in the Ritual; but now I was there, and was
apparently as far as ever from knowing what it was which the family had
concealed with such elaborate precautions. It is true that I had thrown
a light upon the fate of Brunton, but now I had to ascertain how that
fate had come upon him, and what part had been played in the matter by
the woman who had disappeared. I sat down upon a keg in the corner and
thought the whole matter carefully over.

"You know my methods in such cases, Watson. I put myself in the man's
place and, having first gauged his intelligence, I try to imagine how I
should myself have proceeded under the same circumstances. In this
case the matter was simplified by Brunton's intelligence being quite
first-rate, so that it was unnecessary to make any allowance for the
personal equation, as the astronomers have dubbed it. He knew that
something valuable was concealed. He had spotted the place. He found
that the stone which covered it was just too heavy for a man to move
unaided. What would he do next? He could not get help from outside, even
if he had some one whom he could trust, without the unbarring of doors
and considerable risk of detection. It was better, if he could, to have
his helpmate inside the house. But whom could he ask? This girl had been
devoted to him. A man always finds it hard to realize that he may have
finally lost a woman's love, however badly he may have treated her. He
would try by a few attentions to make his peace with the girl Howells,
and then would engage her as his accomplice. Together they would come at
night to the cellar, and their united force would suffice to raise the
stone. So far I could follow their actions as if I had actually seen
them.

"But for two of them, and one a woman, it must have been heavy work the
raising of that stone. A burly Sussex policeman and I had found it no
light job. What would they do to assist them? Probably what I should
have done myself. I rose and examined carefully the different billets
of wood which were scattered round the floor. Almost at once I came
upon what I expected. One piece, about three feet in length, had a very
marked indentation at one end, while several were flattened at the sides
as if they had been compressed by some considerable weight. Evidently,
as they had dragged the stone up they had thrust the chunks of wood into
the chink, until at last, when the opening was large enough to crawl
through, they would hold it open by a