”’Atleast，’saidI，’itgivesusanothermystery，andonewhichisevenmoreinterestingthanthefirst。Itmaybethatthesolutionoftheonemayprovetobethesolutionoftheother。Youwillexcuseme，Musgrave，ifIsaythatyourbutlerappearstometohavebeenaverycleverman，andtohavehadaclearerinsightthattengenerationsofhismasters。’”’Ihardlyfollowyou，’saidMusgrave。’Thepaperseemstometobeofnopracticalimportance。’”’Buttomeitseemsimmenselypractical，andIfancythatBruntontookthesameview。Hehadprobablyseenitbeforethatnightonwhichyoucaughthim。’”’Itisverypossible。Wetooknopainstohideit。’”’Hesimplywished，Ishouldimagine，torefreshhismemoryuponthatlastoccasion。Hehad，asIunderstand，somesortofmaporchartwhichhewascomparingwiththemanuscript，andwhichhethrustintohispocketwhenyouappeared。’”’Thatistrue。Butwhatcouldhehavetodowiththisoldfamilycustomofours，andwhatdoesthisrigmarolemean?’”’Idon’tthinkthatweshouldhavemuchdifficultyindeterminingthat，’saidI；’withyourpermissionwewilltakethefirsttraindowntoSussex，andgoalittlemoredeeplyintothematteruponthespot。’”ThesameafternoonsawusbothatHurlstone。
Possiblyyouhaveseenpicturesandreaddescriptionsofthefamousoldbuilding，soIwillconfinemyaccountofittosayingthatitisbuiltintheshapeofanL，thelongarmbeingthemoremodernportion，andtheshortertheancientnucleus，fromwhichtheotherhaddeveloped。Overthelow，heavily-lintelleddoor，inthecentreofthisoldpart，ischiseledthedate，1607，butexpertsareagreedthatthebeamsandstone-workarereallymucholderthanthis。Theenormouslythickwallsandtinywindowsofthisparthadinthelastcenturydriventhefamilyintobuildingthenewwing，andtheoldonewasusednowasastore-houseandacellar，whenitwasusedatall。
Asplendidparkwithfineoldtimbersurroundsthehouse，andthelake，towhichmyclienthadreferred，layclosetotheavenue，abouttowhundredyardsfromthebuilding。”Iwasalreadyfirmlyconvinced，Watson，thattherewerenotthreeseparatemysterieshere，butoneonly，andthatifIcouldreadtheMusgraveRitualarightI
shouldholdinmyhandthecluewhichwouldleadmetothetruthconcerningboththebutlerBruntonandthemaidHowells。TothatthenIturnedallmyenergies。
Whyshouldthisservantbesoanxioustomasterthisoldformula?Evidentlybecausehesawsomethinginitwhichhadescapedallthosegenerationsofcountrysquires，andfromwhichheexpectedsomepersonaladvantage。Whatwasitthen，andhowhaditaffectedhisfate?”Itwasperfectlyobvioustome，onreadingtheritual，thatthemeasurementsmustrefertosomespottowhichtherestofthedocumentalluded，andthatifwecouldfindthatspot，weshouldbeinafairwaytowardsfindingwhatthesecretwaswhichtheoldMusgraveshadthoughtitnecessarytoembalminsocuriousafashion。Thereweretwoguidesgivenustostartwith，anoakandanelm。Astotheoaktherecouldbenoquestionatall。Rightinfrontofthehouse，upontheleft-handsideofthedrive，therestoodapatriarchamongoaks，oneofthemostmagnificenttreesthatIhaveeverseen。”’Thatwastherewhenyouritualwasdrawnup，’saidI，aswedrovepastit。”’ItwasthereattheNormanConquestinallprobability，’heanswered。’Ithasagirthoftwenty-threefeet。’”’Haveyouanyoldelms?’Iasked。”’Thereusedtobeaveryoldoneoveryonderbutitwasstruckbylightningtenyearsago，andwecutdownthestump，’”’Youcanseewhereitusedtobe?’”’Oh，yes。’”’Therearenootherelms?’”’Nooldones，butplentyofbeeches。’”’Ishouldliketoseewhereitgrew。’”Wehaddrivenupinadogcart，andmyclientledmeawayatonce，withoutourenteringthehouse，tothescaronthelawnwheretheelmhadstood。Itwasnearlymidwaybetweentheoakandthehouse。Myinvestigationseemedtobeprogressing。”’Isupposeitisimpossibletofindouthowhightheelmwas?’Iasked。”’Icangiveyouitatonce。Itwassixty-fourfeet。’”’Howdoyoucometoknowit?’Iasked，insurprise。”’Whenmyoldtutorusedtogivemeanexerciseintrigonometry，italwaystooktheshapeofmeasuringheights。WhenIwasaladIworkedouteverytreeandbuildingintheestate。’”Thiswasanunexpectedpieceofluck。MydatawerecomingmorequicklythanIcouldhavereasonablyhoped。”’Tellme，’Iasked，’didyourbutlereveraskyousuchaquestion?’”ReginaldMusgravelookedatmeinastonishment。’Nowthatyoucallittomymind，’heanswered，’Bruntondidaskmeabouttheheightofthetreesomemonthsago，inconnectionwithsomelittleargumentwiththegroom，’”Thiswasexcellentnews，Watson，foritshowedmethatIwasontherightroad。Ilookedupatthesun。
Itwaslowintheheavens，andIcalculatedthatinlessthananhouritwouldliejustabovethetopmostbranchesoftheoldoak。OneconditionmentionedintheRitualwouldthenbefulfilled。Andtheshadowoftheelmmustmeanthefartherendoftheshadow，otherwisethetrunkwouldhavebeenchosenastheguide。Ihad，then，tofindwherethefarendoftheshadowwouldfallwhenthesunwasjustclearoftheoak。””Thatmusthavebeendifficult，Holmes，whentheelmwasnolongerthere。””Well，atleastIknewthatifBruntoncoulddoit，I
couldalso。Besides，therewasnorealdifficulty。I
wentwithMusgravetohisstudyandwhittledmyselfthispeg，towhichItiedthislongstringwithaknotateachyard。ThenItooktwolengthsofafishing-rod，whichcametojustsixfeet，andIwentbackwithmyclienttowheretheelmhadbeen。Thesunwasjustgrazingthetopoftheoak。Ifastenedtherodonend，markedoutthedirectionoftheshadow，andmeasuredit。Itwasninefeetinlength。”Ofcoursethecalculationnowwasasimpleone。Ifarodofsixfeetthrewashadowofnine，atreeofsixty-fourfeetwouldthrowoneofninety-six，andthelineoftheonewouldofcoursethelineoftheother。
Imeasuredoutthedistance，whichbroughtmealmosttothewallofthehouse，andIthrustapegintothespot。Youcanimaginemyexultation，Watson，whenwithintwoinchesofmypegIsawaconicaldepressionintheground。IknewthatitwasthemarkmadebyBruntoninhismeasurements，andthatIwasstilluponhistrail。”Fromthisstarting-pointIproceededtostep，havingfirsttakenthecardinalpointsbymypocket-compass。
Tenstepswitheachfoottookmealongparallelwiththewallofthehouse，andagainImarkedmyspotwithapeg。ThenIcarefullypacedofffivetotheeastandtwotothesouth。Itbroughtmetotheverythresholdoftheolddoor。TwostepstothewestmeantnowthatIwastogotwopacesdownthestone-flaggedpassage，andthiswastheplaceindicatedbytheRitual。”NeverhaveIfeltsuchacoldchillofdisappointment，Watson。Foramomentisseemedtomethattheremustbesomeradicalmistakeinmycalculations。Thesettingsunshonefulluponthepassagefloor，andIcouldseethattheold，foot-worngraystoneswithwhichitwaspavedwerefirmlycementedtogether，andhadcertainlynotbeenmovedformanyalongyear。Bruntonhadnotbeenatworkhere。Itappeduponthefloor，butitsoundedthesameallover，andtherewasnosignofanycrackorcrevice。But，Fortunately，Musgrave，whohadbeguntoappreciatethemeaningofmyproceedings，andwhowasnowasexcitedasmyself，tookouthismanuscripttocheckmycalculation。”’Andunder，’hecried。’Youhaveomittedthe”andunder。”’”Ihadthoughtthatitmeantthatweweretodig，butnow，ofcourse，IsawatoncethatIwaswrong。
’Thereisacellarunderthisthen?’Icried。”’Yes，andasoldasthehouse。Downhere，throughthisdoor。’”Wewentdownawindingstonestair，andmycompanion，strikingamatch，litalargelanternwhichstoodonabarrelinthecorner。Inaninstantitwasobviousthatwehadatlastcomeuponthetrueplace，andthatwehadnotbeentheonlypeopletovisitthespotrecently。”Ithadbeenusedforthestorageofwood，butthebillets，whichhadevidentlybeenlitteredoverthefloor，werenowpiledatthesides，soastoleaveaclearspaceinthemiddle。Inthisspacelayalargeandheavyflagstonewitharustedironringinthecentretowhichathickshepherd’s-checkmufflerwasattached。”’ByJove！’criedmyclient。’That’sBrunton’smuffler。Ihaveseenitonhim，andcouldsweartoit。Whathasthevillainbeendoinghere?’”Atmysuggestionacoupleofthecountypoliceweresummonedtobepresent，andIthenendeavoredtoraisethestonebypullingonthecravat。Icouldonlymoveitslightly，anditwaswiththeaidofoneoftheconstablesthatIsucceededatlastincarryingittooneside。Ablackholeyawnedbeneathintowhichweallpeered，whileMusgrave，kneelingattheside，pusheddownthelantern。