one of the most ominous moments in Sherlock Holmes

Yesterday I was discussing my great liking for the Sherlock Holmes stories, and suggested that Holmes must in fact be one of the greatest literary characters of all time. So, I went just now and dug up one of my favorite passages.

This is the naturalist Stapleton speaking on the moor to Watson in The Hound of the Baskervilles:

“That is the great Grimpen Mire. A false step yonder means death to man or beast. Only yesterday I saw one of the moor ponies wander into it. He never came out. I saw his head for quite a long time craning out of the bog-hole, but it sucked him down at last… By George, there is another of those miserable ponies!”

And yes, right then they see another pony sinking in the mire, struggling unsuccessfully to break free and at last disappearing to its doom. It’s one of the most mournful and ominous passages in literature.