CHAPTER TWO

The Strange Letter

"A man named Sir Charles Baskerville gave me these papers," said Dr Mortimer. "He told me they were extremely important. Sadly, Sir Charles died suddenly three months ago. His death caused much sadness and excitement in Devonshire, where I am from. Sir Charles' family has a great house there, Baskerville Hall. Before I read this paper to you, I will first tell Sir Charles was a reasonable man, but he believed the strange story that is told in these papers."

Dr Mortimer went on: "The story is about the Baskerville family. I have come to see you, Mr Holmes, because I think you may be able to help. I think that something terrible is going to happen in the next twenty-four hours. But of course, you can't help me unless you know the story of the Baskerville family. May I read it to you?"

"Certainly, Dr Mortimer," said Holmes. Then he lit his pipe and sat back in his chair with his eyes shut.

Mortimer began to read the papers in his high, rather strange, voice:

It is the year 1742. I, William Baskerville, am writing this paper for my sons. It was my father who first told me about the Hound of the Baskervilles. This hound is a very large and terrible dog. I want you, my sons, to read this story and never forget it. I want you to know that God punishes those who do evil. But God forgives people who are sorry for the wrong things they have done.

Over a hundred years ago, in 1640, the head of the Baskerville family was Sir Hugo Baskerville. He was a strange and evil man. He had a cruel heart, and enjoyed hurting other people. One day Sir Hugo saw a young woman, the daughter of a farmer who lived close by. He decided he wanted her for his own. This girl was very afraid of the evil Sir Hugo, and tried to hide from him. One day, Hugo heard that this girl's father and brothers were away. He knew that she would be alone in the house. So he rode to the farm with five or six of his friends, who were just as terrible as he was. They made the girl return to Baskerville Hall with them, and locked her in a room upstairs. Then they sat down in another room to drink. As usual, they drank many bottles of wine and became very drunk. Then they began to sing loud songs.

The young girl was alone upstairs. When she heard the terrible songs Sir Hugo and his men were singing, she knew she had to escape, or she would die. So she opened the window, and used the vines on the wall to climb down to the ground. Then she started to run across the moor, a large field full of hills and stones, to her home.

Some time later, Sir Hugo left his friends sitting downstairs and went up to see the girl. When he saw that she was gone, he was extremely angry. He ran down the stairs. He yelled, "If I catch that girl before she gets home, I'll give my soul to the devil!" I think Sir Hugo really would have done this, and he was so evil.

Hugo's friends laughed and told him to send his dogs to chase the girl. After he let the dogs go, he jumped onto his black horse and rode off after the dogs, which were barking loudly.

After they had drunk even more wine, Hugo's friends thought it would be fun to help Sir Hugo find the girl, so they got on their horses and followed him.

There were thirteen of them on the road. After a mile or two they passed an old farmer, and asked him if he had seen Sir Hugo and his dogs. The man was pale and shaking with fear, and could hardly speak. He said, "Yes ... I have seen that poor girl, with the terrible hounds running close behind her. Sir Hugo was with the hounds, screaming terrible things at the young lady. But I have seen more than that," the old man cried. "Behind Sir Hugo I saw another hound, a hound like no other in the world! It was black and terrible, and almost as large as a horse. It was running silently, and its eyes were red and hungry-looking. God protected me from that hound of Hell!"

Sir Hugo's friends just laughed at the old man and called him a stupid fool. Then they rode away. But then they saw Sir Hugo's horse running towards them. Sir Hugo was not riding it.

The men said to each other, "Maybe he's fallen off the horse!" They laughed, but they were suddenly afraid, so they kept their horses close together. They rode their horses over the moor until they found the hounds.

Everyone in this part of England knew about the famous Baskerville Hounds. They were the bravest, strongest and the best at hunting in Devonshire. But when Sir Hugo's friends found them, the hounds were standing at the edge of a deep valley. They seemed very frightened of something, and would not move. Most of Sir Hugo's friends were too scared to go down into this valley, but at last three men agreed to go.

The valley had a wide, flat floor. In the middle of the flat ground two large stones stood. Thousands of years ago, some people had put them there. The moon was shining brightly on the large stones, and between them, on the ground, lay the girl. She was dead, but there were no marks on her body. Sir Hugo's body lay next to her. But it was not the sight of these two dead people that made the men afraid. It was the sight of the huge animal that was standing over Sir Hugo! It was a great black animal that looked like a hound. But it was larger than any hound they had ever seen.

As the three men stared in horror, the hound tore out Hugo Baskerville's throat. Then it turned towards them. Its eyes were burning brightly. The hound's body shone with a strange light. Blood ran from its mouth, and it licked its teeth with a long tongue. The teeth were like knives, long and sharp!

The men screamed. They rode back up the valley as fast as they could go. They were almost beating their horses because they were so afraid. Later that night, one died from the horror he had seen. The other two were insane for the rest of their lives.

That was the first time the Hound appeared, my sons. It has been seen many times since then, and many of the Baskervilles have died in strange and terrible ways. I believe there is a curse on our family. Because of this, you must not travel on the moor at night. You are Baskervilles, and the Devil finds it easy to do his work when the world is dark. Surely, this Hound is one of his creatures.

(end of section)