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‘No，’said the boy，‘but why did his wife say he was upon the roof if he wasn't？’
It was hopeless to ask any more questions．It was clear that Holmes' cleverness with the telegram had not given us the proof we needed．
I was walking away from the post office when I heard some one running after me．A voice called me by name，and I turned．I expected to see Dr Mortimer，as I knew nobody else in the village．To my surprise it was a stranger．He was a small，thin man，between thirty and forty years old，with fair hair and no beard．He was carrying a butterfly ，and a box for putting butterflies in．
‘I hope you will excuse me for introducing myself，Dr Wat－ son，’he said as he came up to me．‘My name is Stapleton．I was in Dr Mortimer's house and we saw you．He told me who you are．May I walk along with you？ This path back to the Hall goes near my home，Pen House．Please e in and meet my sister，and spend an hour with us．’
I accepted Stapleton's invitation，and we walked together．
‘I know that you are a close friend of Sherlock Holmes，’said Stapleton．‘Has Mr Holmes any ideas about Sir Charles death？’
‘I'm afraid I can't answer that question，’I said．
‘Will Mr Holmes visit us himself？’he asked．
‘He can't leave London at the moment，’I answered．I was rather surprised that he was asking me these questions
We walked on．Stapleton told me that he and his sister had lived in Devonshire for only two years．They had moved there soon after Sir Charles had begun to live in Baskerville Hall．He also talked about the moor and how it interested him．He told me to look across the moor to a place which was a bright green colour．
‘That is the Great Grimpen Marsh，’he said ‘If animals or men go into the marsh，they will sink into it and die．But I can find my way to the very centre of it．Look，there is another of those poor horses．’
Something brown was fighting to get out of the bright green of the marsh．Then a terrible cry came across the moor．The horse's head and neck disappeared under the green．
‘It's gone，’Stapleton said．‘The marsh has caught and killed it．That often happens．It is an evil place，the Great Grimpen Marsh．’
‘But you say you can go safely in and out of it？’I asked him．
‘Yes，there are a few paths，and I have found them．The low hills you can see are like islands surrounded by the marsh．That is where I can find the unusual plants and butterflies．And that's why I found my way through the marsh．’
‘I shall try my luck one day，’I said．
He looked at me in surprise．‘Please don't try，’he said．‘You would never return alive，and it would be my fault．’
‘Listen，’I said．‘What is that？’
A long，low cry，very deep and very sad，came over the moor．It filled the whole air．Then it died away．
‘What is it？’I asked，with a cold fear in my heart．
Stapleton had a strange look on his face．‘The people say it's the Hound of the Baskervilles，which is calling for some－ thing to hunt and kill．I've heard it once or twice before，but never so loud．’
‘You are a man of science，’I said．‘You don't believe that，do you？Isn't there a natural explanation for the sound？’
‘A marsh makes strange noises sometimes．It is the water and the wet ground moving．’
‘But that was the voice of a living creature，’I said．
‘Well，perhaps it was．There are some very unusual birds on the moors．It was most probably the cry of one of those．’
At that moment a small butterfly flew across the path in front of us．‘Excuse me，Dr Watson，’shouted Stapleton，and ran off to try to catch the butterfly．He ran quickly and fol－ lowed the butterfly on to the marsh，but he knew exactly where he could go，and was not in any danger．
As I watched him，I heard the sound of steps behind me．I turned and saw a woman near me on the path．I was sure she was Miss Stapleton．She was very beautiful．She was dark and tall，with a lovely face．Before I could say anything，she said：
‘Go back！Go straight back to London，immediately．I can－ not tell you why，but please do what I ask you，and never e near the moor again．But my brother is ing．Not a word to him．’
Stapleton had caught the butterfly，and was walking bath to us．
‘Hello，my dear，’he said to his sister，but it seemed to me that his voice was not pletely friendly．‘I see that you two have already introduced yourselves．’
‘Yes，’she said．‘I was telling Sir Henry that it was rather late in the year for him to see the true beauty of the moor．’
‘I am sorry，’I said．‘You have made a mistake．I'm not Sir Henry．I am a friend who is visiting him，and my name is Dr Watson．’
Miss Stapleton was clearly angry with herself．‘I'm sorry，’ she said．‘Please fet what I said．But do e with us to our house．’
The house was lonely and rather grim．I wondered why the two of them had e to live so far away from anyone else．Stapleton seemed to know what I was thinking，and said：‘You may think this a lonely，strange place to live，but the moors are very interesting，and we enjoy it here．I owned a school in the north of England，but I had to close it．I miss the boys and girls but thefe is plenty to do here，and we have good neighbours．I hope Sir Henry will bee one of tnem．May I visit the Hall this afternoon to meet him，do you think？’
‘I'm sure he will be very pleased to meet you，’I said．‘I must go back to the Hall now，and I shall tell him immediately．’
I said goodbye to the Stapletons，and continued on the path back to the Hall．I had been walking for only a few minutes when I was surprised to see Miss Stapleton sitting on a rock ahead of me．She was breathing quickly，and I realized she had run by a quicker way to get ahead of me．
‘Dr Watson，’she said．‘I want to say sorry for the mistake I made．I thought you were Sir Henry．Please fet what I said．I did not mean you were in danger．Now I must go，or my brother will miss me．’
‘I cannot fet your words，Miss Stapleton，’I said．‘If Sir Henry is in danger，I must tell him．’
‘You know the story of the Hound？’she asked me．
‘Yes，but I do not believe it，’I replied．
‘But I think it's true，’she said．‘Please persuade Sir Henry to leave this place．So many of his family have died here mys teriously．He must not put his life in danger by staying here．’
‘Sir Henry won't leave this place without a real reason，’I said．
‘I can't give you a real reason．I don't know anything for certain．’
‘One more question，Miss Stapleton，’I said．‘The story of the Hound is well known．Why didn't you want your brother to hear what you said？’
‘My brother wants the head of the Baskerville family to live in the Hall，’she said．‘He wants Sir Henry to continue the good work that Sir Charles began．He doesn't want Sir Henry to go and live in another place．So he doesn't want me to talk about the Hound．I must go now，or my brother will guess I have been speaking to you．Goodbye！’
She turned and went back towards her house，and I walked on to Baskerville Hall．
9 The Escaped Prisoner
Mr Stapleton came to the Hall and met Sir Henry that same afternoon．The next morning he took us to the place where the evil Sir Hugo died．Then we had lunch at the House．Sir Henry clearly thought Miss Stapleton was very beautiful．His eyes followed her everywhere．He liked her very much，and I was sure that she felt the same about him．He spoke about her again and again as we walked home．After the first meeting，we met the Stapletons almost every day．
After a short time it was clear that Sir Henry had fallen deeply in love with the beautiful Miss Stapleton．At first I thought that Stapleton would be very pleased if his sister mar－ ried Sir Henry．However，I soon realized that he did not want their friendship to grow into love．He did everything he could to make sure that they were never alone．On one or two occa－ sions they did manage to meet alone，but Stapleton followed them and was not pleased to see them together．
I soon met another neighbour of Sir Henry’s．His name was Mr Frankland，and he lived about four miles to the south of the Hall．He was an old man with a red face and white hair．He had two hobbies．The first was arguing．He argued with everybody．The second hobby was studying the stars．For this he had a very big telescope．For several days he had been watching the moor through the telescope．He wanted to find Selden，the escaped murderer．Nobody had seen the prisoner for a fortnight，and we all thought that he had probably left the moor．
A few nights later I was woken by a noise at about two in the morning．I heard someone walking softly outside my door．I got up，opened the door and looked out．I saw Barrymore moving carefully and quietly away from me．I followed him，as quietly as I could．He went into one of the empty bedrooms and left the door open．I went quietly up to the door and looked in－ side．
Barrymore was standing at the window．He was holding a light in his hand and looking out onto the moor．He stood without moving for a few minutes and then he put out the light．
I y room．A few minutes later I heard Barrymore go softly by．
The next morning I told Sir Henry what I had seen．
‘We must follow him and find out what he is doing，’said Sir Henry．‘He won't hear us if we move carefully．’
That night we sat in Sir Henry's room and waited．At about three o’clock in the morning we heard the sound of footsteps outside the bedroom．We looked out and saw Barrymore．We followed him as quietly as we could．He went into the same room as before．We reached the door and looked in．There was Barrymore，with the light in his hand，looking out across the moor，exactly as I had seen him on the night before．
Sir Henry walked into the room and said：‘What are you do ing here，Barrymore？’
Barrymore turned round quickly，surprise and horror on his face．
‘Nothing，Sir，’he said．The shadows on the wall from his light were jumping up and down as his hand shook．‘It was the window，sir．I go round at night to see that they are closed，and this one wasn't shut．’
‘e now，Barrymore，’said Sir Henry．‘No lies．What were you doing with that light？You were holding it up to the window．’
I suddenly had an idea．‘I think he was sending a message，’ I said．‘Let's see if there's an answer from someone on the moor．’
I held the light up to the window，and looked out into the darkness．Suddenly a light answered from the moor．
‘There it is，’I cried．I waved my light backwards and for－ wards across the window．The light on the moor answered by moving in the same way．
‘Now，Barrymore，who is your friend on the moor？What's going on？’
‘That's my business，’said Barrymore，‘I won't tell you．’
‘Are you making some criminal plan against me？’Sir Henry said．
‘No，it's nothing against you，sir，’said a voice behind us．It was Mrs Barrymore．She had followed us and was standing at the door．‘He's doing it for me．My unhappy brother is cold and hungry on the moor．We cannot let him die．Our light is to tell him that food is ready for him．His light shows us where to take it．’
‘Then your brother is…’began Sir Henry．
‘The escaped prisoner，sir．Selden，the murderer．He is my younger brother．He has done evil things，but to me he is still the little boy I loved and cared for．I had to help him．Every－ thing my husband has done has been for me．Please don't take his job from him．It's not his fault．’
Sir Henry turned to Barrymore and said：
‘I cannot blame you for helping your wife．Go to bed，and we'll talk about this in the morning．’
The Barrymores left us．
‘The murderer is waiting out there by that light，’ said Sir Henry．‘He's a danger to everyone．I'm going to catch him．If you want to e with me，Watson，fetch your revolver and let’s go．’
We left the Hall immediately．
‘We must surprise him and catch him．’said Sir Henry．‘He's a dangerous man．Now，Watson，what would Holmes say about this？Do you remember what the old papers said？ They said the Devil does his work when the world is dark．’
Just as