"Oscar Wilde. The Canterville Ghost" - читать интересную книгу автора

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 liked 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 over-populated 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 upstairs.
The whole family were now quite interested; Mr. Otis began to suspect that
he had been to 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