Well, I can assure you that there is nothing in this world that exists unless it is due to some scientifically explainable reason.'
"'Nothing in this world,' muttered Phillimore. 'But what of the next?'
"'If your family believes in this curse, why remain at Tullyfane?' I demanded. 'Would it not be better to quit the house and estate if you are so sure that the curse is potent?'
"'My father is stubborn, Holmes. He will not quit the place, for he has sunk every penny he has into it apart from our town house in Dublin. If it were me, I would sell it to Moriarty and leave the accursed spot.'
"'Sell it to Moriarty? Why him, particularly?'
"'He offered to buy Father out in order to help resolve the situation.'
"'Rather magnanimous of him,' I observed. 'Presumably he has no fear of the curse?'
"'He reckons that the curse would only be directed at Anglo-Irish families like us, while he, being a pure Milesian, a Gael of the Gaels, so to speak, would be immune to the curse.'
"Colonel Phillimore had sent a calē«che to Killarney Station to bring Phillimore and me to Tullyfane Abbey. The old colonel was clearly not in the best of spirits when he greeted us in the library. I noticed his hand shook a little as he raised it to greet me.
"'Friend of Jack's, eh? Yes, I remember you. One of the Galway Holmeses. Mycroft Holmes is your brother? Works for Lord Hartington, eh? Chief Secretary, eh?'
"He had an irritating manner of putting eh after each telegraphic phrase as a punctuation.
"It was then that Agnes Phillimore came in to welcome us. God, Watson, I was young and ardent in those days. Even now, as I look back with a more critical eye and colder blood, I acknowledge that she was rare and wonderful in her beauty. She held out her hand to me with a smile, but I saw at once that it lacked the warmth and friendship that I thought it had once held for me alone. Her speech was reserved, and she greeted me as a distant friend. Perhaps she had grown into a woman while I held to her image with boyish passion? It was impossible for me to acknowledge this at that time, but the passion was all on my side. Ah, immature youth, what else is there to say?
"We dined in somber mode that evening. Somber for me because I was wrestling with life's cruel realities; somber for the Phillimores because of the curse that hung over the house. We were just finishing the dessert when Agnes suddenly froze, her fork halfway to her mouth. Then Colonel Phillimore dropped his spoon with a crash on his plate and gave a piteous moan.
"In the silence that followed I heard it plainly. It was the sound of a sobbing child. It seemed to echo all around the room. Even Jack Phillimore looked distracted.
"I pushed back my chair and stood up, trying to pinpoint the direction from which the sounds came.
"'What lies directly beneath this dining room?' I demanded of the colonel. He was white in the face, too far gone with shock to answer me.
"I turned to Jack Phillimore. He replied with some nervousness.
"'The cellars, Holmes.'
"'Come, then,' I cried, grabbing a candelabra from the table and striding swiftly to the door.
"As I reached the door, Agnes stamped her foot twice on the floor as if agitated.
"'Really, Mr. Holmes,' she cried, 'you cannot do battle with an ethereal being!'
"I paused in the doorway to smile briefly at her.
"'I doubt that I shall find an ethereal being, Miss Phillimore.'
"Jack Phillimore led the way to the cellar, and we searched it thoroughly, finding nothing.
"'What did you expect to find?' demanded Phillimore, seeing my disappointment as we returned to the dining room.
"'A small boy, corporeal in form and not a spirit,' I replied firmly.
"'Would that it were so.' Agnes greeted our return without disguising her look of satisfaction that I could produce no physical entity in explanation. 'Do you not think that I have caused this house to be searched time and time again? My father is on the verge of madness. I do believe that he has come to the end of his composure. I fear for what he might do to himself.'
"'And the day after tomorrow is his fiftieth birthday,' added Phillimore soberly.
"We were standing in the entrance to the dining room when Malone, the aging butler, answered a summons to the front door by the jangle of the bell.
"'It's a