CHAPTER NOTES AND SUMMARY - The Hound of the Baskervilles

CHAPTER FOUR: Sir Henry Baskerville

Summary

Dr. Mortimer arrives right on time with Sir Henry, a man who, while with the sturdy build and appearance that one would expect of a farmer also has something of the air of a gentleman about him. The baronet, even before hearing of the legend, is already feeling disturbed, by the arrival at his hotel (where no one had known he would be staying) of a note warning him not to go to the moor.

Holmes is easily able to identify the cut out words as being from the previous day’s Times newspaper. He also deduces from the message that it is an educated person in a hurry in order to avoid an interruption. The written portion-the address and the word “moor”, being difficult to find in print-indicate by the quality that the person is attempting to disguise their handwriting since it is or will be familiar and that the message was composed in a hotel.

Sir Henry also reports on the disappearance of one of his tan boots, which he set outside his room to be varnished and has yet to wear. He then demands to be told what is going on, and Dr. Mortimer tells him all that he has told Holmes and Watson. Sir Henry was familiar with the legend but until hearing of his uncleÂ’s mysterious death, had always dismissed it. Regardless, he is insistent on going to the Hall. He does however request another meeting at his hotel at 2:00 that afternoon.

As soon as the doctor and the baronet leave for the hotel on foot, Holmes and Watson begin trailing them. They quickly notice that a cab is following the pair but unfortunately the passenger, a man with a black beard (a fake), notices them at the same time and the cab takes off. Unable to pursue it and regretting his enthusiasm that tipped the man off, the detective did at least get the number-2704.

Holmes and Watson go into a nearby messenger office and employ Cartwright, a young boy who works there, to go about to the twenty-three hotels in the area and bribe the employees so he can look through the wastepaper, looking for a cut up copy of the Times.

Notes

Esquimau refers to someone who lives in the Arctic. Due to the isolated nature of such a place, the skull of one from there would likely have marked differences, especially to an expert. Though for a doctor like Mortimer, such knowledge would not be unusual, in this time period, phrenology (studying the bumps on a head in the same way a fortune teller reads palms) was popular.

Similarly, as a detective, Holmes is skilled at font identification. The Times typeface that he recognizes so easily was changed in 1932, when, after commissioning a new design, Times New Roman was created.

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