three months ago. But that's getting ahead of the story. Here...." Reaching into the envelope, he took out a manuscript, "let me just read the article to you."

The bartender refilled all glasses as the group settled back, lighting pipes, to listen in intense curiosity tinged with dread somehow conveyed by the utter misery in Professor Corscadden's voice.

AN EXPLANATION FOR THE LUPRACAN PHENOMENON AS DISCOVERED IN AN INVESTIGATION OF THE CULTURE OF EIRE.

"Long considered to be wholly mythical, the little Irish elf, commonly known as the Leprechaun, has an enormous amount of folklore associated with it. Such tales as...." Here the professor interrupted and said, "This is unnecessary; I'm sure you all know the background to this field study; let me get to the crux of the matter." And turning to the last pages in the manuscript, he began again.

"Perhaps the most universally known legend associated with Lupracan is that associated with the pot of gold each of the elves is supposed to possess. It has been rather universally observed among the natives of this island, that if one captures one of these sprites, it will beg desperately to be released. If the captor does not do so, it will next resort to all sorts of trickery and magic. Failing this, the tightfisted individual who maintains his grasp on the little man will then be offered a pot of gold, ostensibly the life savings of this immortal creature. It is invariably at this point that, conditions being what they are in Ireland, the fortunate individual who has contrived to trap a lugharcan ('anthropologists always delight in technical terms' interpolated professor Corscadden, using the interruption to sip from his refilled glass and seeming to relax a bit as the power of the golden brew began to take effect) agrees to the bargain. There are no known records of what might happen or what the next efforts of the leprechaun might be were his captor to still refuse. Indeed there is something a bit ominous in the absence of such information. This background material should be borne in mind as I describe an experience I had while doing research in a hamlet deep in the heart of the area under investigation.

"On leaving the pub—a logical place for interviewing the local townsfolk—I took what I thought to be a short-cut to my quarters, through a small wooded area. It was pleasantly shaded and dim. Suddenly, in the shadows there was a movement and just as it caught my eye, whatever had moved froze into immobility. As I walked towards it to investigate, the creature 

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