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Dr Mortimer and Sir Henry Baskerville arrived at exactly ten o'clock the following morning.Sir Henry was a small,healthy,wellbuilt man.His face showed that he had a strong character.He wore a country suit of thick,redbrown 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 danger.'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?PerhaPS 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.'
摩梯末医生和亨利·巴斯克维尔爵士于次日早上10点钟准时到达。亨利爵士长得短小精悍，身体健康，体态结实。他的面相表明他性格刚强。他穿着一件厚厚的、棕红色布料制成的外衣，他的皮肤还表明他大多数时间是在户外度过的。
“我为事先预约好了这次会面而感到高兴，”亨利爵士在我们与他们握手致意之后说道。“我需要您的帮助，福尔摩斯先生。我今天早上遇到了一桩奇怪的事情。看看这封信吧。”
他把一张纸放到了桌上。上面写着：“别前往沼地，不然您将有生命危险。”这些字是从报纸上剪下来的。
“福尔摩斯先生，您能告诉我这究竟是什么意思，还有究竟是谁对我这么感兴趣吗？”亨利爵士问道。
“这很有趣，”福尔摩斯说道。“看看这项工作是干得多么拙劣吧。我认为写信人很慌张。为什么呢？也许他是不想让人看见。我想地址是在一个旅馆里写就的。钢笔和墨水都给这人添了麻烦。在写这么短的地址之时，笔尖上的墨水就干了三次。可能是瓶中的墨水很少。私人的钢笔和墨水是决不会被弄到这个地步的。哎呀，这是什么啊？”
他把信拿到离眼睛只有几厘米远的地方。
“怎么啦？”我问道。
“没什么，”他说道，扔下了那封信。“那么，亨利爵士，您还有别的事情要告诉我们吗？”
“没有了，”亨利爵士说道。“除了我丢了一只鞋以外。昨晚我把一双鞋放在了门外。我本想让旅馆把它们擦一擦的，可是今早当我去取时有一只不见了。我是昨天才买的这双鞋，我还从未把它们穿上脚呢。我只是想给这双鞋好好地上点油。”
“一只鞋似乎偷了也没什么用场，”福尔摩斯说道。“我敢肯定这只鞋将在旅馆中找到并归还给您。但是现在我们得将有关巴斯克维尔家族的某些事情告诉给您。”
摩梯末医生掏出了巴斯克维尔家族的那份古老的手稿，并把它读给亨利爵士听。福尔摩斯接着告诉他有关查尔斯爵士之死的情况。
“这么说来这封信是出自一位想要警告我或是吓跑我的人之手了，”亨利爵士说道。
“是的，”福尔摩斯说道。“我们还不得不决定一下让您去巴斯克维尔庄园是否明智。那儿对您来说似乎有危险。”
“没有任何人或任何恶魔能够阻止我去我家的房子，”亨利爵士生气地讲道。“我需要时间来考虑考虑你们所告诉我的事情。您和华生医生愿意在两小时以后去我住的旅馆和我共进午餐吗？届时，我将告诉您我的想法。”
摩梯末医生和亨利爵士道别了，而且还决定走回他们下榻的旅馆去。
我们的客人一走，福尔摩斯就由一个言谈者变成了一个行动者。
“快，华生！穿戴好你的衣帽。我们得跟着他们。”我们立刻准备完毕并来到了街上。我们的朋友们在我们之前不远处，我们尾随着他们。我们保持在他们身后100米处。
福尔摩斯突然叫了一声。我看到有一辆出租马车在街道的另一侧、我们的朋友的对面缓缓地前进着。
“就是那个人，华生！来呀！我们来好好地看看他的样子。”
我看到有个长着一大绺黑须的男子正从出租马车的窗户里往外看。他一直盯着我们的朋友的行踪。但是，当他看到我们向他跑去时，他便向车夫喊了一句什么，马车然后就顺着这条道飞奔而去了。福尔摩斯四下里张望着，想另找一辆出租马车，可是没有看到有空车。他于是开始追头一辆马车，可是它不久便不见踪影了。
“哼，我记下车号了，”福尔摩斯说道。“由此我可以找到车夫。他也许可以告诉我们他的乘客的一些情况。要是你再见到那人，你会认出他来吗？”
“我只能认得他的胡须。”
“他本来便是想叫我们认得他的胡须，”福尔摩斯说道。“我认为那是绺假胡子。”