The Terror of Blue John Gap

"The Terror of Blue John Gap" (published in 1912) is a short story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story comprises the adventures of a British doctor, recovering from tuberculosis who goes to stay at a Derbyshire farm looking for rest and relaxation, who becomes entrapped in a series of sinister events and is forced to uncover the mysteries surrounding "Blue John Gap" and the "Terror" that lurks within it.

Plot summary

The story begins on April 7 at Miss Allerton's farm, where Dr. James Hardcastle is recovering from his illness. During his recovery he has taken to strolling around the Derbyshire hills where he investigates the strange Limestone Geography and Geology and muses on life in general.

During one of his walks he discovers "Blue John Gap". A mine built by the Romans in order to mine the valuable mineral. He also learns that the shaft connects to naturally formed tunnels and caves miles underground. This fits in with what he has already discovered about the Limestone landscape.

During his investigation of the gap he runs into a farmer called Armitage who warns him away. Armitage believes that there is some sort of creature lurking in "Blue John Gap" which has been stealing his sheep. He also claims to have found blood trails leading into the Gap and to have heard strange noises in the dead of night. Hardcastle is sceptical and Armitage leaves him in temper.

Later Hardcastle himself hears a strange roar. Mystified, and a little scared and shaken up by the event, Hardcastle resolves to learn more and plans to investigate "Blue John Gap".

Armed with candles, Hardcastle descended into the gap as planned. He eventually finds the place where the mine and the natural caves join and investigates further. However, he has an accident when crossing a river and loses his candles and gets the matches wet, trapping him in pitch blackness.

When waiting in an attempt to see if his matches would dry Hardcastle hears something large coming his way. He hears it drinking from the stream and then after a tense moment, it turns and lopes back into the dark depth of the cave.

When Hardcastle finds the courage to move he finds that his matches are dry and, after lighting one to help him find his way, flees for his life. When back safe at the Allerton's farm he reviews what happened and comes to the conclusion that what he heard was real and not some delusion. He then begins to look for allies in his bid to stop the "Terror" before it strikes again.

He eventually went to see Dr. Mark Johnson, a friend of his friend Professor Saunderson. Johnson then sends Hardcastle to see Mr. Picton who is "pre-eminently suited to help him." "The Terror of Blue John Gap", chapter 1] It is later revealed that Mr Picton is in charge of an asylum. Hardcastle spends the night cursing the world which deems him mad and considering the irony that he himself had thought the same about young Armitage.

Later he learns that under the cover of darkness, when no moon shone in the sky, more sheep have vanished from the farms around "Blue John Gap" and Young Armitage has also disappeared in the night. Convinced that the "Terror" has killed him Hardcastle resolves to put a stop to the creature's reign of terror on his own.

Hardcastle stakes out the gap on a dark night without a moon, the creature seems to hunt on these nights, and waits for the beast. Eventually the creature emerged and, in his surprise and terror, Hardcastle allows the creature to pass by him and carry out its mischief. However, he braces himself for its return, resolved that "not for a second time will it pass unchallenged."

Later the beast returns from its hunting and Hardcastle ambushes it with his elephant gun. Wounded, the beast flees back into "Blue John Gap" with Hardcastle in pursuit. When in the caves he corners the beast, which turns on him. During the fight, Hardcastle's gun is knocked from his hands and all would have been lost if he hadn't used his lamp to blind the creature's sensitive eyes.

On his return to the Allerton farm, with a concussion and a broken arm and two badly fractured ribs, the locals, who always believed in the terror, unlike the city folk, viewed Hardcastle's tale and injuries as final corroboration. So in the early hours of the morning they gathered and blocked the tunnel, preventing the terror from emerging again.

Most Londoners believe, however, that Hardcastle was suffering from hallucinations, and he was not believed. He later died of his traumatic experience and when relatives went through his affects they found his journal and notes of what happened in an envelope titled "A Short Account of the Circumstances which occurred near Miss Allerton's Farm in North-West Derbyshire in the Spring of Last Year." The envelope was sealed, and on the other side was written -

"DEAR SEATON, It may interest, and perhaps pain you, to know that the incredulity with which you met my story has prevented me from ever opening my mouth upon the subject again. I leave this record after my death, and perhaps strangers may be found to have more confidence in me than my friend."

Themes

One of the central themes of "The Terror of Blue John Gap" is Hardcastle's difficulty in getting the world to believe him even when the events can be explained scientifically. This theme is mirrored with Conan Doyle's other character, Professor Challenger's struggles to get the world to believe the truth of his adventures in "The Lost World" (the creature in "The Terror of Blue John Gap" is also a prehistoric survivor just like the creatures in "The Lost World.")cite book|author=Gooden. Philip|year=2001|title=Conan Doyle and Skeptics.]

It also echoes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's career as a campaigner for various causes such as the atrocities in the Congo and spiritualism where he was met with denial in the former case and doubt in the latter. In that respect Philip Gooden theorises that Dr. James Hardcastle, and Professor Challenger, who boldly prove the scientific community wrong, may have been a wish fulfillment on Doyle's part.

Characters

* Dr. James Hardcastle - The hero of the story. A doctor who, while recovering from tuberculosis, discovers the mystery of "Blue John Gap" and bravely resolves to solve it alone when the world scorns him. While he emerged triumphant the ordeal left him a broken man. He died on February 4th, 1908, at his Upper Coventry Flats in South Kensington.
* Armitage - A young sheep farmer. He was the one who first introduced Dr. Hardcastle to the sinister goings on around "Blue John Gap". He later vanishes without a trace and is presumed to have been killed by the "Terror".
* The Miss Allerton's - Two elderly sister spinsters. They run the farm and inn where Hardcastle is sent to recover from his illness. The are described as quaint with hearts of gold.
* Dr. Mark Johnson - A friend of Professor Saunderson. Hardcastle turns to him for help and he promptly sent Hardcastle to Mr. Picton's asylum as a result.
* Professor Saunderson - Dr. Hardcastle's Doctor. He was the one who recommended Miss Allerton's farm as a place for Hardcastle to recover and apparently grew up there himself.
* Seaton - A friend of Dr. Hardcastle. Hardcastle addressed his notes of the events to him. Enquiry apparently failed to identify who Seaton actually was and his identity, and even existence, remained a mystery.

Locations

* Miss Allerton's farm - The place in Derbyshire where Dr. Hardcastle was sent in a futile attempt to recover from his illness. The farm is fourteen hundred and twenty feet above sea-level and surrounded by Limestone Cliffs and hills. Professor Saunderson was "not above scaring crows in those very fields"
* Blue John Gap - A mine, one of only two in the world where the beautiful and rare Blue John mineral is found. The Romans created the mine and, in the process, their shaft intersected into the great water-worn caves of the underworld.
* Underworld - Dr. Hardcastle discovers that the limestone hills are hollow, "Strike it with some gigantic hammer it would boom like a drum." Inside, he theorised, is a huge subterranean sea. The evaporation from this sea supports a forest and animal life, which entered the caves from the surface and became trapped when the caves where cut off. Since then they have evolved into the creatures Hardcastle encountered.

External links

* [http://treeboatocean.wordpress.com/2006/04/26/the-terror-of-blue-john-gap-arthur-conan-doyle/] - a review of the story.
* [http://www.literaturepage.com/read/tales-of-terror-and-mystery-57.html] - an online text of the story.

Footnotes