The Canterville Ghost

The next morning, when the Otis family met at breakfast, they discussed the ghost for a long time. The United States ambassaror was naturally a little annoyed to find that the ghost had not taken the oil he had been given. He said `I don't want to hurt the ghost at all, and I must say that, when you think how long he has been in the house, I don't think it is at all polite to throw pillows at him'. The ambassador was quite right when he said this, but I am sorry to say that the twins burst into laughter when they heard him.

`Upon the other hand,' Mr Otis continued, `if he really won't use the Rising Sun Lubricator, we shall have to take his chains away. It will be quite impossible to sleep, with all that noise going on outside the bedrooms.' But for the rest of the week the family were undisturbed. The only thing that reminded them of the ghost was that the blood-stain on the library floor kept coming back. This certainly was very strange, as the door was always locked at night by Mr. Otis, and the windows kept tightly closed. Also the chameleon-like colour of the stain caused a good deal of comment.

Some mornings it was a dull red, then it would be vermilion, then a rich purple, and once when they came down for family prayers, (they were members of of the Free American Reformed Episcopalian Church) they found that the blood stain was bright emerald-green. These kaleidoscopic changes naturally amused the party very much, and bets on the subject were freely made every evening. The only person who did not enter into the joke was little Virginia, who, for some unexplained reason, was always a good deal distressed at the sight of the blood-stain, and she almost cried the morning it was emerald-green.

Vocabulary:

Discuss: Talk about.
Naturally: Here it means 'of course'.
Burst: Here it means 'cause'.
Quite: Here it means 'completely'.
Undisturbed: Not caused any trouble.
Chameleon: An animal that changes its colour often.
Deal: Amount.
Dull: Not bright.
Vermilion: A kind of red.
Emerald: A (green) precious stone.