THE
HOUND OF THE BASKERVILES
BY
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
A gigantic hound is the chief
suspect in a murder hunt. Its footprints are found beside the body of sir
Charles Baskerville, recently found dead, on the moors close to his Devonshire
mansion.
Dr Mortimer, who relates these details to Holmes and Watson, more than
half believes the legend that makes a supernatural hound the appointed doom of
the Baskerville family.
He persuades Holmes to meet Sir Henry, the last of the Baskervilles, who
has returned from Canada to claim his inheritance.
Watson accompanies Sir Henry to Baskerville Hall, where he encounters
shifty servants, an escaped convict and various neighbours including the
naturalist Stapleton, with whose sister Sir Henry falls in love.
However, the most likely suspect, a mysterious stranger, turns out to be
none other than Holmes himself in disguise. Holmes, investigations reveal Sir
Charles murderer, and Holmes sets a trap for him on the moors, using Sir Henry
as bait.
The climax, the mystery of the gigantic hound is explained, and the
treacherous, fog-wreathed Grimpen Mire claims another victim.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based his Sherlock Holmes novel on a true story.
In the 17th Century, Richard Cabell of Buckfastleigh, Devon, UK,
pursued his wife to the nearby moor, and stabbed her to death in a jealous rage.
Her loyal hound leapt for his throat and killed him as he stabbed it. The
ghostly dog haunts the Cabell family to this day.
