I dare say you think I 'm talking nonsense . '' `` Well , yes , I think you are . You really surprise me , Mary . I always thought you the least likely person in the world to take up with such ideas . Something must have come under your observation to develop such theories in your practical head . Tell me what it was . '' `` To what purpose ? You would remain as sceptical as ever . '' `` Possibly not . Try me ; I may be convinced . '' `` No , '' returned Mrs. Sefton calmly . `` Nobody ever is convinced by hearsay . When a person has once seen a spirit -- or thinks he has -- he thenceforth believes it . And when somebody else is intimately associated with that person and knows all the circumstances -- well , he admits the possibility , at least . That is my position . But by the time it gets to the third person -- the outsider -- it loses power . Besides , in this particular instance the story is n't very exciting . But then -- it 's true . '' `` You have excited my curiosity . You must tell me the story . ''
`` Well , first XXXXX me what you think of this .
's come convinced develop excited loses remain seen tell thinks