The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-11-05
The MYSTERY of THE
MUSGRAVE RITUAL.

{ the clue which would lead me TO the
truth concerning both the butler, Brun-
ton. and the maid Howells. To that,
| then, ] turned all my energies. Why
/ should this servant be so anxious to
master this old formula? Evidently
because he saw something in il which
| had escaped all those generations OF
| country SquiFes, and from which he
| expected some personal advantage.
| What was il, then, and how had il at
feeted his fate?
>"It was perfectly obvious to me. on
/ reading the ritual. that the measure
ments must refer 10 some spot to which
| the rest of the document alluded, and
that il we could find that spot We
should be in a fair way towards find
| ing what the secret was which the old
| Musgraves had thought it necessary
| to embalm in so curious fashion.
| There We're two guides given us to
start with. an oak and an elm. AS to
the oak there could be no question at
all. Right i'm front of the house, upon
the left-hand side of the drive, there
| stood a patriarch among oaks. one OF
the most magnificent trees that have
ever seen.
That was there when your ritual
! was drawn up said I as We drove
past it,
1T was there at the Norman con-
quest, in all probability he answered
| 1t has girth Of twenty-three feet
Here was one Of my fixed points
secured.
Have you any old elms? I asked.
e" There used TO be a very old one
over yonder but it was struck by
lightning ten years ago, and we cut
down the stump
&" You can see where it used to be?'
oh yes
There are no other elms?'
"'No old ones. but plenty of beeches.'
u should like to see where 1t grew.
I'VE had driven up in a dagcart and
my client led me away at once, with
out our entering the house, 10 the scar
on the lawn where the elm had stood.
1t was nearly midway between the oak
and the house. My investigation
seemed to be progressing.
81 suppose il is impossible TO find
out how high the elm was? i asked.
"I can give it you at once. 1t was
sixty-fOur feet
How do you come to know 1t? 1
/ asked in surprise.
d" When my old tutor used to give
me an exercise in trigonometry, il al
ways took the shape of measuring
heights When / was a lad / worked
out every tree and building in the
estate
This was an unexpected piece Of
luck. Ny data were coming more
quickly than I could have reasonably
hoped
" Tell me- I asked, did your butler
ever ask you such a question?
| Reginald MusgraVe looked at me IN
astonishment Now that you call it
TO my mind he answered, Brunton
did ask me about the height OF the tree
! some months ago, i'm connection with
some little argument with the groom.
This was excellent news, Watson,
for il showed me that ] was on the
right road ! looked up at the sun. 1t
WAS l0W IA the heavens. anc e9ied-
lated that in less than an hour it would
lie just above the tOpmost branches OF
the old oak. One condition mentioned
Z in the ritual would then be fulfilled.
And the shadow of the elm must mean
I the farther end of the shadow, other
wise the trunk would have been chosen
as the guide ] had then, TO find
where the far end of the shadow would
p fall when the sun was just clear OF the
f oak"
THAT must have been difficult,
Holmes, when the elm was no longer
| there"
%
, there was no real difficulty. I went
. with Musgrave TO his study and whit
tied MYSELF this peg, TO which / tied
this long string with knot at each
yard Then | took two lengths OF d
, fishing rod. which came TO just six feet
and I went back with my client to
where the elm had been. The sun was
inst grazing tbs top of the oak. ]
fastened the rod on end. marked out
the direction of the shadow, and meas
ured it. II was nine feet in length.
of course the calculation now was
a simple one. If a rod of six feet threw
y a shadow of nine, a tree of sixty-foul
0 feet would throw one of ninety-slX, and
, the line of the one would, Of course, be
/ the line Of the other. l measured out
the distance which brought me almost
/ TO the wall of the house, aud thrust 8
! neg into the SPOT. You can imagine
$ nv exuitation. Watson, when within
G two inches OF my peg saw conica
70 depression in the ground. knew tha'
{ it was the mark made by Brunton IN
Z, his measurements, and that l was still
upon his trail.
From this starting point l proceeded
=, 70 step, having first taken the cardina
= points by my pocket compass. Ter
steps with each foot took me along par
allel with the wall of the house, anc
= again 7 marked my spot with peg
, Then I carefully paced off five TO the
e east and two 10 the south. II brough
{ me 10 the very threshold of the ole
= door Two steps TO the west meant nov
that ] was 10 go two PAGES down th'
70 stone tagged passage, and this was thu
e place indicated By the Ritual.
Never have ] felt such cold chill
Y OF disappointment, Watson. For mo
n ment II seemed to me that there mus
V be some radical mistake in my calcula
! CHI fENfl
the passage floor and / could see tina
0 the old. foOtworn gray stones will
which il was paved were firmly ce
- mented together, and had certainly no
f been moved for many a long year.
;. tapped upon the floor, but il SOUNDED
n the same all over, and there was N
4 sign Of any crack or crevice. But, for
= tunately. MusgTave, who had begun Z
appreciate the meaning of my proceed
o ings, and who was now as excited al
: myself took out his manuscript L
: check my calculations.
'''And under he cried. You hav'
omitted the land under.
t ''I had thought that it meant tina
:, We were to dig. but now, of course
II saw at once that ] was wrong. Their
< is a cellar under this. then. cried.
q Yes, and as old as the house Dow
here, through this door.
n 1--WE went down winding ston
n stair. and my companion, striking
e match. lit a large lantern which stoo'
e on a barrel in the corner. In an in
IS slant il was obvious that we had a
g last come upon the true place, and tina
4. we had not been the only people TO visi
:, the spot recently.
J. ut had been used for the storage o
n wood, but the billets, which had evi
d | IDENTIFY been Uttered over the floor, wer
nil OF no GiHaS leave