner’s jury returned a

      verdict in accordance with the medical evidence. It is

      well that this is so, for it is obviously of the utmost

      importance that Sir Charles’s heir should settle at the

      Hall and continue the