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巴斯克维尔猎犬-第3部分
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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 exact…ly 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 dan…ger．’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！Come 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 quickly down the road．Holmes looked round for another taxi，but could not see one．He began to run after the first taxi，but it was soon out of sight．
‘Well，I got the number of the taxi，’said Holmes．‘So I can find the driver．He may be able to tell us something about his passenger．Would you recognize the man if you saw him again？’
‘Only his beard，’I said．
‘He wanted us to recognize the beard，’said Holmes．‘I think it was a false one．’
6 More Mystery
Later，we went on to Sir Henry's hotel．He was pleased to see us，but rather angry because another of his shoes had disappeared．This time it was one shose of an old pair．I could see that holmes found this both interesting and strange．He thought about it for a few moments，but said nothing ex… cept that he did not understand why a second shoe had been stolen．
At lunch，Sir henry told Holmes that he had decided to go to Baskerville Hall．
‘I think you have decided to do the right thing，’said Holmes．‘I know somebody is following you．If someone tries to harm you in London，it will be hard to stop him or catch him afterwards．In the country we have a better chance．’
Holmes went on to tell them about what we had seen that morning．Then he asked Dr Mortimer if anyone with a large black beard lived in or near Baskerville Hall．
‘Yes，said Dr Mortimer，‘Barrymore，Sir Charles’butler，has a black heard．’
‘We must check whether Barrymore is in London or at Baskerville Hall，’said Holmes．‘I shall send a telegram to Bar－ rymore at the Hall，which will say：“Is everything ready for Sir Henry？”Then I'll send another telegram to the local post of－ fice．This one will say：“please put telegram to Mr Barrymore into his own hand．If he is away，please return telegram to Sir Henry Baskerville．”I'll give your address at this hotel．We shall know before evening whether Barrymore is in Devonshire or not．’
‘Barrymore and his wife have a very fine home and nothing to do while the family is not living in the Hall，’said Sir Henry．
‘That's true，’said Holmes．‘Did the Barrymores receive anything from Sir Chades’will？And did they know that they would get some money when he died？’
‘Yes，’said Dr Mortimer．‘They each received￡500，and Sir Charles told everyone what he had written in his will．’
‘That's very interesting，’said Holmes．
‘I hope you don't suspect everyone who got something from the will，’said Dr Mortimer．‘I received￡1000．’
‘Indeed！’said Holmes．‘And who else received money？’
‘A lot of people received a little money．He gave a lot of money to a number of hospitals．The rest all went to Sir Henry，who received￡740000．’
‘I had no idea it was so much，’said Holmes in surprise．
‘The Baskerville lands are worth about one million pounds，’ Dr Mortimer said．
‘Dear me，’said Holmes．‘A man could kill for that much．One more question．If something happened to our young friend here，who would get Baskerville Hall and all its lands？’
‘Well，as you know，Sir Charles had two brothers．Sir Henry is the only son of Sir Charles’younger brother．The youngest brother of the three，Roger，was a criminal．The police wanted him，so he had to leave England．They say he looked exactly like the family picture of old Sir Hugo，who first saw the Hound．He was the same kind of man，too．He went to South America，where he died of a fever．So if Sir Henry died，Baskerville Hall would go to James Desmond，who is a cousin of the Baskervilles．James Desmond is an old man，who lives in the north of England．His life is very simple and he would not want to be rich．’
‘Thank you，Dr Mortimer，’said Holmes．‘Now，Sir Henry，I agree that you should go to Baskerville Hall as quickly as pos－ sible．But you must not go alone．I myself cannot leave London at the present time．I am working on another case．I am trying to save one of the most important men in England from a diffi－ cult situation．I hope my friend Watson will go with you．If there is danger，you could not have a better man by your side．’
Sir Henry and I were both very happy with this idea．So we arranged to travel to Devonshire on the following Saturday．
Just as we were leaving Sir Henry's room，he gave a cry and got down on his knees by the table．
‘Here's my brown shoe that was lost，’he said，reaching un－ der the table．
‘That's very strange，’said Dr Mortimer．‘We both
searched the room before lunch，and it wasn't under the table then．’
None of the people who worked at the hotel could explain how the shoe had got back into the room．
So we had another mystery．On the way back to Baker Street in the taxi，Holmes sat thinking deeply．All through the afternoon and the evening he went on thinking silently，and smoking pipe after pipe．
Just before dinner，a telegram arrived．It was from Sir Henry and said：‘Have just heard that Barrymore is at the Hall．’
‘So we don't have the answer to the mystery of the man with the beard，’said Holmes．‘But perhaps we shall soon have an answer to another question．’
At that moment the door bell rang．It was the driver of the bearded man's taxi．
‘I got a message that you wanted to see me，’said the driver．‘I hope there's nothing wrong．’
‘No，no，my good man，’said Holmes．‘In fact I'll give you some money if you can answer my questions clearly．Tell me all about the man in your taxi this morning．He was watching this house at ten o’clock and then told you to follow the two gentlemen who came out of it．’
The taxi driver was surprised at how much Holmes seemed to know．He answered：‘The man told me that he was a detec－ tive，and that I should say nothing about him to anyone．’
‘This is a serious business，’said Holmes，‘and you will be in trouble if you try to hide anything．What can you tell me？’
‘The man told me his name�
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