isappearance. She had flung into the lake a bag containing some curious
contents. These were all factors which had to be taken into
consideration, and yet none of them got quite to the heart of the
matter. What was the starting point of this chain of events? There lay
the end of this tangled line.

"'I must see that paper, Musgrave,' said I, 'which this butler of yours
thought it worth his while to consult, even at the risk of the loss of
his place.'

"'It is rather an absurd business, this Ritual of ours,' he answered,
'but it has at least the saving grace of antiquity to excuse it. I have
a copy of the questions and answers here, if you care to ran your eye
over them.'

"He handed me the very paper which I have here, Watson, and this is the
strange catechism to which each Musgrave had to submit when he came to
man's estate. I will read you the questions and answers as they stand:--

"'Whose was it?

"'His who is gone.

"'Who shall have it?

"'He who will come.

"'Where was the sun?

"'Over the oak.

"'Where was the shadow?

"'Under the elm.

"'How was it stepped?

"'North by ten and by ten, east by five and by five, south by two and
by two, west by one and by one, and so under.

"'What shall we give for it?

"'All that is ours.

"'Why should we give it?

"'For the sake of the trust.'

"'The original has no date, but is in the spelling of the middle of the
seventeenth century,' remarked Musgrave. 'I am afraid, however, that it
can be of little help to you in solving this mystery.'

"'At least,' said I, 'it gives us another mystery, and one which is even
more interesting than the first. It may be that the solution of the one
may prove to be the solution of the other. You will excuse me, Musgrave,
if I say that your butler appears to me to have been a very clever man,
and to have had a clearer insight than ten generations of his masters.'

"'I hardly follow you,' said Musgrave. 'The paper seems to me to be of
no practical importance.'

"'But to me it seems immensely practical, and I fancy that Brunton took
the same view. He had probably seen it before that night on which you
caught him.'

"'It is very possible. We took no pains to hide it.'

"'He simply wished, I should imagine, to refresh his memory upon that
last occasion. He had, as I understand, some sort of map or chart which
he was comparing with the manuscript, and which he thrust into his
pocket when you appeared?'

"'That is tr