Read the text and be ready to do some tasks.

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES

Chapter XVII
Sherlock Holmes never told anyone of his plans until it was time to carry
them out. It was very hard for those who helped him, because they could only try
to guess how he intended to act. That evening Watson and Lestrade followed
him along the lonely path which led to Merripit House, but they did not know what
they were going to do, as Holmes was silent. When they were about two hundred
yards from the house Holmes stopped.
“Are you armed, Lestrade?” he asked.
The detective smiled. “Since I have trousers I have a pocket, and there is
always a revolver in it”, he answered.
“That’s good. These rocks on the right make a fine cover and here we shall
wait”. The three men hid among the rocks.
“You know the windows of the house, Watson?” Holmes asked his friend a
minute later.
“Certainly I do. The window that shines so brightly is the dining- room
window”.
“Then please creep forward quietly and see what they are doing. But be
careful and don’t let them know that they are watched”.
Very softly Watson approached the window and looked in. There
were only two men in the room, Sir Henry and Stapleton. They were sitting at the
table, smoking cigars and talking. Coffee and wine were in front of them. As
Watson watched them Stapleton rose and left the room, while Sir Henry filled
his glass again and leaned back in his chair. A moment later, Watson heard the
creak of a door and steps passing along the path on the other side of the wall.
Looking over it Watson saw that the naturalist had stopped at the door of an
outhouse in the corner of the garden. A key turned in a lock and as he entered
it a strange noise was heard inside. He was only a minute in the outhouse and
then the key turned again, the steps passed along the path and Stapleton re-
entered the house. Watson crept back to where his companions were waiting and
told them what he had seen.
“I wonder where the lady can be since all the other windows are dark”, said
Holmes thoughtfully. An hour passed. Over the Great Grimpen Mire there rose
a thick white fog. It was moving slowly in the direction of the house like a great white
wall.

“It is moving towards us”, whispered Holmes. “This is very bad, for the
fog is the only thing that can spoil my plan. If he does not come out before the
fog covers the path his life will be in danger”.
Now Watson and Lestrade understood that Holmes, was waiting for Sir
Henry to appear on the path. Watson remembered that in the morning Holmes
had told the young man to walk home alone through the moor. The fog was nearer
now.
“If he doesn’t leave the house in a quarter of an hour this part of the path will
be covered too and we shall not see him”, whispered Holmes. “We must move a
little farther along the path, where there is no fog yet”.
When they were half a mile from the house Holmes put his ear to the
ground and listened. “Thank God”, he exclaimed, “I hear his steps”.
Through the fog as through a curtain Sir Henry appeared, walk- ing quickly
along the path. Holmes and his companions let him pass and then cocked their
pistols.
“Now”, cried Holmes, “look out, it’s coming!”
A strange sound was heard somewhere quite near, and suddenly a hound
sprang out of the fog, an enormous coal black hound. No man had ever seen
anything like it. Its eyes glowed and fire came from its open mouth. The huge
black creature was following the steps of Sir Henry. Lestrade screamed and
threw himself on the ground. Watson and Holmes were so paralysed by this
terrible sight that they let the hound pass before they fired. Probably the shot
wounded the beast, for it gave a howl, but ran on. Far away on the path Sir Henry
had turned round at the shot. His hands were raised in horror, he could not move.
Holmes and his companions ran as they had never run in their lives. In front of
them they heard scream after scream from Sir Henry and the growling of the
terrible hound. They saw the beast spring upon its victim, but the next moment
Holmes sent five bullets of his revolver through the creature and it fell on the
ground dead. Sir Henry had fainted. Luckily he was not hurt, and a little brandy
soon helped him to recover.
“My God!” he whispered. “What was it?”
“It’s dead, whatever it is”, answered Holmes. “The hound of the Baskervilles
has gone once for ever. Look at it”.
The hound was lying stretched on the ground. It was a gigantic mastiff. Its
cruel eyes were ringed with fire. Watson placed his hand upon the glowing muzzle.
“There is phosphorus on it”, he said, holding up his own fingers that
shone in the darkness.

“We were prepared for a hound, but not for such a creature as this”, said
Holmes. “The fog did not let us see it until it was quite close to us”.
“You have saved my life”, said Sir Henry, “and I shall never for- get it”.
Post-reading task
 Checking your knowledge of the content. Find answers to these
questions in the text.

1. Who was following Sherlock Holmes along the lonely path that evening?
2. How many people were in Merripit’s house?
3. Who rose and left the room?
4. Was a thick white fog moving slowly in the direction of the house like a great
white wall?
5. What did Watson and Lestrade understand?
6. Did Lestrade scream and throw himself on the ground?
7. What did Sir Henry say?

 Put together these beginnings and endings of the sentences.

- when they were about two hundred yards from the house

- and fire came from its open mouth

- a moment later Watson heard the creak of a door

- Holmes put his ear to the ground and listened

- and told them what he had seen

- a key turned in a lock and

- Holmes and companions ran

- and steps passing along the path on the other side of the wall

- Watson crept back to where his companions were waiting

- as they have never run in their lives
- Holmes stopped

- as he entered it a strange noise was head inside

- when they were half a mile from a house

- its eyes glowed