No one has ever decided what it was. But it called itself a mongoose. And it lived on the Isle of Man in a lonely farmhouse looking out on the Irish Sea. The house, a very old one, was called Doarlish Cashen. It was bought in 1917 by a Mr. James Irving.
In 1931 Mr. and Mrs. Irving began to hear strange noises behind the walls. There were taps, hisses, growls, squeaks, and other animal sound. Then one day Mr. Irving heard a gurgle. It sounded like a baby Iearning to talk. Mr. Irving thought he would answer the sounds. He barked like a dog. He meowed like a cat. To his surprise, his sounds were repeated in a shrill, high voice. Mr. Irving made the sound again. This time he followed each one with the name of the animal he was imitating. The voice behind the wall repeated every word he said.
Within a few weeks, Mr. Irving had taught the thing-whatever it was-to speak well. He asked it what it was and where it had come from. At first it answered that it was a ghost in the form of a weasel. Later it said it was a mongoose. It said its name was Jeff. So the Irvings began to speak of their mysterious guest as "he" instead of "it".
Jeff didn't let the Irvings see him at first. Once in a while he would show his paws and let the family touch him. After some time Jeff let the Irvings' daughter photograph him. But the pictures did not come out well.
Once they got used to him, the Ivrings liked Jeff. Since Doarlish Cashen was a farm, he proved to be quite useful. He vid the farm of mice and rats by throwing stores at them or by meowing like a cat. If he had to, he killed them. When the farm's goats stayed away too long, Jeff would go after them. He would bark at them like a dog and herd them home. He even caught rabbits for the dinner table.
Jeff did not confine himself to Doarlish Cashen. He made visits to nearby houese and farms. And he loved to go to horse and cattle shows. Jeff would tell the Irvings what he had observed on his trips. His reports were later found to be quite true.