Christmas-Tide

VE

Y'S G

following exquisite masterpiece of Dickens, for hearts

urial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge

as as dead a

, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed h

ole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. And even Scrooge was not so drea

oing to relate. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet's father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his

: Scrooge and Marley. The firm was known as Scrooge and Marley. Sometimes people new to the business ca

t, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in

o falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn't know where to have him. The heaviest rai

asked him what it was o'clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men's dogs appeared to know him; and whe

is way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy t

their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already-it had not been light all day-and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighboring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. The fog came pouring in

s fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn't replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predi

e. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so q

d Scrooge,

this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face was

said Scrooge's nephew. "You

at right have you to be merry? What reason

hat right have you to be dismal? What reason

n the spur of the moment, said "Bah!" a

ss, uncle!" s

a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in 'em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? If I could work

pleaded t

rnly, "keep Christmas in your own

Scrooge's nephew, "b

d Scrooge. "Much good may it do yo

igin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that-as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below th

g immediately sensible of the impropriety, he poked th

Christmas by losing your situation! You're quite a powerful speaker, sir,"

uncle. Come dine

id. He went the whole length of the expression, and

ied Scrooge's

get married?"

I fell

that were the only one thing in the world more ri

ee me before that happened. Why give

rnoon," sa

; I ask nothing of you;

rnoon," sa

arrel, to which I have been a party. But I have made the trial in homage to Chris

rnoon!" sa

happy N

d at the outer door to bestow the greetings of the season on the clerk, wh

: "my clerk, with fifteen shillings a week, and a wife and fa

were portly gentlemen, pleasant to behold, and now stood, with their hats off,

e gentlemen, referring to his list. "Have I the p

en years," Scrooge replied. "He die

epresented by his surviving partner," said

ts. At the ominous word "liberality," Scrooge frowned

y desirable that we should make some provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present ti

o prisons?"

aid the gentleman, lay

?" demanded Scrooge. "Are

d the gentleman, "I wish I

Poor Law are in full vi

ery bus

t something had occurred to stop them in their usef

, "a few of us are endeavoring to raise a fund to buy the poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this ti

" Scrooge

to be an

I don't make merry myself at Christmas, and I can't afford to make idle people merry. I help to supp

here, and many w

y had better do it, and decrease the surplus p

now it," observe

to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other p

entlemen withdrew. Scrooge resumed his labors with an improved opini

the court, some laborers were repairing the gas-pipes, and had lighted a great fire in a brazier, round which a party of ragged men and boys were gathered, warming their hands and winking their eyes before the blaze in rapture. The water-plug being left in solitude, its overflowings sullenly congealed, and turned to misanthropic ice. The brightness of the shops where holly sprigs and berries crackled in the lamp heat of the windows made pale faces ruddy as they passed. Poulterers' and grocers' trades became a splendid joke: a

r as that, instead of using his familiar weapons, then indeed he would have roared to lusty purpose. The owner of one scant young nose, gnawed and mum

you, merr

ing you

ion that the singer fled in terror, leaving the

Scrooge dismounted from his stool, and tacitly admitted the fact to the expecta

y to-morrow, I supp

convenie

not fair. If I was to stop half-a-crown for it,

k smiled

don't think me ill used when I

ed that it was o

ber!" said Scrooge, buttoning his greatcoat to the chin. "But I suppo

ds of his white comforter dangling below his waist (for he boasted no greatcoat), went down a slide on Cornhill, at the end of a lane of boy

e of building up a yard, where it had so little business to be that one could scarcely help fancying it must have run there when it was a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and forgotten the way out again. It was old enough now, and dreary enough, for nobody lived in it but Scrooge

what is called fancy about him as any man in the city of London, even including-which is a bold word-the corporation, aldermen, and livery. Let it also be borne in mind that Scrooge had not bestowed one thought on Marley since his last mention of his seven-ye

looked at Scrooge as Marley used to look, with ghostly spectacles turned up on its ghostly forehead. The hair was curiously stirred, as if by breath or hot air; and though the eyes were wide op

ly at this phenomenon,

tion to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue. But he put his hand

half-expected to be terrified with the sight of Marley's pigtail sticking out into the hall. But there was nothing on the

rs below, appeared to have a separate peal of echoes of its own. Scrooge was not a man to be frightened by echoes

oadwise, with the splinter-bar towards the wall and the door towards the balustrades, and done it easy. There was plenty of width for that, and room to spare; which is perhaps the reason why Scrooge thought

ed it. But before he shut his heavy door, he walked through his rooms to see that

the little sauce-pan of gruel (Scrooge had a cold in his head) upon the hob. Nobody under the bed; nobody in the closet; nobody in his dressing-gown, which was

h was not his custom. Thus secured against surprise, he took off his cravat; put on his dr

iles, designed to illustrate the Scriptures. There were Cains and Abels, Pharaoh's daughters, Queens of Sheba, Angelic messengers descending through the air on clouds like feather-beds, Abrahams, Belshazzars, Apostles putting off to sea in butter-boats, hundreds of figures to attract his thoughts; and yet

rooge, and walked

ated, for some purpose now forgotten, with a chamber in the highest story of the building. It was with great astonishment, and with a strange, inexplicable dread, that as

were succeeded by a clanking noise, deep down below, as if some person were dragging a heavy chain over the casks in the wi

e heard the noise much louder on the floors below; then co

!" said Scrooge. "I

oor, and passed into the room before his eyes. Upon its coming in the dying fla

s head. The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, le

that Marley had no bowels, but h

ough he felt the chilling influence of his death-cold eyes, and marked the very texture of the folded 'kerchief bound ab

austic and cold as ever. "

's voice, no d

are

e who

"You're particular, for a shade." He was going to say "

your partner,

wn?" asked Scrooge, loo

c

it,

n to take a chair; and felt that in the event of its being impossible, it might involve the necessity of an embar

eve in me," obs

," said

have of my reality beyo

know," sa

u doubt yo

them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fra

waggish then. The truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attent

awful, too, in the Specter's being provided with an infernal atmosphere of its own. Scrooge could not feel it himself, but this was clearly t

charge, for the reason just assigned, and wishing, though it were

replied

ooking at it,"

said the Ghost,

d be for the rest of my days persecuted by a legion of go

on tight to his chair to save himself from falling in a swoon. But how much greater was his horror when the phantom ta

knees, and clasped his

eadful apparition, wh

" replied the Ghost, "do

But why do spirits walk the ear

ravel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander

cry and shook its chain a

said Scrooge, trem

link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will,

embled mor

ng coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this seven

ation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or

"old Jacob Marley, tell me mo

can I tell you what I would. A very little more is all permitted to me. I cannot rest, I cannot stay, I cannot linger anywhere. My spirit never walked

hands in his breeches pockets. Pondering on what the Ghost had said,

cob," Scrooge observed, in a business-like

he Ghost

used Scrooge, "and tr

host. "No rest, no peace. In

l fast?" s

f the wind," re

great quantity of ground in

s chain so hideously in the dead silence of the night that the

the good of which it is susceptible is all developed. Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal

usiness, Jacob," faltered Scrooge, w

welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business.

hat were the cause of all its unavailing grie

s of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led t

ear the Specter going on at this ra

the Ghost. "My ti

t don't be hard upon me! Do

pe that you can see, I may not tell. I have

Scrooge shivered and wiped t

here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope o

od friend to me," sai

," resumed the Ghost

fell almost as low a

you mentioned, Jacob?" he d

t

d rather not,

cannot hope to shun the path I tread. Expect

at once and have it ove

night when the last stroke of twelve has ceased to vibrate. Look to see me no m

w this by the smart sound its teeth made when the jaws were brought together by the bandage. He ventured to raise his eyes

y step it took the window raised itself a little, s

ere within two paces of each other, Marley's Ghost held u

ises in the air; incoherent sounds of lamentation and regret; wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self-accusatory.

window, desperate in his

her; none were free. Many had been personally known to Scrooge in their lives. He had been quite familiar with one old ghost in a white waistcoat, with a monstrous iron safe attached to its ankle, who cried piteously at

m, he could not tell. But they and their spirit voices faded to

ed. He tried to say "Humbug!" but stopped at the first syllable. And being-from the emotion he had undergone, or the fatigues of the day, or his glimpse of the invisible w

VE

OF THE THR

ent window from the opaque walls of his chamber. He was endeavoring to pierce the darkness with his fe

to eight, and regularly up to twelve; then stopped. Twelve! It was past two when

orrect this most preposterous clock. Its r

rough a whole day and far into another night. It isn't possible t

make out was, that it was still very foggy and extremely cold, and that there was no noise of people running to and fro, and making a great stir, as there unquestionably would have been if night had beaten off bright day and taken possessi

ver and over, and could make nothing of it. The more he thought, the more pe

quiry, that it was all a dream, his mind flew back again, like a strong spring released to its

ost had warned him of a visitation when the bell tolled one. He resolved to lie awake until the hour was passed; and

nced he must have sunk into a doze unconsciously, and mi

g, d

st," said Scr

g, d

st!" sai

g, d

to it," s

g, d

d Scrooge, triumphantl

a deep, dull, hollow, melancholy ONE. Light flashed up in the

hich his face was addressed. The curtains of his bed were drawn aside; and Scrooge, starting up into a half-recumbent attitude, found himse

loom was on the skin. The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were, like those upper members, bare. It wore a tunic of the purest white; and round its waist was bound a lustrous belt, the sheen of which was beautiful. It held a branch of fresh, green holly in its hand, an

instant, at another time was dark, so the figure itself fluctuated in its distinctness; being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a h

, whose coming was foret

a

rly low, as if, instead of being so cl

are you?" Sc

host of Chr

Scrooge, observant o

your

dy could have asked him, but he had a special desire to

light I give? Is it not enough that you are one of those whose passions made th

dge of having willfully "bonneted" the Spirit at any period of his

are!" said

of unbroken rest would have been more conducive to that end. The Spirit must have

nd as it spoke, and clas

nd walk

ter a long way below freezing; that he was clad but lightly in his slippers, dressing-gown, and night-cap; and that he had a cold upon him at that time. The g

ooge remonstrated, "

the Spirit, laying it upon his heart, "a

elds on either hand. The city had entirely vanished. Not a vestige of it was to be seen. The darknes

hands together as he looked about him. "I

d still present to the old man's sense of feeling. He was conscious of a thousand odors floating in the

said the Ghost. "And what

in his voice, that it was a pimple; and b

the way?" inqui

rooge, with fervor; "I

t for so many years!" observ

nd winding river. Some shaggy ponies now were seen trotting towards them with boys upon their backs, who called to other boys in country gigs and carts, driven by

s that have been," said the Ghost.

ld eye glisten, and his heart leap up as they went past! Why was he filled with gladness when he heard them give each other Merry Christmas, as they par

d the Ghost. "A solitary child, neglect

he knew it. A

used, their walls were damp and mossy, their windows broken, and their gates decayed. Fowls clucked and strutted in the stables, and the coach-houses and sheds were overrun with grass. Nor was it more retentive of its ancient state within; for entering the dreary hall

ed a long, bare, melancholy room, made barer still by lines of plain deal forms and desks. At one of these a lonely boy w

in the dull yard behind, not a sigh among the leafless boughs of one despondent poplar, not the idle swinging of an empty store-house do

Suddenly a man, in foreign garments-wonderfully real and distinct to look at-stood outside

e first time, just like that. Poor boy! And Valentine," said Scrooge, "and his wild brother, Orson; there they go! And what's his name, who was put down in his drawers, asleep, at the Gate of Da

ost extraordinary voice between laughing and crying, and to see his heightened and e

obin Crusoe, he called him, when he came home again after sailing round the island. 'Poor Robin Crusoe, where have you been, Robin Crusoe?' The man t

gn to his usual character, he said, in pity fo

his pocket, and looking about him, after drying

matter?" aske

singing a Christmas carol at my door last night. I

d waved its hand, saying as it did

laster fell out of the ceiling, and the naked laths were shown instead; but how all this was brought about, Scrooge knew no more than you do. He only knew

ingly. Scrooge looked at the Ghost, and with a mournful

ame darting in, and putting her arms about his neck, and o

id the child, clapping her tiny hands, and bendin

e Fan?" retu

ne dear night when I was going to bed, that I was not afraid to ask him once more if you might come home; and he said yes, you should; and sent me in a coach to bring you. And you're

oman, little Fan!"

, laughed again, and stood on tiptoe to embrace him. Then she began to drag him, in

maps upon the wall, and the celestial and terrestrial globes in the windows, were waxy with cold. Here he produced a decanter of curiously light wine and a block of curiously heavy cake, and administered instalments of those dainties to the young people; at the same time sending out a meager servant to offer a glass of "something" to the post-boy, who answered that he thanked

breath might have withered," said th

"You're right. I will not gai

id the Ghost, "and had

," Scrooge

the Ghost.

in his mind, and ans

passed and repassed; where shadowy carts and coaches battled for the way, and all the strife and tumult of a real city were. It was made pl

tain warehouse door, and a

Scrooge. "Was I

t if he had been two inches taller he must have knocked his head against the ceiling, Scrooge

his hands; adjusted his capacious waistcoat; laughed all over himself, from his shoes to his organ of ben

a young man, came briskly in, acc

ost. "Bless me, yes. There he is. He was very much

Dick. Christmas, Ebenezer! Let's have the shutters up," cried old Fezziw

hutters-one, two, three-had 'em up in their places-four, five, six-barred 'em and pinned 'em-s

desk, with wonderful agility. "Clear away, my lads, and let'

. Every movable was packed off, as if it were dismissed from public life forevermore, the floor was swept and watered, the lamps were trimmed, fuel

ough from his master; trying to hide himself behind the girl from next door but one, who was proved to have had her ears pulled by her mistress. In they all came, one after another; some shyly, some boldly, some gracefully, some awkwardly, some pushing, some pulling; in they all came, anyhow and everyhow. Away they all went, twenty couple at once; hands half round and back again the other way; down the middle and up again; round and round in various stages of affectionate grouping; old top couple always turning up in the wrong place; new top couple st

t the great effect of the evening came after the roast and boiled, when the fiddler (an artful dog, mind! The sort of man who knew his business better than you or I could have told it him!) struck up "Sir Roger de Coverley." Then old Fezziwig

. A positive light appeared to issue from Fezziwig's calves. They shone in every part of the dance like moons. You couldn't have predicted, at any given time, what would have become of them next. And when old Fezziwig and Mrs. Fezziwig had gone all throu

ands with every person individually as he or she went out, wished him or her a Merry Christmas. When everybody had retired but the two 'prentices,

rything, remembered everything, enjoyed everything, and underwent the strangest agitation. It was not until now, when the bright faces of his former self and D

Ghost, "to make these silly

echoed

praise of Fezziwig; and when he had done so, said, "Why, is it not? He has spent but a few pou

power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. Say that his power lies in words and looks; in things

pirit's glanc

matter?" as

rticular,"

think?" the

ike to be able to say a word or two

ve utterance to the wish; and Scrooge and the

ort," observed th

ow; a man in the prime of life. His face had not the harsh and rigid lines of later years, but it had begun to wear the signs of care and avarice. The

a mourning dress, in whose eyes there were tears which spark

idol has displaced me, and if it can cheer and comfort you in time

displaced you

lden

nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing i

to the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. I have seen your nobler as

I have grown so much wiser, what

ook he

m

to be so, until, in good season, we could improve our worldly fortune by our

," he said,

appiness when we were one in heart, is fraught with misery now that we are two. How often and how keenl

ver sough

ds. No,

hat,

erything that made my love of any worth or value in your sight. If this had ever been between us," said the gir

s supposition, in spite of himself. But

orrow, yesterday, can even I believe that you would choose a dowerless girl-you who, in your very confidence with her, weigh everything by gain; or choosing her, if for a moment you were false

es me hope you will-have pain in this. A very, very brief time, and you will dismiss the recollection of it gladly,

him and t

e no more! Conduct me home. Why

ore!" exclaim

"No more. I don't wish t

him in both his arms, and forced

ces were uproarious beyond belief; but no one seemed to care; on the contrary, the mother and daughter laughed heartily, and enjoyed it very much; and the latter, soon beginning to mingle in the sports, got pillaged by the young brigands most ruthlessly. What would I not have given to be one of them. Though I never could have been so rude, no, no! I wouldn't for the wealth of all the world have crushed that braided hair and torn it down; and for the precious little shoe, I wouldn't have plucked it off, God bless my soul! to save my life. As to measuring her waist in sport, as

ling him with chairs for ladders to dive into his pockets, despoil him of brown paper parcels, hold on tight by his cravat, hug him round his neck, pommel his back, and kick his legs in irrepressible affection! The shouts of wonder and delight with which the development of every package was received! The terrible announcement that the baby had been taken in the act of putting a doll's frying-pan into h

t down with her and her mother at his own fireside; and when he thought that such another creature, quite as graceful and as full

o his wife, with a smile, "I saw an

was

ue

he added, in the same breath, lau

ad a candle inside, I could scarcely help seeing him. His partner lies upon the poi

in a broken voice, "re

ngs that have been," said the Ghost. "Tha

oge exclaimed, "I

im with a face, in which in some strange way there were fr

me back. Haunt

sturbed by any effort of its adversary, Scrooge observed that its light was burning high and bright, and dimly connectin

rm; but though Scrooge pressed it down with all his force, he could not hide

further, of being in his own bedroom. He gave the cap a parting squeeze, in which h

E TH

OF THE TH

time, for the especial purpose of holding a conference with the second messenger despatched to him through Jacob Marley's intervention. But finding that he turned uncomfortably cold when he began to wonder which of his curtains this new specter would dr

that they are good for anything from pitch-and-toss to manslaughter, between which opposite extremes, no doubt, there lies a tolerably wide and comprehensive range of subjects. Without venturing for Scrooge qui

roclaimed the hour, and which, being only light, was more alarming than a dozen ghosts, as he was powerless to make out what it meant, or would be at, and was sometimes apprehensive that he might be that very moment an interesting case of spontaneous combustion, without having the consolation of knowing it. At last, however, he began to think-as you or I would have thought at first, for it is alwa

lock, a strange voice called him by h

ighty blaze went roaring up the chimney as that dull petrifaction of a hearth had never known in Scrooge's time, or Marley's, or for many and many a winter season gone. Heaped up on the floor, to form a kind of throne, were turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, great joints of meat, sucking pigs, long wreaths of sausages, mince-pies, plum-puddings, barrels of oysters, red-hot chestn

he Ghost. "Come in! an

. He was not the dogged Scrooge he had been, and though the Sp

stmas Present," said th

ifice. Its feet, observable beneath the ample folds of the garment, were also bare, and on its head it wore no other covering than a holly wreath, set here and there with shining icicles. Its dark brown curls were long and free-free as

he like of me before!"

rooge made

my family, meaning (for I am very young) my elder bro

oge. "I am afraid I have not. Hav

teen hundred,"

ly to provide for!

Christmas P

nt forth last night on compulsion, and I learnt a lesson which is work

h my

he was told, an

hour of night, and they stood in the city streets on Christmas morning, where (for the weather was severe) the people made a rough, but brisk and not unpleasant kind of music in scraping the snow from the pa

r sun might have endeavored to diffuse in vain. For the people who were shoveling away on the housetops were jovial and full of glee; calling out to one another from the parapets, and now and then exchanging a facetious snowball-better-natured missile far than many a wordy jest-laughing heartily if it went right, and not less heartily if it went wrong. The poulterers' shops were still half open, and the fruiterers' were radiant in their glory. There were great, round, pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors, and tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence. There were ruddy, brown-faced, broad-girthed Spanish onions, shining in the fatness of their growth like Spanish friars, and winking from their shelves in wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and glanced demurely at the hung-up mistletoe. There were

hite, the sticks of cinnamon so long and straight, the other spices so delicious, the candied fruits so caked and spotted with molten sugar as to make the coldest lookers-on feel faint and subsequently bilious. Nor was it that the figs were moist and pulpy, or that the French plums blushed in modest tartness from their highly decorated boxes, or that everything was good to eat and in its Christmas dress; but the customers were all so hurried and so eager in the hopeful promise of th

s to the bakers' shops. The sight of these poor revelers appeared to interest the Spirit very much, for he stood with Scrooge beside him in a baker's doorway, and taking off the covers as their bearers passed, sprinkled incense on their dinners from his torch. And it was a very uncommon kind of t

ng forth of all these dinners and the progress of their cooking in the thawed blotch of

in what you sprinkle from

is; m

kind of dinner on thi

given. To a p

r one most?"

it needs

u, of all the beings in the many worlds about us, should desir

ied the

y seventh day, often the only day on which they can b

ied the

n the seventh day," said Scrooge,

exclaimed

en done in your name, or at least in

ds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us an

the Ghost (which Scrooge had observed at the baker's), that notwithstanding his gigantic size, he could accommodate himself to any place with ease,

ooge's clerk's; for there he went, and took Scrooge with him, holding to his robe; and on the threshold of the door the Spirit smiled, and stopped to bless Bob Cratchit's dwelling with the sprinklings of

the corners of his monstrous shirt collar (Bob's private property, conferred upon his son and heir in honor of the day) into his mouth, rejoiced to find himself so gallantly attired, and yearned to show his linen in the fashionable parks. And now two smaller Cratchits, boy and girl, came tearing in, screaming that outside the baker's they had smelt th

Mrs. Cratchit. "And your brother, Tiny Tim! And Mart

er!" said a girl, ap

the two young Cratchits. "Hurra

" said Mrs. Cratchit, kissing her a dozen times, and tak

st night," replied the girl, "and ha

aid Mrs. Cratchit. "Sit ye down before the fi

the two young Cratchits, who were eve

he fringe, hanging down before him, and his threadbare clothes darned up and brushed to look seasonable, and Tin

rtha?" cried Bob Cra

," said Mrs

pirits, for he had been Tim's blood horse all the way from chu

from behind the closet door and ran into his arms, while the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny

it, when she had rallied Bob on his credulity, and

ngest things you ever heard. He told me coming home that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a

em this, and trembled more when he said t

d while Bob, turning up his cuffs-as if, poor fellow, they were capable of being made more shabby-compounded some hot mixture in a jug with gin and lemons, and stirred it ro

le sauce; Martha dusted the hot plates; Bob took Tiny Tim beside him in a tiny corner at the table; the two young Cratchits set chairs for everybody, not forgetting themselves, and mounting guard upon their posts, crammed spoons into their mouths, lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came to be helped. At last the dishes were set on, and grace was said. It was su

t was a sufficient dinner for the whole family; indeed, as Mrs. Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish), they hadn't ate it all at last! Yet every one had had enough, and the younges

hould have got over the wall of the back yard and stolen it while they were merry with the goose

next door to each other, with a laundress's next door to that! That was the pudding. In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered-flushed, but smiling proudly-with th

t said that now the weight was off her mind, she would confess she had had her doubts about the quantity of flour. Everybody had something to say about it, but nobod

t, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovelful of chestnuts on the fire. Then all the Cratchit family drew round the hearth, in what Bob C

; and Bob served it out with beaming looks, while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and

the family

one!" said Tiny Ti

his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the child, and wished

nterest he had never felt before,

orner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If th

"Oh, no, kind Spirit!

ace," returned the Ghost, "will find him here. What then? If he be l

n words quoted by the Spirit, and wa

. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be that, in the sight of heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than

embling, cast his eyes upon the ground. But he

I'll give you Mr. Scrooge,

ening. "I wish I had him here. I'd give him a piece of my min

ob, "the children

he health of such an odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge.

ob's mild answer

tchit, "not for his. Long life to him! A Merry Christmas and a Hap

Tiny Tim drank it last of all, but he didn't care twopence for it. Scrooge was the Ogre of the family.

tween his collars, as if he were deliberating what particular investments he should favor when he came into the receipt of that bewildering income. Martha, who was a poor apprentice at a milliner's, then told them what kind of work she had to do, and how many hours she worked at a stretch, and how she meant to lie abed to-morrow morning for a good long rest; to-morrow being a holiday she passed at home. Also how she

and Peter might have known, and very likely did, the inside of a pawnbroker's. But they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and contented with the time; and w

ates baking through and through before the fire, and deep red curtains, ready to be drawn to shut out cold and darkness. There all the children of the house were running out into the snow to meet their married sisters, brothers, cousins, uncles, aunts, and be the first to greet them. Here, aga

-chimney high. Blessings on it, how the Ghost exulted. How it bared its breadth of breast, and opened its capacious palm, and floated on, outpouring, with a generous hand, its bright and harmless mirth on everything within its reach! The very la

nd water spread itself wheresoever it listed, or would have done so, but for the frost that held it prisoner; and nothing grew but moss and furze, and coarse, rank grass. Down in the west the s

is this?" as

in the bowels of the earth," returne

their children's children, and another generation beyond that, all decked out gayly in their holiday attire. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the howling of the wind upon the barren waste, was singing them a Christmas

ooge's horror, looking back, he saw the last of the land, a frightful range of rocks behind them, and his ears were deafened by the th

e wild year through, there stood a solitary lighthouse. Great heaps of seaweed clung to its base, and storm birds

. Joining their horny hands over the rough table at which they sat, they wished each other Merry Christmas in their can of grog; and one of them-the elder, t

stly figures in their several stations; but every man among them hummed a Christmas tune, or had a Christmas thought, or spoke below his breath to his companion of some bygone Christmas Day, with homeward hopes belonging to it. And every man on board, waki

whose depths were secrets as profound as death, it was a great surprise to Scrooge, while thus engaged to hear a hearty laugh. It was a much greater surprise to Scrooge to recogniz

d Scrooge's neph

in a laugh than Scrooge's nephew, all I can say is, I should like to

contagious as laughter and good humor. When Scrooge's nephew laughed in this way-holding his sides, rolling his head, and twisting his face into the most

Ha, ha,

mbug, as I live!" cried Scrooge'

e, indignantly. Bless those women; they never d

oubt it was; all kinds of good little dots about her chin that melted into one another when she laughed; and the sunniest pair of eyes you ever saw

ruth, and not so pleasant as he might be. However, his offenses c

d," hinted Scrooge's niece. "A

don't do any good with it. He don't make himself comfortable with it. He hasn't th

ge's niece. Scrooge's niece's sisters and all

ed. Who suffers by his ill whims! Himself, always. Here, he takes it into his head to dislike u

aid the same, and they must be allowed to have been competent judges, because they had just

s nephew, "because I haven't great faith in the

chelor was a wretched outcast, who had no right to express an opinion on the subject. Whereas S

ping her hands. "He never finishes what he b

le to keep the infection off-though the plump sister tried hard t

ons than he can find in his own thoughts, either in his moldy old office or his dusty chambers. I mean to give him the same chance every year, whether he likes it or not, for I pity him. He may rail at Christmas till he dies, but he can't help thinki

roughly good-natured, and not much caring what they laughed at so that they laughed

e played well upon the harp, and played among other tunes a simple little air (a mere nothing-you might learn to whistle it in two minutes), which had been familiar to the child who fetched Scrooge from the boarding-school, as he had been reminded by the Ghost of Christmas Past. When the strain of music soun

ulity of human nature. Knocking down the fire-irons, tumbling over the chairs, bumping against the piano, smothering himself among the curtains, wherever she went, there went he! He always knew where the plump sister was. He wouldn't catch anybody else. If you had fallen up against him (as some of them did on purpose), he would have made a feint of endeavoring to seize you, which would have been an affront to your understanding, and would instantly have sidled off in the direction of the plump sister. She often cried out that it wasn't fair, and it really was not. But when at

of How, When, and Where, she was very great, and to the secret joy of Scrooge's nephew, beat her sisters hollow, though they were sharp girls, too, as Topper could have told you. There might have been twenty people there, young and old, but they all played, and so did Scrooge, for wholly forgetting, in the inte

n him with such favor that he begged like a boy to be allowed to stay

aid Scrooge. "One half-

avage animal, an animal that growled and grunted sometimes, and talked sometimes, and lived in London, and walked about the streets, and wasn't made a show of, and wasn't led by anybody, and didn't live in a menagerie, and was never killed in a market, and was not a horse, or an ass, or a cow, or a bull, or a tiger, or a dog, or a pig

it?" cr

Uncle Scro-

to "Is it a bear?" ought to have been "Yes," inasmuch as an answer in the negative was sufficient

would be ungrateful not to drink his health. Here is a glass of mul

e Scrooge!"

atever he is!" said Scrooge's nephew. "He wouldn't take it

any in return, and thanked them in an inaudible speech if the Ghost had given him time. But the whole scene pass

, and they were close at home; by struggling men, and they were patient in their greater hope; by poverty, and it was rich. In almshouse, hospital, and jail, in misery

sed together. It was strange, too, that while Scrooge remained unaltered in his outward form, the Ghost grew older, clearly older. Scrooge had observed this change, but

ives so short?"

s very brief," replied the

t!" crie

ght. Hark! The tim

the three-quarters pas

intently at the Spirit's robe, "but I see something strange, and not bel

h there is upon it," was the Spir

tched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt d

Look, look down here!

m with its freshest tints, a stale and shriveled hand, like that of age, had pinched and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurk

y, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked th

yours?" Scrooge

hem both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!" crie

fuge or resource

turning on him for the last time with h

l struc

brate, he remembered the prediction of old Jacob Marley, and lifting up his eyes, behel

VE

OF THE

ar him, Scrooge bent down upon his knee; for in the very air thro

t nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. But for this it would have been difficult t

and that its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dr

the Ghost of Christmas Ye

not, but pointed o

at have not happened, but will happen in the time

an instant in its folds, as if the Spirit had incl

t his legs trembled beneath him, and he found that he could hardly stand when he prepared to fo

t behind the dusky shroud there were ghostly eyes intently fixed upon him, while he, though he st

know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was,

The hand was pointed

night is waning fast, and it is preciou

. Scrooge followed in the shadow of its dress, wh

y were in the heart of it, on 'Change, amongst the merchants, who hurried up and down, and chinked the money in their pockets, and converse

iness men. Observing that the hand was pointed t

trous chin, "I don't know much about i

die?" inqui

ght, I b

ird, taking a vast quantity of snuff out of a v

said the firs

gentleman with a pendulous excrescence on the end of

hin, yawning again. "Left it to his company, per

was received wit

e speaker; "for upon my life I don't know of anybody t

observed the gentleman with the excrescence o

her

oves, and I never eat lunch. But I'll offer to go, if anybody else will. When I come to think of it, I'm not

d with other groups. Scrooge knew the men, an

ointed to two persons meeting. Scrooge listened a

d of great importance. He had made a point always of standing well in their est

you?" s

u?" returne

. "Old Scratch has got

turned the second.

tmas time. You're not

g else to think o

their meeting, their conv

on the death of Jacob, his old partner, for that was Past, and this Ghost's province was the Future. Nor could he think of any one immediately connected with himself to whom he could apply them. But nothing doubting that to whomsoever they applied they had some latent moral for his own impr

l time of day for being there, he saw no likeness of himself among the multitudes that poured in through the porch. It gave him little surpris

rom his thoughtful quest, he fancied from the turn of the hand, and its situation in reference to

ad repute. The ways were foul and narrow, the shops and houses wretched, the people half-naked, drunken, slipshod, ugly. Alleys and archways, like so many c

s, scales, weights, and refuse iron of all kinds. Secrets that few would like to scrutinize were bred and hidden in mountains of unseemly rags, masses of corrupted fat, and sepulchers of bones. Sitting in among the wares he dealt in, by a charcoal sto

man, similarly laden, came in too, and she was closely followed by a man in faded black, who was no less startled by the sight of them than they had been upon t

undress alone to be the second, and let the under-taker's man alone to be the third. Lo

he other two an't strangers. Stop till I shut the door of the shop. Ah! How it skreeks! There an't such a rusty bit of metal in the place as its own hinges, I belie

e fire together with an old stair-rod, and having trimmed his smoky lamp

the floor and sat down in a flaunting manner on a stool, crossing her

said the woman. "Every person has a right

!" said the laundres

fraid, woman; who's the wiser? We're not going

Dilber and the man toget

nough. Who's the worse for the loss of a few

said Mrs. Di

sn't he natural in his lifetime? If he had been, he'd have had somebody to look after him wh

er was spoke," said Mrs. Dilb

on anything else. Open that bundle, old Joe, and let me know the value of it. Speak out plain. I'm not afraid to be the first nor afraid

sive. A seal or two, a pencil-case, a pair of sleeve-buttons, and a brooch of no great value, were all. They were severally examined and appraised by o

ouldn't give another sixpence if I was to

l, two old-fashioned silver teaspoons, a pair of sugar-tongs, a

n myself," said old Joe. "That's your account. If you asked me for another penny and

bundle, Joe," sai

of opening it, and having unfastened a great many knots

l this?" said Jo

hing and leaning forward on he

ok 'em down, rings an all, wi

eplied the wo

ur fortune," said Joe, "a

hing it out, for the sake of such a man as he was, I promise you, Joe,"

nkets?"

ed the woman. "He isn't likely to

catching? Eh?" said old Joe, sto

uch things if he did. Ah! you may look through that shirt till your eyes ache, but you won't find a hole in it, n

l wasting of it?

ough to do it, but I took it off again. If calico an't good enough for such a purpose, it isn't good en

ty light afforded by the old man's lamp, he viewed them with a detestation and disgust which c

told out their several gains upon the ground. "This is the end of it, you see! He fright

ee, I see. The case of this unhappy man might be my own. M

bed-a bare, uncurtained bed-on which, beneath a ragged sheet there lay a somet

ce to a secret impulse, anxious to know what kind of room it was. A pale light rising in the outer air, fell s

ghtest raising of it, the motion of a finger upon Scrooge's part, would have disclosed the face. He thought of it, felt how ea

anst not turn one hair to thy dread purposes, or make one feature odious. It is not that the hand is heavy and will fall down when released, it is not that the heart and pulse are still, but that the

pon the bed. He thought if this man could be raised up now, what would be his foremost th

memory of one kind word I will be kind to him. A cat was tearing at the door, and there was a sound of gnawing rats beneath the

place. In leaving it, I shall not le

nted with an unmove

I would do it, if I could. But I have not

emed to loo

caused by this man's death," said Scrooge quite agon

ment like a wing, and withdrawing it, revealed a roo

, started at every sound, looked out from the window, glanced at the clock, tried but in va

whose face was careworn and depressed, though he was young. There was a remarkable expression

fire, and when she asked him faintly what news (which was not un

he said, "or ba

he an

quite

is hope yet

, "there is! Nothing is past hope

ing," said her hus

ul in her soul to hear it, and she said so, with clasped hands. She prayed forgi

to see him and obtain a week's delay, and what I thought was a mere excuse to avo

our debt be

n though we were not, it would be a bad fortune indeed to find so merciless a

round to hear what they so little understood, were brighter, and it was a happier house for this m

," said Scrooge; "or that dark chamber, Spirit, wh

looked here and there to find himself, but nowhere was he to be seen. They entered poor Bob Cratchit

ne corner, and sat looking up at Peter, who had a book before him; the moth

ld, and set him in

ed them. The boy must have read them out, as he and t

upon the table, and put

urts my eyes

? Ah, poo

m weak by candlelight, and I wouldn't show weak eyes to your fa

s book. "But I think he has walked a little slow

ful voice, that only faltered once, "I have known him walk with-I ha

I!" cried P

" exclaimed ano

n her work, "and his father loved him so that it was no t

y for him on the hob, and they all tried who should help him to it most. Then the two young Cratchits got up on his k

e looked at the work upon the table, and praised the industry and speed of

to-day, then, Robe

ood to see how green a place it is. But you'll see it often. I promised him that I

If he could have helped it he and his child woul

t loose beside the child and there were signs of some one having been there lately. Poor Bob sat down in it, and when he had though

g him in the street that day, and seeing that he looked a little-"just a little down you know," said Bob, inquired what had happened to distress him. "On which," said Bob, "for he is the pleasa

hat, my

were a good wif

knows that!

ay,' he said, giving me his card, 'that's where I live. Pray come to me.' Now, it wasn't," cried Bob, "for the sake of anything he might be able

good soul!" sai

you saw and spoke to him. I shouldn't be at all surpris

t, Peter," sai

"Peter will be keeping company with

you!" retorted

or that, my dear. But, however and whenever we part from one another, I am sure we shall

ther!" cri

ient and how mild he was, although he was a little, little child, we shal

ther!" they al

said little Bob;

young Cratchits kissed him, and Peter and himself shook ha

r parting moment is at hand. I know it, but I know not

these latter visions, save that they were in the future-into the resorts of business men, but showed him not himself. Indeed, the Sp

e my place of occupation is, and has been for a length of time.

d, the hand was p

Scrooge exclaimed. "W

finger underw

n office still, but not his. The furniture was not the same, and the

er he had gone, accompanied it until they reached an

nd. It was a worthy place: walled in by houses; overrun by grass and weeds, the growth of vegetat

dvanced towards it, trembling. The Phantom was exactly as it had

rooge, "answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the thi

ed downward to the gr

d in, they must lead," said Scrooge; "but if the course be departed

was immovab

nd following the finger, read upon the stone of t

y upon the bed?" he c

from the grave to h

rit! Oh,

r still w

not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but

ime the hand ap

t, "your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I

d hand

, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not sh

o free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and

ersed, he saw an alteration in the Phantom's hood and dres

VE

END

wn. The room was his own. Best and happiest of all,

out of bed. "The spirits of all three shall strive within me. Oh, Jacob Marley! Heaven a

roken voice would scarcely answer to his call. He had been sobbing vio

ms, "they are not torn down, rings and all. They are here-I am here-the shadows of

hem inside out, putting them on upside down, tearing them, mis

elf with his stockings. "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as

ting-room, and was now stan

re's the door by which the Ghost of Jacob Marley entered! There's the corner where the Ghost of Christmas Present sa

ny years, it was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious la

long I've been among the spirits. I don't know anything. I'm quite a baby.

stiest peals he had ever heard. Clash, clang, hammer; ding, dong, b

r, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to-golde

ownward to a boy in Sunday clothes, who p

e boy, with all h

my fine fellow

d the boy. "Why,

The Spirits have done it all in one night. They can do anything they

returne

in the next street but one, at

e I did," rep

you know whether they've sold the prize turkey that was

as big as me?"

d Scrooge. "It's a pleasure

there now," re

Scrooge. "Go

" exclaim

at I may give them the direction where to take it. Come back with the man and I'll give yo

ave had a steady hand at a trigger who

plitting with a laugh. "He sha'n't know who sends it. It's twice the size of

somehow, and went downstairs to open the street door, ready for the coming of the

arcely ever looked at it before. What an honest expression it has in its face! It's

his legs, that bird. He would have snapped 'em s

y that to Camden Town," said

e with which he paid for the cab, and the chuckle with which he recompensed the boy, were only to be e

es attention, even when you don't dance while you are at it. But if he had cut the end of h

, and walking with his hands behind him, Scrooge regarded every one with a delighted smile. He looked so irresistibly pleasant, in a word, that three or four good-humored fell

use the day before and said, "Scrooge and Marley's I believe?" It sent a pang across his heart to think how this

d gentleman by both his hands, "how do you do? I hope you succeeded

Scr

ot be pleasant to you. Allow me to ask your pardon. And wi

, as if his breath was taken away. "

less. A great many back payments are included i

haking hands with him, "I don't

retorted Scrooge. "Come and se

entleman. And it was clea

am much obliged to you. I tha

d beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had n

ore he had the courage to go up and

my dear?" said Scrooge to

s,

, my love?"

along with mistress. I'll sho

, with his hand already on the dining

at the table (which was spread out in great array), for these young housekeep

said S

ad forgotten, for the moment, about her sitting in the corner

soul!" cried Fr

e. I have come to dinner.

rtier. His niece looked just the same. So did Topper when he came. So did the plump sister when she came. S

there. If he could only be there first, and catch Bob Cratch

t. No Bob. He was full eighteen minutes and a half behind his time. Scro

, too. He was on his stool in a jiffy, driving away with

oice, as near as he could feign it. "What do

ir," said Bob. "I

"Yes, I think you are. Step t

pearing from the tank. "It shall not be repea

longer. And therefore," he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig in the wai

ntary idea of knocking Scrooge down with it, holding him, and cal

d fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I'll raise your salary, and endeavor to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs

orough in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them, for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of

and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the kn