The Canterville Ghost

The Canterville Ghost

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Illustrated by Wallace Goldsmith
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Title: The Canterville Ghost
Author: Oscar Wilde
Release Date: December 30, 2004 [eBook #14522]
Language: English
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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