The dogs ran out across the dark moor. Sir Hugo and his men rode after them. The dos barked and Sir Hugo shouted.
Then they heard another noise. It was louder then the noise of barking and shouting. The dogs stopped and listened. They were afraid.
The men heard the noise too.It was a loud and deep howling sound - the sound of a huge dog howling at the moon. The men stopped their horses, but Sir Hugo rode on. He wanted to catch the girl.
Sir Hugo did not catch the girl. Suddenly his horse stopped and thew him to the ground. The horse ran away in terror.
In the moonlight, the men saw a strange, black animal. It looked liked a dog with huge, fiery eyes. But it was as big as a horse. All the men became very frightened.
The huge black dog jumped on Sir Hugo Baskerville and killed him. The other men ran away into and Sir Hugo was never seen again.
Since that time, many of the sons of the Baskerville family have died while they were young. Many of them have died strangely. This is the curse of the Baskervilles - still walks on the moor at night.
'Well, Mr Holmes, what do you think of this story?' asked Dr Mortimer.
'I don't think it is a true story,' Sherlock Holmes. 'Why do you show me this story? Do you believe it?'
'Before Charles Baskerville's death, I did not believe the story,' Mortimer answered. 'But Charles believed the story. It worried him. He became ill and his heart was weak.'
'Why did he believe this story?' I asked
'Because he saw the hound on the moor,' answered Dr Mortimer. 'Or, he thought he saw it. When Charles told me this story, I told him to take a holiday. I told him to go to London for a few weeks and forget all about the curse.
'Did he take a holiday?' I asked.
'No,' said Mortimer. 'He planned to go to London the following Friday. But, on the Thursday evening, he went for a walk on the edge of the moor. And he never returned.'
'How did he die?' I asked.
'He died of a heart attack,' answered Mortimer. 'His servant came to fetch me. I found Charles near the house, on the edge of the moor. He was running away from something when he died. I am sure of that. I think he was terrified of something.'
'Terrified?' asked Holmes. 'What was he running away from?'
'I looked at the ground where Charles had walked. I saw his footprints,' said Mortimer. 'But there were other footprints on the ground. They were not the footprints of a man. They were the footprints of a gigantic hound!'