The Washington times., 1905-06-25
ITO Be Continued Next sunday.)
THE nUSGRAVE RITUAL.
CONTINUED from Third Page.)

Continued from Third Page.l
and then would engage her as his ac-
comp1ce- Together they would come at
night to the cellar, and their united
force would suffice to raise the stone
So far 1 could follow their actions as
II had actually seen them.
But for two of them, and one Z
woman, 1t must have been heavy work
the raising Of that stone. A burly Eus-
sex policeman and / had found 1t no
light job. What would they do to as
sfst them2 Probably what I should
carefully the different ballets OF wood
which were scattered xe.snd the floor.
Almost at once l came upon what
expected one piece, about three feet
tation at one end, while several were
fattened at the sides as If they had been
compressed by some considerable weight.
stone up they had thrust the chunks
of wood into the chink, until at last.
when the opening was large enough
open by a billet placed lengthwise,
which might very WEB become indented
at the lower end, since the whole weight
of the stone would press it down on to
the edge of this other slab. So far
was Stlu on safe ground.
And now how was l to proceed to re-
construct this midnight drama? Clearly,
only one could tit into the hole, and that
one was Brunton- The girl must have
waited above. Brunton then unlocked
the box. handed up the contents Pre-
fouad-and then-and then what hap
pened2
What snouldering fire Of vengeance
had suddenly sprung into flame in this
passionate Celtic womanS soul when
she saw the man who had wronged her
I-wronged her, perhaps, far more than
We .suspected-in her power? Was it
chance that the wood had slipped, and
a fSFfyT(YOTt inrn
what had become his Sepulchre2 Had
she only been guilty of silence as 10 his
fate? Or had come sudden blols from
her hand dashed the support away and
sent the slab crashing down into its
place? Be that as il might, I seemed
to see that womans figure still clutch
wildly up the winding stair, with her
ears ringing perhaps with the mufaed
screams from behind her and with the
drumming Of frenzied hands against the
slab OF stone which was choking her
faithless lovers life out
Here was the secret of her bleached
face, her shaken nerves. her peas OF
hysterical laughter on the next morning.
But what had been In the Doxt what
had She done with that? OF course, II
must have been the old metal ana pep
bles which my client had dragged from
the mere She had thrown them in there
at the first opportunity TO remove the
last trace of her crime
For twenty minutes / had sat notion
less, thinking the matter out Mus
grave stil stood with a very pale face,
Swinging his lantern and peering down
| These are coins OF Charles the
First said he, holding out the few
which had been in the box; you see We
Were right in fixing our date for the
We may find something else Of
Charles the First cried, as the PROB
able meaning of the first two quesuons
of the Ritual broke suddenly upon me-
Let me see the contents of the bag
which you fished from the mere
I'VE assembled TO his study, ana ne
laid the debris before me. eoua au i IN
rortance when 1 looked at 1t, Tor the
metal was almost black ana the STONES
lusterless and dull l roooeo one 9t
gIowed afterwards like a spark In the
dark hallow of my hand Inc mesaI
work was in the form OF COUPE
ring, but il had been bent and l"ls1eo
out of its original shape.
YOU must bear in mind. said tnaS
tbe ROYAL party made head IN EnSian0
even after the death 81 1iiS n 5,ro J,aeA
bIv left many of their most precious
, possessions buried behind theIa, Win =,
the intention of returning IoI lneh III
iii y M ancestor. Sir Ralph Musgrave.
was a prominent cavalier and the rlgns-
hand man sof Charles the Second IN ms
wanderings,' said my TREND
/ ".ab indeedI' / answered Well now,
T T thinE that really should give US the
last link that We wanted. mus con con
graduate you on coming INTO Tue US
session, though in rather tragic man
ner of a relic which is or great N
trinsic value, but of even create, ill-
portance as an historical CURIOSITY
! "'What is il, then? he gaspeo III as
1T is nothing<Iess than the ancient
crown of the kings OF England
.s .p-eoisalIy. Consider What the ritual
saws, How does it rum Whose was
| it - His who is gone. That was after
che execution OF Gharlss o Th Rii coming mho
| That was Charles the Second. whose adj
vent was already foreseen- There can,
think. be no doubt that this battered
and shapelesS diadem once eneTeieo the
brows of the royal Stuarts
And how came it in the pond?
= All. that is a question thar viii take
some time to answer And with that |
sketch I'd out to him the whole long
chain Of surrnise and Of proof which
had constructed. The twilight had clos
ed in and the moon was shining orlgflY
in the sky before my narrative was m
iShed-
| And how was it then that Charles
did not get his crown when ne return
ed p asked Mussraye, pushing oacR the
relic into its linen bag
:. An. there you lay your finger upon
/ the one point which we shall propably
never be able to clear up II IS likely
that the Musgrave who held the secret
died in the interval, and by some over
sight left his guide TO his descendant
without explaining the meaning of it
From that day TO this II has been hand
ed down from father to son. until at
last il came within reach of a man
who tore its secret out of 1t and lost
his life in the venture.
And that's the story of the Musgrave
Ritual Watson. They have the crown
down at Hurlstone-though they had
some legal bother and considerable
sum 10 pay before they were allowed
TO retain il. I am sure that II you men
toned my name they would be happy
TO show it to you. OF the woman
Iothing was ever heard. and the proba-
biltty is that she got away out OF Eng
land and carried herself and the MEM
orY of her crime 10 some land beyond