lace, and that we
had not been the only people to visit the spot recently.

"It had been used for the storage of wood, but the billets, which had
evidently been littered over the floor, were now piled at the sides so
as to leave a clear space in the middle. In this space lay a large and
heavy flagstone, with a rusted iron ring in the centre, to which a thick
shepherd's check muffler was attached.

"'By Jove!' cried my client, 'that's Brunton's muffler. I have seen it
on him, and could swear to it. What has the villain been doing here?'

"At my suggestion a couple of the county police were summoned to be
present, and I then endeavoured to raise the stone by pulling on the
cravat. I could only move it slightly, and it was with the aid of one of
the constables that I succeeded at last in carrying it to one side. A
black hole yawned beneath, into which we all peered, while Musgrave,
kneeling at the side, pushed down the lantern.

"A small chamber about 7 ft. deep and 4 ft. square lay open to us. At
one side of this was a squat, brass-bound, wooden box, the lid of which
was hinged upwards, with this curious, old-fashioned key projecting from
the lock. It was furred outside by a thick layer of dust, and damp and
worms had eaten through the wood so that a crop of livid fungi was
growing on the inside of it. Several discs of metal--old coins
apparently--such as I hold here, were scattered over the bottom of the
box, but it contained nothing else.

"At the moment, however, we had no thought for the old chest, for our
eyes were riveted upon that which crouched beside it. It was the figure
of a man, clad in a suit of black, who squatted down upon his hams with
his forehead sunk upon the edge of the box and his two arms thrown out
on each side of it. The attitude had drawn all the stagnant blood to the
face, and no man could have recognised that distorted, liver-coloured
countenance; but his height, his dress, and his hair were all sufficient
to show my client, when we had drawn the body up, that it was, indeed,
his missing butler. He had been dead some days, but there was no wound
or bruise upon his person to show how he had met his dreadful end. When
his body had been carried from the cellar we found ourselves still
confronted with a problem which was almost as formidable as that with
which we had started.

[Illustration: "IT WAS THE FIGURE OF A MAN."]

"I confess that so far, Watson, I had been disappointed in my
investi