7  Baskerville Hall
Holmes came to Waterloo Station to say goodbye to us．
Our friends told him that they were sure nobody had followed them since our last meeting．
Sir Henry's other shoe had not reappeared．
Holmes repeated his warning that Sir Henry should not go on the moor at night，
and should not go anywhere alone．
Then Holmes checked with me that I had my gun，an army revolver．
The journey was fast and enjoyable．
We were met at London Station and driven to Baskerville Hall．
The countryside we drove through was beautiful，
but behind it we could see the long，dark，frightening hills of the moor．
As we turned a corner，
we were surprised to see a soldier on horseback．
He was carrying a gun．
Dr Mortimer asked our driver why the soldier was there．
‘A dangerous criminal has escaped from the prison，sir，’he told us．
‘He's been free for three days now，
and people are frightened．His name is Selden．
He's the man who did that murder in London．’
I remembered the case well．
It had been a very cruel murder．
I thought of this killer out on the empty，wild moor，
and I felt more and more uncomfortable about my surroundings．
The beautiful green fields with their thick hedges were behind us，
and we were now on the cold，open moor．
Everything was grey，hard and wild Huge rough stones stood on the hard ground．
The tops of the hills stood sharply like cruel teeth against the sky．
A cold wind was blowing，
and night was falling．
I saw Sir Henry pull his coat closer round him．
At last we reached the gates of Baskerville Hall．
From the gates a long，dark road led up to the house，
with the black shapes of old trees on each side of it．
At the end of this road we could see the great house standing with a pale light round it like a ghost．
‘I can understand why my uncle felt that trouble was coming to him here．   “
It's not a welcoming place，’said Sir Henry，and his voice shook as he spoke．
As we got closer，
we could see that the Hall was a heavy，dark building with a large main entrance．
Most of the building was old and was covered in dark green ivy，
but some of it had been built more recently and was of grim，black stone．
A dull light shone through the heavy windows．
Black smoke was coming from one of the high chimneys of the main building．
‘Welcome，Sir Henry！Welcome to Baskerville Hall．’
Barrymore，the butler，and his wife were waiting on the steps at the main entrance
They came down and took our suitcases into the house
Dr Mortimer left us to go home，
and we went into the hall，where a fire was burning．
It was a fine room，large and high．
‘It's exactly as I imagined an old family home，’
Sir Henry said．
Barrymore showed us to our rooms .
He was a tall，handsome man，
with a full black beard．
After we had washed and changed our clothes，
he brought us to dinner．
The dining-room was not very welcoming．
It needed more lights to make it brighter．
On the walls were the pictures of the Baskervilles of the past．
They looked down on us silently，
and did nothing to make us feel happier．
After dinner we went to our rooms．
Before I got into bed，I looked out of my window .
A strong wind sang sadly as it bent the trees in front of the Hall．
A half moon shone through the dark，flying clouds onto the wild and empty moor．
I could not sleep．
Then，suddenly，
in the middle of the night I heard very clearly the sound of a woman crying．
It was the crying of a person who was hurt by some deep sadness．
The sound was not far away，and was certainly in the house．