The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-05-24

+" Under the elm.
How was it stepped?'
by five and by FIVE, south by two and
by two, west by one and by one, and
SO under.
What shall we give for it9'
All that is ours
Why should we give it?'
For the sake Of the trust.
g 8! The original has no date, but is
in the spelling of the middle of the
seventeenth century, remarked Mus
grave. am afraid, however, that it
can be Of little help to you in solving
this mystery
"'At least, said I, 1T gives us an
other mystery, and one which is even
more interesting than the first. It may
prove to be the solution Of the other.
You will excuse me, Musgrave, if l
say that your butler appears to me to
have been very clever man and to
have had a clearer insight than ten
generations of his masters
u" Il hardly follow you, said Mus
grave. THE paper seems to me to be
OF no practical Importance
practical, and I fancy that Brunton
took the same view. He had probably
seen it before that night on which you
caught him.
pains ,1 to is SiG VERY Z possible We took no
e He simply wished, I should i'm.
agine, to refresh his memory upon that
last occasion. He had, as | understand,
was comparing with the manuscript and
which he thrust into his pocket when
you appeared. ~.
"'That is true. But what could he
have to do with this old family Gus
tom of ours, and what does this rig
marole mean?'
Il don It think that we should have
much difficulty in determining that,
said I; with your permission we will
go little more deeply into the matter
upon the spot
1.-THE same afternoon saw us both
at Hurlstone. Possibly you have seen
pictures and read descriptions of the
famous old building, so l will conine
my account Of it to saying that it is
built in the shape Of an L, the long
arm being the more modern portion and
the. shorter the ancient nucleus, from
which the other has developed. Over
the low, heavy inteled door in the cen
ter Of this old part is chiseled the date
| 1907, but experts are agreed that the
| beams and stonework are really much
older than this. The enormously thick
| walls and tiny windows of this part
had in the last century driven the fam
lily, into building the new wing, and the
old one was used now as a StOrehOuse
and a cellar when it was used at all
A splendid park, with fine old timber
surrounds the house, and the lake, tt
which my client had referred, lay close
to the avenue, about two hundred yards
from the building.
81 was already firmly convinced
Watson, that there were not three sep
arate mysteries here, but one only, ane
that if [ could read the. Musgrave ritua
Alright I should hold in my hand thu
clue which would lead me to the trutl
concerning both the butler Brunton ant
the maid Howells. To that then turne'
all my energies. Why should this ser
want be so anxious to master thi
old formula? Evidently because he say
something in it which had escaped al
those generations Of country squires
sonal advantage. What was it then
and how had it affected his fate?
cit was perfectly obvious to me, o.
reading the ritual, that the measure
ments must refer to some spot to whic
the rest of the document alluded. an
that if we could find that spot, w
should be in a fair way towards indin
what the secret was which the oil
Musgraves had thought it necessary t
embalm in so curious a fashion. Their
were two guides given us to start with
an oak and an elm. AS to the GA
there could be no question at all. RICH
in front of the house, upon the left
hand side Of the drive, there stood
patriarch among oaks, one of the mos
magnificent trees that have ever seer
THAT was there when your ritus
was drawn up said l, as we drov
past it.
/" 1T was there at the Norman Cor
quest in all probability he answered
TT has girth Of twenty three feet
"Here was one Of my fixed point
secured.
sHa 70 you any old elmsq' I asked
'There used to be very old on
over yonder, but it was struck b
lightning ten years ago, and we Gu
down the stump
.61u e ssa see where it used to 1e'
There are no other elms9'
No. old ones, but plenty Q
beeches.'
grew ....-....
"We had driven up in dogcart, an
my client led me away at once, withou
our entering the house, to the scar 0
Cue laWH where Inc elm ndu SCOOQ. i
was nearly midway between the GA
and the house. My investigation SCENE
to be progressing.
!" I suppose it is impossible to fin
out how high the elm, wasg' asked.
80 can give you it at once. 1t wa
sixty-four feet
FtHow do you come to know it9'
asked in surprise.
* When my old tutor used to Civ
, me an exercise in trigonometry, it a
ways took the shape of measurin
, heights. When | was a lad I worke
, out every tree and building in til
estate.
F'This was an unexpected piece {
luck. My data were coming MOI
quickly than could have reasonabl
hoped :,
ever ask you such question:
| Reginald Musgrave looked at me