The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • Page 1

"Really, Watson, you excel yourself," said Holmes, pushing back his chair and lighting a cigarette. "I am bound to say that in all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities. It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it. I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your debt." He bad never said as much before, and I must admit that his words gave me keen pleasure, for I had often been piqued by Indifference to my admiration and to the attempts which I hid made to give publicity to his methods. I was proud, too.

to think that I had so far mastered his system as to apply it in a way which earned his approval. He now took the stick from my hands and examined it for a' few minutes with his naked Then with an expression of Interest he laid down his cigarette and. carrying the cane to the window, he looked over It again with a convex lens. "Interesting, though elementary," said be, as he returned to his favorite corner of the settee. "There are certainly one or two indications upon the stick.

It gives us' the basis for several deduc "Has anything escaped me?" I asked, with some self importance. "1 trust that there is nothing of consequence which I have overlooked." "I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous. When I said that you stimulated me I meant, to be frank, that In noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided toward the truth. Not that you are entirely wrong In this lhstance. The man Is certainty a country practitioner.

And he walks a good deal." "Then I was right." "To that extent" "But that was all." "No. no, my dear Watson, not by no means all, I would suggest, for example, that a presentation to a doctor is more likely to come from a hospital than from a hunt, and that when the Initials are placed before that hospital the words 'Charing very naturally suggest themselves." "Ton asav be right" "The probability lies In that direction. And if we take this as a working hypothesis we have a fresh basis from which to start our construction of this unknown visitor. "Well, then, supposing that does stand for "Charing Cross Hospital," i lurcnermierences may we draw?" elusion that the men has practiced in town before going to the country." "I think that we might venture a little farther than this. Look at it In this On what occasion would It 5v Den James.

M.R.C.S.. 1S82. Charing hospital. Winner of the Jackson entitled 'Is Disease a Reversion?" responding member of the Swedish Pathological Society. Author of 'Borne Freaks of Atavism" (Lancet, 1882).

'Do We (Journal of Psychology, March, 1888). Medical officer for' the parishes of Grlihpen, Thorstey and High "No mention of that hunt. Watson," satd Holmes, with a mischievous smile, a country doctor, as you 'very astutely observed. I think that I am fairly Justified In my inferences. As to the I said, if I remember right amiable, and absent minded.

It is experience that it is only an amiable man in this woYid who receives testimonials, only an unambitious one who abandons a London career for the country, and only an absent minded one Who leaves his stick and not his visiting card after waiting an hour in your roonj." "And the. dog?" "Has been in the habit of carrying this stick behind Ms master. Being a heavy stick the dog has held it tightly by the middle, and the marks of his teeth are very plainly visible. The dog's Jaw, as shown in the space between these marks, Is too broad In my opinion for a terrier and not broad enough for a mastiff. It may have yes, by Jove, it is a curly haired spaniel." He had risen and paced the room as he spoke.

Now he halted in the recess of the window. There was such a ring of conviction in his voice that I glanced up in surprise. of w. how of precise mind, evi Atlanta Week Ending July personal friend as well as hi. attendant.

He was a strong minded man. sir. shrewd, practical and as unimaginative as I am myself. Yet he took this document very seriously, his mind was prepared for Just such an end as did eventually overtake him." Holmes stretched out his bend for the manuscript and flattened it upon his "You will observe, Watson, the alternative use of tne long and the short. It Is one of several Indications which enabled roe to fix the date," I looked over his shoulder at.

the. yel low paper and the faded script At the head was written: "BaskervIHe Han," and below. In large, scrawling figures, "Yes, i legend which statement "But I understand that It Is something more modern and practical upon which you wish to consult me?" "Most modern. A most practical, pressing matter, which must be decided within twenty four hours. But the manuscript is short and Is Intimately connected with the affair.

With your permission I will read it to you." Holmes leaned back in his chair, placed his finger tips together and closed bis eyes, with an air of resignation. Dr. Mortimer turned the manuscript to the light and read In a high, crackling voice the following curious, old world uarra "Of the origin of the Hound of the Baakejvilles there have been many statements, yet as I come In a direct line from Hugo and as I bad the story from my father, who also had' it from his, I have set It down wfth all belief that it occurred even as Is here set forth. And I would have yon believe, my sons, that the same Justice which sin may also most graciously forgive It and that no. ban is so heavy but that by prayer and repentance It mar be removed.

Learn then from this story not to fear the fruits of the past, but rather to be circumspect In the future, that those foul passions whereby our family has suffered so the learned Lard Clarendon I nestly commend to your attention) this Manor of Bas ken file was held by Hugo saints have never flourished wanton and, cruel humor which made name a byword through the west. It chanced that this Hugo, ccme to love (If. indeed, so dark a passion may be known under so bright a name) the daughter of a yeoman who held lands near the Baskerville estate. But the young maiden, being discreet and of good repute, would ever avoid. Him, for she feared bis evil name.

So it came to pass that one Michaelmas this Hugo, with 'five or six of his Idle and wicked companions, stole down upon the farm and carried off the msldep. her father and brothers being from home, as be 1 knew. When they TTad brought her (he I 1 the upper chamber, while Hugo irtenos aown to a long carouse, as was their nightly custom. Now, the poor lass upstairs was like to have her wits turned at the singing and shoutlpg from below" for they say that the words used by Hugo Baskerville. when be was In wine, were such as might blast the man who said them.

At last In the stress of her fear she did that which might hsve daunted the bravest or most active man, for by the aid of the growth of ivy which covered (and stllj covers) the south wall she came down from unr der the eaves, and so homeward across the moor, there being three leagues betwixt 4he hall and her father's farm. "It chanced that some little time later Hugo left his guests to carry food and with other worse things, per eh to his captive, and so found Then, as it would seem, he became as one that hath a devil, for. rushing down stairs into the dining hall he sprang upon the great table, flagons and trenchers flying before hlra, and he cried aloud before all the company that he would that very night render his body and soul to the Powers of Evil If he might but overtake the, wench. And while the revelers, stood; aghast at the fury of the man. ono.

moro wicked or, it may be. more dsunken than the irrt, cried out "that OTSy should put the hounds upon her Whereat Hugo ran 'from the house, crying to. iai grooms that they should his mare and unkennel the pack, and giving the hounds a kerchief of the maid's, he swung them to the line, and so off full cry In the moonlight over the moor. "Now, for some space the revelers stood agape, unable to understand all that had been done In such haste. But anon their bemused wits awoke to the nature of the deed which Was like to be done upon the moorlands.

Everything was now an uproar, some calling for theV pistols, some for their horses, and some for another flask of wine. But at length some sense back to their crated minds, and the Whole of them, thirteen In number, took horse and started In pursuit The moon shone clear above them, and they rode swiftly abreast, taking that course which the maid must needs have taken If she were to reach her own home. "They had gone a mile or two when they passed one of the 'night shepherds upon the moorlands, and they cried to him to know if he had seen the hunt. the man, as the story goes, was so Wfced with fear that he could scarce speak, but at last he satd that ha had Indeed seen the unhappy maiden, with the hounds upon her track. "But I have seen more than said he, 'for Hugo Baskerville passed me upon his black mare, and there ran mute behind htm such a hound of hell as God forbid should ever be at my heels." So the drunken squires cursed the shepherd and rode onward.

But soon their skins turned cold, for there came a galloping' across the moor, and the black mare, dabbled with white froth, went pas) with trailing bridle and empty saddle: Then the revelers rode close together, for a great fear was on them, but they still followed over the moor, though each, had he been alone, would have' been right glad to have turned his horse's head. Riding slowly in this fashion they came at but upon the hounds These, though known for their valor and their ware whimpering in a clutter at the head of a deep dip or goyal. as we cait it, upon the moor, some stinking away and some, with starting hackles and stating eyes, gazing down the narrow valley before them. "The company, had come to a halt, more sober men, as you may guess, than when they started. The most of them would by no means advance, but three of them, the boldest, or It may be the most drunken, rode forward down the goyal.

Now, it opened into a broad In which stood two of those great set by certain forgotten peoples la the days of old. The moon was shining bright upon the clearing, and there In the center lay the unhappy maid where she had fallen, dead of fear and of fatigue. But It was not the sight of her body, nor yet was It that of the body of Hugo Baskerville lying near her, which raised the hair upon the heads of these three daredevil roysterers. but It life. mat standing over Hugo, and plucking I creat.

black beast shaned Mke a bound, yet larger than any hound that ever mortal eye has rested upon. And even as they looked the thing tore" the throat out of Hugo Baskerville. on which, as It turned Its blazing eyes and dripping Jaws upon them, the three ieked with rear snd rode for dear saM. dW stu ad that i the very night of my sons, of the NUMBER EIGHTEEN 15he Hound of the BasKervilles By A. Conan Doyle, Author of "The Great Boer "The Green Flag," "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," "A Study in Scarlet," etc.

In Twelve Installments CHAPTER. ONE MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES. SHERLOCK HOLMES, save upon those not infrequent occasions when lie was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before.

It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous headed, of the sort which is known as a' "Penang lawyer." just under the across. "To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the C.C.H.." was engraved upon it, with the date "1884 it was Just such a stick as the old ioned family practitioner used to dignified, solid, and reassuring. Watson, what do you make of Holmes was sitting with his back to me, I had given htan no sign of my occu "How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back "I have, at least, a well polished silver plated coffee pot in front of me," said be. "But. tell me, Watson, what do you make of our visitor's stick? Since we have been so unfortunate as to miss him and have no notion of bis errand, portance.

Let i the man by an hear you reconstruct "I think," said I. following as far as I could the methods of my companion, "that Dr. Mortimer is a successful elderly medical man. wall esteemed, since those who know him give htm this mark of their appreciation." "Good!" said Holmes. "Excellent!" "I think also that the probability is In favor of bis being a country practitioner i great deal i ms risking on "Because this stick, though originally a very handsome one, has been so knocked that I can hardly Imagine" a town petitioner carrying it.

The thick Iron ferrule is worn down, so It is evident that he has done a great amount of walking 4rith It." "Perfectly sound!" said Holmes. "And then there is the 'friends of the C.C.H.' I should guess that to be the Something Hunt, the local hunt to whose members he has possibly given some surgical assistance, and which has made him a presentation In re most probable that such a presentation would bfr made? When would bis friends unite to give flSm a pledge of their good will? Obviously at the moment when Dr. Mortimer withdrew from the service of the hdspHsl in order to start in practice for himself. We know there has been a presentation. We believe there has been a change from a town hospital to a country Is it.

then, stretching our Inference too far to say that the presentation was on the occasion of the change?" "It certainly seems probable." "Now, you will observe that he could not have been on the staff of QT3 hospital, since only a man well established in a London practice could hold such a position, and such a one would not drift into the country. What was he. then? If he was in the hospital and yet not on the staff, he could only have been a house surgeon or a house physician he left five years the date Is on the stick. So your grave, middle aged family practitioner vanishes Into thin air, my dear Watson, and there emerges a young fellow under thirty, amiable, unambitious, absent minded, and the possessor of a dog. which I should describe as being larger than a.

Her and smaller than a mastiff." laughed incredulously as Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his settee and blew little wavering rings of smoke up "As to the latter part, I have no means of checking you," said I. "but at least it is not difficult to find out a few particulars about the man's age and professional career." From my small medical shelf I took down the medical dl were several Mortimers, but only one who could be our visitor. I read "uls i you possibly "For tie very simple reason I the dog himself on our very I see and there Is the ring of Its owner. Don't move, I beg you, Watson. He Is a professional brother of yours, and your presence may be of assistance to me.

Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step the stair which is walking into your life, and you know not whether for good or ill. What does Dr. James Mortimer, the man of science, ask of Sherlock Holmes, In!" The i very beak. ice of our visitor was a since I had expected a practitioner. He was a rhlch Jutted out between closely together and sparkling brightly from behind pair or goid rimmed glasses.

He was elad in a professional but rather slovenly fashion, for hH frock coat was dingy and his trousers frayed. Though young, his long back was already bowed, and he walked with a forward thrust of his head and a general air of peering benevolence. As he entered his eyes tell upon the stick in Holmes' hand, and he ran toward it with an exclamation of Joy. "I am so very said he. "I was not sure whether I bad left it here or In the shipping office.

I would not lose that stick for the world." "A presentation. I see." said Holmes. "Yea. "From Charing Cross hospital "From one or two friends there on the occasion of my marriage." "Dear, dear, that's bad!" said Holmes, shaking his head. Dr.

Mortimer blinked through his glasses In mild astonishment. "Why was It bad?" "Objy that yon have disarranged our little deductions. Your marriage, you suiting practice. It "Come, come, we are not so far i after ail." said Holmes. "And Dr.

James "Mister, sir. a humble It i DR A CONAN DOfLR Dr Dcyte neids rto introduction to a Southern audience. He is the crettor of the sden tific and philosophic of the most wonderful products of modem fiction. With his Sherlock Holmes series and his other Taholesome m'bels, the reading world is thoroughly familiar. "The Hound of the BaskerviU.es" records a climax in the of this brilliantly gifted author, bi providing his serin! for the summer months.

The Sunny South expects to confer much pleasure cntts readers. "A dabbler In science, Mr. Holmes, a picker up of shells on the shores of the great unknown ocean. I presume that it is Mr. Sherlock Holmes whom I am addressing and this is my friend Dr.

Watson." "Glad to meet you, I have heard your name mentioned In connection with that of your friend. You interest me very much, Mr. Holmes. I had hardly expected so dolichocephalic a skull or such well marked supra orbital development Would you have any' objection to my running my finger along your parietal Assure? A cast of your skull, sir, until the original is available would be any anthropological my i but I confess i be Sherlock Holmes waved our strange visitor Into a chair. "You are an enthusiast in your line of thought, I perceive, sir.

as I am in mine," said he. observe from your forefinger that you make your own cigarettes. Have no hesitation in lighting one." The man drew out paper and tobacco and twirled the one up in the other agile and restless as tne antennae of an Insect Holmes was silent but his little darting glances showed tne the Interest which he took In our curious oompan "I presume, sir." said he at last, "that it was not merely for the purpose of examining my skull that you have done me the honor to caU here last night and again today?" "No, sir. no; though I am happy to have had the. opportunity of doing that as well.

I came to you. Mr. Holmes, because I recognized that I am myself an unpractical man, and because I am suddenly confronted with a most serious and extraordinary problem. Recognizing, as I do, that you are the second highest expert in "Indeed, sir! May I Inquire who has the honor to be the first?" asked Holmes, with some asperity. "To man of precisely scientific mind the work of Monsieur Bertlilon must always appeal strongly." "Then had you not better consult hlmT" "I said.

sir. to the precisely scientific rttnd. But as a practical man of affairs it Is acknowledged that you stand alone. I trust, sir. that I have not "Just a little," said Holmes.

"I think. Dr. Mortimer, you would do wisely if without more ado you would kindly tell me plainly what the exact nature of the problem is In which yon demand my CHAPTER TWO THE CURSE OF THE BASKER VILLE8. "How can you say that, sir?" "You have presented an inch, or two of It to my examination all the time that you have been talking. It would be a poor expert who could not give the date of a document a decade or so.

You may possibly have read my little monograph upon the subject I put that at 1730." "The exact date is 1W2." Dr. Mortimer drew from his breast pocket, "This family paper was committed to my care by Sir Charles Baslrervllle. whose sudden and tragic death some three months ago created so much excitement in I I coming of the hound which Is said to have plagued the family so sorely ever since. If I have set It down It Is because that which Is clearly known hark less terror than that which Is but hinted at and guessed. Nor can It be denied that many of the family have been un ftanpy in their deaths, which have been sudden, bloody and mysterious.

Yet may we shelter ourselves in the Infinite goodness of Providence. which would not forever punish the Innocent that third or fourth generation which threatened In Holy Writ. To that prov idence. my sons. I hereby commend yon, and I counsel you by way of caution to forbear from crossing the moor 'in those dark hours when the powers of evil are "(This from Hugo Baskerville to his, sons.

Rodger and John, instructions that they say nothing thereof to their sioter When Dr. Mortimer bad finished read this singular narrative he pushed his spectacles up on his forehead and stared across at Mr. 8herlock Holmes. The latter yawned and tossed the end of his cigarette into the fire. "Well?" said he.

"Do you not find It Interesting?" of his pocket. rew a folded "Now. Mr. Holmes, we will give yon something a 'little more recent. This is The Devon County Chronicle of.

May of this year. It is a short accouafof the facts elicited at the death of 81r. Charles Baskerville which occurred a few days before that My friend leaned a Rttle forward and his expression became intent. Our visitor readjusted his glasses and began:" "The recent sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville. whose name has been mentioned as 'the probable liberal candidate for mid Devon at the next election, has cast a gloom over the county.

Though Sir Charles had resided at Baskerville Hall for a comparatively short period, his amiability of character and extreme generosity hsd won the affection and respect of all bad freshing to find a case where the "bf tin old county family which has upon evil days Is able to make. his fortune snd to bring it back with to restore tne raum grandeur of line. Sir Charles, Is well made large sums of hioney In South' African speculation. More wise than those who go on until the wheel turns, against them, he realised his gains returned to England with them. It 'Is residence at Baskerville Hall, and ft is m'ent which talk how large were those Imnrny; been interrupted by his death.

Being himself childless. was his openly expressed desire that the whole countryside should, within htn) own life time, profft by his good fortune, and many will have personal reasons for bewailing his untimely end. His gener ous donations to local and county charities have been frequently chronicled In 'The circumstances connected with the death of Sir CharVi cannot be said to have been entirely leared up by the inquest, but at leaf enough has been which local superstition has given 'rise? There Is no reason whatever to suspect foul play, or to Imagine that death could be from any but natural causes. Sir Charlek was a widower, and man whp may be said to have been In some ways of an eccentric habit of mind, iln spite of his considerable wealth he was simple in his personal tastes, and his Indoor servants at Baskerville Hall consisted of a married couple named Barry more, the husband acting as butler and the wife as housekeeper. Their eW frlends.

tends to show that 81 Charles' health has for some time been Impaired, and points especially to some affection of the heart. manifesting Itself in changes of color, breathlessness and acute of nervous depression. James Mortimer, the friend snd medical Charles Bnskerville was deceased, has given every night before going "to bed of Hal famous Yew Alley The evlder of Kas this had been bis custom. On the 1th of May Sir Charles had declared Ms intention of starting next day for London, an' ordered Barrymore to prepare luggage. That night he went out usual for his nocturnal walk, in the course of which he was In the habit of smoking a cigar.

He never returned. At 13 o'clock Barrymore. finding the hall door still open, became alarmed, and, lighting a lantern, went in search of his master. The day had been wet. and Charles' footmarks were easily traced down tha alley.

JJsjf Cown this walk there is a gate which leads out on to the Charles had stood for some little time here. He then down the slley, body prints altered I plained is character from the I the moor gate, and that he appeared from thence to have been walking upon his toes. One Murphy, a gipsy horse dealer, was the moor at no great distance at time, but he appears by his own confession to have been the worse for drink: He declares that he heard cries, but unable to state from what direction they No signs of violence were son. pointed and though the doctor's 'erldeacsi an XO an almost Incredible facial. oh I.