“‘Speak up!’ shouted the inspector.

“’A woman come along and went through this ‘ere door,’ repeated the man, monotonously.

“The inspector caught the man by the shoulder, and deliberately sniffed his breath.

“‘No!’ he said.  And then sarcastically:—­’I hope you held the door open politely for the lady.’

“‘The door weren’t opened, sir,’ said the man, simply.

“‘Are you mad—­’ began Johnstone.

“‘No,’ broke in the landlord’s voice from the back.  Speaking steadily enough.  ‘I saw the Woman upstairs.’  It was evident that he had got back his control again.

“‘I’m afraid, Inspector Johnstone,’ I said, ’that there’s more in this than you think.  I certainly saw some very extraordinary things upstairs.’

“The inspector seemed about to say something; but instead, he turned again to the door, and flashed his light down and ’round about the mat.  I saw then that the strange, horrible footmarks came straight up to the cellar door; and the last print showed under the door; yet the policeman said the door had not been opened.

“And suddenly, without any intention, or realization of what I was saying, I asked the landlord:—­

“‘What were the feet like?’

“I received no answer; for the inspector was ordering the constable to open the cellar door, and the man was not obeying.  Johnstone repeated the order, and at last, in a queer automatic way, the man obeyed, and pushed the door open.  The loathsome smell beat up at us, in a great wave of horror, and the inspector came backward a step.

“‘My God!’ he said, and went forward again, and shone his light down the steps; but there was nothing visible, only that on each step showed the unnatural footprints.

“The inspector brought the beam of the light vividly on the top step; and there, clear in the light, there was something small, moving.  The inspector bent to look, and the policeman and I with him.  I don’t want to disgust you; but the thing we looked at was a maggot.  The policeman backed suddenly out of the doorway: 

“‘The churchyard,’ he said, ’... at the back of the ‘ouse.’

“‘Silence!’ said Johnstone, with a queer break in the word, and I knew that at last he was frightened.  He put his lantern into the doorway, and shone it from step to step, following the footprints down into the darkness; then he stepped back from the open doorway, and we all gave back with him.  He looked ’round, and I had a feeling that he was looking for a weapon of some kind.

“‘Your gun,’ I said to the landlord, and he brought it from the front hall, and passed it over to the inspector, who took it and ejected the empty shell from the right barrel.  He held out his hand for a live cartridge, which the landlord brought from his pocket.  He loaded the gun and snapped the breech.  He turned to the constable:—­

“‘Come on,’ he said, and moved toward the cellar doorway.