The sociable ghost : $b Being the adventures of a reporter who was invited by the sociable ghost to a grand banquet, ball, and convention under the ground of old Trinity churchyard. A true tale of the things he saw and did not see while he was not there.Harper, Olive
Science
The sociable ghost : $b Being the adventures of a reporter who was invited by the sociable ghost to a grand banquet, ball, and convention under the ground of old Trinity churchyard. A true tale of the things he saw and did not see while he was not there.
Harper, Olive
American fiction -- 20th century; Ghost stories
"You see that we are still full of the leaven of unrighteousness. Ah;
there goes the most unsociable ghost I ever saw. He will never get away
from here at that rate. He thinks he is just the biggest frog in the
pond. Nobody likes him. That tall man over near him is next to him the
most disagreeable ghost here. He is so swelled up with his own
importance that he is looking with a candle for insults to his dignity.
But, deary me! Here am I, a bishop too, gossiping like an old woman. I
could be in better business, but some folks think they are the whole
bunch. I heard that expression once—in fact, recently—and it struck me
as being so forcible that—ah, me; I am forced to admit that a bishop is
no more when he gets before the Master than any other man. And if he has
not been better than the most of them he gets the same treatment. I used
to think I was some value to the world, but bishops are nothing more or
less than men down here. It has taken over two hundred years to make me
admit that much. I used to stand among other men and take their
reverential words as my just due, and when we were at the banqueting
board I took the best of everything as my right indisputable and just.
Now I take what I can get and must be content, for, as I said, all that
has passed away. You see, we have outgrown preachers down here, and I
often wonder why we ever had them. To change the subject, what are your
impressions of what you see here to-night?
“It would be impossible to define them, for I see so much that put all
my preconceived notions to flight that it will take long before I can
really understand them myself. I am sure that I shall profit by your
discourse,” answered the reporter, earnestly, for the bishop’s
conversation did give him food for reflection.
Very opportunely one of the ghosts who had visited the buffet too often
got into a wrangle, and no one knew how it happened but the young
stranger, and he kept a discreet silence, for it was not his quarrel
anyhow, but he had heard one ghost say to another:
“I notice that your name is obliterated—”
He got no further, for the other doubled up his fists and cried
indignantly:
“You're a liar! My name is Jones, and don’t you forget it.”
The first speaker was ready for a fight, but the other ghosts surrounded
them and tried to persuade Jones that the offending word was intended
for a compliment, and begged him to overlook it, so finally they shook
hands and sat down in a corner and promptly went to sleep.
The music now struck up a grand march and the ghosts formed in couples
and marched to the music, and in perfect unison. The procession
appeared interminable. The ghosts floated rather than walked. It seemed
as if millions passed along.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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