The Canterville Ghost

`Take money from her pay every time she does it,' answered the Ambassador; `she won't faint if you do that'. Almost at once, Mrs Umney sat up. But everyone could see that she was very unhappy about everything. She told Mr. Otis that they should all be very careful, because something terrible would happen in the house.

`My eyes have seen things,' she said, `that are so frightening they would make any woman's hair stand on end . There have been very many nights when I could not sleep because of all the horrible things that happen here.' Mr. Otis and his wife were not worried. They told Mrs Umney not to be upset, and they said that they would not worry about the ghost. The old servant thanked them for their help, and then she and the family agreed that she deserved more money for working in the house. Then the old housekeeper went off to her own room because she was still too scared to walk properly.

There was a fierce storm all that night, but nothing very strange or surprising happened. The next morning, however, when the family came down to have their breakfast, they found that the terrible stain of blood was back on the floor . `I don't think that the stain can be the fault of the Paragon Detergent,' said Washington, `because it works with everything. It must be the ghost.' He rubbed out the stain again, but the second morning it was back on the floor. The same thing happened on the third morning, even though the library had been locked by Mr. Otis himself, and he had taken the key upstairs with him for the night.