Part 74 (1/2)
”Quick, Dr Watson, quick, before he passes over the hill!”
There he was, sure enough, a s slowly up the hill When he reached the crest I saw the ragged uncouth figure outlined for an instant against the cold blue sky He looked round him with a furtive and stealthy air, as one who dreads pursuit Then he vanished over the hill
”Well! Aht?”
”Certainly, there is a boy who seems to have some secret errand”
”And what the errand is even a county constable could guess But not one word shall they have from me, and I bind you to secrecy also, Dr Watson Not a word! You understand!”
”Just as you wish”
”They have treated me shamefully-shaina I venture to think that a thrill of indignation will run through the country Nothing would induce ht have been y, which these rascals burned at the stake Surely you are not going! You will help reat occasion!”
But I resisted all his solicitations and succeeded in dissuading hi ho as his eye was on me, and then I struck off across the moor and made for the stony hill over which the boy had disappeared Everything orking in h lack of energy or perseverance that I should miss the chance which fortune had thrown inwhen I reached the suolden-green on one side and gray shadow on the other A haze lay low upon the farthest sky-line, out of which jutted the fantastic shapes of Belliver and Vixen Tor Over the wide expanse there was no sound and no ull or curlew, soared aloft in the blue heaven He and I seee arch of the sky and the desert beneath it The barren scene, the sense of loneliness, and the ency of my task all struck a chill into my heart The boy was nowhere to be seen But down beneath me in a cleft of the hills there was a circle of the old stone huts, and in the middle of them there was one which retained sufficient roof to act as a screen against the weather My heart leaped within er lurked At lastplace-his secret ithinas warily as Stapleton would do ith poised net he drew near the settled butterfly, I satisfied myself that the place had indeed been used as a habitation A vague pathway a which served as a door All was silent within The unknownon theaside arette, I closedswiftly up to the door, I looked in The place was ens that I had not come upon a false scent This was certainly where the man lived Some blankets rolled in a waterproof lay upon that very stone slab upon which neolithic man had once slurate Beside it lay so utensils and a bucket half-full of water A litter of empty tins showed that the place had been occupied for some time, and I saw, as ht, a pannikinha and a half-full bottle of spirits standing in the corner In the middle of the hut a flat stone served the purpose of a table, and upon this stood a sh the telescope upon the shoulder of the boy It contained a loaf of bread, a tinned tongue, and two tins of preserved peaches As I set it down again, after having examined it, my heart leaped to see that beneath it there lay a sheet of paper riting upon it I raised it, and this hat I read, roughly scrawled in pencil: ”Dr Watson has gone to Coo in the corner In the middle of the hut a flat stone served the purpose of a table, and upon this stood a sh the telescope upon the shoulder of the boy It contained a loaf of bread, a tinned tongue, and two tins of preserved peaches As I set it down again, after having examined it, my heart leaped to see that beneath it there lay a sheet of paper riting upon it I raised it, and this hat I read, roughly scrawled in pencil: ”Dr Watson has gone to Coombe Tracey”
For aout the e It was I, then, and not Sir Henry, as being dogged by this secret ent-the boy, perhaps-upon my track, and this was his report Possibly I had taken no step since I had been upon the moor which had not been observed and reported Always there was this feeling of an unseen force, a fine net drawn round us with infinite skill and delicacy, holding us so lightly that it was only at soled in its ht be others, so I looked round the hut in search of the of the kind, nor could I discover any sign which ht indicate the character or intentions of the ular place, save that he must be of Spartan habits and cared little for the coht of the heavy rains and looked at the gaping roof I understood how strong and immutable must be the purpose which had kept hinant eneel? I swore that I would not leave the hut until I knew
Outside the sun was sinking low and the as blazing with scarlet and gold Its reflection was shot back in ruddy patches by the distant pools which lay areat Grimpen Mire There were the ters of Baskerville Hall, and there a distant blur of se of Grimpen Between the two, behind the hill, was the house of the Stapletons All eet and ht, and yet as I looked at them my soul shared none of the peace of Nature but quivered at the vagueness and the terror of that interviehich every instant was bringing nearer With tingling nerves but a fixed purpose, I sat in the dark recess of the hut and waited with so of its tenant
And then at last I heard hi upon a stone Then another and yet another, co nearer and nearer I shrank back into the darkest corner and cocked the pistol in my pocket, determined not to discoverof the stranger There was a long pause which showed that he had stopped Then once more the footsteps approached and a shadow fell across the opening of the hut
”It is a lovely evening, my dear Watson,” said a well-known voice ”I really think that you will be more comfortable outside than in”
CHAPTER 12
Death on the Moor For a moment or two I sat breathless, hardly able to believe my ears Thenweight of responsibility seemed in an instant to be lifted fro to but one man in all the world
”Holmes!” I cried-”Holmes!”
”Come out,” said he, ”and please be careful with the revolver”
I stooped under the rude lintel, and there he sat upon a stone outside, his gray eyes dancing with amusement as they fell upon my astonished features He was thin and worn, but clear and alert, his keen face bronzed by the sun and roughened by the wind In his tweed suit and cloth cap he looked like any other tourist upon the moor, and he had contrived, with that catlike love of personal cleanliness which was one of his characteristics, that his chin should be as smooth and his linen as perfect as if he were in Baker Street
”I never washim by the hand
”Or more astonished, eh?”
”Well, I must confess to it”
”The surprise was not all on one side, I assure you I had no idea that you had found my occasional retreat, still less that you were inside it, until I ithin twenty paces of the door”
”My footprint, I presume?”
”No, Watson; I fear that I could not undertake to recognize your footprint amid all the footprints of the world If you seriously desire to deceive e your tobacconist; for when I see the stub of a cigarette marked Bradley, Oxford Street, I know that hbourhood You will see it there beside the path You threw it down, no doubt, at that supreed into the eht asyour ad in a for the tenant to return So you actually thought that I was the criminal?”
”I did not knoho you were, but I was determined to find out”
”Excellent, Watson! And how did you localize ht of the convict hunt, when I was so imprudent as to allow the moon to rise behind me?”
”Yes, I saw you then”
”And have no doubt searched all the huts until you came to this one?”
”No, your boy had been observed, and that gave entleman with the telescope, no doubt I could notupon the lens” He rose and peeped into the hut ”Ha, I see that Cartwright has brought up some supplies What's this paper? So you have been to Coombe Tracey, have you?”
”Yes”
”To see Mrs Laura Lyons?”
”Exactly”
”Well done! Our researches have evidently been running on parallel lines, and e unite our results I expect we shall have a fairly full knowledge of the case”
”Well, I alad from my heart that you are here, for indeed the responsibility and thetoo much for my nerves But how in the na? I thought that you were in Baker Street working out that case of black”
”That hat I wished you to think”
”Then you use me, and yet do not trust me!” I cried with some bitterness ”I think that I have deserved better at your hands, Holmes”
”My dear fellow, you have been invaluable tothat you will forgive me if I have seemed to play a trick upon you In truth, it was partly for your own sake that I did it, and it was er which you ran which led me to come down and examine the matter for myself Had I been with Sir Henry and you it is confident that my point of vieould have been the same as yours, and my presence would have warned our very foruard As it is, I have been able to get about as I could not possibly have done had I been living in the Hall, and I remain an unknown factor in the business, ready to throw in all ht at a critical moment”
”But why keep me in the dark?”
”For you to know could not have helped us and ht possibly have led to , or in your kindness you would have brought me out some comfort or other, and so an unnecessary risk would be run I brought Cartwright doith me-you remember the little chap at the express office-and he has seen after my simple wants: a loaf of bread and a clean collar What does iven me an extra pair of eyes upon a very active pair of feet, and both have been invaluable”
”Then my reports have all been wasted!”-My voice trembled as I recalled the pains and the pride hich I had composed them
Holmes took a bundle of papers from his pocket
”Here are your reports, my dear fellow, and very well thuements, and they are only delayed one day upon their way I ence which you have shown over an extraordinarily difficult case”