What had happened was plain to me, for not two minutes before I had placed my little case on the table near the window, and the table, tilting up, had deposited it upon the floor on precisely the identical spot. 
I had placed my small case on the table, and there it still stayed. 
mnli hypothesis: I had placed my small case on the table, and there it still stayed.  premise: What had happened was plain to me, for not two minutes before I had placed my little case on the table near the window, and the table, tilting up, had deposited it upon the floor on precisely the identical spot. 