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yr w v a beloved favorite c yr he r marlers ghost it came through the heavy door with clanking chains sckooge a grasping covetous old sin ner hard and sharp as flint secret and selfcontained 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 in his grating voice he carried his own low tem perature always about with him he iced his office in the dogdays and didnt thaw it one degree at christmas once upon a time on christmas eve old scrooge sat busy in his countinghouse a door was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk who in a dismal little cell beyond was copying letters a merry christmas uncle god save you suddenly cried a cheerful voice the voice of scrooges nephew fred who had come unawares upon him bah said scrooge humbug merry christmas what reason have you to be merry youre poor enough come then returned the nephew gai ly what reason have you to be morose youre rich enough what else can i be returned the uncle when i live in such a world of fools as this merry christmas if i could work my will said scrooge indignantly every idiot who goes about with merry christ mas on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding much good it has ever done you there are many things from which i might have derived good by which i have not profited i dare say returned the nep hew christmas among the rest but i am sure i have always thought of christmas time when it has come round apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin 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 shutup hearts freely and to think of people below them as if they rcaly were fellowpassengers to the grave and not another race of crea tures bound on other journeys- 1 believe that it has done me good and will do me good and i say god bless it youre quite a powerful speaker sir i wonder you dont go into parliament dont be angry uncle come dine with us tomorrow good afternoon said scrooge bah his nephew left the room without an an gry word notwithstanding he stopped at the outer door to exchange the greetings of the season with the clerk bob cratchit theres another fellow muttered scrooge who overheard him my clerk with fifteen shillings a week and a wife and family talking about a merry christ mas ill retire to bedlam scrooge resumed his labors with an im proved opinion of himself that after noon he turned away two gentlemen solici ting christmas help for the poor there were workhouses what more did the poor want he drove off a lad who attempted to sing a christmas carol under his win dow when the hour of shutting up arrived scrooge rasped to the expectant clerk christmas is a poor excuse for picking a by charles dickens was right quite satisfied he locked himself in put on his dressinggown and slippers and his nightcap and sat down before th fire the fireplace was an old one paved all round with quaint dutch tiles designed to illustrate the scriptures and yet that faco of marley seven years dead was in every one humbug said scrooge and walked across the room a disused bell that hung in the room be gan to swing and ring this might have lasted half a minute or a minute but it seemed an hour they were succeeded by a clanking noise deep down below as if some person were dragging a heavy chain jts humbug still said scrooge i wont believe it his color changed though when with- out a pause it came on through the heavy door and passed into the room before hia yes marleys ghost marley in his pigtail usual waistcoat tights and boots tho chain he drew was clasped about his middle- it was made of cashboxes keys padlocks ledgers deeds and heavy purses wrought in steel his body was transparent so that scrooge looking through his waistcoat could see the two buttons on his coat be hind how now said scrooge caustic andr cold as ever what do you want with me you dont believe in me observed th ghost i dont said scrooge why do you doubt your senses because said scrooge a little thing affects them a slight disorder of the atom- ach makes them cheats you may be an undigested bit of beef a blot of mustard a crumb of cheese a fragment of an un derdone potato theres more of gravy than of grave about you whatever you are the spirit raised a frightful cry and shook its chain with such a dismal and ap palling noise that scrooge fell upon his knees mercy he said dreadful apparition why do you trouble me i am here tonight to warn you that you have yet a chance and hope of escap ing my fate a chance and hope of my pro curing ebenczer you will be haunted by three spirits without their visits you cannot hope to shun tho path i tread the spectre floated out through the closed window scrooge tried to say humbug but stopped at the first syllable and being much in need of repose went straight to bed without undressing and fell asleep up on the instant when scrooge awoke he found himself face to face with an unearthly visitor it was a strange figure like a child yet not so like a child as like an old man viewed through some supernatural medium who and what are you scrooge de manded x am the ghost of christmas past your past rise and walk with me as the words were spoken they passed through the wall and the years of scrooges past rolled back till they were more work tonight christmas eve clear away my lads and lets have lots of room here it was done in a minute every movable was packed off the floor was swept and watered the lamps were trim med fuel was heaped upon the fire in came a fiddler and tuned like fifty in came mrs fezziwig and the three miss fezziwigs beaming in came the six young followers whose hearts they broke in came all the young men and women employed in the business away they all went 20 coup les at once hands half round and back again the other way down the middle and up again round and round fezziwig clap ping his hands to stop the dance cried out well done and the fiddler plunged his hot face into a pot of porter there were more dances and there were forfeits and more dances and there was cake and there was negus and there was a great piece of cold roast and there was a great piece of cold boiled and there were mincepies and plenty of beer during the whole of this time scrooge had acted like a man out of his wits his heart and soul were in the scene and with his former self he told the ghost i should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now they treaded through more of scrooges bygone years until scrooge cried in a broken voice spirit remove me from this place he was conscious of being overcome by an irresistible drowsiness and further of being in his own bedroom he had barely time to reel to bed before he sank into a heavy sleep awakening in the middle of a prodi giously tough snore he found himself the very core and center of a blaze of ruddy light which streamed in from the scrooge and and a bowl bob cratchit of smoking bishop dickens wrote many christmas stories he regarded at least ono as better than a christmas carol upon completing the chimes he informed a friend i believe i have written a tremendous book and knocked carol out of the field readers did not agree the tale of scrooge and the cratchils has remained the most loved of dickens tales and a christmas classic this is a condensation by clark kinnaird the drawings with on exception are those of the original illustrator john leech mans pocket every twentyfifth of decem ber but i suppose you must have the whole day be here all the earlier next x morning scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern and went home to bed he lived in chambers which had once belonged to his partner jacob marley marley was as dead as a door nail scrooge having his key in the lock of the door saw in the knocker without its undergoing any intermediate process of change not a knocker but marleys face to say that he was not startled would be untrue but he turned the key sturdily walked in and lighted his candle however before he abut his door he rsjkatl through btsrcocnstosoe that all traversing the scenes of his childhood and young manhood on other christmas eves the ghost stopped at a certain ware house door i was apprenticed here scrooge ex claimed at fight of an old gentleman he cried in excitement why its old fezziwig old fezziwig laid down his pen and looked up at the clock which pointed to the hour of seven he rubbed his hands adjusted his capacious waistcoat laughed all over himself from his shoes to hi organ of benevolence and called out yo ho there ebenezer dick scrooges former self came briskly in accompanied by a fellowprentlce cyofxinyjoyraam rzxtiwijvye adjoining room he got up and went to tho door t it was his own room but it had under gone a surprising transformation the walls and celling were so hung with living green holly mistletoe and ivy a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney heaped upon the floor to form a kind of throne were turkeysgeese game poultry brawn great joints of meat suckingpigs long wreaths of sausages mlnccpics plum pud dings barrels of oysters red hot chestnuts cherry cheeked apples juicy oranges lus cious pears immense twelfth cakes and seething bowls of punch that made th chamber dim with their delicious steam in easy state upon this couch there sat a jolly giant come in exclaimed the ghost come in and know me better man i am tho ghost of christmas present he took the easily submissive scrooge away on wings of wind to the fourroom house of bob cratchit scrooges clerk there was cratchits wife dressed out but poorly in a twiceturned gown but brave in ribbons and she laid the cloth assisted by belinda second of her daugh ters also brave in ribbons while master peter plunged a fork into the saucepan of potatoes and getting the corners of his monstrous shirtcollar bobs private prop erty conferred upon his son and heir honor of the day into his mouth rejoiced to find himself so gallantly attired and yearned to show his linen in the fash ionable parks and now two smaller cratchlts boy and girl came tearing in screaming that outside the bakers they had smelt the goose and known it for their very own and basking in luxurious thoughts of sage and onion these young cratchits danced about the table and in came bob the father with at least three feet of comforter exclusive of the fringe hanging down- before him and his threadbare clothes darned up and brushed to look seasonable and tiny tim upon his snoulder alas for tiny tim he bore a little crutch and had his limbs sup ported by an iron frame why wheres our martha cried bob cratchit looking around not coming said mrs cratchit not coming said bob not coming upon christmas day his eldest daughter martha an appren tice maid home for the day didnt like to see him disappointed if it were only in joke ao she came out prematurely from behind the closet door where she had hid den and ran into his arms while the two young cratchlts bore os tiny tim that h smstrlbiiud by klnt restores syudkttt might hear the pudding singing in the cop per bob compounded some hot mixture in a jug with gin and lemons and stirred it round and round and put it on the hob to simmer master peter and the two ubiqui tous young cratchits went to fetch the goose with which they soon returned in high procession such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds and in truth it was something very like it in that house mrs cratchit made the gravy peter mashed the potatoes with in credible vigor miss belinda sweetened up the apple sauce 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 succeeded by a breathless pause as mrs cratchit looking slowly all along the carvingknife prepared to plunge it in the breast but when she did and the longex pected gush of stuffing issued forth one murmur of delight arose all around the board there never was such a goose its ten derness and flavor size and cheapness were the themes of universal admiration eked out by applesauce and mashed potatoes it was a sufficient dinner for the whole fam ily everyone had had enough and the youngest cratchits in particular were steeped in sage and onion to the eyebrows but now the plates being changed by miss belinda mrs cratchit left the room alone too nervous to bear witness to take the pudding up and bring it in suppose it should not be done enough suppose it should break in turning out suppose somebody should have got over the wall of the backyard and stolen it while they were merry with the goose a supposition at which the two young cratch lts became livid ii bob cratchit and tiny tim tallo a great deal of steam the pudding was out of the copper a smell like washingday that was the cloth a smell like an eatinghouse and a pastry cooks next door to each other with a laundresss next door to that that was tho pudding in half a minute mrs cratchit entered flushed but smiling proudly with the pudding like a speckled cannonball so hard and firm blazing in half of half-a- quartern of ignited brandy and bedight with christmas holly oh a wonderful pudding bob cratchit said and calmly too that ho regarded it as the greatest success achieved by mrs cratchit since their marriage everybody had something to say about it but nobody said or thought it was at all a small pud ding for a large family at last the dinner was all done the cloth was cleared and the fire made up the compound in the jug being tasted and con sidered perfect apples and oranges werq put upon the table and a shovel full of chestnuts on the fire then all the cratchit family drew round the hearth and at bob cratchits elbow stood the family display of glass two tumblers and a custardcup without a handle these held the hot stuff from the jug however as well as golden goblets would have done and bob served it out with beaming looks while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and crackled noisily then bob proposed a merry christmas to us all my dears god bless us which all the family reechoed god bless us every one said tiny tim the last of all mr scrooge said bob raising his glass again ill give you the founder of the feast the founder of the feast indeed cried mrs cratchit i wish i had him here id give him a piece of my mind to feast upon my dear said bob christmas day it should be christmas day i am sure said she on which one drinks the health of such an odious unfeeling man you know he is robert my dear was bobs mild answer christmas day they all drank the toast together much scrooge and the spirit saw and far they went then the bell struck twelve scrooge looked about him for the ghost and saw it not as the last stroke ceased to vibrate he beheld a solemn phantom drap ed and hooded coming like a mist along the ground towards him this was the ghost of christmas yet to come it let him overhear a knot of operators on exchange discussing the death of eben ezer scrooge without regret and showed him a neglected grave scrooge could stand no more spirit he cried i am not the man i was i will not be the man i must have been but for this intercourse i will honor christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year i will live in the past the present and the future the spirits of all three shall strive withia me the spectre shrank into a bedpost yes and the bedpost was scrooges own the bed was his own the 100m was his own a bright morning lay outside his window i dont know what to do cried scrooge laughing and crying in the same breath and making a perfect laocoon of himself with his stockings i am as light as a feather i am as happy as an angel i am as merry as a schoolboy i am as giddy as a drunken man a merry christmas to everybody running to the window he opened it put out his head and called downward to a boy in sunday clothes whats today today replied the boy why christ mas day its christmas day said scrooge to himself i havent missed it he sent the boy hurrying to the poulter ers for a prize turkey he recalled see ing hanging in the window and sent it off o bob cratchits in a cab after tipping the lad handsomely and he didnt let bob know who sent it he dressed himself all in his best and at last got out into the streets the people were by this time pouring forth and scrooge looked so irresistibly pleasant that three or four fellows said good morning sir a merry christmas to you he went to church and walked about the streets and went to the home of his nephew to say humbly at the door i have come to dinner will you let me in fred dear heart alive how his niece by mar riage started let him in it is a mercy fred didnt shake his arm off he was at home in five minutes wonderful party wonderful games wonderful unanimity wonderful happiness he was early at the office next morning he wanted to be there first and catch bob cratchit coming late and he did it bob was full eighteen minutes and a half behind his time his hat was off before he opened the door his comforter too he was on his stool in a jiffy driving away with his pen as if he were trying to overtake 9 oclock what do you mean by coming here at this time of day growled scrooge in his accustomed voice its only once a year sir pleaded bob i am not going to stand for this sort of thing any longer and therefore said scrooge giving bob a dig in the waistcoat i am about to raise your salary bob trembled a merry christmas bob said scrooge ill raise your salary and endeavor to assist your struggling family and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon over a christmas bowl of smoking bishop scrooge was better than his word h did it all and infinitely more to tiny tim who did not die he was a second father he became as good a friend as good a master and as good a man as the good old city knew or any other good old city town or borough in the good old world and it was always said of him that he knew how to keep christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge may that be truly said of us and all of us and so as tiny tim observed god bless us every one rt- r k k dr you might have thought the goose to be the rarest of all birds in s i n