THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Stage 4 and retold by Patrick Nobes
Chapters 1-9
Watson is reading the newspaper having already had breakfast while Sherlock Holmes is still at it. Shortly after James Mortimer arrives and asks them to help him solve a case, since a person was in danger. He began to tell his story about the Baskerville family and the legend of the hounds. After finishing the story, Mortimer says that this man died of some supernatural evil, and comments on the interviews that have been made to those who had seen a spectral hound on the moors.
After some questions and conclusions from Holmes, they decided that they would meet Sir Henry, who according to legend was in danger of dying. Mortimer and Sir Henry arrived early the next morning with some strange news. It turns out that the Sir. Henry had received a letter advising him to stay away from the moor if he valued his life. After the conversation between the four of them ended, Sir Henry invited Dr. Watson and Holmes to lunch at his hotel in two hours. But they decided to follow them.
There, they discovered that someone with a beard was following them, and after seeing that Holmes and Watson had discovered it, he fled. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson arrived at the hotel and when they reached Sir Henry's room, he said that another shoe had been stolen, but after some time after they arrived he found it. Holmes recounted what they saw of the bearded man following them and Dr. Mortimer said that the butler Barrymore at Baskerville Hall also had a beard and as he was also named a beneficiary, Holmes became suspicious of him, so he sent a telegram to Baskerville Hall, requesting that it be given only to the butler to make sure he was in Devonshire. Holmes asked Watson to go to Devonshire to protect Sir Henry as he was too busy in London with other cases.
After returning to Baker Street, Holmes received a cable indicating that Barrymore was at Baskerville Hall. Holmes then contacted the taxi driver who was carrying the bearded man, who told him that his passenger was called Sherlock Holmes. Holmes laughed thinking that the man had sent him a personal message. Upon reaching Devonshire, Watson heard that there was a fugitive assassin hiding there. When one day Dr. Watson accompanies Stapleton to his house, his sister mistakes Watson for Sir Henry and warns him to leave the area. And strange things continue happening since one night, weird noises are heard again and this time Dr. Watson and Sir Henry decide to see what it is.
It turns out that it was Barrymore with a candle and soon after they found out that he was giving messages with them to someone else on the outside, that person was Selden, the brother of Barrymore's wife and also the fugitive murderer. Sir Henry forgived (forgave) Barrymore and rehired him, saying that the next day they would discuss the matter. After the Barrymores left, Watson and Sir Henry looked out the window as they could still see Selden's candle on the moor.
QUESTIONNAIRE
When was the Hound of the Baskervilles first seen?
-One hundred years ago, in 1640, when the head of the Baskerville family was Sir Hugo Baskerville. Even though the man was wild and evil, he fell in love with a farmer's daughter who was his neighbor, but she was afraid of him. One day, as Hugo knew that her father and her brothers were away from her, he kidnapped her with his friends and they went to Baskerville Hall. Since they were very drunk, she escaped through the window. When Hugo noticed that, he sent hounds to chase her while they followed behind with horses. After a mile or two they passed an old farmer and asked him if he had seen Sir Hugo and the dogs and he said that he had seen the girl and the dogs running nearby and that behind Sir Hugo there was a huge hound running silently. After making fun of this, the friends saw Sir Hugo's horse running wildly towards him without a rider. Frightened, Hugo's friends stopped. Most of them didn't go, but three were brave enough to go down into the valley. In the middle of the terrain were two large stones. There was the dead girl and next to her Sir Hugo. A huge animal was standing next to Hugo, a large black creature that looked like a hound. The men screamed and fled. Later that night one died from the horror he had seen. The other two were insane for the rest of their lives.
2. What was interesting about Sir Charles' footprints in Yew Alley?
-As there were footprints, Holmes concluded that those were signs that showed that Sir Charles was running without looking where he was going, but unfortunately they didn’t know from whom. But then, it becomes more interesting since there's a kind of change in the shape of the footprints, later they look different, it seems that he had gone after tiptoeing.
3. Who saw the footprints of a huge hound in Yew Alley?
-Mortimer tells Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes that near Sir Charles's body, footprints of a gigantic hound were found and that no one saw them as they were twenty yards from the body. On the other hand, not everyone knew the legend.
4. How did Dr Mortimer know that Sir Charles had stood for five or ten minutes by the moor gate?
-Dr. Mortimer knew that Sir Charles had stood for five or ten minutes by the moor gate as the ash of his cigar had dropped twice.
Chapters 5-9 Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?
The man with the large black beard in the taxi was Barrymore. (F) As Mortimer says that in Baskerville there is a butler named Barrymore and he also has a beard, Holmes and Dr.Watson begin to suspect him, but never (in those first 9 chapters) confirm whether the suspicion was true or not.
Roger Baskerville was Sir Henry's uncle. (T)
Holmes stayed in London while Dr Watson and Sir Henry went to Baskerville Hall. (T)
Miss Stapleton thought that Dr Watson was in danger . (F) Yes, she told him to escape because he was in danger, but she did so because she thought it was Sir Henry. So no, that warning wasn’t for him.
Selen, the escaped prisoner, was Mrs Barrymore's brother. (T)
