How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #4
"I was a boy in my teens at the time of my father's death and had never seen the Hall, for he lived in a little cottage on the South Coast. Thence I went straight to a friend in America. I tell you it is all as new to me as it is to Dr. Watson, and I'm as keen as possible to see the moor." (6.23-4)
Sir Henry's closely connected to the family there as Sir Charles' heir. But he's also a complete stranger to the place, never having laid eyes on it. So he's in a peculiar isolation: his blood lines and fortune make him an important person in the neighborhood, but he isn't at all familiar with it. You can see why he wants to reach out to neighbors; this makes him more vulnerable to Stapleton, who's a longtime resident who knows his way around.
Quote #5
"But your family have been with us for several generations, have they not? I should be sorry to begin my life here by breaking an old family connection."
I seemed to discern some signs of emotion upon the butler's white face.
"I feel that also, sir, and so does my wife. But to tell the truth, sir, we were both very much attached to Sir Charles, and his death gave us a shock and made these surroundings very painful to us. I fear that we shall never again be easy in our minds at Baskerville Hall." (6.61-3)
Living in a huge, old house like Baskerville Hall requires a ton of servants: Sir Henry can't run the house by himself. And no sooner does he arrive in his new home than the staff up and quits. He probably thought he could rely on his uncle's butler, whose family has been working with his for generations. The possibility of losing them increases both his sense of isolation and his general anxiety about his safety at Baskerville Hall.
Quote #6
A long, low moan, indescribably sad, swept over the moor... Stapleton looked at me with a curious expression in his face.
"Queer place, the moor!" said he.
"But what is it?"
"The peasants say it is the Hound of the Baskervilles calling for its prey. I've heard it once or twice before, but never quite so loud."
I looked round, with a chill of fear in my heart, at the huge swelling plain, mottled with the green patches of rushes. Nothing stirred over the vast expanse save a pair of ravens, which croaked loudly from a tor behind us. (7.69-73)
The moor is a dramatic background for this novel because it's filled with strange noises, prehistoric ruins, and dangerous mires. Part of what makes it so romantic and threatening is its isolation. Watson's description that, "Nothing stirred over the vast expanse save a pair of ravens" makes the unexplainable, echoing sound of the hound that much more frightening. You're alone in the dark.