CHAPTER 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 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 actresses and