The Canterville Ghost

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!'

The Minister could not help smiling at the handsome young man, 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!' said 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 haberdasher, 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 gypsies, as there was a large common next to it.

Vocabulary:

Flush: Become red with anger or effort.
Gasp: Breathing with difficulty.
As long as: While.
Engaged: Promised to marry.
Touch: Affect the emotions.
Devotion: Loving something very much.
Bother: Here it means 'I do not care about'..
Answer: Answer a description = 'to look like' .
Wire: Send a message electronically.
Haberdasher: In British English a man who sells hats.
Shutters: Wooden or metal covers for windows.
Haunt: A place where people often stay.
Common: Fields or land used by everyone.