‘I may as well tell you. I have seen a ghost.’
‘A ghost!’ repeated Nares in astonishment. ‘Whose ghost?’
‘The ghost of Gideon Wise, the master of this house,’ answered Horne more firmly, ‘standing over the abyss into which he fell.’
‘Oh, nonsense!’ said Nares; ‘no sensible person believes in ghosts.’
‘That is hardly exact,’ said Father Brown, smiling a little. ‘There is really quite as good evidence for many ghosts as there is for most crimes.’
‘Well, it’s my business to run after the criminals,’ said Nares rather roughly, ‘and I will leave other people to run away from the ghosts. If anybody at this time of day chooses to be frightened of ghosts it’s his affair.’
‘I didn’t say I was frightened of them, though I dare say I might be,’ said Father Brown. ‘Nobody knows till he tries. I
