“‘In the description of the assault on your housekeeper, to which you gave special prominence (and rightly so) in your letter, you mentioned that the EVIL PRESENCE tried to “get at her mouth”--well that would be in strict accordance with the _modus operandi_ of actinomyces, the primary endeavour of which is to obtain a passage through the lips. Furthermore, you gathered from local gossip that the unfortunate woman had undergone an operation in some provincial hospital for tumours; now tumours are usually one of the sure indications of the nature and progress of the disease. “‘Lastly, you referred to fatality in any cattle allowed to graze in the haunted meadow. Now you know from what I have already told you that cattle are the favourite victims of the fungi. “‘From these deductions then, one must inevitably arrive at the conclusion--that the haunting here is due to nothing more or less than the phantasm of a giant mass of ACTINOMYCES--and as this type of spirit would undoubtedly be proof against exorcism my only advice to you is to shut up the house and go.’ “Afterwards, with a view to corroborate my friend’s theory, partly for his satisfaction, partly for my own, I am afraid, Mr. O’Donnell, I agreed to rather a cruel thing--the proposal being that we should experiment on one of our dogs--Spot. Turning him loose in the lower extremity of the garden, we took up a position in the loft of a neighbouring barn, where we clearly saw each act in the grim but exciting drama. “To begin with, Spot did not at all appreciate being left alone. From the very first he manifested distinct signs of uneasiness, his preliminary barks of disapproval speedily changing to those of fear and culminating in howls of positive terror, as tucking his tail between his legs, he careered madly round the enclosure. “He did not, however, keep up this pace for long, but soon showed unmistakable signs of flagging, coming to an abrupt halt sooner than we had expected. “The Evil Presence had, we felt sure, got hold of him. “Thrust back on his haunches and snapping viciously, his eyes protruding and his mouth foaming, poor Spot presented such an appearance of impotence and terror that I rose to interfere and would doubtless have done so, had I not been persuaded to the contrary by my medical friend, whose professional interests he either could not or would not sacrifice for the sake of sentiment. “Poor Spot eventually died, and our _post mortem_ pointed to ACTINOMYCOSIS--his body being literally perforated with abscesses. “Thus you see, Mr. O’Donnell, in discovering the identity of the phantasm I accomplished--in part at all events--my purpose; the cause of the haunting must, I am afraid, remain a mystery.”[5] [5] In a subsequent volume I have attempted to give a satisfactory solution. NO. -- HACKHAM TERRACE SWINDON THE GHASTLY SCREAMS ON THE STAIRCASE Technical form of apparition: Phantasm of dead Cause of hauntings: Unknown