"'"A week," I repeated, "and you may consider yourself to have been veryleniently dealt with."
"'He crept away, his face sunk upon his breast, like a broken man, whileI put out the light and returned to my room.
"'"For two days after this Brunton was most assiduous in his attentionto his duties. I made no allusion to what had passed, and waited withsome curiosity to see how he would cover his disgrace. On the thirdmorning, however he did not appear, as was his custom, after breakfastto receive my instructions for the day. As I left the dining-room Ihappened to meet Rachel Howells, the maid. I have told you that she hadonly recently recovered from an illness, and was looking so wretchedlypale and wan that I remonstrated with her for being at work.
"'"You should be in bed," I said. "Come back to your duties when you arestronger."
"'She looked at me with so strange an expression that I began to suspectthat her brain was affected.
"'"I am strong enough, Mr. Musgrave," said she.
"'"We will see what the doctor says," I answered. "You must stop worknow, and when you go downstairs just say that I wish to see Brunton."
"'"The butler is gone," said she.
"'"Gone! Gone where?"
"'"He is gone. No one has seen him. He is
not in his room. Oh, yes, heis gone, he is gone!" She fell back against the wall with shriek aftershriek of laughter, while I, horrified at this sudden hysterical attack,rushed to the bell to summon help. The girl was taken to her room, stillscreaming and sobbing, while I made inquiries about Brunton. There wasno doubt about it that he had disappeared. His bed had not been sleptin, he had been seen by no one since he had retired to his room thenight before, and yet it was difficult to see how he could have leftthe house, as both windows and doors were found to be fastened in themorning. His clothes, his watch, and even his money were in his room,but the black suit which he usually wore was missing. His slippers,too, were gone, but his boots were left behind. Where then could butlerBrunton have gone in the night, and what could have become of him now?
"'Of course we searched the house from cellar to garret, but there wasno trace of him. It is, as I have said, a labyrinth of an old house,especially the original wing, which is now practically uninhabited; butwe ransacked every room and cellar without discovering the least signof the missing man. It was incredible to me that he could have gone awayleaving all his property behind him, and yet where could he be? I calledin the local police, but without success. Rain had fallen on the nightbefore and we examined the lawn and the paths all round the house, butin vain. Matters were in this state, when a new development quite drewour attention away from the original mystery.
"'For two days Rachel Howells had been so ill, sometimes delirious,sometimes hysterical, that a nurse had been employed to sit up with herat night. On the third night after Brunton's disappearance, the nurse,finding her patient sleeping nicely, had dropped into a nap in thearm-chair, when she woke in the early morning to find the bed empty, thewindow open, and no signs of the invalid. I was instantly aroused, and,with the two footmen, started off at once in search of the missing girl.It was not difficult to tell the direction which she had taken, for,starting from under her window, we could follow her footmarks easilyacross the lawn to the edge of the mere, where they vanished close tothe gravel path which leads out of the grounds. The lake there is eightfeet deep, and you can imagine our feelings when we saw that the trailof the poor demented girl came to an end at the edge of it.
"'Of course, we had the drags at once, and set to work to recover theremains, but no trace of the body could we find. On the other hand, webrought to the surface an object of a most unexpected kind. It was alinen bag which contained within it a mass of old rusted and discoloredmetal and several dull-colored pieces of pebble or glass. This strangefind was all that we could get from the mere, and, although we madeevery possible search and inquiry yesterday, we know nothing of the fateeither of Rachel Howells or of Richard Brunton. The county police are attheir wits' end, and I have come up to you as a last resource.'
"You can imagine, Watson, with what eagerness I listened to thisextraordinary sequence of events, and endeavored to piece them together,and to devise some common thread upon which they might all hang. Thebutler was gone. The maid was gone. The maid had loved the butler, buthad afterwards had cause to hate him. She was of Welsh blood, fieryand passionate. She had been terribly excited immediately after hisdisappearance. She had flung into the lake a bag containing somecurious contents. These were all factors which had to be taken intoconsideration, and yet none of them got quite to the heart of thematter. What was the starting-point of this chain of events? There laythe end of this tangled line.
"'I must see that paper, Musgrave,' said I, 'which this butler of yoursthought it worth his while to consult, even at the risk of the loss ofhis 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 havea copy of the questions and answers here if you care to run your eyeover them.'
"He handed me the very paper which I have here, Watson, and this is thestrange catechism to which each Musgrave had to submit when he came toman'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 bytwo, west by one and by one, and so under.'
"'What shall we give for it?'
"'All that is ours.'