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diff --git a/14522-0.txt b/14522-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1db85ff --- /dev/null +++ b/14522-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1205 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14522 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 14522-h.htm or 14522-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/5/2/14522/14522-h/14522-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/5/2/14522/14522-h.zip) + + + + + +THE CANTERVILLE GHOST + +by + +WILDE + +An amusing chronicle of the tribulations of the Ghost of Canterville +Chase when his ancestral halls became the home of the American Minister +to the Court of St. James. + +Illustrated by Wallace Goldsmith + +John W. Luce and Company +Boston and London + +1906 + + + + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +MISS VIRGINIA E. OTIS + +"HAD ONCE RACED OLD LORD BILTON ON HER PONY" + +"BLOOD HAS BEEN SPILLED ON THAT SPOT" + +"I REALLY MUST INSIST ON YOUR OILING THOSE CHAINS" + +"THE TWINS ... AT ONCE DISCHARGED TWO PELLETS ON HIM" + +"ITS HEAD WAS BALD AND BURNISHED" + +"HE MET WITH A SEVERE FALL" + +"A HEAVY JUG OF WATER FELL RIGHT DOWN ON HIM" + +"MAKING SATIRICAL REMARKS ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS" + +"SUDDENLY THERE LEAPED OUT TWO FIGURES" + +"'POOR, POOR GHOST,' SHE MURMURED; 'HAVE YOU NO PLACE WHERE YOU CAN +SLEEP?'" + +"THE GHOST GLIDED ON MORE SWIFTLY" + +"HE HEARD SOMEBODY GALLOPING AFTER HIM" + +"OUT ON THE LANDING STEPPED VIRGINIA" + +"CHAINED TO IT WAS A GAUNT SKELETON" + +"BY THE SIDE OF THE HEARSE AND THE COACHES WALKED THE SERVANTS WITH +LIGHTED TORCHES" + +"THE MOON CAME OUT FROM BEHIND A CLOUD" + + + + +I + + +When Mr. Hiram B. Otis, the American Minister, bought Canterville Chase, +every one told him he was doing a very foolish thing, as there was no +doubt at all that the place was haunted. Indeed, Lord Canterville +himself, who was a man of the most punctilious honour, had felt it his +duty to mention the fact to Mr. Otis when they came to discuss terms. + +"We have not cared to live in the place ourselves," said Lord +Canterville, "since my grandaunt, the Dowager Duchess of Bolton, was +frightened into a fit, from which she never really recovered, by two +skeleton hands being placed on her shoulders as she was dressing for +dinner, and I feel bound to tell you, Mr. Otis, that the ghost has been +seen by several living members of my family, as well as by the rector of +the parish, the Rev. Augustus Dampier, who is a Fellow of King's +College, Cambridge. After the unfortunate accident to the Duchess, none +of our younger servants would stay with us, and Lady Canterville often +got very little sleep at night, in consequence of the mysterious noises +that came from the corridor and the library." + +"My Lord," answered the Minister, "I will take the furniture and the +ghost at a valuation. I have come from a modern country, where we have +everything that money can buy; and with all our spry young fellows +painting the Old World red, and carrying off your best actors and +prima-donnas, I reckon that if there were such a thing as a ghost in +Europe, we'd have it at home in a very short time in one of our public +museums, or on the road as a show." + +"I fear that the ghost exists," said Lord Canterville, smiling, "though +it may have resisted the overtures of your enterprising impresarios. It +has been well known for three centuries, since 1584 in fact, and always +makes its appearance before the death of any member of our family." + +"Well, so does the family doctor for that matter, Lord Canterville. But +there is no such thing, sir, as a ghost, and I guess the laws of Nature +are not going to be suspended for the British aristocracy." + +"You are certainly very natural in America," answered Lord Canterville, +who did not quite understand Mr. Otis's last observation, "and if you +don't mind a ghost in the house, it is all right. Only you must remember +I warned you." + +[Illustration: MISS VIRGINIA E. OTIS] + +A few weeks after this, the purchase was concluded, and at the close of +the season the Minister and his family went down to Canterville Chase. +Mrs. Otis, who, as Miss Lucretia R. Tappan, of West 53d Street, had been +a celebrated New York belle, was now a very handsome, middle-aged woman, +with fine eyes, and a superb profile. Many American ladies on leaving +their native land adopt an appearance of chronic ill-health, under the +impression that it is a form of European refinement, but Mrs. Otis had +never fallen into this error. She had a magnificent constitution, and a +really wonderful amount of animal spirits. Indeed, in many respects, she +was quite English, and was an excellent example of the fact that we +have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of +course, language. Her eldest son, christened Washington by his parents +in a moment of patriotism, which he never ceased to regret, was a +fair-haired, rather good-looking young man, who had qualified himself +for American diplomacy by leading the German at the Newport Casino for +three successive seasons, and even in London was well known as an +excellent dancer. Gardenias and the peerage were his only weaknesses. +Otherwise he was extremely sensible. Miss Virginia E. Otis was a little +girl of fifteen, lithe and lovely as a fawn, and with a fine freedom +in her large blue eyes. She was a wonderful Amazon, and had once raced +old Lord Bilton on her pony twice round the park, winning by a length +and a half, just in front of the Achilles statue, to the huge delight of +the young Duke of Cheshire, who proposed for her on the spot, and was +sent back to Eton that very night by his guardians, in floods of tears. +After Virginia came the twins, who were usually called "The Star and +Stripes," as they were always getting swished. They were delightful +boys, and, with the exception of the worthy Minister, the only true +republicans of the family. + +[Illustration: "HAD ONCE RACED OLD LORD BILTON ON HER PONY"] + +As Canterville Chase is seven miles from Ascot, the nearest railway +station, Mr. Otis had telegraphed for a waggonette to meet them, and +they started on their drive in high spirits. It was a lovely July +evening, and the air was delicate with the scent of the pinewoods. Now +and then they heard a wood-pigeon brooding over its own sweet voice, or +saw, deep in the rustling fern, the burnished breast of the pheasant. +Little squirrels peered at them from the beech-trees as they went by, +and the rabbits scudded away through the brushwood and over the mossy +knolls, with their white tails in the air. As they entered the avenue of +Canterville Chase, however, the sky became suddenly overcast with +clouds, a curious stillness seemed to hold the atmosphere, a great +flight of rooks passed silently over their heads, and, before they +reached the house, some big drops of rain had fallen. + +Standing on the steps to receive them was an old woman, neatly dressed +in black silk, with a white cap and apron. This was Mrs. Umney, the +housekeeper, whom Mrs. Otis, at Lady Canterville's earnest request, had +consented to keep in her former position. She made them each a low +curtsey as they alighted, and said in a quaint, old-fashioned manner, +"I bid you welcome to Canterville Chase." Following her, they passed +through the fine Tudor hall into the library, a long, low room, panelled +in black oak, at the end of which was a large stained glass window. Here +they found tea laid out for them, and, after taking off their wraps, +they sat down and began to look round, while Mrs. Umney waited on them. + +Suddenly Mrs. Otis caught sight of a dull red stain on the floor just by +the fireplace, and, quite unconscious of what it really signified, said +to Mrs. Umney, "I am afraid something has been spilt there." + +"Yes, madam," replied the old housekeeper in a low voice, "blood has +been spilt on that spot." + +[Illustration: "BLOOD HAS BEEN SPILLED ON THAT SPOT"] + +"How horrid!" cried Mrs. Otis; "I don't at all care for blood-stains in +a sitting-room. It must be removed at once." + +The old woman smiled, and answered in the same low, mysterious voice, +"It is the blood of Lady Eleanore de Canterville, who was murdered on +that very spot by her own husband, Sir Simon de Canterville, in 1575. +Sir Simon survived her nine years, and disappeared suddenly under very +mysterious circumstances. His body has never been discovered, but his +guilty spirit still haunts the Chase. The blood-stain has been much +admired by tourists and others, and cannot be removed." + +"That is all nonsense," cried Washington Otis; "Pinkerton's Champion +Stain Remover and Paragon Detergent will clean it up in no time," and +before the terrified housekeeper could interfere, he had fallen upon his +knees, and was rapidly scouring the floor with a small stick of what +looked like a black cosmetic. In a few moments no trace of the +blood-stain could be seen. + +"I knew Pinkerton would do it," he exclaimed, triumphantly, as he +looked round at his admiring family; but no sooner had he said these +words than a terrible flash of lightning lit up the sombre room, a +fearful peal of thunder made them all start to their feet, and Mrs. +Umney fainted. + +"What a monstrous climate!" said the American Minister, calmly, as he +lit a long cheroot. "I guess the old country is so overpopulated that +they have not enough decent weather for everybody. I have always been of +opinion that emigration is the only thing for England." + +"My dear Hiram," cried Mrs. Otis, "what can we do with a woman who +faints?" + +"Charge it to her like breakages," answered the Minister; "she won't +faint after that;" and in a few moments Mrs. Umney certainly came to. +There was no doubt, however, that she was extremely upset, and she +sternly warned Mr. Otis to beware of some trouble coming to the house. + +"I have seen things with my own eyes, sir," she said, "that would make +any Christian's hair stand on end, and many and many a night I have not +closed my eyes in sleep for the awful things that are done here." Mr. +Otis, however, and his wife warmly assured the honest soul that they +were not afraid of ghosts, and, after invoking the blessings of +Providence on her new master and mistress, and making arrangements for +an increase of salary, the old housekeeper tottered off to her own room. + + + + +II + + +The storm raged fiercely all that night, but nothing of particular note +occurred. The next morning, however, when they came down to breakfast, +they found the terrible stain of blood once again on the floor. "I don't +think it can be the fault of the Paragon Detergent," said Washington, +"for I have tried it with everything. It must be the ghost." He +accordingly rubbed out the stain a second time, but the second morning +it appeared again. The third morning also it was there, though the +library had been locked up at night by Mr. Otis himself, and the key +carried up-stairs. The whole family were now quite interested; Mr. Otis +began to suspect that he had been too dogmatic in his denial of the +existence of ghosts, Mrs. Otis expressed her intention of joining the +Psychical Society, and Washington prepared a long letter to Messrs. +Myers and Podmore on the subject of the Permanence of Sanguineous Stains +when connected with Crime. That night all doubts about the objective +existence of phantasmata were removed for ever. + +The day had been warm and sunny; and, in the cool of the evening, the +whole family went out to drive. They did not return home till nine +o'clock, when they had a light supper. The conversation in no way turned +upon ghosts, so there were not even those primary conditions of +receptive expectations which so often precede the presentation of +psychical phenomena. The subjects discussed, as I have since learned +from Mr. Otis, were merely such as form the ordinary conversation of +cultured Americans of the better class, such as the immense superiority +of Miss Fanny Devonport over Sarah Bernhardt as an actress; the +difficulty of obtaining green corn, buckwheat cakes, and hominy, even in +the best English houses; the importance of Boston in the development of +the world-soul; the advantages of the baggage-check system in railway +travelling; and the sweetness of the New York accent as compared to the +London drawl. No mention at all was made of the supernatural, nor was +Sir Simon de Canterville alluded to in any way. At eleven o'clock the +family retired, and by half-past all the lights were out. Some time +after, Mr. Otis was awakened by a curious noise in the corridor, outside +his room. It sounded like the clank of metal, and seemed to be coming +nearer every moment. He got up at once, struck a match, and looked at +the time. It was exactly one o'clock. He was quite calm, and felt his +pulse, which was not at all feverish. The strange noise still continued, +and with it he heard distinctly the sound of footsteps. He put on his +slippers, took a small oblong phial out of his dressing-case, and opened +the door. Right in front of him he saw, in the wan moonlight, an old man +of terrible aspect. His eyes were as red burning coals; long grey hair +fell over his shoulders in matted coils; his garments, which were of +antique cut, were soiled and ragged, and from his wrists and ankles hung +heavy manacles and rusty gyves. + +"My dear sir," said Mr. Otis, "I really must insist on your oiling those +chains, and have brought you for that purpose a small bottle of the +Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator. It is said to be completely efficacious +upon one application, and there are several testimonials to that effect +on the wrapper from some of our most eminent native divines. I shall +leave it here for you by the bedroom candles, and will be happy to +supply you with more, should you require it." With these words the +United States Minister laid the bottle down on a marble table, and, +closing his door, retired to rest. + +[Illustration: "I REALLY MUST INSIST ON YOUR OILING THOSE CHAINS"] + +For a moment the Canterville ghost stood quite motionless in natural +indignation; then, dashing the bottle violently upon the polished floor, +he fled down the corridor, uttering hollow groans, and emitting a +ghastly green light. Just, however, as he reached the top of the great +oak staircase, a door was flung open, two little white-robed figures +appeared, and a large pillow whizzed past his head! There was evidently +no time to be lost, so, hastily adopting the Fourth dimension of Space +as a means of escape, he vanished through the wainscoting, and the house +became quite quiet. + +On reaching a small secret chamber in the left wing, he leaned up +against a moonbeam to recover his breath, and began to try and realize +his position. Never, in a brilliant and uninterrupted career of three +hundred years, had he been so grossly insulted. He thought of the +Dowager Duchess, whom he had frightened into a fit as she stood before +the glass in her lace and diamonds; of the four housemaids, who had gone +into hysterics when he merely grinned at them through the curtains on +one of the spare bedrooms; of the rector of the parish, whose candle he +had blown out as he was coming late one night from the library, and who +had been under the care of Sir William Gull ever since, a perfect martyr +to nervous disorders; and of old Madame de Tremouillac, who, having +wakened up one morning early and seen a skeleton seated in an armchair +by the fire reading her diary, had been confined to her bed for six +weeks with an attack of brain fever, and, on her recovery, had become +reconciled to the Church, and broken off her connection with that +notorious sceptic, Monsieur de Voltaire. He remembered the terrible +night when the wicked Lord Canterville was found choking in his +dressing-room, with the knave of diamonds half-way down his throat, and +confessed, just before he died, that he had cheated Charles James Fox +out of £50,000 at Crockford's by means of that very card, and swore that +the ghost had made him swallow it. All his great achievements came back +to him again, from the butler who had shot himself in the pantry because +he had seen a green hand tapping at the window-pane, to the beautiful +Lady Stutfield, who was always obliged to wear a black velvet band round +her throat to hide the mark of five fingers burnt upon her white skin, +and who drowned herself at last in the carp-pond at the end of the +King's Walk. With the enthusiastic egotism of the true artist, he went +over his most celebrated performances, and smiled bitterly to himself as +he recalled to mind his last appearance as "Red Reuben, or the Strangled +Babe," his _début_ as "Guant Gibeon, the Blood-sucker of Bexley Moor," +and the _furore_ he had excited one lovely June evening by merely +playing ninepins with his own bones upon the lawn-tennis ground. And +after all this some wretched modern Americans were to come and offer him +the Rising Sun Lubricator, and throw pillows at his head! It was quite +unbearable. Besides, no ghost in history had ever been treated in this +manner. Accordingly, he determined to have vengeance, and remained till +daylight in an attitude of deep thought. + + + + +III + + +The next morning, when the Otis family met at breakfast, they discussed +the ghost at some length. The United States Minister was naturally a +little annoyed to find that his present had not been accepted. "I have +no wish," he said, "to do the ghost any personal injury, and I must say +that, considering the length of time he has been in the house, I don't +think it is at all polite to throw pillows at him,"--a very just remark, +at which, I am sorry to say, the twins burst into shouts of laughter. +"Upon the other hand," he continued, "if he really declines to use the +Rising Sun Lubricator, we shall have to take his chains from him. It +would be quite impossible to sleep, with such a noise going on outside +the bedrooms." + +For the rest of the week, however, they were undisturbed, the only thing +that excited any attention being the continual renewal of the +blood-stain on the library floor. This certainly was very strange, as +the door was always locked at night by Mr. Otis, and the windows kept +closely barred. The chameleon-like colour, also, of the stain excited a +good deal of comment. Some mornings it was a dull (almost Indian) red, +then it would be vermilion, then a rich purple, and once when they came +down for family prayers, according to the simple rites of the Free +American Reformed Episcopalian Church, they found it a bright +emerald-green. These kaleidoscopic changes naturally amused the party +very much, and bets on the subject were freely made every evening. The +only person who did not enter into the joke was little Virginia, who, +for some unexplained reason, was always a good deal distressed at the +sight of the blood-stain, and very nearly cried the morning it was +emerald-green. + +The second appearance of the ghost was on Sunday night. Shortly after +they had gone to bed they were suddenly alarmed by a fearful crash in +the hall. Rushing down-stairs, they found that a large suit of old +armour had become detached from its stand, and had fallen on the stone +floor, while seated in a high-backed chair was the Canterville ghost, +rubbing his knees with an expression of acute agony on his face. The +twins, having brought their pea-shooters with them, at once discharged +two pellets on him, with that accuracy of aim which can only be attained +by long and careful practice on a writing-master, while the United +States Minister covered him with his revolver, and called upon him, in +accordance with Californian etiquette, to hold up his hands! The ghost +started up with a wild shriek of rage, and swept through them like a +mist, extinguishing Washington Otis's candle as he passed, and so +leaving them all in total darkness. On reaching the top of the staircase +he recovered himself, and determined to give his celebrated peal of +demoniac laughter. This he had on more than one occasion found extremely +useful. It was said to have turned Lord Raker's wig grey in a single +night, and had certainly made three of Lady Canterville's French +governesses give warning before their month was up. He accordingly +laughed his most horrible laugh, till the old vaulted roof rang and +rang again, but hardly had the fearful echo died away when a door +opened, and Mrs. Otis came out in a light blue dressing-gown. "I am +afraid you are far from well," she said, "and have brought you a bottle +of Doctor Dobell's tincture. If it is indigestion, you will find it a +most excellent remedy." The ghost glared at her in fury, and began at +once to make preparations for turning himself into a large black dog, an +accomplishment for which he was justly renowned, and to which the family +doctor always attributed the permanent idiocy of Lord Canterville's +uncle, the Hon. Thomas Horton. The sound of approaching footsteps, +however, made him hesitate in his fell purpose, so he contented himself +with becoming faintly phosphorescent, and vanished with a deep +churchyard groan, just as the twins had come up to him. + +[Illustration: "THE TWINS ... AT ONCE DISCHARGED TWO PELLETS ON HIM"] + +On reaching his room he entirely broke down, and became a prey to the +most violent agitation. The vulgarity of the twins, and the gross +materialism of Mrs. Otis, were naturally extremely annoying, but what +really distressed him most was that he had been unable to wear the suit +of mail. He had hoped that even modern Americans would be thrilled by +the sight of a Spectre in armour, if for no more sensible reason, at +least out of respect for their natural poet Longfellow, over whose +graceful and attractive poetry he himself had whiled away many a weary +hour when the Cantervilles were up in town. Besides it was his own suit. +He had worn it with great success at the Kenilworth tournament, and had +been highly complimented on it by no less a person than the Virgin Queen +herself. Yet when he had put it on, he had been completely overpowered +by the weight of the huge breastplate and steel casque, and had fallen +heavily on the stone pavement, barking both his knees severely, and +bruising the knuckles of his right hand. + +For some days after this he was extremely ill, and hardly stirred out of +his room at all, except to keep the blood-stain in proper repair. +However, by taking great care of himself, he recovered, and resolved to +make a third attempt to frighten the United States Minister and his +family. He selected Friday, August 17th, for his appearance, and spent +most of that day in looking over his wardrobe, ultimately deciding in +favour of a large slouched hat with a red feather, a winding-sheet +frilled at the wrists and neck, and a rusty dagger. Towards evening a +violent storm of rain came on, and the wind was so high that all the +windows and doors in the old house shook and rattled. In fact, it was +just such weather as he loved. His plan of action was this. He was to +make his way quietly to Washington Otis's room, gibber at him from the +foot of the bed, and stab himself three times in the throat to the sound +of low music. He bore Washington a special grudge, being quite aware +that it was he who was in the habit of removing the famous Canterville +blood-stain by means of Pinkerton's Paragon Detergent. Having reduced +the reckless and foolhardy youth to a condition of abject terror, he was +then to proceed to the room occupied by the United States Minister and +his wife, and there to place a clammy hand on Mrs. Otis's forehead, +while he hissed into her trembling husband's ear the awful secrets of +the charnel-house. With regard to little Virginia, he had not quite made +up his mind. She had never insulted him in any way, and was pretty and +gentle. A few hollow groans from the wardrobe, he thought, would be more +than sufficient, or, if that failed to wake her, he might grabble at the +counterpane with palsy-twitching fingers. As for the twins, he was quite +determined to teach them a lesson. The first thing to be done was, of +course, to sit upon their chests, so as to produce the stifling +sensation of nightmare. Then, as their beds were quite close to each +other, to stand between them in the form of a green, icy-cold corpse, +till they became paralyzed with fear, and finally, to throw off the +winding-sheet, and crawl round the room, with white, bleached bones and +one rolling eyeball, in the character of "Dumb Daniel, or the Suicide's +Skeleton," a _rôle_ in which he had on more than one occasion produced a +great effect, and which he considered quite equal to his famous part of +"Martin the Maniac, or the Masked Mystery." + +At half-past ten he heard the family going to bed. For some time he was +disturbed by wild shrieks of laughter from the twins, who, with the +light-hearted gaiety of schoolboys, were evidently amusing themselves +before they retired to rest, but at a quarter-past eleven all was still, +and, as midnight sounded, he sallied forth. The owl beat against the +window-panes, the raven croaked from the old yew-tree, and the wind +wandered moaning round the house like a lost soul; but the Otis family +slept unconscious of their doom, and high above the rain and storm he +could hear the steady snoring of the Minister for the United States. He +stepped stealthily out of the wainscoting, with an evil smile on his +cruel, wrinkled mouth, and the moon hid her face in a cloud as he stole +past the great oriel window, where his own arms and those of his +murdered wife were blazoned in azure and gold. On and on he glided, like +an evil shadow, the very darkness seeming to loathe him as he passed. +Once he thought he heard something call, and stopped; but it was only +the baying of a dog from the Red Farm, and he went on, muttering strange +sixteenth-century curses, and ever and anon brandishing the rusty dagger +in the midnight air. Finally he reached the corner of the passage that +led to luckless Washington's room. For a moment he paused there, the +wind blowing his long grey locks about his head, and twisting into +grotesque and fantastic folds the nameless horror of the dead man's +shroud. Then the clock struck the quarter, and he felt the time was +come. He chuckled to himself, and turned the corner; but no sooner had +he done so than, with a piteous wail of terror, he fell back, and hid +his blanched face in his long, bony hands. Right in front of him was +standing a horrible spectre, motionless as a carven image, and monstrous +as a madman's dream! Its head was bald and burnished; its face round, +and fat, and white; and hideous laughter seemed to have writhed its +features into an eternal grin. From the eyes streamed rays of scarlet +light, the mouth was a wide well of fire, and a hideous garment, like +to his own, swathed with its silent snows the Titan form. On its breast +was a placard with strange writing in antique characters, some scroll of +shame it seemed, some record of wild sins, some awful calendar of crime, +and, with its right hand, it bore aloft a falchion of gleaming steel. + +[Illustration: "ITS HEAD WAS BALD AND BURNISHED"] + +Never having seen a ghost before, he naturally was terribly frightened, +and, after a second hasty glance at the awful phantom, he fled back to +his room, tripping up in his long winding-sheet as he sped down the +corridor, and finally dropping the rusty dagger into the Minister's +jack-boots, where it was found in the morning by the butler. Once in the +privacy of his own apartment, he flung himself down on a small +pallet-bed, and hid his face under the clothes. After a time, however, +the brave old Canterville spirit asserted itself, and he determined to +go and speak to the other ghost as soon as it was daylight. Accordingly, +just as the dawn was touching the hills with silver, he returned towards +the spot where he had first laid eyes on the grisly phantom, feeling +that, after all, two ghosts were better than one, and that, by the aid +of his new friend, he might safely grapple with the twins. On reaching +the spot, however, a terrible sight met his gaze. Something had +evidently happened to the spectre, for the light had entirely faded from +its hollow eyes, the gleaming falchion had fallen from its hand, and it +was leaning up against the wall in a strained and uncomfortable +attitude. He rushed forward and seized it in his arms, when, to his +horror, the head slipped off and rolled on the floor, the body assumed a +recumbent posture, and he found himself clasping a white dimity +bed-curtain, with a sweeping-brush, a kitchen cleaver, and a hollow +turnip lying at his feet! Unable to understand this curious +transformation, he clutched the placard with feverish haste, and there, +in the grey morning light, he read these fearful words:-- + + +------------------------------------+ + | YE OTIS GHOSTE | + | Ye Onlie True and Originale Spook, | + | Beware of Ye Imitationes. | + | All others are counterfeite. | + +------------------------------------+ + +The whole thing flashed across him. He had been tricked, foiled, and +out-witted! The old Canterville look came into his eyes; he ground his +toothless gums together; and, raising his withered hands high above his +head, swore according to the picturesque phraseology of the antique +school, that, when Chanticleer had sounded twice his merry horn, deeds +of blood would be wrought, and murder walk abroad with silent feet. + +Hardly had he finished this awful oath when, from the red-tiled roof of +a distant homestead, a cock crew. He laughed a long, low, bitter laugh, +and waited. Hour after hour he waited, but the cock, for some strange +reason, did not crow again. Finally, at half-past seven, the arrival of +the housemaids made him give up his fearful vigil, and he stalked back +to his room, thinking of his vain oath and baffled purpose. There he +consulted several books of ancient chivalry, of which he was +exceedingly fond, and found that, on every occasion on which this oath +had been used, Chanticleer had always crowed a second time. "Perdition +seize the naughty fowl," he muttered, "I have seen the day when, with my +stout spear, I would have run him through the gorge, and made him crow +for me an 'twere in death!" He then retired to a comfortable lead +coffin, and stayed there till evening. + + + + +IV + + +[Illustration: "HE MET WITH A SEVERE FALL"] + +The next day the ghost was very weak and tired. The terrible excitement +of the last four weeks was beginning to have its effect. His nerves were +completely shattered, and he started at the slightest noise. For five +days he kept his room, and at last made up his mind to give up the point +of the blood-stain on the library floor. If the Otis family did not want +it, they clearly did not deserve it. They were evidently people on a +low, material plane of existence, and quite incapable of appreciating +the symbolic value of sensuous phenomena. The question of phantasmic +apparitions, and the development of astral bodies, was of course quite a +different matter, and really not under his control. It was his solemn +duty to appear in the corridor once a week, and to gibber from the large +oriel window on the first and third Wednesdays in every month, and he +did not see how he could honourably escape from his obligations. It is +quite true that his life had been very evil, but, upon the other hand, +he was most conscientious in all things connected with the supernatural. +For the next three Saturdays, accordingly, he traversed the corridor as +usual between midnight and three o'clock, taking every possible +precaution against being either heard or seen. He removed his boots, +trod as lightly as possible on the old worm-eaten boards, wore a large +black velvet cloak, and was careful to use the Rising Sun Lubricator for +oiling his chains. I am bound to acknowledge that it was with a good +deal of difficulty that he brought himself to adopt this last mode of +protection. However, one night, while the family were at dinner, he +slipped into Mr. Otis's bedroom and carried off the bottle. He felt a +little humiliated at first, but afterwards was sensible enough to see +that there was a great deal to be said for the invention, and, to a +certain degree, it served his purpose. Still in spite of everything he +was not left unmolested. Strings were continually being stretched across +the corridor, over which he tripped in the dark, and on one occasion, +while dressed for the part of "Black Isaac, or the Huntsman of Hogley +Woods," he met with a severe fall, through treading on a butter-slide, +which the twins had constructed from the entrance of the Tapestry +Chamber to the top of the oak staircase. This last insult so enraged +him, that he resolved to make one final effort to assert his dignity and +social position, and determined to visit the insolent young Etonians the +next night in his celebrated character of "Reckless Rupert, or the +Headless Earl." + +[Illustration: "A HEAVY JUG OF WATER FELL RIGHT DOWN ON HIM."] + +He had not appeared in this disguise for more than seventy years; in +fact, not since he had so frightened pretty Lady Barbara Modish by means +of it, that she suddenly broke off her engagement with the present Lord +Canterville's grandfather, and ran away to Gretna Green with handsome +Jack Castletown, declaring that nothing in the world would induce her to +marry into a family that allowed such a horrible phantom to walk up and +down the terrace at twilight. Poor Jack was afterwards shot in a duel by +Lord Canterville on Wandsworth Common, and Lady Barbara died of a broken +heart at Tunbridge Wells before the year was out, so, in every way, it +had been a great success. It was, however an extremely difficult +"make-up," if I may use such a theatrical expression in connection with +one of the greatest mysteries of the supernatural, or, to employ a more +scientific term, the higher-natural world, and it took him fully three +hours to make his preparations. At last everything was ready, and he was +very pleased with his appearance. The big leather riding-boots that went +with the dress were just a little too large for him, and he could only +find one of the two horse-pistols, but, on the whole, he was quite +satisfied, and at a quarter-past one he glided out of the wainscoting +and crept down the corridor. On reaching the room occupied by the twins, +which I should mention was called the Blue Bed Chamber, on account of +the colour of its hangings, he found the door just ajar. Wishing to make +an effective entrance, he flung it wide open, when a heavy jug of water +fell right down on him, wetting him to the skin, and just missing his +left shoulder by a couple of inches. At the same moment he heard stifled +shrieks of laughter proceeding from the four-post bed. The shock to his +nervous system was so great that he fled back to his room as hard as he +could go, and the next day he was laid up with a severe cold. The only +thing that at all consoled him in the whole affair was the fact that he +had not brought his head with him, for, had he done so, the consequences +might have been very serious. + +[Illustration: "MAKING SATIRICAL REMARKS ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS"] + +He now gave up all hope of ever frightening this rude American family, +and contented himself, as a rule, with creeping about the passages in +list slippers, with a thick red muffler round his throat for fear of +draughts, and a small arquebuse, in case he should be attacked by the +twins. The final blow he received occurred on the 19th of September. He +had gone down-stairs to the great entrance-hall, feeling sure that +there, at any rate, he would be quite unmolested, and was amusing +himself by making satirical remarks on the large Saroni photographs of +the United States Minister and his wife which had now taken the place of +the Canterville family pictures. He was simply but neatly clad in a long +shroud, spotted with churchyard mould, had tied up his jaw with a strip +of yellow linen, and carried a small lantern and a sexton's spade. In +fact, he was dressed for the character of "Jonas the Graveless, or the +Corpse-Snatcher of Chertsey Barn," one of his most remarkable +impersonations, and one which the Cantervilles had every reason to +remember, as it was the real origin of their quarrel with their +neighbour, Lord Rufford. It was about a quarter-past two o'clock in +the morning, and, as far as he could ascertain, no one was stirring. As +he was strolling towards the library, however, to see if there were any +traces left of the blood-stain, suddenly there leaped out on him from a +dark corner two figures, who waved their arms wildly above their heads, +and shrieked out "BOO!" in his ear. + +[Illustration: "SUDDENLY THERE LEAPED OUT TWO FIGURES."] + +Seized with a panic, which, under the circumstances, was only natural, +he rushed for the staircase, but found Washington Otis waiting for him +there with the big garden-syringe, and being thus hemmed in by his +enemies on every side, and driven almost to bay, he vanished into the +great iron stove, which, fortunately for him, was not lit, and had to +make his way home through the flues and chimneys, arriving at his own +room in a terrible state of dirt, disorder, and despair. + +After this he was not seen again on any nocturnal expedition. The twins +lay in wait for him on several occasions, and strewed the passages with +nutshells every night to the great annoyance of their parents and the +servants, but it was of no avail. It was quite evident that his feelings +were so wounded that he would not appear. Mr. Otis consequently resumed +his great work on the history of the Democratic Party, on which he had +been engaged for some years; Mrs. Otis organized a wonderful +clam-bake, which amazed the whole county; the boys took to lacrosse +euchre, poker, and other American national games, and Virginia rode +about the lanes on her pony, accompanied by the young Duke of Cheshire, +who had come to spend the last week of his holidays at Canterville +Chase. It was generally assumed that the ghost had gone away, and, in +fact, Mr. Otis wrote a letter to that effect to Lord Canterville, who, +in reply, expressed his great pleasure at the news, and sent his best +congratulations to the Minister's worthy wife. + +The Otises, however, were deceived, for the ghost was still in the +house, and though now almost an invalid, was by no means ready to let +matters rest, particularly as he heard that among the guests was the +young Duke of Cheshire, whose grand-uncle, Lord Francis Stilton, had +once bet a hundred guineas with Colonel Carbury that he would play dice +with the Canterville ghost, and was found the next morning lying on the +floor of the card-room in such a helpless paralytic state that, though +he lived on to a great age, he was never able to say anything again but +"Double Sixes." The story was well known at the time, though, of course, +out of respect to the feelings of the two noble families, every attempt +was made to hush it up, and a full account of all the circumstances +connected with it will be found in the third volume of Lord Tattle's +_Recollections of the Prince Regent and his Friends_. The ghost, then, +was naturally very anxious to show that he had not lost his influence +over the Stiltons, with whom, indeed, he was distantly connected, his +own first cousin having been married _en secondes noces_ to the Sieur de +Bulkeley, from whom, as every one knows, the Dukes of Cheshire are +lineally descended. Accordingly, he made arrangements for appearing to +Virginia's little lover in his celebrated impersonation of "The Vampire +Monk, or the Bloodless Benedictine," a performance so horrible that when +old Lady Startup saw it, which she did on one fatal New Year's Eve, in +the year 1764, she went off into the most piercing shrieks, which +culminated in violent apoplexy, and died in three days, after +disinheriting the Cantervilles, who were her nearest relations, and +leaving all her money to her London apothecary. At the last moment, +however, his terror of the twins prevented his leaving his room, and the +little Duke slept in peace under the great feathered canopy in the Royal +Bedchamber, and dreamed of Virginia. + + + + +V + + +A few days after this, Virginia and her curly-haired cavalier went out +riding on Brockley meadows, where she tore her habit so badly in getting +through a hedge that, on their return home, she made up her mind to go +up by the back staircase so as not to be seen. As she was running past +the Tapestry Chamber, the door of which happened to be open, she fancied +she saw some one inside, and thinking it was her mother's maid, who +sometimes used to bring her work there, looked in to ask her to mend +her habit. To her immense surprise, however, it was the Canterville +Ghost himself! He was sitting by the window, watching the ruined gold of +the yellowing trees fly through the air, and the red leaves dancing +madly down the long avenue. His head was leaning on his hand, and his +whole attitude was one of extreme depression. Indeed, so forlorn, and so +much out of repair did he look, that little Virginia, whose first idea +had been to run away and lock herself in her room, was filled with pity, +and determined to try and comfort him. So light was her footfall, and so +deep his melancholy, that he was not aware of her presence till she +spoke to him. + +"I am so sorry for you," she said, "but my brothers are going back to +Eton to-morrow, and then, if you behave yourself, no one will annoy +you." + +"It is absurd asking me to behave myself," he answered, looking round in +astonishment at the pretty little girl who had ventured to address him, +"quite absurd. I must rattle my chains, and groan through keyholes, and +walk about at night, if that is what you mean. It is my only reason for +existing." + +"It is no reason at all for existing, and you know you have been very +wicked. Mrs. Umney told us, the first day we arrived here, that you had +killed your wife." + +"Well, I quite admit it," said the Ghost, petulantly, "but it was a +purely family matter, and concerned no one else." + +"It is very wrong to kill any one," said Virginia, who at times had a +sweet puritan gravity, caught from some old New England ancestor. + +"Oh, I hate the cheap severity of abstract ethics! My wife was very +plain, never had my ruffs properly starched, and knew nothing about +cookery. Why, there was a buck I had shot in Hogley Woods, a magnificent +pricket, and do you know how she had it sent to table? However, it is +no matter now, for it is all over, and I don't think it was very nice of +her brothers to starve me to death, though I did kill her." + +"Starve you to death? Oh, Mr. Ghost--I mean Sir Simon, are you hungry? I +have a sandwich in my case. Would you like it?" + +"No, thank you, I never eat anything now; but it is very kind of you, +all the same, and you are much nicer than the rest of your horrid, rude, +vulgar, dishonest family." + +"Stop!" cried Virginia, stamping her foot, "it is you who are rude, and +horrid, and vulgar, and as for dishonesty, you know you stole the +paints out of my box to try and furbish up that ridiculous blood-stain +in the library. First you took all my reds, including the vermilion, and +I couldn't do any more sunsets, then you took the emerald-green and the +chrome-yellow, and finally I had nothing left but indigo and Chinese +white, and could only do moonlight scenes, which are always depressing +to look at, and not at all easy to paint. I never told on you, though I +was very much annoyed, and it was most ridiculous, the whole thing; for +who ever heard of emerald-green blood?" + +"Well, really," said the Ghost, rather meekly, "what was I to do? It is +a very difficult thing to get real blood nowadays, and, as your brother +began it all with his Paragon Detergent, I certainly saw no reason why I +should not have your paints. As for colour, that is always a matter of +taste: the Cantervilles have blue blood, for instance, the very bluest +in England; but I know you Americans don't care for things of this +kind." + +"You know nothing about it, and the best thing you can do is to emigrate +and improve your mind. My father will be only too happy to give you a +free passage, and though there is a heavy duty on spirits of every kind, +there will be no difficulty about the Custom House, as the officers are +all Democrats. Once in New York, you are sure to be a great success. I +know lots of people there who would give a hundred thousand dollars to +have a grandfather, and much more than that to have a family ghost." + +"I don't think I should like America." + +"I suppose because we have no ruins and no curiosities," said Virginia, +satirically. + +"No ruins! no curiosities!" answered the Ghost; "you have your navy and +your manners." + +"Good evening; I will go and ask papa to get the twins an extra week's +holiday." + +"Please don't go, Miss Virginia," he cried; "I am so lonely and so +unhappy, and I really don't know what to do. I want to go to sleep and I +cannot." + +"That's quite absurd! You have merely to go to bed and blow out the +candle. It is very difficult sometimes to keep awake, especially at +church, but there is no difficulty at all about sleeping. Why, even +babies know how to do that, and they are not very clever." + +"I have not slept for three hundred years," he said sadly, and +Virginia's beautiful blue eyes opened in wonder; "for three hundred +years I have not slept, and I am so tired." + +Virginia grew quite grave, and her little lips trembled like +rose-leaves. She came towards him, and kneeling down at his side, looked +up into his old withered face. + +"Poor, poor Ghost," she murmured; "have you no place where you can +sleep?" + +[Illustration: "'POOR, POOR GHOST,' SHE MURMURED; 'HAVE YOU NO PLACE +WHERE YOU CAN SLEEP?'"] + +"Far away beyond the pine-woods," he answered, in a low, dreamy voice, +"there is a little garden. There the grass grows long and deep, there +are the great white stars of the hemlock flower, there the nightingale +sings all night long. All night long he sings, and the cold crystal +moon looks down, and the yew-tree spreads out its giant arms over the +sleepers." + +Virginia's eyes grew dim with tears, and she hid her face in her hands. + +"You mean the Garden of Death," she whispered. + +"Yes, death. Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, +with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have +no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forget life, to be at +peace. You can help me. You can open for me the portals of death's +house, for love is always with you, and love is stronger than death +is." + +Virginia trembled, a cold shudder ran through her, and for a few moments +there was silence. She felt as if she was in a terrible dream. + +Then the ghost spoke again, and his voice sounded like the sighing of +the wind. + +"Have you ever read the old prophecy on the library window?" + +"Oh, often," cried the little girl, looking up; "I know it quite well. +It is painted in curious black letters, and is difficult to read. There +are only six lines: + + "'When a golden girl can win + Prayer from out the lips of sin, + When the barren almond bears, + And a little child gives away its tears, + Then shall all the house be still + And peace come to Canterville.' + +"But I don't know what they mean." + +"They mean," he said, sadly, "that you must weep with me for my sins, +because I have no tears, and pray with me for my soul, because I have no +faith, and then, if you have always been sweet, and good, and gentle, +the angel of death will have mercy on me. You will see fearful shapes in +darkness, and wicked voices will whisper in your ear, but they will not +harm you, for against the purity of a little child the powers of Hell +cannot prevail." + +Virginia made no answer, and the ghost wrung his hands in wild despair +as he looked down at her bowed golden head. Suddenly she stood up, very +pale, and with a strange light in her eyes. "I am not afraid," she said +firmly, "and I will ask the angel to have mercy on you." + +He rose from his seat with a faint cry of joy, and taking her hand bent +over it with old-fashioned grace and kissed it. His fingers were as cold +as ice, and his lips burned like fire, but Virginia did not falter, as +he led her across the dusky room. On the faded green tapestry were +broidered little huntsmen. They blew their tasselled horns and with +their tiny hands waved to her to go back. "Go back! little Virginia," +they cried, "go back!" but the ghost clutched her hand more tightly, +and she shut her eyes against them. Horrible animals with lizard tails +and goggle eyes blinked at her from the carven chimneypiece, and +murmured, "Beware! little Virginia, beware! we may never see you again," +but the Ghost glided on more swiftly, and Virginia did not listen. When +they reached the end of the room he stopped, and muttered some words she +could not understand. She opened her eyes, and saw the wall slowly +fading away like a mist, and a great black cavern in front of her. A +bitter cold wind swept round them, and she felt something pulling at her +dress. "Quick, quick," cried the Ghost, "or it will be too late," and +in a moment the wainscoting had closed behind them, and the Tapestry +Chamber was empty. + +[Illustration: "THE GHOST GLIDED ON MORE SWIFTLY"] + + + + +VI + + +About ten minutes later, the bell rang for tea, and, as Virginia did not +come down, Mrs. Otis sent up one of the footmen to tell her. After a +little time he returned and said that he could not find Miss Virginia +anywhere. As she was in the habit of going out to the garden every +evening to get flowers for the dinner-table, Mrs. Otis was not at all +alarmed at first, but when six o'clock struck, and Virginia did not +appear, she became really agitated, and sent the boys out to look for +her, while she herself and Mr. Otis searched every room in the house. At +half-past six the boys came back and said that they could find no trace +of their sister anywhere. They were all now in the greatest state of +excitement, and did not know what to do, when Mr. Otis suddenly +remembered that, some few days before, he had given a band of gipsies +permission to camp in the park. He accordingly at once set off for +Blackfell Hollow, where he knew they were, accompanied by his eldest son +and two of the farm-servants. The little Duke of Cheshire, who was +perfectly frantic with anxiety, begged hard to be allowed to go too, +but Mr. Otis would not allow him, as he was afraid there might be a +scuffle. On arriving at the spot, however, he found that the gipsies had +gone, and it was evident that their departure had been rather sudden, as +the fire was still burning, and some plates were lying on the grass. +Having sent off Washington and the two men to scour the district, he ran +home, and despatched telegrams to all the police inspectors in the +county, telling them to look out for a little girl who had been +kidnapped by tramps or gipsies. He then ordered his horse to be brought +round, and, after insisting on his wife and the three boys sitting down +to dinner, rode off down the Ascot road with a groom. He had hardly, +however, gone a couple of miles, when he heard somebody galloping after +him, and, looking round, saw the little Duke coming up on his pony, with +his face very flushed, and no hat. "I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Otis," gasped +out the boy, "but I can't eat any dinner as long as Virginia is lost. +Please don't be angry with me; if you had let us be engaged last year, +there would never have been all this trouble. You won't send me back, +will you? I can't go! I won't go!" + +[Illustration: "HE HEARD SOMEBODY GALLOPING AFTER HIM"] + +The Minister could not help smiling at the handsome young scapegrace, +and was a good deal touched at his devotion to Virginia, so leaning down +from his horse, he patted him kindly on the shoulders, and said, "Well, +Cecil, if you won't go back, I suppose you must come with me, but I must +get you a hat at Ascot." + +"Oh, bother my hat! I want Virginia!" cried the little Duke, laughing, +and they galloped on to the railway station. There Mr. Otis inquired of +the station-master if any one answering to the description of Virginia +had been seen on the platform, but could get no news of her. The +station-master, however, wired up and down the line, and assured him +that a strict watch would be kept for her, and, after having bought a +hat for the little Duke from a linen-draper, who was just putting up his +shutters, Mr. Otis rode off to Bexley, a village about four miles away, +which he was told was a well-known haunt of the gipsies, as there was a +large common next to it. Here they roused up the rural policeman, but +could get no information from him, and, after riding all over the +common, they turned their horses' heads homewards, and reached the Chase +about eleven o'clock, dead-tired and almost heart-broken. They found +Washington and the twins waiting for them at the gate-house with +lanterns, as the avenue was very dark. Not the slightest trace of +Virginia had been discovered. The gipsies had been caught on Brockley +meadows, but she was not with them, and they had explained their sudden +departure by saying that they had mistaken the date of Chorton Fair, and +had gone off in a hurry for fear they should be late. Indeed, they had +been quite distressed at hearing of Virginia's disappearance, as they +were very grateful to Mr. Otis for having allowed them to camp in his +park, and four of their number had stayed behind to help in the search. +The carp-pond had been dragged, and the whole Chase thoroughly gone +over, but without any result. It was evident that, for that night at any +rate, Virginia was lost to them; and it was in a state of the deepest +depression that Mr. Otis and the boys walked up to the house, the groom +following behind with the two horses and the pony. In the hall they +found a group of frightened servants, and lying on a sofa in the library +was poor Mrs. Otis, almost out of her mind with terror and anxiety, and +having her forehead bathed with eau de cologne by the old housekeeper. +Mr. Otis at once insisted on her having something to eat, and ordered up +supper for the whole party. It was a melancholy meal, as hardly any one +spoke, and even the twins were awestruck and subdued, as they were very +fond of their sister. When they had finished, Mr. Otis, in spite of the +entreaties of the little Duke, ordered them all to bed, saying that +nothing more could be done that night, and that he would telegraph in +the morning to Scotland Yard for some detectives to be sent down +immediately. Just as they were passing out of the dining-room, midnight +began to boom from the clock tower, and when the last stroke sounded +they heard a crash and a sudden shrill cry; a dreadful peal of thunder +shook the house, a strain of unearthly music floated through the air, a +panel at the top of the staircase flew back with a loud noise, and out +on the landing, looking very pale and white, with a little casket in her +hand, stepped Virginia. In a moment they had all rushed up to her. Mrs. +Otis clasped her passionately in her arms, the Duke smothered her with +violent kisses, and the twins executed a wild war-dance round the group. + +[Illustration: "OUT ON THE LANDING STEPPED VIRGINIA"] + +"Good heavens! child, where have you been?" said Mr. Otis, rather +angrily, thinking that she had been playing some foolish trick on them. +"Cecil and I have been riding all over the country looking for you, and +your mother has been frightened to death. You must never play these +practical jokes any more." + +"Except on the Ghost! except on the Ghost!" shrieked the twins, as they +capered about. + +"My own darling, thank God you are found; you must never leave my side +again," murmured Mrs. Otis, as she kissed the trembling child, and +smoothed the tangled gold of her hair. + +"Papa," said Virginia, quietly, "I have been with the Ghost. He is dead, +and you must come and see him. He had been very wicked, but he was +really sorry for all that he had done, and he gave me this box of +beautiful jewels before he died." + +The whole family gazed at her in mute amazement, but she was quite grave +and serious; and, turning round, she led them through the opening in the +wainscoting down a narrow secret corridor, Washington following with a +lighted candle, which he had caught up from the table. Finally, they +came to a great oak door, studded with rusty nails. When Virginia +touched it, it swung back on its heavy hinges, and they found themselves +in a little low room, with a vaulted ceiling, and one tiny grated +window. Imbedded in the wall was a huge iron ring, and chained to it was +a gaunt skeleton, that was stretched out at full length on the stone +floor, and seemed to be trying to grasp with its long fleshless fingers +an old-fashioned trencher and ewer, that were placed just out of its +reach. The jug had evidently been once filled with water, as it was +covered inside with green mould. There was nothing on the trencher but +a pile of dust. Virginia knelt down beside the skeleton, and, folding +her little hands together, began to pray silently, while the rest of the +party looked on in wonder at the terrible tragedy whose secret was now +disclosed to them. + +[Illustration: "CHAINED TO IT WAS A GAUNT SKELETON"] + +"Hallo!" suddenly exclaimed one of the twins, who had been looking out +of the window to try and discover in what wing of the house the room was +situated. "Hallo! the old withered almond-tree has blossomed. I can see +the flowers quite plainly in the moonlight." + +"God has forgiven him," said Virginia, gravely, as she rose to her feet, +and a beautiful light seemed to illumine her face. + +"What an angel you are!" cried the young Duke, and he put his arm round +her neck, and kissed her. + + + + + +VII + + +[Illustration: "BY THE SIDE OF THE HEARSE AND THE COACHES WALKED THE +SERVANTS WITH LIGHTED TORCHES"] + +Four days after these curious incidents, a funeral started from +Canterville Chase at about eleven o'clock at night. The hearse was drawn +by eight black horses, each of which carried on its head a great tuft of +nodding ostrich-plumes, and the leaden coffin was covered by a rich +purple pall, on which was embroidered in gold the Canterville +coat-of-arms. By the side of the hearse and the coaches walked the +servants with lighted torches, and the whole procession was wonderfully +impressive. Lord Canterville was the chief mourner, having come up +specially from Wales to attend the funeral, and sat in the first +carriage along with little Virginia. Then came the United States +Minister and his wife, then Washington and the three boys, and in the +last carriage was Mrs. Umney. It was generally felt that, as she had +been frightened by the ghost for more than fifty years of her life, she +had a right to see the last of him. A deep grave had been dug in the +corner of the churchyard, just under the old yew-tree, and the service +was read in the most impressive manner by the Rev. Augustus Dampier. +When the ceremony was over, the servants, according to an old custom +observed in the Canterville family, extinguished their torches, and, as +the coffin was being lowered into the grave, Virginia stepped forward, +and laid on it a large cross made of white and pink almond-blossoms. As +she did so, the moon came out from behind a cloud, and flooded with its +silent silver the little churchyard, and from a distant copse a +nightingale began to sing. She thought of the ghost's description of the +Garden of Death, her eyes became dim with tears, and she hardly spoke a +word during the drive home. + +[Illustration: "THE MOON CAME OUT FROM BEHIND A CLOUD"] + +The next morning, before Lord Canterville went up to town, Mr. Otis had +an interview with him on the subject of the jewels the ghost had given +to Virginia. They were perfectly magnificent, especially a certain ruby +necklace with old Venetian setting, which was really a superb specimen +of sixteenth-century work, and their value was so great that Mr. Otis +felt considerable scruples about allowing his daughter to accept them. + +"My lord," he said, "I know that in this country mortmain is held to +apply to trinkets as well as to land, and it is quite clear to me that +these jewels are, or should be, heirlooms in your family. I must beg +you, accordingly, to take them to London with you, and to regard them +simply as a portion of your property which has been restored to you +under certain strange conditions. As for my daughter, she is merely a +child, and has as yet, I am glad to say, but little interest in such +appurtenances of idle luxury. I am also informed by Mrs. Otis, who, I +may say, is no mean authority upon Art,--having had the privilege of +spending several winters in Boston when she was a girl,--that these gems +are of great monetary worth, and if offered for sale would fetch a tall +price. Under these circumstances, Lord Canterville, I feel sure that you +will recognize how impossible it would be for me to allow them to remain +in the possession of any member of my family; and, indeed, all such +vain gauds and toys, however suitable or necessary to the dignity of the +British aristocracy, would be completely out of place among those who +have been brought up on the severe, and I believe immortal, principles +of Republican simplicity. Perhaps I should mention that Virginia is very +anxious that you should allow her to retain the box, as a memento of +your unfortunate but misguided ancestor. As it is extremely old, and +consequently a good deal out of repair, you may perhaps think fit to +comply with her request. For my own part, I confess I am a good deal +surprised to find a child of mine expressing sympathy with mediævalism +in any form, and can only account for it by the fact that Virginia was +born in one of your London suburbs shortly after Mrs. Otis had returned +from a trip to Athens." + +Lord Canterville listened very gravely to the worthy Minister's speech, +pulling his grey moustache now and then to hide an involuntary smile, +and when Mr. Otis had ended, he shook him cordially by the hand, and +said: "My dear sir, your charming little daughter rendered my unlucky +ancestor, Sir Simon, a very important service, and I and my family are +much indebted to her for her marvellous courage and pluck. The jewels +are clearly hers, and, egad, I believe that if I were heartless enough +to take them from her, the wicked old fellow would be out of his grave +in a fortnight, leading me the devil of a life. As for their being +heirlooms, nothing is an heirloom that is not so mentioned in a will or +legal document, and the existence of these jewels has been quite +unknown. I assure you I have no more claim on them than your butler, and +when Miss Virginia grows up, I dare say she will be pleased to have +pretty things to wear. Besides, you forget, Mr. Otis, that you took the +furniture and the ghost at a valuation, and anything that belonged to +the ghost passed at once into your possession, as, whatever activity +Sir Simon may have shown in the corridor at night, in point of law he +was really dead, and you acquired his property by purchase." + +Mr. Otis was a good deal distressed at Lord Canterville's refusal, and +begged him to reconsider his decision, but the good-natured peer was +quite firm, and finally induced the Minister to allow his daughter to +retain the present the ghost had given her, and when, in the spring of +1890, the young Duchess of Cheshire was presented at the Queen's first +drawing-room on the occasion of her marriage, her jewels were the +universal theme of admiration. For Virginia received the coronet, which +is the reward of all good little American girls, and was married to her +boy-lover as soon as he came of age. They were both so charming, and +they loved each other so much, that every one was delighted at the +match, except the old Marchioness of Dumbleton, who had tried to catch +the Duke for one of her seven unmarried daughters, and had given no less +than three expensive dinner-parties for that purpose, and, strange to +say, Mr. Otis himself. Mr. Otis was extremely fond of the young Duke +personally, but, theoretically, he objected to titles, and, to use his +own words, "was not without apprehension lest, amid the enervating +influences of a pleasure-loving aristocracy, the true principles of +Republican simplicity should be forgotten." His objections, however, +were completely overruled, and I believe that when he walked up the +aisle of St. George's, Hanover Square, with his daughter leaning on his +arm, there was not a prouder man in the whole length and breadth of +England. + +The Duke and Duchess, after the honeymoon was over, went down to +Canterville Chase, and on the day after their arrival they walked over +in the afternoon to the lonely churchyard by the pine-woods. There had +been a great deal of difficulty at first about the inscription on Sir +Simon's tombstone, but finally it had been decided to engrave on it +simply the initials of the old gentleman's name, and the verse from the +library window. The Duchess had brought with her some lovely roses, +which she strewed upon the grave, and after they had stood by it for +some time they strolled into the ruined chancel of the old abbey. There +the Duchess sat down on a fallen pillar, while her husband lay at her +feet smoking a cigarette and looking up at her beautiful eyes. Suddenly +he threw his cigarette away, took hold of her hand, and said to her, +"Virginia, a wife should have no secrets from her husband." + +"Dear Cecil! I have no secrets from you." + +"Yes, you have," he answered, smiling, "you have never told me what +happened to you when you were locked up with the ghost." + +"I have never told any one, Cecil," said Virginia, gravely. + +"I know that, but you might tell me." + +"Please don't ask me, Cecil, I cannot tell you. Poor Sir Simon! I owe +him a great deal. Yes, don't laugh, Cecil, I really do. He made me see +what Life is, and what Death signifies, and why Love is stronger than +both." + +The Duke rose and kissed his wife lovingly. + +"You can have your secret as long as I have your heart," he murmured. + +"You have always had that, Cecil." + +"And you will tell our children some day, won't you?" + +Virginia blushed. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14522 *** |