The Hound of the Baskervilles: The Man on the Tor

Watson drove to Coombe Tracey and found Laura Lyons, a very beautiful woman with something hard in her face.At first she said that she had only written to Sir Charles to thank him for his kindness.But when Watson repeated the line from the burnt letter, she turned pale and admitted that she had asked him to meet her at ten o’clock.

She explained that she needed money to free herself from her cruel husband, and that Sir Charles was a generous man.Yet she claimed that she had never gone to the gate, because she had received help from another person before the meeting.Watson left feeling sure that she was hiding something, though he could not prove it.

On his way home Watson met Mr. Frankland, who proudly invited him in to look through his telescope.The old man believed that he had found the convict’s food supply, and he pointed to a small boy carrying a bundle up a hill.Watson said nothing, but he knew that the boy was taking food to the stranger, not to Selden.

He walked alone to the hill and found an old stone hut with a roof that someone had repaired.Inside were blankets, tins of food, a jug of water and a piece of paper with a message written in pencil.It said that Dr. Watson had gone to Coombe Tracey, and Watson realised with a shock that he himself was the one being followed.

With his revolver ready, he sat down in the dark corner of the hut to wait for the man to come back.As the sun went down, he heard boots on the stones outside, coming slowly closer.

Then a well-known voice told him that it was a lovely evening and that he would be more comfortable outside.Watson could hardly believe his ears, because the man on the tor was Sherlock Holmes.