and George, and of his sister Brenda, at their house of
Tredannick Wartha, which is near the old stone cross upon the
moor. He left them shortly after ten o'clock, playing cards
round the dining-room table, in excellent health and spirits.
This morning, being an early riser, he walked in that direction
before breakfast and was overtaken by the carriage of Dr.
Richards, who explained that he had just been sent for on a most
urgent call to Tredannick Wartha. Mr. Mortimer Tregennis
naturally went with him. When he arrived at Tredannick Wartha he
found an extraordinary state of things. His two brothers and his
sister were seated round the table exactly as he had left them,
the cards still spread in front of them and the candles burned
down to their sockets. The sister lay back stone-dead in her
chair, while the two brothers sat on each side of her laughing,
shouting, and singing, the senses stricken clean out of them.
All three of them, the dead woman and the two demented men,
retained upon their faces an expression of the utmost horror--a
convulsion of terror which was dreadful to look upon. There was
no sign of the presence of anyone in the house, except Mrs.
Porter, the old cook and housekeeper, who declared that she had
slept deeply and heard no sound during the night. Nothing had
been stolen or disarranged, and there is absolutely no
explanation of what the horror can be which has frightened a
woman to death and two strong men out of their senses. There is
the situation, Mr. Holmes, in a nutshell, and if you can help us
to clear it up you will have done a great work."

I had hoped that in some way I could coax my companion back into
the quiet which had been the object of our journey; but one
glance at his intense face and contracted eyebrows told me how