'The Hound of the Baskervilles'

Again, isn't Sherlock Holmes kind of a dick? I mean, he completely uses poor Watson -- a doctor, no less -- as if he were some useless pawn. And as a means of placating his friend, Holmes tells Watson how invaluable he is and blah, blah, blah.

If I were Watson I would ask Holmes who the doctor was and go on my way. Especially if I'm having to travel halfway across the country to stay at some one-horse town in some spooky house where people are dying left and right.

And how much is Watson being reimbursed? Does he get like 20 percent of whatever Holmes is making?

Also, why was the escaped convict treated with such little regard. Was he created for the sole purpose of weaving the web of the story and arbitrarily lived and died along with the ebb and flow of the story? How cruel, even for a murderer.