Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 2

Chapter 72 The Hound of the Baskervilles 11
"I tell you, Barrymore," snapped Sir, "we've made up our minds to get you to tell the truth. You'd better tell me sooner, or I'll take it easy. Tell me now! Don't lie! What are you doing at the window? "

The guy looked at us dejectedly, his hands twisted together.

"Monseigneur, I have only brought the candle near the window!"

"But why did you bring the candle near the window?"

"Don't ask me, Sir Henry—don't ask me! It's not my personal secret, and I can't tell it. If it were my personal business, I'll tell you the truth."

A sudden thought occurred to me, and I took the candle from the butler.

"He must have used it as a signal," I said, "and we'll see if there is an answering signal." I held the candle as he did, and looked out into the darkness.In the middle of the square window facing the darkness, suddenly a tiny yellow spot of light pierced the dark night.

"There it is!" I yelled.

"No, no, my lord, nothing—nothing!" cried the steward.

"Move your light out of the window, Watson," cried the baronet; "and behold, that light is also removed! Speak! Who is your accomplice, and what is the conspiracy going on?"

Barrymore actually put on a rude and arrogant look.

"This is my own business. It has nothing to do with you. I won't say it."

"Then, you leave the manor immediately."

"Well, my lord. I will go if I must."

"You left in disgrace. Our family has lived together for 100 years, and now you're plotting against me."

"No, no, my lord, I did not harm you!" came a woman's voice.Mrs. Barrymore was standing in the doorway, paler than her husband, and looking terribly frightened.

"We must go, Elisa, the matter is over. Let's pack up our things," said the housekeeper.

"Oh, John! John! I put you in trouble, and it was all my fault, Sir Henry—all my fault. I begged him to do it."

"So, tell me, what exactly do you mean?"

"My unfortunate brother is starving in the moor, and we cannot let him starve to death at our door. The light is to tell him that food is ready, and the light on his side is to show that it is delivered." location."

"So your brother is..."

"Yes, that's him—the criminal Seldan."

"It is true, my lord," said Barrymore. "You know now that, if it was a conspiracy, it was not your murder."

That's the explanation for late night sneaks and window lights.Is it possible that this respectable woman is of the same mother as that notorious criminal?

"Yes, my lord, my name is Seldan, and he is my brother. We spoiled him when he was a child, and made him think that the world existed only to make him happy. .When I grew up, I had bad friends again, so he turned bad, broke my mother's heart, and our family's name was tarnished by him. Because of repeated sins, he got deeper and deeper. But to me, he will always be my brother. One night, he came here hungry and cold, and the jailer was chasing after him. What else could we do? We brought him and gave him food. Eat and take care of him. Then, sir, you came, and my brother thought he was safest on the moor till the wind died away. So he hid there. Every other night we put Light up the light, see if he is still there, and if there is a response signal, my husband sends him some bread and meat. That is the whole truth. If there is any sin in doing it, it is not my husband but me .”

"Is it all true, Barrymore?"

"Yes."

"Well, I won't blame you. Forget what I just said. You can go back to the house now. Let's talk about this matter tomorrow."

After they left, we looked out the window again.

In the dark night, the little yellow light still flickers.

"I wonder how he dared do that?" Sir asked.

"Maybe the place where he shines can only be seen from here."

"Possibly, how far do you think the light is from here?"

"I think it's on the other side of the Gap Mountain."

"Only a mile or two away."

"Maybe not yet."

"Well, Barrymore's delivery place is not too far away, and the fellow is waiting there. Watson, I really want to catch that man."

"I'm going too." I said.

"You take your revolver and put on your high leather shoes, and we'll go as fast as we can, because that guy might blow out the candle and get away."

Within 5 minutes we were out the door and off we went.We had hardly reached the moor when it began to rain lightly.The candle was still burning.

"Are you armed?" I asked.

"I brought a hunting whip."

"We've got to run to him fast because he's been said to be a hell of a guy."

"I say, Watson," said the baronet, "what will Holmes have to say about this? On a night like this, when crime is rampant."

As if in answer to his words, a sudden roar rose from the vast dark moor, such as I had heard on the edge of the Great Greenpen Swamp.The sound came out in bursts, piercing and frightening, and the whole space throbbed with it.The baronet seized me by the sleeve, and his face grew pale.

"My God, what is that, Watson?"

"I don't know. It's a sound from the moor. I've heard it once."

The sound was gone, and a deathly silence surrounded us tightly.

"It is the sound of the Hound, Watson."

I felt that the blood all over my body was cold, and there were pauses in his words, which showed that he had developed fear.

"Do you know what they call that sound?" he asked.

"Who is it?"

"Country people!"

"Oh, they're ignorant people, and you don't have to ask them what they call that voice."

"Tell me, Watson, what did they say?"

"The barking of the Hound of the Baskervilles."

He talked to himself for a while, and was silent for a while.

"It's a hound," he said again at last, "but it seemed to be coming from a great distance, and I thought it might be over there."

"It's hard to say where it came from."

"The sound rises and falls with the wind. Isn't that the direction of the Great Green Basin?"

"Well, exactly."

"Well, Watson, don't you think that's the barking of the hounds?"

"I was with Staple Valley the last time I heard it, and he said it might be the sound of some strange bird."

"No, that's the Hound. My God, is the legend true? You don't believe that, Watson?

"No, I don't believe it."

"It would be a joke in London, but here it is something else. I don't think I am a coward, Watson, but that sound makes my blood freeze. You touch it." my hand!"

His hand was as cold as a stone.

"You'll be fine tomorrow morning."

"I don't think I can get that cry out of my head. What do you think we should do now?"

"Shall we go back?"

"No, we're out to catch, and we've got to go on. We're hunting for criminals, but maybe there's a devil-hound on the trail of us. Come on! Just put all the devils in the swamp, We have to hold on."

We moved forward slowly, and the yellow light spot was still shining.We finally saw where it was placed, and that's when we knew how close we were.A candle was set in a crevice of stone, which was screened on both sides by the rock, so as to protect it from the wind, and to keep it out of sight of any other place than Baskerville.A protruding granite block concealed us.We bent over right behind it, looking from under the rock at the signal light.We see a candle burning in the middle of a swamp with no sign of life around.

"What shall we do now?" whispered Sir Henry.

"Just wait here. He must be near the candle. Let's see if we can find him."

No sooner had we finished than we spotted him.A frightening face poked out from behind the rock near the candle.His face is full of flesh, with thick long beards, and his small eyes are illuminated by the candlelight, peeking around.

Evidently he was suspicious.There may be some code between him and Barrymore that we don't know yet.Concerned that he might slip away at any moment, I sprang forward, and Sir Henry followed.At this moment, the criminal yelled at us and threw a stone over.The stone was smashed to pieces by a boulder in front of us.When he jumped up and tried to escape, I saw his squat figure at a glance.We rushed over the top of the hill, and the man galloped down the side of the hill.

We are both fast-legged and well-trained, but he runs faster than us.The distance between us gradually widened.In the end, he became a moving speck.We finally had to sit down on two big rocks.

Just then, I discovered a strange thing.Just when we were about to go back, I saw a man's figure on the top of the rock, like a black bronze statue.He's not a criminal, he's far away, and he's much taller.When I tried to point him out to the Baron, the man disappeared.

"It's a jailer," he said, "and they've been everywhere since the guy got away."

Well, maybe his explanation is correct, but I wouldn't believe it without further proof.Today I want to send a telegram to the prison and tell them where to go to get the man.This is what I experienced last night.Some of what I have told you may be off topic, and judge for yourself.Of course we've made some progress, like with the Barrymore incident.But the moor and its inhabitants remain incomprehensible.Maybe in the next report, I can figure it out.You'd better come quickly.I will write to you in two days.

From Baskerville Hall October [-]th

(End of this chapter)