Mortimer: "I said, sir, to the precisely scientific mind, But as a
practical man of affairs it is acknowledged that you stand alone. I
trust, sir, that I have not inadvertantly - ."
Holmes: "Just a little.  I think, Dr.  Mortimer, you would do wisely
if without more ado you would tell me plainly what the exact nature
of the problem is in which you demand my assistance."
Mortimer said he had a manuscript. Holmes at once interrupted to say
that he had already seen an inch or two of it sticking out of his
breast pocket, and that he judged it to be dated 1730. Mortimer said
the exact date was 1742. It was a family paper, he said, committed to
his care by Sir Charles Baskerville, whose sudden and tragic death some
three months ago had created much excitement in Devonshire. *
