THE INTOXICATED GHOST
THE INTOXICATED GHOST
AND OTHER STORIES
BY
ARLO BATES
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1908
COPYRIGHT 1908 BY ARLO BATES
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Published April 1908
CONTENTS
| The Intoxicated Ghost | 1 |
| A Problem in Portraiture | 43 |
| The Knitters in the Sun | 85 |
| A Comedy in Crape | 117 |
| A Meeting of the Psychical Club | 145 |
| Tim Calligan’s Grave-Money | 177 |
| Miss Gaylord and Jenny | 207 |
| Dr. Polnitzski | 249 |
| In the Virginia Room | 277 |
THE INTOXICATED GHOST
AND OTHER STORIES
THE INTOXICATED GHOST
I
It was not her beauty which made IreneGaspic unusual, although she was bewitchinglypretty; nor yet her wit, her cleverness,or her wealth, albeit she was well endowedwith all these good gifts: other girls werepretty, and wise, and witty, and rich. It wassomething far more piquant and rare whichmarked Irene as different from her mates,the fact being that from her great-aunt onthe mother’s side, an old lady who for nearlyninety years displayed to her fellow-mortalsone of the most singular characters possible,Irene had inherited the power of seeingghosts.
It is so generally regarded as a weaknesseven to believe in disembodied spirits that injustice to Irene it is but fair to remark thatshe believed in them only because she couldnot help seeing them, and that the power with[4]which she was endowed had come to her byinheritance quite without any wish on herpart. Any fair-minded person must perceivethe difference between seeing ghosts becauseone is so foolish as to believe in them, andbelieving in their existence because one cannothelp seeing them. It might be added,moreover, that the firmness which MissGaspic had displayed when visited by someof the most unpleasant wraiths in the wholecategory should be allowed to tell in her favor.When she was approached during a visit toCastle Doddyfoethghw—where, as everytraveler in Wales is aware, is to be found themost ghostly phantom in the three kingdoms—bya gory figure literally streaming withblood, and carrying its mangled head in itshands, she merely remarked coldly: “Goaway at once, please. You do not alarm m