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‘I remember driving up to the Hall one evening about three weeks before he died．He was standing at the door．I went up to him，and saw him staring at something behind me．There was a look of horror on his face．I turned quickly and saw something moving between the trees．It looked like a small black cow．He was so frightened that I went to look for the animal．It had disappeared but Sir Charles was very worried．I stayed with him all the evening．It was then he gave me the old papers I have read to you．What I saw that evening may be im portant when you consider what happened on the night of his death．
‘When Barrymore，the butler，found Sir Charles’body，he sent someone to fetch me．I checked all the facts．I have just read them to you，and they are all true．
‘But Barrymore said one thing that was not true．He said that there were no other prints on the ground around the body．He did not notice any．But I did．They were not close to the body，but they were fresh and clear．’
‘Footprints？’asked Holmes．
‘Yes．Footprints，’said Mortimer．
‘A man's or a woman's？’asked Holmes．
Dr Mortimer looked at us strangely for a moment．His voice became a whisper as he answered：
‘Mr Holmes，they were the footprints of a huge hound！’
4 The Problem
Ifelt a moment of fear as Mortimer spoke these words．Holmes sat forward in his excitement，and his eyes showed he was very interested indeed．
‘Why did nobody else see these footprints？’he asked．
‘The footprints were about twenty metres from the body，and nobody thought of looking so far away，’Mortimer replied．
‘Are there many sheep dogs on the moor？’asked Holmes．
‘Yes，but this was no sheep dog．The footprints were very large indeed—enormous，’Mortimer answered．
‘But it had not gone near the body？’
‘No．’
‘What kind of night was it？’Holmes asked．
‘It was wet and cold，though it wasn't actually raining．’
‘Describe the Alley to me．’
‘The Alley is a path between two long yew hedges．The hedges are small trees that were planted very close together．They are about four metres high．The distance between the two yew hedges is about seven metres．Down the middle is a path of small stones．The path is about three metres wide，with grass on each side of it．’
‘I understand there is a gate through the hedge in one place，’said Holmes．
‘Yes，there is a small gate，which leads to the moor．’
‘Is there any other opening through the hedge？’
‘No．’
‘So you can enter or leave the Yew Alley only from the Hall，or through the moor gate？’asked Holmes．
‘There is a way out through a summer house at the far end．’
‘Had Sir Charles reached the summer house？’
‘No．He lay about fifty metres from it，’said Mortimer．
‘Now，Dr Mortimer，this is important．You say that the footprints you saw were on the path and not on the grass？’
‘No footprints could show on the grass，’said Mortimer．
‘Were they on the same side of the path as the moor gate？’
‘Yes．They were．’
‘I find that very interesting indeed．Another question：was the moor gate closed？’
‘Yes．It was closed and locked．’
‘How high is it？’asked Holmes．
‘It is just over a metre high．’
‘Then anyone could climb over it？’
‘Yes．’
‘What prints did you see by the moor gate？’
‘Sir Charles seems to have stood there for five or ten min－ utes，’said Mortimer．‘I know that because his cigar had burned down and the ash had dropped twice off the end of it．’
‘Excellent，’said Holmes．‘This man is a very good detective，Watson．’
‘Sir Charles had left his footprints all over that little bit of the path where he was standing．I couldn't see any other prints．’
Sherlock Holmes hit his knee with his hand angrily．
‘I like to look closely at these things myself，’he said．‘Oh，Dr Mortimer，why didn't you call me immediately？’
‘Mr Holmes，the best detective in the world can't help with some things，’said Mortimer．
‘You mean things that are outside the laws of nature—su pernatural things？’asked Holmes．
‘I didn't say so exactly，’replied Mortimer．‘But since Sir Charles died，I have heard about a number of things that seem to be supernatural．Several people have seen an animal on the moor that looks like an enormous hound．They all agree that it was a huge creature，which shone with a strange light like a ghost．I have questioned these people carefully．They are all sensible people．They all tell the same story．Although they have only seen the creature far away，it is exactly like the hell hound of the Baskerville story．The people are very frightened，and only the bravest man will cross the moor at night．’
‘And you，a man of science，believe that the creature is supernatural—something from another world？’asked Holmes．
‘I don't know what to believe，’said Dr Mortimer．
‘But you must agree that the footprints were made by a liv ing creature，not a ghost？’
‘When the hound first appeared two hundred and fifty years ago，it was real enough to tear out Sir Hugo's throat…but it was a supernatural hellhound，’said Dr Mortimer．
‘If you think that Sir Charles' death was caused by some－ thing supernatural，my detective work can't help you，’said Holmes，rather coldly．
‘Perhaps，’said Mortimer．‘But you can help me by advis ing me what to do for Sir Henry Baskerville．He arrives in Lon－ don by train in exactly，’Dr Mortimer looked at his watch，‘one hour and a quarter．’
‘Sir Henry is now head of the Baskerville family？’asked Holmes．
‘Yes，’said Dr Mortimer．‘He is the last of the Baskervilles．The family lawyers contacted him in the USA．He has e to England immediately by ship．He landed this morning．Now，Mr Holmes，what do you advise me to do with him？’
‘Why should he not go to the family home？’asked Holmes．
‘Because so many Baskervilles who go there die horrible deaths．But Sir Charles’good work must go on．If it doesn’t，all the people on the Baskerville lands will be much poorer．If the Baskerville family leaves the Hall，that is what will happen．I don't know what to do．That is why I came to you for advice．’
Holmes though for a little while．Then he said：‘You think it is too dangerous for any Baskerville to live at the Hall because of this supernatural hell－hound．Well，I think you should go and meet Sir Henry Baskerville．Say nothing to him about this．I shall give you my advice in twenty－four hours．At ten o’clock tomorrow morning，Dr Mortimer，I would like you to bring Sir Henry Baskerville here．’
Dr Mortimer got up from his chair．As he was leaving the room，Holmes said：‘One more question，Dr Mortimer．You said that before Sir Charles’death several people saw this strange creature on the moor？’
‘Three people did，’said Mortimer．
‘Did anyone see it after the death？’
‘I haven't heard of anyone．’
‘Thank you，Dr Mortimer．Good morning．’
After Mortimer had left us，Holmes sat down in his chair．He looked pleased．He always looked pleased when a case interest－ ed him．
I knew that he needed to be alone to think about all that he had heard．I went out for the day，and came back to find the room full of thick smoke from Holmes’pipe．
‘What do you think of this case？’I asked him．
‘It is hard to say．Take，for example，the change in the foot－ prints．Did Sir Charles walk on his toes down the Alley？Only a stupid person is likely to believe that．The truth is he was run－ ning—running for his life．He ran until his heart stopped and he fell dead．’
‘What was he running from？’I asked．
‘That is the difficult question，’said Holmes．‘I think he was mad with fear before he began to run．He didn't know what he was doing．That explains why he ran away from the house instead of towards it．He was running away from help．The next question：who was he waiting for that night？And why was he waiting in the Yew Alley and not in the house？’
‘You think he was waiting for someone？’
‘Sir Charles was old and unwell．We can understand why he took a walk each evening．But why did he stand in the cold，on wet ground，for five or ten minutes？Dr Mortimer cleverly noted the cigar ash，so we know how long Sir Charles stood there．We know that he kept away from the moor，so it's un－ likely that he waited at the moor gate every evening．I am be－ ginning to understand some things，Watson．But I'll think no more about it until we meet Dr Mortimer and Sir Henry Baskerville in the morning．Please give me my violin．’
And Holmes began to play his violin．He had done all the thinking he could．Now he needed more details of the case to help him．
5 Sir Henry Baskerville
Dr Mortimer and Sir Henry Baskerville arrived at exactly ten o’clock the following morning．Sir Henry was a small，healthy，well－built man．His face showed that he had a strong character．He wore a country suit of thick，red－brown material，and his skin showed that he spent most of his time in the open air．
‘I am glad this meeting was already arranged，’Sir Henry said，after we had shaken hands with our visitors．‘I need your help，Mr Holmes．A strange thing happened to me this morning．Look at this letter．’
He put a piece of paper on the table．On it were the words： ‘Do not go on to the moor．If you do，your life will be in danger．’The words had been cut out of a newspaper．
‘Can you tell me，Mr Holmes，what this means，and who is so interested in me？’Sir Henry asked．
‘This is very interesting，’said Holmes．‘Look how badly it has been done．I think the writer was in a hurry．Why？Per－haps because he did not want somebody to see him．I think the address was written in a hotel．The pen and the ink have both given the writer trouble．The pen has run dry three times in writing a short address．There was probably very little ink in the bottle．A private pen and bottle of ink are never allowed to get into that condition．Hullo，what's this？’
He was holding the letter only a few centimetres from his eyes．
‘Well？’I ashed．
‘Nothing，’he said，and threw the letter down．‘Now，Sir Henry，have you anything else to tell us？’
‘No，’said Sir Henry．‘Except that I have lost one of my shoes．I put a pair outside my door last night．I wanted the ho tel to clean them，but when I went to get them this morning，one had gone．I only bought them yesterday，and I have never worn them．But I wanted a good shine on them．’
‘One shoe seems a useless thing to steal，’said Holmes．‘I am sure the shoe will be found in the hotel and returned to you．But now we must tell you some things about the Baskerville family．’
Dr Mortimer took out the old Baskerville papers and read them to Sir Henry．Holmes then told him about the death of Sir Charles．
‘So this letter is from someone who is trying to warn me，or frighten me away，’said Sir Henry．
‘Yes，’said Holmes．‘And we have to decide if it is sensible for you to go to Baskerville Hall．There seems to be danger there for you．’
‘There is no man or devil who will stop me from going to the home of my family，’said Sir Henry angrily．‘I want some time to think about what you have told me．Will you and Dr Watson join me for lunch at my hotel in two hours’time？By then，I'll be able to tell you what I think．’
Dr Mortimer and Sir Henry said goodbye，and decided to walk back to their hotel．
As soon as our visitors had gone，Holmes changed from the talker to the man of action．
‘Quick，Watson．Your coat and hat．We must follow them．’We got ready quickly and went into the street．Our friends were not far ahead of us and we followed．We stayed about a hundred metres behind them．
Suddenly Holmes gave a cry．I saw a taxi driving along very slowly on the other side of the road from our friends．
‘That's our man，Watson！e along！We'll have a good look at him．’
I saw a man with a large black beard looking out of the taxi window．He had been following and watching our friends．But when he saw us running towards him，he shouted something to the driver，and the taxi drove off quic