I,William Baskerville,write this for my sons in the year 1742.My father told me about the Hound of the Baskervilles.He told me when it was first seen,and I be lieve his story was true.I want you,my sons,to read this story carefully.I want you to know that God punishes those who do evil.But never forget that He will forgive those who are sorry for any evil they have done.

The girl upstairs,who was already very frightened,felt desperate when she heard the terrible things they were shouting.So she did a very brave thing.She opened the window,climbed out of the room and down the ivy on the wall.Then she started to run across the moor towards her home.
A little while later,Hugo left his friends and went up stairs to the room to take her some food and drink.When he found an open window and an empty room,he behaved like a man who was mad.He ran down the stairs.He screamed that he would give himself to the Devil if he caught the girl before she reached home.Some of Hugo*s drunken friends told him to let the hounds chase her,and so he ran from the house and unlocked the dogs.Then he jumped onto his black horse,and rode off over the moor with the hounds running and crying around him.

Hugo*s friends fetched their horses and followed him.There were thirteen of them.After a mile or two they passed an old farmer and asked him if he had seen Sir Hugo and the hounds.The man looked half mad with fear and spoke with difficulty.He said that he had seen the girl and the hounds running close behind her.Sir Hugo had been riding just behind the hounds.*But I have seen more than that,*the old man said.*Behind Sir Hugo I saw a huge and terrible hound running silently.May God keep me safe from that hound of hell.*

The thirteen men laughed at the old man and rode on.But their laughter soon stopped when they saw Sir Hugo*s horse running wildly towards them without a rider.
The thirteen men moved closer together as they rode on.They were suddenly afraid.Over the moor they went until,at last,they caught up with the hounds.

Everyone in the county knew that the Baskerville hounds were brave and strong.But now they were stand ing at the head of a deep valley in the moor with their ears and tails down.They were very frightened.Hugo*s friends stopped.Most of them would not go on,but three were brave enough to go down into the valley.

The valley had a wide flat floor.In the middle of the flat ground stood two great stones.They had stood there for thousands of years.The moon was shining brightly on the great stones,and between them,on the flat ground,lay the girl.She had fallen there,dead of fear and exhaus tion.Sir Hugo*s body was lying near her.But it was not the sight of Sir Hugo or the girl that filled the men with fear.It was the sight of the huge animal that was standing over Sir Hugo.Its teeth were at his throat.It was a great black creature that looked like a hound.But it was larger than any hound they had ever seen.

As they watched,it tore out Hugo Baskerville*s throat.Then it turned towards them.Its eyes were burning brightly.Its body shone with a strange light.Blood ran from its mouth.The men screamed and kicked their horses.They rode back up the valley as fast as they could go.Later that night one died from the horror he had seen.The other two were mad 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.Be cause of this I warn you not to cross the moors at night.The Devil finds it easy to do his work when the world is dark.

When Dr Mortimer had finished reading this strange story,he looked across at Sherlock Holmes.Holmes looked bored.
*Did you find the story interesting?*asked Dr Mortimer.
*It may interest a collector of stories to frighten children,* said Holmes.

Dr Mortimer took a newspaper from another pocket.
*Now,Mr Holmes,let me read you something which was written only three months ago.It is from the Devonshire County Newspaper,and it is about the death of Sir Charles Baskerville.*
Holmes looked more interested.Dr Mortimer began to read:

The sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville has caused great sadness in the county.Although he had lived at Baskerville Hall for only two years,everyone liked him.Sir Charles had lived abroad and made his money there.He came back to spend his fortune on repairing Baskerville Hall and its farms and villages,as the buildings and lands were in very poor condition.He was a friendly and generous man,who gave freely to the poor.
The official report of his death does not explain every thing that happened.However,it does show that there was no question of murder.Sir Charles died from natural causes,and the strange stories people are telling about his death are not true.His friend and doctor,Dr James Mor timer,said that Sir Charles*heart had been weak for some time.

The facts are simple.Every night before going to bed,Sir Charles went for a walk in the gardens of Baskerville Hall.His favourite walk was down a path between two hedges of yew trees,the famous Yew Alley of Baskerville Hall.On the night of 4th June he went out for his walk to think and to smoke his usual cigar.
Sir Charles was going to London on the next day,and Barrymore,his butler,was packing his suitcases.By mid night Barrymore was worried that Sir Charles had not re turned,so he went to look for him.He found the door of the Hall open.The day had been rainy and wet so Barry more saw the prints left by Sir Charles*shoes as he had walked down the Alley.Half way down the Alley is a gate,which leads to the moor.There were signs that Sir Charles had stood there for some time.Barrymore fol lowed the footprints to the far end of the Alley.And there he found Sir Charles*body.

Barrymore reported something interesting about the footprints.He said that they changed between the moor gate and the end of the Alley.As far as the moor gate there was a whole footprint for each of Sir Charles*steps.After he passed the gate,only toe prints could be seen.Barrymore thought that Sir Charles had walked on his toes.

A man called Murphy,who buys and sells horses,was not far away at the time of Sir Charles*death.He had been drinking a lot of beer,but he says he heard cries.He is not sure where they came from.

Dr Mortimer was called to look at Sir Charles*body.There were no signs that Sir Charles had been murdered,but Dr Mortimer did not recognize his friend*s face.The whole shape of it was changed.However,this often hap pens with deaths which are caused by weak hearts.When Dr Mortimer looked at the body,he found that this was,in fact,what had happened.Sir Charles*weak heart had failed,and this had caused his death.