Chapter 1: Mr.

Sherlock Holmes

Summary: On a morning in 1879, John Watson, M.D., awakes to find the private detective Sherlock Holmes, with whom he shares lodgings at 221-B Baker Street, unexpectedly seated at the breakfast table. Holmes invites Watson to examine a walking stick left behind by an unmet visitor the previous night. What, Holmes wonders, can Watson deduce about the sticks owner? Watson hazards his observations, only to have them clarified and corrected by Holmes, his deductive superior. Shortly thereafter, the walking sticks owner, one James Mortimer, M.R.C.S. (Member of the Royal College of Surgeons), arrives. After exclaiming his delight at having the chance to observe Holmes skull (for he has heard of the detectives brilliant intellect) , he proceeds to tell Holmes and Watson why he is seeking the master detectives help.
Chapter 2: The Curse of the Baskervilles

Summary: Mortimer reads to Holmes and Watson an early 18 th-century manuscript that tells of

how, in the time of the Great Rebellion *i.e., 1641-51], Hugo Baskerville, progenitor of the ancient and wealthy Baskerville line and a wild, profane and godless man, kidnapped the maiden daughter of a yeoman who held lands near his estate. For this crime, the document claims, Hugo Baskerville died, ravaged by a great, black beast, shaped like a hound, yet larger than any hound that ever mortal eye has rested upon. The Baskervilles thus believe a curse has been placed upon their family. Holmes dismisses the story, but is more intrigued when Mortimer reads a recent newspaper account of the death of Sir Charles Baskerville. A generous philanthropist and a potential candidate for Parliament in an upcoming election, Sir Charles (descendant, of course, of the notorious Hugo) had restored much of his familys greatness after it had fallen upon hard times by capitalizing on financial speculations in South Africa. A widower, Sir Charles lived only with his servants at Baskerville Hall, a married couple, the Barrymores, who worked as butler and housekeeper. He lived near Mortimer, who was his personal physician; as well as one Mr. Frankland of Lafter Hall and Mr. Stapleton, a naturalist. Sir Charles was keenly interested in the legend of the Baskerville curse, asking Mortimer several times whether he ever saw or heard strange creatures and noises, especially the baying of a hound. Each night before retiring to bed, Sir Charles would walk the Halls famous yew alley. He never returned from that walk on the evening of May 4; at midnight, Mr. Barrymore found his master lying dead at the alleys end, past its gate that opens onto the moor surrounding the Hall. Sir Charles face wore a terrifyingly distorted expression (attributed in the autopsy to cardiac exhaustion). Barrymore noted that the appearance of Sir Charles footprints altered once he had passed that gate, but reported no other physical clues to the inquest. Information that the newspaper account does not include, but what Mortimer now tells Holmes, is that, three weeks prior to Sir Charles death, Mortimer had visited the nobleman and caught a glimpse of some large, unknown black animalthe sight of which visibly shook Sir Charles.
Furthermore, in the yew-alley, Mortimer saw the fresh and clear footprints of a gigantic hound.