Project Gutenberg 2004-01-01 Public domain in the USA. 136 Jacobs, W. W. (William Wymark) 1863 1943 Jacobs, William Wymark Owen, Will 1869 1957 Keeping Up Appearances Sailor's Knots, Part 12. Produced by David Widger "Keeping Up Appearances" by W. W. Jacobs is a comedic short story written in the early 20th century. The narrative explores themes of superstition and social circumstances through the life of Bill Burtenshaw, a sailor turned husband whose life is marked by his struggles with alcoholism. The story cleverly encapsulates human nature—specifically, the lengths to which one might go to fabricate a plan to maintain social appearances and personal dignity. The plot centers around Bill Burtenshaw, who has promised to his old friend Silas Winch, that the first one to die would appear to the other as a ghost. After a series of unfortunate events involving his drinking problem, Silas visits Bill in a spectral guise to warn him against alcohol. While Mrs. Burtenshaw becomes embroiled in the deception, the story culminates in a humorous twist where Bill vows to mend his ways and uphold a promise of support to Silas's widow, unwittingly entangling himself in a new web of deception. The interplay of ghostly apparitions, comical misunderstandings, and the human proclivity for self-deception provides a lighthearted yet poignant commentary on the folly of maintaining appearances amidst personal struggles. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 88.7 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Humorous stories, English England -- Social life and customs -- Fiction PR Text Category: Short Stories Category: Humour Category: British Literature 50393 2025-08-05T05:06:11.583601 text/html 46220 2020-12-20T04:45:53 text/html 369800 2025-08-05T05:06:13.269545 application/epub+zip 368532 2025-08-05T05:06:11.889559 application/epub+zip 75158 2025-08-05T05:06:11.715567 application/epub+zip 402449 2025-08-05T05:06:14.479593 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 393097 2025-08-05T05:06:13.011551 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 99108 2022-09-05T09:56:39.291691 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 39849 2025-08-05T05:06:11.452585 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20170 2024-10-28T18:03:04 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 41288 2020-12-20T04:45:53 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20153 2025-08-05T05:06:14.614551 application/rdf+xml 18335 2025-08-05T05:06:11.782538 image/jpeg 3249 2025-08-05T05:06:11.748569 image/jpeg 348335 2020-12-20T04:45:53 application/octet-stream application/zip 15817 2020-12-20T04:45:53 application/octet-stream application/zip 353939 2025-08-05T05:06:11.604577 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia en.wikipedia