The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-02-24

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 formula2 Evidently be-
cause he saw something in 1t which had
escaped all those generations of coun-
try squires, and from which he expect
ed some personal advantage. What WAS
it. then, and how had it affected his
fate?
1T was perfectly obvious to me. on
reading the ritual, that the measure
ments must refer to some spot TO
which the rest Of the document alluded,
and that if 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 1t necessary
TO embalm i'm SO curious a fashion.
There were two guides given us to
start with. an oak and an elm. As to
the oak. there could be no question at
all. Right in 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 l, as we drove
past it.
1T was there at the Norman Con-
quest, in all probability he answered.
Tt has a girth of twenty-three feet
"Here was one Of my fixed points
secured.
"'Have you any old elms?' 1 asked
"sThere used TO be a very old n
over yonder. but 1t was struck by light
ming ten years ago, and we cut down
the stump
"'You can see where it used to be?'
"'Oh, ves.'
H"There are no other elms?'
"No old ones, but plenty of
beeches.'
~ should like to see where it grew
I'VE had driven up in a dogcart. and
my client led me away at once, without
our entering the house, to the car on
the lawn where the elm had stood.
1t was nearly midway between the oak
and the house. My investigation seemed
to be progressing.
IL D it is impossible to find
out how high the elm WASP l asked.
Il can give you it at once. 1t was
sixty-four feet
"'How did you come to know it?' I
asked. in surprise.
"'NNhen my old tutor used TO give
me an exercise III t~rigonometry, it al
ways took the shape of measuring
heights. When | was a lad [ worked
out every tree and building on the
estate
This was an unexpected piece of
luck. My data were coming more
quickly than l could. have reasonably
hoped.
TELL me- I asked. did your butler
ever ask you such a question?
Reginald Musgrave looked at me in
establishment. Now that you call it
to my mind he answered, 'Brunton
did ask me about the height of the
tree some months ago in connection
with some little argument with ths
groom
''This was excellent news, Watson,
for it showed me that | was on the
right road. l looked up at the sun.
1t was low in the heavens, and l cal
culated thai in less than an hour it
would lie just above the topmost
branches of the old oak One condition
mentioned in the Ritual would then
be fulfilled. And the shadow of the elm
must mean the farther end of the
shadow, otherwise the trunk would
have been chosen as the guide. 1 had,
then, to find where the far end of the
! shadow would fall when the sun was
just clear of the oak
"That must have been difficult,
Holmes, when the elm-was no longer
there
"Well, at least l knew tha if Brun-
ton could do it, ] could also. Besides,
there was no real difficulty. l went
with Musgrave to his study and whit
tied myself this peg, to which [ tied
this long string with d knot at each
yard. Then l took two lengths of a
~hshing-rod. which came TO just six
feet. and I went back with my client
to where the elm had been. The sun
was just grazing the top of the oak.
I fastened the rod on end, marked out
the direction of the shadow, and meas
ured it,, 1t was nine feet in length.
'tOf course the calculation now was a
simple one. If a rod of six feet threw
a shadow of nine. a tree Of sixty-four
feet would throw one of n~inety-six,
hand the line Of the one would, of course,
be the line of the other. measured
out he distance, which brought me al
most to the wall of the house. and L
thurst a peg into the spot. You can
imagine my emulation, Watson, when
within two inches of my peg l saw
a conical depression in the ground. I
knew hat it was the mark made by
Brunton in his measurements, and hat
1 was still upon his trail.
From this starting-point / proceeded
to step, having first taken the cardinal
points by my pocket-compass. Then
steps with each foot took me along
parallel with the wall of the house, and
again | marked my spot with a peg.
Then / carefully paced off five to the
east and two to the south. 1t brought
me to the very threshold of the old
door. Two steps to the west meant
now that I was to go two PAGES down
the s-tone-flagged passage, and this vas
the place indicated by the Ritual.
Never have 1 felt such a cold chill
of disappointment, Watson. For a mo-
ment it seemed to me that there must
be some radical mastake in my calcu-
.~lations. The setting sun shone full
upon the passage floor. and / could
see that the old, foot-worn gray stones
with which it was paved were firmly
cemented together, and had certainly
not been moved for many a long year.
Brunton had not been at work here.
] tapped upon the floor, but 1t sounded