transcriber's note: every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including non-standard spelling and punctuation. some changes have been made. they are listed at the end of the text. italic text has been marked with _underscores_. the minor drama. no. cccci. a christmas carol; or, the miser's warning! (adapted from charles dickens' celebrated work.) by c. z. barnett, _author of fair rosamond, farinelli, the dream of fate, oliver twist, linda, the pearl of savoy, victorine of paris, dominique, bohemians of paris, &c._ +-------+ samuel french (canada) limited | price | 480-486 university avenue | | toronto canada | | +-------+ new york | london samuel french | samuel french, ltd. publisher | 26 southampton street 25 west 45th street | strand _the middle watch_ a farcical comedy in 3 acts. by ian hay and stephen king-hall. produced originally at the times square theatre, new york. 9 males, 6 females. modern costumes and naval uniforms. 2 interior scenes. during a reception on board h. m. s. "falcon," a cruiser on the china station, captain randall of the marines has become engaged to fay eaton, and in his enthusiasm induces her to stay and have dinner in his cabin. this is met with stern disapproval by fay's chaperon, charlotte hopkinson, who insists that they leave at once. charlotte, however, gets shut up in the compass room, and a gay young american widow accepts the offer to take her place, both girls intending to go back to shore in the late evening. of course, things go wrong, and they have to remain aboard all night. by this time the captain has to be told, because his cabin contains the only possible accommodations, and he enters into the conspiracy without signalling the admiral's flagship. then the "falcon" is suddenly ordered to sea, and the admiral decides to sail with her. this also makes necessary the turning over to him of the captain's quarters. the presence of the ladies now becomes positively embarrassing. the girls are bundled into one cabin just opposite that occupied by the admiral. the game of "general-post" with a marine sentry in stockinged feet is very funny, and so are the attempts to explain matters to the "old man" next morning. after this everything ends both romantically and happily. (royalty, twenty-five dollars.) price 75 cents. _nancy's private affair_ a comedy in 3 acts. by myron c. fagan. produced originally at the vanderbilt theatre, new york. 4 males, 5 females., 2 interior scenes. modern costumes. nothing is really private any more--not even pajamas and bedtime stories. no one will object to nancy's private affair being made public, and it would be impossible to interest the theatre public in a more ingenious plot. nancy is one of those smart, sophisticated society women who wants to win back her husband from a baby vamp. just how this is accomplished makes for an exceptionally pleasant evening. laying aside her horn-rimmed spectacles, she pretends indifference and affects a mysterious interest in other men. nancy baits her rival with a bogus diamond ring, makes love to her former husband's best friend, and finally tricks the dastardly rival into a marriage with someone else. mr. fagan has studded his story with jokes and retorts that will keep any audience in a constant uproar. (royalty, twenty-five dollars.) price 75 cents. a christmas carol; or, the miser's warning! (adapted from charles dickens's celebrated work.) by c. z. barnett, _author of fair rosamond, farinelli, the dream of fate, oliver twist, linda, the pearl of savoy, victorine of paris, dominique, bohemians of paris, &c._ new york | london samuel french | samuel french, ltd. publisher | 26 southampton street 25 west 45th street | strand dramatis personæ. ebenezer scrooge, the miser mr. r. honner frank freeheart, his nephew mr. j. t. johnson mr. cheerly mr. hawkins mr. heartly mr. green bob cratchit, scrooge's clerk mr. vale dark sam mr. stilt characters in the dream. euston, a ruined gentleman mr. lawler mr. fezziwig mr. dixie old joe, a fence mr. goldsmith ghost of jacob marley mr. morrison ghost of christmas past mr. lewis ghost of christmas present mr. heslop ghost of christmas to come * * * dark sam mr. stilt peter, bob's eldest son miss daly tiny tim master brady mrs. freeheart mrs. hicks ellen, scrooge's former love mrs. h. hughes mrs. cratchit mrs. daly first produced at the royal surrey theatre, feb. 5th, 1844. costume. scrooge--brown old-fashioned coat, tea colour breeches, double-breasted white waistcoat. 2nd.--dressing gown and slippers. frank--private dress. mr. cheerly--blue coat, cord breeches, and gaiters. mr. heartly--green coat, black breeches, top boots. bob cratchit--black old-fashioned coat, black trousers. dark sam--dark green shooting coat and breeches, ragged. second dress--shabby black coat. euston--shabby private clothes. mr. fezziwig--black coat, black breeches, double-breasted waistcoat, and striped stockings. marley's ghost--slate coloured coat, waistcoat, and pantaloons, black boots, white frill, white band. christmas past--white dress trimmed with summer flowers, rich belt, fleshings and sandals. christmas present--long green robe, trimmed with ermine, flesh body and legs, wreath round head. christmas to come--very long black gown. tiny tim--blue jacket and trousers. all the ladies--modern dresses. a christmas carol. act i. scene i.--_chambers of scrooge, the miser. one side of it is filled up with a desk and high stool, the other is a fireplace, fire lighted. easy chair table, with candlestick upon it, etc., etc._ _scrooge, the miser, discovered near fire. bob cratchit, writing near desk, l. h. as the curtain rises he descends from stool--approaches fire to stir it._ scrooge. bob--bob, we shall be obliged to part. you'll ruin me in coals! bob. ruin you--with such a fire in such weather! i've been trying to warm myself by the candle for the last half hour, but not being a man of strong imagination, failed. scr. hark! i think i hear some one in the office. go--see who it is. bob. (_aside._) marley's dead--his late partner is dead as a door nail! if he was to follow him, it wouldn't matter much. (_exit 2 e. l. h._ scr. marley has been dead seven years, and has left me his sole executor--his sole administrator--his sole residuary legatee--his sole friend--his sole mourner! my poor old partner! i was sorely grieved at his death, and shall never forget his funeral. coming from it, i made one of the best bargains i ever made. ha, ha. folks say i'm tight-fisted--that i'm a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, clutching miser. what of that? it saves me from being annoyed by needy men and beggars. so, this is christmas eve--and cold, bleak, biting weather it is, and folks are preparing to be merry. bah! what's christmas eve to me? what should it be to them? _enter frank and bob, 2 e. l. h._ bob. there's your uncle, sir. (_aside._) old covetous! he's worse than the rain and snow. they often come down, and handsomely too, but scrooge never does! (_exit 2 e. l. h._ scr. who's that? frank. a merry christmas, uncle! scr. bah! humbug! frank. uncle, you don't mean that, i'm sure. scr. i do. merry christmas! what right have you to be merry? you're poor enough. frank. (_gaily._) come, then, what right have you to be dismal! what reason have you to be morose? you're rich enough. scr. bah! humbug! frank. don't be cross, uncle. scr. what else can i be, when i live in such a world of fools as this? merry christmas! out upon merry christmas. what's christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money--a time for finding yourself a year older, and not an hour richer. if i could work my will, every idiot who goes about with merry christmas on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart--he should! frank. uncle! scr. nephew, keep christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine. frank. keep it! but you don't keep it. scr. let me leave it alone, then. much good may it do you. much good it has ever done you. frank. there are many things from which i might have derived good by which i have not profited, i dare say, christmas among the rest, but i am sure i have always thought of christmas time, when it has come round, 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 them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys, and, therefore, uncle, though it has not put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, i believe that it has done me good, and will do me good, and i say, heaven bless it! bob. (_looking in._) beautiful--beautiful! scr. let me hear another sound from you--(_to bob._)--and you'll keep your christmas by losing your situation. bob. (_aside._) he growls like a bear with a sore head! (_disappears._) scr. you're quite a powerful speaker. i wonder you don't go into parliament. frank. don't be angry. come--dine with me to-morrow. scr. no, no---frank. but why not? scr. why did you get married? frank. because i fell in love. scr. because you fell in love! bah! good evening. frank. i want nothing--i ask nothing of you. well, i'm sorry to find you so resolute--we have never had any quarrel--i have made the trial in homage to christmas, and i'll keep my christmas humour to the last--so, a merry christmas, uncle. scr. good evening! frank. and a happy new year! scr. good evening! _enter bob, 2 e. l. h._ frank. and a happy christmas, and a merry new year to you, bob cratchit. (_shaking him by the hand._) bob. the same to you, sir, and many of 'em, and to your wife, and to your darling children, and to all your friends, and to all you know, and to every one, to all the world. (_exit frank, 2 e. l. h._) scr. (_aside._) there's another fellow, my clerk, with fifteen shillings a week, and a wife and family, talking about a merry christmas. i'll retire to bedlam. bob. two gentlemen want you, sir, as fat as prize beef--shall i call 'em in? (_goes to side._) walk this way if you please, gentlemen. _enter mr. cheerly and mr. heartly, 2 e. l. h., with books and papers._ cheer. scrooge and marley's--i believe i have the pleasure of addressing mr. marley! scr. mr. marley has been dead these seven years. cheer. at this festive season of the year, it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute--many thousands are in want of common necessaries--hundreds of thousands are in want of common comfort, sir. scr. are there no prisons? and the union workhouses, are they still in operation? cheer. they are still--i wish i could say they were not. scr. the treadmill and the poor law are in full vigour then? cheer. both very busy, sir. scr. oh! i was afraid from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course. i'm very glad to hear it! cheer. under the impression that they scarcely furnish christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude, a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. we choose this time because it is a time of all others, when want is keenly felt and abundances rejoice. what shall we put you down for? scr. nothing! cheer. you wish to be anonymous? scr. i wish to be left alone. i don't make merry myself at christmas, and i can't afford to make idle people merry--i help to support the establishments i have named--they cost enough--those who are badly off must go there. cheer. many can't go there--many would rather die! scr. if they'd rather die, they'd better do it, and decrease the surplus population. however, it's not my business, so good evening, gentlemen. cheer. i am sorry we disturbed you. (_as they are about to exeunt, bob approaches them--scrooge retires up._) bob. beg pardon, gentlemen, i've got an odd eighteen-pence here that i was going to buy a new pair of gloves with in honour of christmas day, but my heart would feel warmer though my hands were colder, if it helped to put a dinner and a garment on a poor creature who might need. there take it. cheer. such acts as these from such men as you sooner or later, will be well rewarded. bob. this way, gentlemen. i feel as light as my four-and-ninepenny gossamer! (_exeunt 2 e. l. h._) scr. (_coming down._) give money--humbug! who'd give me anything, i should like to know? _re-enter bob, 2 e. l. h._ bob. a letter, sir. (_gives it and retires up._) scr. (_opens it--reads._) ah! what do i see? the mary jane lost off the coast of africa. then frank is utterly ruined! his all was embarked on board that vessel. frank knows not of this--he will apply to me doubtless--but no, no. why should i part with my hard gained store to assist him, his wife and children--he chooses to make a fool of himself, and marry a smooth-faced chit, and get a family--he must bear the consequences--i will not avert his ruin, no, not by a single penny. bob. (_coming down._) please, sir, it's nine o'clock. scr. already! you'll want all day to-morrow, i suppose. bob. if quite convenient, sir. scr. it's not convenient, and it's not fair. if i was to stop half-a-crown for it, you'd think yourself ill-used, i'll be bound, and yet you don't think me ill used when i pay a day's wages for no work. bob. christmas comes but once a year. scr. a poor excuse for picking a man's pockets every twenty-fifth of december! well, i suppose you must have the whole day. be here all the earlier next morning. here's your week's money, fifteen shillings--i ought to stop half-a-crown--never mind! bob. thank you, sir! i'll be here before daylight, sir, you may depend upon it. good night, sir. oh, what a glorious dinner mrs. c. shall provide. good night, sir. a merry christmas and a happy new year, sir. scr. bah! humbug! (_exit bob, 2 e. l. h._) so--alone once more. it's a rough night! i will go to bed soon--that will save supper. (_takes off his coat, boots, etc., and puts on morning gown and slippers, talking all the time._) 'tis strange now the idea of marley is haunting me to-night--everywhere i turn his face seems before me. delusion--humbug! i'll sit down by the fire and forget him. (_takes basin of gruel from hob._) here's my gruel! (_sits in easy chair by fire--puts on night cap, and presently appears to dose. suddenly a clanking of chains and ringing of bells is heard--he's aroused, and looks up terrified._) that noise! it's humbug! i won't believe it! (_the door slowly opens, and the ghost of marley glides in. a chain is round his body, and cash boxes, ledgers, padlocks, purses, etc., are attached to it._) how now! what do you want with me? ghost. much. scr. who are you? ghost. ask me who i was. scr. who were you, then. you're particular for a shade--i mean to a shade. ghost. in life i was your partner, jacob marley. you don't believe in me! why do you doubt your senses? scr. because a little thing affects them. a slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. you may be an undigested bit of beef--a fragment of an underdone potato. there's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are. ghost. (_unfastening the bandage round its head._) man of the worldly mind, do you believe me or not? scr. i do--i must! but why do spirits walk the earth? why do they come to me? ghost. it is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow men, and travel far and wide--if not in life, it is condemned to do so after death. it is doomed to wander through the world, oh, woe is me!--and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness. scr. you are fettered! ghost. i wear the chain i forged in life--i made it link by link. is its pattern strange to you? oh, no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunities misused. scr. but you were always a man of business---ghost. business! mankind was my business--charity, mercy, were all my business. at this time of the year i suffered most, for i neglected most. hear me! i am here to-night to warn you that you have a chance and a hope of escaping my fate. you will be haunted by three spirits---scr. i--i'd rather be excused! ghost. without their visits you cannot hope to shun the path i tread. expect the first when the clock strikes one. look to see me no more. for your own sake, remember what has passed between us. (_binds wrapper round its head once more--slowly approaches the door and disappears. scrooge follows the phantom towards the door._) scr. it is gone. the air seems filled with phantoms--shades of many i knew when living--they all wear chains like marley--they strive to assist the poor and stricken, but in vain--they seek to interfere for good in human nature, but have lost the power forever. (_the clock strikes one--scrooge staggers to a chair--the room is filled with a blaze of light--the ghost of christmas past rises through trap--as described in work, page 43._) are you the spirit whose coming was foretold to me? 1st spirit. i am! scr. who and what are you? 1st spirit. i am the ghost of christmas past. your welfare--your reclamation brings me here. turn, and behold! (_the stage, becomes dark--a strong light is seen behind--the wall of the miser's chamber fades away and discovers a school-room--a child is seated reading by a fire._) all have departed but this poor boy. scr. my poor forgotten self--and as i used to be! 1st spirit. look again! (_a figure of ali baba is shown beyond the child._) scr. why it's dear old honest ali baba! yes, one christmas time, when yonder poor child was left alone, he _did_ come just like that! (_the figures of valentine and orson appear._) ha! and valentine and his wild brother orson, too! (_robinson crusoe and friday appear._) ha! and robinson crusoe, and his man friday! poor boy! he was left alone, while all the rest were making holiday. (_the figures of ali baba, etc., disappear. as he speaks, a little girl enters the school-room, and approaches the boy._) girl. i am come to bring you home, dear brother--we are to be together this christmas, and be so merry! (_she leads him out. scene fades away._) scr. my sister! poor little fanny! 1st spirit. a delicate creature, whom a breath might have withered. she died a woman, and had, as i think, children. scr. one child! 1st spirit. true--your nephew. know you this place? (_the scene at back is again lighted up, and discovers fezziwig's warehouse. fezziwig and characters grouped as in frontispiece of work. scrooge, as a young man._) scr. why, 'tis old fezziwig, to whom i was apprenticed--he is alive again! my fellow-apprentice, dick wilkins, too--myself, as i was _then_. 'tis christmas eve there. the happiness he gave at so small a price was quite as much as though it cost a fortune. (_the tableau fades away. the stage becomes dark. enter ellen in mourning. during the fading of the tableau scrooge puts a cloak around him, etc., and seems a younger man._) i feel as if my years of life were less. ha! who is this beside me? 1st spirit. have you forgotten your early love? scr. ellen! ellen. ebenezer, i come to say farewell forever! it matters little to you--very little--another idol has displaced me, and if i can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as i would have tried to do, i have no just cause to grieve. scr. what idol has displaced you? ellen. a golden one--the master passion. gain alone engrosses you. scr. i have not changed towards you. ellen. our contract is an old one--it was made when we were both poor. you are changed--i am not. that which promised happiness when we were one in heart, is fraught with misery now we are two. how often and how keenly i have thought of this i will not say. i _have_ thought of it, and can release you. scr. have i ever sought release? ellen. in word--no, never! scr. in what, then? ellen. in a changed nature--in an altered spirit--in every thing that made my love of any worth or value in your sight. if this had never been between us, tell me, would you seek me out, and try to win me now? ah, no! scr. you think not---ellen. i would think otherwise if i could--but if you were free to-day, can even i believe that you would choose a dowerless girl--you who weigh everything by gain? or did you so, do i not know your repentance and regret would surely follow. i do--and i release you, with a full heart, for the love of him you once were. you will forget all this--may you be happy in the life you have chosen! (_she slowly exits r. h. scrooge throws aside his cloak, and appears as before._) scr. spirit, show me no more! why do you delight to torture me? 1st spirit. one shadow more. she whom you resigned for gold--for gain--for sordid ore--she you shall now behold as the tender wife of a good and upright man--as the happy mother of smiling children. you shall see them in their joyous home. come, thou lonely man of gold--come! scr. no, no! 1st spirit. i told you these were the shadows of the things that have been--that they are what they are do not blame me. come---scr. no, no--i've seen enough--haunt me no longer! (_the spirit seizes him--he seizes the cap presses it upon the spirit's head, who sinks under it, and disappears in a flood of light while scrooge sinks exhausted on the floor._) scene ii.--_a street. houses covered with snow._ _enter dark sam, l. h._ sam. it's very odd! i an't nimmed nothing to-night. christmas eve, too--when people's got sich lots of tin! but they takes precious good care of it, 'cos i s'pose they thinks if they loses it, they shan't be able to get no christmas dinner. if i can't prig nothin', i'm sure i shan't be able to get none. unless this trade mends soon, i must turn undertaker's man again. there is a chance, in that honourable calling of a stray thing or two. somebody comes! i wonder if i shall have any luck now. _enter bob, r. h._ bob. i shall soon be home! won't my martha be glad to see me--and what a pleasant happy christmas day we shall spend. what a dinner we shall have! i've got fifteen shillings--my week's wages--and i'm determined to spend every farthing of it. won't we have a prime goose, and a magnificent pudding! and then the gin and water--and oranges--and the--oh, how jolly we shall be! and tiny tim, too--he never tasted goose before--how he will lick his dear little chops at the sage and onions! and as for martha--my dear martha, who is a dress-maker, and can only come to see us once in about four months--she shall have the parson's nose. let me see--a goose will cost seven shillings--pudding five--that's twelve. oranges, sage and onions, potatoes, and gin, at least three shillings more. oh, there will be quite enough money, and some to spare. (_during this speech sam advances cautiously and picks his pocket._) sam. (_aside._) some to spare! it can't fall into better hands than mine, then! (_exit r. h._ bob. i've a good mind to buy the goose going home; but then if it should turn out fusty--i think i had better leave it for mrs. c. the moment i get home, i'll pop the money into her hands, and--(_feeling in his pockets._)--eh?--what--what's this? somebody has been having a joke at my expense. eh? my week's salary--my fifteen shillings--it's gone! i'm ruined--lost----undone! my pocket has been picked! i've lost my christmas dinner before i've got it! oh, how can i face mrs. c., and bob, and martha, and tiny tim! oh, what can i do? _enter frank, l. h._ frank. what my worthy friend bob cratchit--how is this, man? you look sorrowful, and on christmas eve, too! bob. some of those boys whom i was sliding with on the ice in cornhill must have done it. frank. done it! done what, man? bob. stole my christmas dinner--my--salary--i mean my fifteen shillings, that your uncle paid me not an hour ago. frank. that's unfortunate! bob. unfortunate! think of tiny tim's disappointment--no goose--no pudding--no nothing! frank. tiny tim shall not go without his christmas dinner notwithstanding your loss--no, nor you either--nor any of your family, bob cratchit. at such a time as this, no one should be unhappy--not even my hard-hearted uncle, much less a worthy fellow like you. here, bob, here's a sovereign--you can return it when my uncle raises your wages--no thanks, but go and be as happy as you deserve to be--once more, a merry christmas to you! (_exit r. h._ bob. he's a regular trump! i wanted to thank him, and couldn't find the words! i should like to laugh, and i feel as if i could cry. if tiny tim don't bless you for this my name's not bob cratchit! i've lost fifteen shillings, and i've found a sovereign! (_dances._) tol lol li do! oh, mrs. cratchit! oh, my little cratchit! what a happy christmas day we shall spend, surely! what a pity christmas don't last all the year round! (_exit l. h._) scene iii.--_scrooge's chamber, as before._ _scrooge discovered, sleeping in a chair. the stage becomes suddenly quite light, and the ghost of christmas present discovered, as in work, page 78, the wall at back covered with ivy, holly, and mistletoe--heaped upon the floor, almost to form a throne, are turkeys, geese, plum puddings, twelfth cake, etc._ (_see page 78._) 2nd spirit. know me, man? i am the ghost of christmas present. look upon me. (_scrooge rises, approaches, and gazes at the figure._) you have never seen the like of me before? scr. never! 2nd spirit. have never walked forth with the younger members of my family, meaning, for i am very young, my elder brothers born in these latter years. scr. i'm afraid i have not. have you had many brothers, spirit? 2nd spirit. more than eighteen hundred! scr. a tremendous family to provide for! (_the spirit rises._) spirit, conduct me where you will--if you have ought to teach me, let me profit by it. why do you carry that torch? 2nd spirit. to sprinkle the light and incense of happiness every where--to poor dwellings most. scr. why to poor ones most? 2nd spirit. because they need it most. but come--touch my robe--we have much to see. (_as scrooge approaches nearer to him, the scene changes._) scene iv.--_a bleak and barren moor. a poor mud cabin._ (_painted in the flat._) _the second spirit and scrooge enter._ scr. what place is this? 2nd spirit. a place where miners live, who labour in the bowels of the earth--they know me. see! (_as he speaks, the window is lighted from within. the spirit draws scrooge to window._) what seest thou? scr. a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire--an old man and woman, with their children, and children's children all decked gaily out in their holiday attire. i hear the old man's voice above the howling of the wind upon the barren waste; singing a christmas song, while all swell out the chorus. 2nd spirit. come, we must not tarry--we will to sea--your ear shall be deafened by the roaring waters. scr. to sea? no, good spirit! 2nd spirit. see yonder solitary lighthouse built on a dismal reef of sunken rocks. here we men who watch the light, have made a fire that sheds a ray of brightness on the awful sea, joining their horny hands over the rough table where they sit, they wish each other a merry christmas in can of grog and sing a rude lay in honour of the time. all men on this day have a kinder word for one another--on such a day--but come--on--on! (_as he speaks the scene changes._) scene v.--_drawing-room in frank freeheart's house._ _frank, caroline his wife, mr. cheerly, and male and female guests discovered--some are seated on a sofa on one side, others surround a table on the other side. scrooge and the spirit remain on one side._ (_at opening of scene all laugh._) frank. yes, friends, my uncle said that christmas was a humbug, as i live! he believed it, too! omnes. more shame for him. frank. he's a comical old fellow! however, his offences carry their own punishment. cheer. he's very rich! frank. but his wealth is of no use to him. he don't do any good with it. he don't make himself comfortable with it. he hasn't the satisfaction of thinking--ha, ha, ha!--that he is ever going to benefit us with it! ladies. we have no patience with him! frank. but i have! i'm sorry for him! i couldn't be angry with him if i tried. who suffers by his ill whims? himself! he loves a good dinner--pleasant moments, and pleasanter companions than he can find in his own thoughts, or in his mouldy chambers. he may rail at christmas till he dies, but he can't help thinking better of it, i defy him! if he finds me going there, year after year and saying, uncle scrooge, how are you? if it only puts him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty pounds, that's something, and i think i shook him yesterday! (_all laugh._) well, he has given us plenty of merriment so here's his health. uncle scrooge! omnes. (_drinks._) uncle scrooge! frank. a merry christmas and a happy new year to him wherever he is! scr. spirit, their merriment has made me so bright and gay, that i could almost pledge them in return, and join in all their innocent mirth! _a servant enters, l. h. and gives a letter to frank, then exits._ frank. (_opens it and reads. aside._) ah! what do i see, the vessel lost at sea that bore my entire wealth within her! then i'm a lost and ruined man! (_his wife approaches him._) cheer. no ill news, i hope, mr. freeheart. frank. (_aside._) the stroke is sudden and severe but i will bear it like a man! why should i damp the enjoyment of those around by such ill tiding? no, it is christmas time--i will not broach such bad news now--no--at least to-night. all shall be happy--nor word of mine shall make any otherwise. (_to his friends._) come, friends, let's have a merry dance, shall we not? omnes. a dance! a dance! (_short, country dance, in which scrooge joins without being observed by the rest. towards the conclusion of it the spirit advances--draws scrooge back from the group--a bright glow lights up the scene, as the spirit and scrooge sink through the stage unnoticed by the groups._) end of act i. act ii. scene i.--_humble apartment in bob cratchit's house. table, chairs, etc., on._ _mrs. cratchit and belinda cratchit discovered laying the cloth. peter cratchit is by fire. scrooge and the spirit of christmas present rise through the stage, and stand aside and observe them._ scr. so, this is my clerk's dwelling, spirit--bob cratchit's. you blessed it with the sprinkling of your torch as we passed the threshold. bob had but fifteen _bob_ a week. he pockets on saturdays but fifteen copies of his christian name, and yet the ghost of christmas present blessed his four-roomed house. (_two of cratchit's younger children, boy and girl, run in._) boy. oh, mother--outside the baker's we smell such a goose! it must have been ours--no one has got such a goose. oh, gemini! (_they dance round the table in childish glee._) mrs. c. whatever has got your precious father, bob, and tiny tim. and martha warn't as late this christmas day by half an hour! _enter martha, l. h._ mart. here's martha, mother! children. here's martha, mother--hurrah! there's such a goose, martha! mrs. c. (_kissing martha, and assisting her off with her bonnet, etc._) why bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are! mart. we'd a deal of work to finish up last night, and had to clear away this morning, mother. mrs. c. well, never mind, so long as you are come. sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm. lord bless ye! children. (_looking off._) father's coming! hide, martha, hide! (_martha runs behind closet door in f. bob cratchit enters with tiny tim upon his shoulder, l. h._) bob. (_looking round._) why, where's our martha? mrs. c. not coming. bob. not coming upon christmas day! martha. (_running towards him._) yes, dear father, yes. (_they embrace._) children. come, tiny tim, into the washhouse, to hear the pudding singing in the copper! (_they carry tim out--peter exits l. h._) mrs. c. and how did little tim behave? bob. as good as gold. somehow he gets thoughtful sitting by himself so much, and thinks the sweetest things you ever heard! (_the children re-enter with tim._) children. the goose! the goose! (_peter re-enters carrying the goose--it is placed on the table, etc. all seat themselves at table._) scr. bob's happier than his master! how his blessed urchins, mounting guard upon their posts, cram their spoons into their mouths, lest they should shriek for goose before their turn arrives to be helped! and now, as mrs. cratchit plunges her knife in its breast, a murmur of delight arises round the board, and even tiny tim beats the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cries hurrah! bob. beautiful! there never was such a goose. it's tender as a lamb, and cheap as dirt. the apple sauce and mashed potatoes are delicious--and now, love, for the pudding. the thought of it makes you nervous. mrs. c. too nervous for witnesses. i must leave the room alone to take the pudding up and bring it in. (_exit l. h._ bob. awful moment! suppose it should not be done enough? suppose it should break in turning out? suppose somebody should have got over the wall of the back yard and stolen it? (_gets up, and walks about, disturbed._) i could suppose all sorts of horrors. ah! there's a great deal of steam--the pudding's out of the copper! a smell like a washing day--that's the cloth! a smell like an eating-house and a pastry cook's door to each other, with a laundress's next door to that--that's the pudding. (_mrs. cratchit re-enters with pudding, which she places on table. bob sits._) children. hurrah! scr. mrs. cratchit looks flushed, but smiles proudly, like one who has achieved a triumph. bob. mrs. cratchit, i regard this pudding as the greatest success you have achieved since our marriage. mrs. c. now that the weight's off my mind, i confess i had my doubts about it, and i don't think it at all a small pudding for so large a family. bob. it would be flat heresy to say so. a cratchit would blush to hint at such a thing! scr. their merry, cheerful dinner's ended, but not their sweet, enjoyment of the day. (_mrs. cratchit, etc., clears the table. a jug and a glass or two are placed on it. bob fills the glasses._) bob. a merry christmas to us all, my dear--heaven bless us! (_they drink and echo him--tiny tim is near his father, who presses his hand._) scr. spirit tell me if tiny tim will live? 2nd spirit. if the shadows i see remain unaltered by the future, the child will die. scr. no, no--say he will be spared. 2nd spirit. if he be like to die--what then? he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. scr. my own words! 2nd spirit. man--if man you be in heart, and not adamant--forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered what the surplus is, and where it is. will you decide what men shall live--what men shall die? to hear the insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust. bob. my dear, i'll give you, "mr. scrooge, the founder of the feast!" mrs. c. the founder of the feast indeed! i wish i had him here--i'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon! bob. my dear--the children--christmas day---mrs. c. it should be christmas day, i'm sure, on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as mr. scrooge. you know what he is, robert--no one better. bob. my dear--christmas day---mrs. c. i'll drink his health for your sake not for his. long life to him! a merry christmas and a happy new year! he'll be very merry and very happy, no doubt! (_all drink._) 2nd spirit. your name alone has cast a gloom upon them. but they are happy--grateful--pleased with one another. scr. and they look happier yet in the bright sprinkling of thy torch, spirit. (_as he speaks the stage becomes quite dark. a medium descends, which hides the group at table. scrooge and the spirit remaining in front._) we have seen much to-night, and visited many homes. thou hast stood beside sick beds, and they were cheerful--by struggling men, and they were patient in their greater hope--by poverty, and it was rich. in almshouse, hospital and jail--in misery's every refuge, thou hast left thy blessing, and taught me thy precepts. 2nd spirit. my life upon this globe is very brief--it ends to-night--at midnight--the time draws near. scr. is that a claw protruding from your skirts? 2nd spirit. behold! (_two children, wretched in appearance, appear from the foldings of his robe--they kneel, and cling to him._) oh, man--look here! scr. spirit, are they yours? (_see plate in work, page 119._) 2nd spirit. they are man's--and they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. this boy is ignorance--this girl is want. beware all of their degree--but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow is written that which is doom, unless the writing be erased. admit it for your factious purposes, and bide the end. scr. have they no regular refuge or resource? (_scrooge shrinks abashed._) 2nd spirit. are there no prisons--no workhouses? hark, 'tis midnight! i am of the past! (_the children exeunt--the spirit disappears through trap--at the same moment the ghost of christmas to come, shrouded in a deep black garment rises behind medium, which is worked off, discovering_--- scene ii.--_a street. night._ _the spirit advances slowly. scrooge kneels on beholding it._ scr. this spirit's mysterious presence fills me with a solemn dread! i am in the presence of the ghost of christmas yet to come! (_the spirit points onward._) you are about to show me shadows of things that have not happened, but will happen in the time before us? (_the spirit slightly inclines its head._) though well used to ghostly company by this time. i fear this silent shape more than i did all the rest. ghost of the future, will you not speak to me? (_the spirit's hand is still pointing onward._) lead on, spirit! (_the spirit moves a few steps on, then pauses. scrooge follows. the stage becomes light._) _enter cheerly and heartly._ heart. he's dead, you say? when did he die? cheer. last night, i believe. heart. what has he done with his money? cheer. i haven't heard, he hasn't left it to me. it's likely to be a very cheap funeral, for i don't know of any one likely to go to it. heart. well, i don't mind going to it if lunch is provided. i'm not at all sure i was not one of his most particular friends. cheer. yes--you used to stop, and say "how d'ye do?" whenever you met. but, come--we must to 'change. (_exit r. h._ scr. a moral in their words, too! quiet and dark beside me stands yet the phantom, with its outstretched hand. it still points onward and i must follow it! (_the spirit exits slowly followed by scrooge._) scene iii.--_interior of a marine store shop. old iron, phials, etc., seen. a screen extends from r. h. to c. separating fireplace, etc., from shop. chair and table near the fire._ old joe _seated near the fire, smoking. a light burns on the table. the spirit enters, followed by scrooge._ scr. what foul and obscure place is this? what place of bad repute--of houses wretched--of people half naked--drunken and ill-favoured? the whole quarter reeks with crime--with filth and misery. (_shop door opens, and mrs. dibler enters. she has hardly time to close the door when it opens again, and dark sam enters closely followed by mrs. mildew. upon perceiving each other they at first start, but presently burst into a laugh. joe joins them._) sam. let the charwoman alone to be the first--let the laundress alone to be second--and let the undertaker's man alone to be the third. look here old joe, here's a chance! if we all three haven't met here without meaning it. joe. you couldn't have met in a better place. come into the parlour--you're none of you strangers. stop till i shut the door of the shop. ah! how it shrieks! there an't such a rusty bit of metal here as its own hinges--and i'm sure there's no such old bones here as mine. ha, ha! we're all suitable to our calling. we're well matched. come into the parlour. (_they come forward by screen._) mrs. m. (_throwing down bundle._) what odds, then, mrs. dibler? every person has a right to take care of themselves. he always did. sam. no man more so, so don't stand staring as if you was afraid, woman--who's the wiser? we're not going to pick holes in each other's coats, i suppose? omnes. no, indeed! we should hope not! mrs. m. who's the worse for the loss of a few things like these? not a dead man, i suppose? omnes. (_laughing._) no, indeed! sam. if he wanted to keep 'em after he was dead, a wicked old screw, why wasn't he natural in his life time? mrs. m. if he had been, he'd have had somebody to look after him when he was struck with death, instead of lying, gasping out his last, alone there by himself--it's a judgment upon him! open that bundle, old joe, and let me know the value of it. sam. stop! i'll be served first, to spare your blushes, though we pretty well knew we were helping ourselves, and no sin neither! (_gives trinkets to joe._) joe. two seals, pencil case, brooch, sleeve buttons! (_chalking figures on wall._) five bob! wouldn't give more, if you was to boil me! who's next? (_mrs. dibler offers bundle which he examines._) there's your money! (_chalks on wall._) i always give too much to ladies--it's my weakness, and so i ruin myself. if you asked for another penny, and made it an open question, i'd repent of being so liberal, and knock off half a-crown! (_examines mrs. mildew's bundle upon his knees._) what do you call this? bed curtains? you don't mean to say you took 'em down, rings and all, with him lying there? mrs. m. yes. i do! why not? joe. you were born to make your fortune, and you'll certainly do it! blankets! his blankets? mrs. m. whose else's? he won't take cold without 'em! joe. i hope he didn't die of anything catching! mrs. m. no, no! or i'd not have waited on such as he! there, joe, that's the best shirt he had--they'd ha' wasted it, but for me! joe. what do you call wasting it? mrs. m. putting it on him to be buried, to be sure! somebody was fool enough to do it, but i took it off again! if calico ain't good enough for such a purpose, it ain't good enough for anybody! it's quite as becoming to the body! he can't look uglier than he did in that one! scr. i listen to their words in horror! joe. there is what i will give you! (_chalks on wall, then takes out a small bag, and tells them out their money._) mrs. m. ha, ha! this is the end of it, you see--he frightened every one away from him when he was alive, to profit us when he was dead--ha, ha, ha! (_all laugh._) scr. (_shuddering._) spirit, i see--i see! the case of this unhappy man might be my own--my life tends that way now. let us be gone. (_the spirit points onward. the scene changes._) scene iv.--_a chamber. curtain drawn over recess. the spirit points to it--then approaches it, followed by scrooge trembling. the curtain is withdrawn--a bed is seen--a pale, light shows a figure, covered with a sheet upon it._ scr. (_recoiling in terror._) ah! a bare uncurtained bed, and something there, which, though dumb, announces itself in awful language! yes, plundered and bereft, unwatched, unwept, uncared for, is the body of this man! (_the spirit points towards the bed._) it points towards the face--the slightest movement of my hand would instantly reveal it--i long yet dread to do it. oh, could this man be raised up and see himself! avarice, hard dealing, griping cares! they have brought him to a rich end, truly! he lays alone in a dark empty house, with not a man, woman, or a child, to say--"he was kind to me--i will be kind to him!" spirit, this is a fearful place! in leaving it, i shall not leave its lesson. let us hence. if there is any person in the town who feels emotion caused by this man's death, show that person to me, i beseech you. (_as he speaks the scene changes._) scene v.--_a chamber. scrooge and spirit on l. h._ _enter ellen, r. h., second dress, followed by euston, l. h._ ellen. what news my love--is it good or bad? eus. bad! ellen. we are quite ruined! eus. no! there is hope yet, ellen! ellen. if he relents, there is--nothing is past hope if such a miracle has happened. eus. he is past relenting! he is dead! ellen. dead! it is a crime but heaven forgive me, i almost feel thankful for it! eus. what the half drunken-woman told me last night, when i tried to see him and obtain a week's delay, and which i thought a mere excuse to avoid me, was true,--he was not only ill, but dying then! ellen. to whom will our debt be transferred! eus. i don't know, but before that time we shall be ready with the money, and were we not, we can hardly find so merciless a creditor in his successor. we may sleep to-night with light hearts, ellen. come! (_exeunt r. h._) scr. this is terrible! let me see some tenderness connected with a death in that dark chamber, which we left just now, spirit--it will be for ever present to me. (spirit _points onward and slowly exits followed by scrooge._) scene vi.--_apartment at bob cratchit's._ (_mrs. cratchit, peter, and the two younger cratchit's discovered. candle lighted. the spirit enters, followed by scrooge._) scr. as through the old familiar streets we passed, i looked in vain to find myself, but nowhere was i to be seen. mrs. c. (_laying down her work. mourning._) the colour hurts my eyes, and i wouldn't show weak eyes to your father. it must be near his time--he walks slower than he used, and yet i've known him walk, with tiny tim upon his shoulder, very fast indeed--but he was very light to carry, and his father loved him, so that it was no trouble--no trouble--- _enter bob, l. h. mrs. c. advances to meet him--the children crowd around him._ bob. there, wife, i've returned at last. come, you have been industrious in my absence--the things will be ready before sunday. mrs. c. sunday! you went to-day, then? bob. yes, my dear! i wish you could have gone--it would have done you good to see how green a place it is. but you'll see it often--i promised him i would walk there of a sunday--my little--little child--(_with much emotion._) mrs. c. don't fret! bob. fret! i met mr. scrooge's nephew just now, who, seeing that i looked a little down, asked me what had happened. ah, he's the pleasantest spoken gentleman you ever heard--he told me he was sorry for me and for my good wife--but how he knew _that_ i don't know! mrs. c. knew what? bob. why, that you were a good wife! and he was so kind--it was quite delightful! he said he'd get peter a better situation--and, mark me, whenever we part from one another, i am sure we shall none of us forget poor tiny tim, shall we, or this first parting that was among us? omnes. never! never! (_the children crowd around their parents, who kiss them tenderly. a medium descends and hides the group._) scr. spectre, something informs me that our parting moment is at hand--tell me, ere you quit me, what man that was whom we saw lying dead? (_the spirit points onward slowly traverses the stage._) still he beckons me onward--there seems no order in these latter visions, save they are in the future. through yonder gloom i can see my own dwelling--let me behold what i shall be in days to come--the house is yonder--why do you point away? ah! that house is no longer mine--another occupies it. ah! why is this? (_the medium is worked off, and discovers._) scene vii.--_a churchyard. on slab centre, is engraved "ebenezer scrooge."_ scr. a churchyard! here, then, the wretched man who's name i have now to learn, lays underneath the ground! (_the spirit points to centre slab. scrooge advances, trembling, towards it._) before i draw nearer to the stone to which you point, answer me one question. are these the things of the shadows that will be, or are they the shadows of the things that may be only? (_the spirit still points downward to the grave._) men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in they must lead--but if the courses be departed from the ends will change--say is it thus with what you show me? still as immovable as ever! (_draws nearer to grave._) "ebenezer scrooge!" my own name! (_sinks on his knees._) am i that man who lay upon the bed? (_the spirit points from the grave to him, and back again._) no, spirit! oh, no, no! (_see plate, page 150. the figure remains immovable._) spirit! (_clutching its robe._) hear me! i am not the man i was--i will not be the man i must have been but for this intercourse! why show me this if i am past all hope? (_the hand trembles. scrooge sinks on his knees._) good spirit, your nature intercedes for me--assure me that i yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life! (_the hand trembles still._) i will honour christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year--i will live the past, the present, and the future--the spirits of all three shall strive within me--i will not shut out the lessons that they teach--oh tell me i may sponge away the writing on this stone! (_in his agony he catches the spectre's hand--it seeks to free itself--his struggles become stronger in his despair--the spirit repulses him--he sinks prostrate to the earth--the spirit disappears, as the medium is worked on. clouds roll over the stage--they are worked off, and discovers._) scene viii.--_scrooge's chamber. same as scene i, act i. it is broad day--the fire is nearly extinguished--the candle nearly burnt down to the socket. the stage arrangement in other respects, precisely the same as at end of scene i, act i._ scrooge _discovered, sleeping in his chair. he appears restless and uneasy, then starts up, exclaiming._ scr. pity me! i will not be the man i have been! oh, no, no! (_pauses, and looks around him._) ah! here! could it all have been a dream! a dream--ha, ha, ha! a dream! yes! this table's my own--this chair's my own--this room's my own--and happier still, the time before me is my own to make amends in! i will live the past, the present, and the future! heaven and the christmas time be praised for this! i say it on my knees--on my knees! my cheek is wet with tears, but they are tears of penitence! (_busies himself in pulling on his coat, throwing off his cap, etc., and speaking all the time._) i don't know what to do--i'm as light as a feather--i'm as happy as an angel--i'm as merry as a school-boy--i'm as giddy as a drunken man! a merry christmas to every body--a happy new year to all the world! hallo, there! whoop! hallo! there's the jug that my gruel was in--there's the door where the ghost of jacob marley entered. it's all right--it's all true--it all happened--ha, ha, ha! i don't know what day of the month it is--i don't know how long i've been among the spirits--i don't know anything--i'm quite a baby--never mind, i don't care--i'd rather be a baby! hallo! whoop! hallo, here! (_runs to window--opens it._) here, you boy! what's to-day? boy. (_without._) why, christmas day! scr. ah! i haven't missed it! glorious! i say--go to the poulterer's round the corner, and buy the prize turkey for me! boy. (_without._) wal-ker! scr. tell 'em to send it, and i'll give you half a crown. he's off like a shot! i'll send it to bob cratchit's. how astonished he'll be. (_coming down._) i'll write a cheque for that society that they called on me about yesterday. oh, i'll make every one happy, and myself, too! (_knocks heard without._) that must be the turkey! (_opens door._) as i live, it's bob cratchit! _enter bob cratchit, 2 e. l. h._ bob. excuse my calling, sir, but the fact is, i couldn't help it. that worthy gentleman, your nephew, is ruined. i said, ruined, sir---scr. i'm glad of it! bob. glad of it! there's an unnatural cannibal! _enter frank, 2 e. l. h._ frank. oh uncle, you know all! i come not to ask your assistance--that would be madness--but i come to bid you farewell. in three days' time, with my unfortunate family, i shall quit england. scr. no, you shan't. you shall stay where you are! frank. you mock me! scr. i say you shall stay where you are! (_writes at table._) there's a cheque for present use--to-morrow i will see how i can make up your losses, and at my death you shall inherit all my wealth--but i don't mean to die yet, you dog! frank. this generosity---scr. no thanks. i'll dine with you to-day, frank--and as for you, bob, tiny tim shall be my care, and your salary's trebled from this hour. bob. oh, this can't be my master! oh, i'm quite sure it must be somebody else. yes--it is him, too! he must have gone mad! i've a great mind to knock him down with the ruler, and get mr. frank to help me to fit him on a strait waistcoat! well, i never! scr. a merry christmas, frank--a merry christmas, bob--and it _shall_ be a merry one. i have awoke a better man than i fell asleep. so may it be with all of us! oh, may my day dreams prove as happy as my night ones? (_as he speaks, the gauze medium is lit up behind, and the ghost of christmas past, the ghost of christmas present, and the ghost of christmas to come, with the other characters in the miser's dream, are seen in separate groups._) their remembrance haunts me still. oh, my friends--forgive but my past, you will make happy my present, and inspire me with hope for the future! the curtain falls. _the bat_ a mystery play in 3 acts. by mary roberts rinehart and avery hopwood. produced originally at the morosco theatre, new york. 7 males, 3 females. 2 interior scenes. modern costumes. miss cornelia van gorder, a maiden lady of sixty, has leased as a restorative for frayed nerves, a long island country house. it had been the property of a new york financier who had disappeared coincidentally with the looting of his bank. his cashier, who is secretly engaged to marry miss van gorder's niece, is suspected of the defalcation and is a fugitive. the new occupants believe the place to be haunted. strange sounds and manifestations first strengthen this conviction but presently lead them to suspect that the happenings are mysteriously connected with the bank robbery. any sensible woman would have moved to the nearest neighbors for the night and returned to the city next day. but miss van gorder decided to remain and solve the mystery. she sends for detectives and then things begin to happen. at one time or another every member of the household is suspected of the theft. the audience is kept running up blind alleys, falling into hidden pitfalls, and darting around treacherous corners. a genuine thriller guaranteed to divert any audience. (royalty, twenty-five dollars.) price 75 cents. _the haunted house_ comedy in 3 acts. by owen davis. produced originally at the george m. cohan theatre, new york. 8 males, 3 females. 1 interior. modern costumes. a newly married couple arrive to spend their honeymoon in a summer cottage owned by the girl's father, who has begged them not to go there, because he claims the house is haunted. almost immediately after their arrival, strange sounds are heard in the house. the bride leaves the room for a few moments and when she returns, her husband is talking very confidentially to a young woman, who he claims has had trouble with her automobile down the road, and he goes out to assist her. but when he comes back, his wife's suspicions force him to confess that the girl is an old sweetheart of his. the girl is subsequently reported murdered, and the bride believes her husband has committed the crime. a neighbor, who is an author of detective stories, attempts to solve the murder, meantime calling in a prominent new york detective who is vacationing in the town. as they proceed, everyone in the action becomes involved. but the whole thing terminates in a laugh, with the most uproarious and unexpected conclusion imaginable. (royalty, twenty-five dollars.) price 75 cents. _louder, please_ a comedy in 3 acts. by norman krasna. produced originally at the masque theatre, new york. 12 males, 3 females. 1 interior scene. modern costumes. the breathless and amusing comedy has to do with the efforts of criterion pictures to keep one of its stars, polly madison, before the public gaze, and press agent herbert white is called in to promote the necessary ballyhoo. he conceives the brilliant but ancient idea of having polly get "lost at sea" in a motor boat. there is a law making it a punishable crime to fake a false news report to the press, but what is a law to herbert if he can get over the necessary publicity? he broadcasts the news that polly has strangely disappeared and is lost at sea. consequently the forces of the law get busy, the coast guard sends out a fleet of airplanes to rescue the lost film star, with the result that the front pages of the papers are loaded with stories of the frantic search for the actress, and the world at large is on its ear. detective bailey becomes suspicious of the fake and puts the criterion staff through a stiff third degree. a prison cell looms up for herbert white and he has to resort to the most desperate measures to make the fake story appear true. (royalty, twenty-five dollars.) price 75 cents. _skidding_ comedy in 3 acts. by aurania rouverol. produced originally at the bijou theatre, new york. 5 males, 5 females. 1 interior. modern costumes. a fresh, sincere picture of american family life, showing marion hardy, a modern college girl who falls ecstatically in love with wayne trenton just as a career is opening up to her, and the difficulties she has in adjusting her romance. then there are the two pretty young daughters who chose to marry before they finished their education and want to "come home to mother" at the first sign of trouble. mother hardy is so upset at the modern tendencies of her daughters, that she goes on strike in order to straighten out her family. young andy hardy is an adorable adolescent lad with his first "case"--a typical booth tarkington part. he keeps the audience in a gale of merriment with his humorous observances. grandpa hardy touches the heart with his absent-mindedness and his reminiscences about grandma; and the white satin slippers he makes for marion to be married in, have a great deal to do with straightening out her love affair. humor is blended with pathos and a deliciously garnished philosophy makes "skidding" more significant than the average comedy. it is life. "skidding" is one of our most popular plays for high school production. (royalty, twenty-five dollars.) price 75 cents. transcriber's notes: the line "happy as my night ones? (_as he speaks, the gauze_" was duplicated in the original. the following is a list of changes made to the original. the first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. _author of fair rosamond, fairinelli, the dream of fate,_ _author of fair rosamond, farinelli, the dream of fate,_ christamas carol. a christmas carol. _easy chair table with candlestick upon it, etc., etc._ _easy chair, table with candlestick upon it, etc., etc._ (_binds wrappr round its head once more--slowly_ (_binds wrapper round its head once more--slowly_ either--nor ony of your family, bob cratchit. at either--nor any of your family, bob cratchit. at mrs. c. sunday! you went to day, then? mrs. c. sunday! you went to-day, then? [illustration: cover: old scrooge] "old scrooge:" a christmas carol in five staves. dramatized from charles dickens' celebrated christmas story, by charles a. scott. newark, n. j.: new jersey soldiers' home print. 1877. entered according to act of congress, in the year 1877, by charles a. scott, in the office of the librarian of congress, at washington, d. c. all rights reserved. _this edition is limited, and is printed for the convenience of to enable the owner to make such alterations as may seem judicious._ _characters._ ebenezer scrooge, a miserly broker frederick merry, a nephew to scrooge bob cratchit, clerk to scrooge ghost of jacob marley, dead seven years spirit of christmas past spirit of christmas present mr. thomas topper mr. henry snapper mr. mumford | philanthropic citizens mr. barnes | peter cratchit little cratchit tiny tim scrooge's former self mr. stevens | mr. jones | mr. fatchin | scrooge's business friends mr. snuffer | mr. redface | mr. kemper mr. fezziwig, scrooge's former master mr. james badger dick wilkins, fezziwig's apprentice old joe, a pawnbroker mr. shroud, an undertaker old baldhead, the fiddler the lamp lighter first man second man ignorance the boy with the turkey thomas, a servant mrs. belle kemper, scrooge's first and last love mrs. frederick merry | miss julia kemper | her daughters miss sarah kemper | mrs. cratchit, a devoted wife belinda cratchit | her daughters martha cratchit | mrs. caroline badger mrs. mangle, a laundress mrs. dilber, a char-woman mrs. fezziwig, a worthy matron clara fezziwig | her daughters emma fezziwig | little fanny scrooge want six or eight children for tableaux. [illustration: hand with pointing finger] by a distribution of two or three character to one person, the piece can be performed by fifteen males and nine females. _costumes._ _scrooge._ first dress: brown quaker-cut coat, waistcoat and pants. dark overcoat. low-crowned, broad-brimmed hat. black silk stock and standing collar. bald wig with tufts of white hair on each side. smooth face. second dress: dressing gown, cotton night-cap and slippers. _fred. merry._ first dress: walking suit, overcoat, black silk hat. black silk stock and standing collar. side whiskers. second dress: dress suit. _bob cratchit._ long-tailed business coat of common material, much worn, and buttoned up to the neck. woolen pants and waistcoat of check pattern. colored scarf and standing collar. large white comforter. narrow-rimmed silk hat, old style and the worse for wear. smooth face. _ghost of marley._ drab cut-away coat and breeches. low-cut single-breasted vest. ruffled shirt. white neckcloth. drab leggings. gray, long-haired wig, with queue. shaggy eyebrows. _spirit of christmas past._ white tunic trimmed with flowers. fleshings. jeweled belt around waist. long white hair hanging loose down neck and back. jeweled star for forehead. white conical hat, very high, carried under the arm. smooth, pale face--no wrinkles. wand of holly. _spirit of christmas present._ green robe bordered with white fur. fleshings. trunks. brown hose. dark-brown curls. holly wreath for the head. _mumford._ overcoat. under suit of the period--1840. black silk hat. white neckcloth and standing collar. gray, long-haired wig. smooth face. spectacles. _barnes._ blue cloth over and under coats. black silk hat. black silk stock and standing collar. iron-gray short-haired wig. mutton-chop whiskers. walking stick. _topper and snapper._ dress suits of the period--1840. _peter cratchit._ jacket or short coat. very large standing collar and neckerchief. _little cratchit._ calico shirt. short trousers. shoes and stockings. apron. _tiny tim._ same as little cratchit, with the addition of a jacket. _scrooge's former self._ first dress: cutaway coat. knee breeches. second dress: cape coat. hessians. _ignorance and want._ clad in rags. fleshings. _old joe._ gabardine or long-skirted coat. shaggy wig and beard. old smoking cap. _mrs. cratchit._ plain black or brown dress. cap and apron. _mrs. merry, kemper and misses kemper._ handsome house dresses of the period. _misses fezziwig._ low-necked dresses with short sleeves. _mrs. badger._ plain walking dress. bonnet and shawl. _scenery, furniture and properties._ act i. scene i.--scrooge & marley's counting house, 1st g. backed by an interior 2d g. set fire-place--painted grate fire l. window in flat l. c. double doors in flat, thrown open, r. c. scrooge's desk and chair near window--ruler, pens, ink and paper on desk. bob cratchit's desk in inner room in sight of audience. lighted candles on both desks. scuttle of coal near fire place. clothes hooks on flat for scrooge's hat and great coat. coal shovel for bob to enter with. subscription list for mumford to enter with. [illustration: hand]clear stage of desk, chair and scuttle. scene ii.--scrooge's apartments 3d or 4th g. door l. c. and window r. c. in flat, backed by a street scene. small grate fire and mantel l. 2. old-fashioned clock and two plaster casts on mantel. door r. 2. table l. c. lighted candle, spoon, basin and writing materials on table. saucepan of gruel on hob. two easy chairs near fire place. lights down. fender at fire. ringing bells of place. scrooge's hat and coat hung on the wall. chain made of cash boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, purses, etc., for ghost to enter with. toothpick for scrooge to show. trap ready for ghost to disappear. act ii. scene i.--scrooge's bed room 1st g. chimney c., with painted coal fire. door l. c., window r. c. trap near hearth for spirit of christmas past to enter. small four-post bedstead with curtains l. bureau or washstand r. scene ii.--an old school room 3d g. door l. c., and window r. c. in flat. chair at window. a stuffed parrot on stand near r. 3. two or three school desks, a platform and desk for the master; books for young scrooge. scene iii.--a wareroom, full depth of stage. an elevated platform, centre of flat, for the fiddler. old-fashioned arm chair at l. 2, for mrs fezziwig. scene iv.--plain room, 2d g. no properties. scene v.--drawing room, 5th g., trimmed with evergreens. a christmas tree, trimmed and lighted, r. u. e. ornaments on mantel. fireplace l. suite of parlor furniture. centre table c. toys for children--doll and doll's dress for belle. trap ready for spirit to disappear. act iii. scene i.--a room in scrooge's house, 1st g. flat painted to show game, poultry, meats, etc. torch, shaped like a cornucopia for spirit of christmas present. scene ii.--bob cratchit's home--plain room 4th g. door r. and l. c., backed by kitchen flat. dresser and crockery c. of flat. fireplace l. u. e. saucepan of potatoes on fire; six wooden or cane-seat chairs; a high chair for tiny tim. large table c.; white table-cloth; large bowl on side table r.; three tumblers and a custard cup without a handle. nuts, apples and oranges on dresser. small crutch for tiny tim to enter with. goose on dish for peter to enter with. scene iii.--a street mansion with lighted windows showing shadow of a group inside, 1st g. snow. torch and ladder for lamp lighter. scene iv.--drawing room 4th g. arch 3d g. handsome suite of furniture. large table r. sideboard with wine and glasses at flat c. piano l. 2d e. coffee-urn and cups on small table r. 3d e. piano-stool, music stand. sheet music on piano. salver for waiter. act iv. scene i.--scrooge's bed room 2d g. as in scene 1, act 2. scene ii.--street 1st g. snuff-box for snuffer to enter with. scene iii.--pawn shop 3d g. doors r. and l. c. in flat--table c., four common chairs; a smoky oil lamp--lighted, and a piece of white chalk on table. bundle of bed curtains--same as on scrooge's bedstead--blankets and shirts for mrs. mangle to enter with. bundle of under-clothing, towels, sheets, sugar-tongs, tea-spoons and old boots for mrs. dilber to enter with. a package containing a seal, pencil-case, pair of sleeve-buttons and scarf pin, for shroud to enter with. purse of coins for old joe. scene iv.--street--exterior of scrooge and marley's 1st g. window l. c. no properties. scene v.--bob cratchit's home--same as scene 2, act, 3. table c., candles and work-basket on table. book for peter on table; calico or muslin for mrs. cratchit and belinda to sew. act v. scene i.--scrooge's apartment, as in scene 2d act 1st. no additional properties. scene ii.--street--exterior of scrooge's house 1st g. brass knocker on the door. turkey for boy to enter with. scene iii.--drawing room same as scene 4, act 3. handkerchief for fred to blindfold. old scrooge. stave one. scene i.--_christmas eve. counting house of scrooge & marley. set fireplace with small grate fire_ l. _centre door in flat, thrown open, showing a small inner chamber and desk, at which bob cratchit is discovered seated, endeavoring to warm his hands over the candle. small desk,_ l. c., _at which scrooge is discovered busy at figures_. _enter bob cratchit, from inner room, with coal shovel, going toward fireplace._ _scrooge._ and six makes twenty-eight pounds, four shill----what do you want in here? _bob._ my fire is nearly out, sir, and i thought i would take one or two lumps of coal, and-_scro._ you think more of your personal comforts than you do of your business and my interest. _bob._ the room, sir, is very cold, and i-_scro._ work sir, work! and i'll warrant that you'll keep warm. if you persist, in this wanton waste of coals, you and i will have to part. (_bob retires to his desk, puts on his white comforter, and again tries to warm his hands. scrooge resuming_). four shillings and ninepence-_enter fred'k merry_, c. d., _saluting bob as he passes him_. _fred._ a merry christmas, uncle. god save you. _scro._ bah; humbug. _fred._ christmas a humbug, uncle! you don't mean that, i'm sure? _scro._ i do. merry christmas! what right have you to be merry? what reason have you to be merry? you're poor enough. _fred._ come then. what right have you to be dismal? what reason have you to be morose? you're rich enough. _scro._ bah; humbug. _fred._ don't be cross, uncle. _scro._ what else can i be when i live in such a world of fools as this? merry christmas! out upon merry christmas! what's christmas-time to you but a time for paying bills without money; 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 my will, every idiot who goes about with "merry christmas" on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. he should. _fred._ uncle! _scro._ (_sternly_). nephew, keep christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine. _fred._ keep it! but you don't keep it. _scro._ let me leave it alone, then. much good may it do you. much good it has ever done you. _fred._ there are many things from which i might have derived good, by which i have not profited, i dare say, christmas among the rest. but i am sure i have always thought of christmas-time, when it came 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 shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. and, therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, i believe that it _has_ done me good, and _will_ do me good; and i say, god bless it. (_cratchit applauds, but observing scrooge, endeavors to be intent on something else._) _scro._ (_to bob_). let me hear another sound from _you_, and you'll keep your christmas by losing your situation! (_to fred_). you're quite a powerful speaker, sir, i wonder you don't go into parliament. _fred._ don't be angry, uncle. come, dine with us to-morrow? _scro._ i'd see you in blazes first. _fred._ but why? why? _scro._ why did you get married? _fred._ because i fell in love. _scro._ because you fell in love! the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry christmas. good afternoon. _fred._ nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that happened. why give it as a reason for not coming now? _scro._ good afternoon. _fred._ i want nothing from you; i ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends? _scro._ good afternoon! _fred._ i am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. we have never had any quarrel, to which i have been a party. but i have made the trial in homage to christmas, and i'll keep my christmas humor to the last. so a merry christmas, uncle. _scro._ good afternoon! (_as fred goes out he exchanges greetings with bob._) _fred._ a merry christmas. _bob._ the same to you, and many of them. _scro._ there's another fellow, my clerk, with fifteen shillings a week, and a wife and family, talking about a merry christmas. i'll retire to the lunatic asylum. _enter mr. mumford and mr. barnes with subscription book and paper, ushered in by bob._ _mr. mumford._ scrooge & marley's. i believe (_referring to paper_). have i the pleasure of addressing mr. scrooge, or mr. marley? _scro._ mr. marley his been dead these seven years. he died seven years ago this very night. _mr. m._ we have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner. (_presents list. scrooge frowns, shakes his head, and returns it._) at this festive season of the year, mr. scrooge, it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir. _scro._ are there no prisons? _mr. m._ plenty of prisons. _scro._ and the union work-houses--are they still in operation? _mr. m._ they are. i wish i could say they were not. _scro._ the tread-mill and the poor law are in full vigor, then? _mr. m._ both very busy, sir. _scro._. oh! i was afraid from what you said at first that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course. i'm very glad to hear it. _mr. m._ under the impression that they scarcely furnish christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude, a few of us are endeavoring to raise a fund to buy the poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. we chose this time because it is a time, of all others, when want is keenly felt, and abundance rejoices. what shall i put you down for? _scro._ nothing. _mr. m._ you wish to be anonymous? _scro._ i wish to be left alone. since you ask me what i wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. i don't make merry myself at christmas, and i can't afford to make idle people merry. i help to support the establishments i have mentioned; they cost enough, and those who are badly off must go there. _mr. b._ many can't go there; and many would rather die. _scro._ if they had rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. besides, excuse me, i don't know that. _mr. b._ but you might know it. _scro._ it's not my business. it's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not interfere with other people's. mine occupies me constantly. good afternoon, gentlemen. _mr. m._ it is useless, we may as well withdraw. [_exeunt. as they go out bob is seen to hand them money._] (_voice at door_ r. _singing_.) god bless you, merry gentlemen. may nothing you dismay-_scro._ (_seizes ruler and makes a dash at the door._) begone! i'll have none of your carols here. (_makes sign to bob, who extinguishes his candle and puts on his hat and enters._) you'll want all day to morrow, i suppose? _bob._ if quite convenient, sir. _scro._ it's not convenient, and its not fair. if i was to stop half-a-crown for it you'd think yourself ill-used, i'll be bound? (_bob smiles faintly._) and yet you don't think _me_ ill-used when i pay a day's wages for no work. _bob._ it's only once a year, sir. _scro._ a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of december. (_buttoning up his great coat to the chin._) but i suppose you must have the whole day. be here all the earlier next morning. (_exit_ c.) _bob._ i will, sir. you old skinflint. if i had my way, i'd give you christmas. i'd give it to you this way (_dumb show of pummelling scrooge._) now for a slide on cornhill, at the end of a lane of boys, twenty times, in honor of christmas eve, and then for camden town as hard as i can pelt. (_exit_ c., _with sliding motions, closing doors after him_.) scene ii.--_scrooge's apartments._ _grate fire_, l. _2, window_, r. c. _door_, l. c. _in flat_. _table_, l. _4. spoon and basin on table. saucepan on hob. two easy chairs near fire. lights down._ [_scrooge in dressing gown and night-cap, discovered, with candle, searching the room._] _scro._ pooh! pooh! marley's dead seven years to night. impossible. nobody under the table, nobody under the couch, nobody in the closet, nobody nowhere (_yawns_). bah, humbug! (_locks door_ r. _and seats himself in easy chair; dips gruel from saucepan into basin, and takes two or three spoonsful. yawns and composes himself for rest._) [_one or two stanzas of a christmas carol may be sung outside, at the close of which a general ringing of bells ensues, succeeded by a clanking noise of chain._] _enter jacob marley's ghost._ r., _with chain made of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, purposes, etc. hair twisted upright on each side to represent horns. white bandage around jaws._ _scro._ it's humbug still! i won't believe it. [_pause, during which ghost approaches the opposite side of the mantel._] how now. what do you want with me? _ghost._ much. _scro._ who are you? _gho._ ask me who i _was_. _scro._ who _were_ you then? you're particular, for a shade. _gho._ in life i was your partner, jacob marley. _scro._ can you--can you sit down? _gho._ i can. _scro._ do it, then. _gho._ you don't believe in me? _scro._ i don't. _gho._ what evidence do you require of my reality beyond that of your senses? _scro._ i don't know. _gho._ why do you doubt your senses? _scro._ because a little thing affects them. a slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. you may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an under-done potato. there's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are. you see this tooth-pick? _gho._ i do. _scro._ you are not looking at it. _gho._ but i see it, notwithstanding. _scro._ well! i have but to swallow this, and be for the rest of my days persecuted by a legion of gobblins, all of my own creation. humbug, i tell you; humbug. (_ghost rattles chain, takes bandage off jaws, and drops lower jaw as far as possible._) _scro._ (_betrays signs of fright._) mercy! dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me? _gho._ man of the worldly mind, do you believe in me, or not? _scro._ i do. i must. but why do spirits walk the earth, and why do they come to me? _gho._ it is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow men and travel 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 through the world--oh, woe is me--and witness what it can not share, but might have shared on earth, turned to happiness. [_shakes chain and wrings his hands._] _scro._ you are fettered; tell me why? _gho._ i wear the chain i forged in life; i made it link by link and yard by yard. i girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will i wore it. is its pattern strange to _you_? or would you know the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself. it was full as heavy and as long as this seven christmas-eves ago. you have labored on it since. it is a pondrous chain! _scro._ jacob, old jacob marley, tell me more. speak comfort to me, jacob. _gho._ i have none to give. it comes from other regions, ebenezer scrooge, and is conveyed by other ministers to other lands of men. nor can i tell you what i would. a very little more is all that is permitted to me. i can not rest, i can not stay, i can not linger anywhere. my spirit never walked beyond our counting house, mark me!--in life my spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money changing hole; and weary journeys lie before me. _scro._ you must have been very slow about it, jacob. _gho._ slow? _scro._ seven years dead. and traveling all the time. _gho._ the old time. no rest, no peace. incessant tortures of remorse. _scro._ you travel fast? _gho._ on the wings of the wind. _scro._ you might have got over a great quantity of ground in seven years, jacob. _gho._ (_clinking his chain._) oh! captive, bound and double-ironed, not to know that ages of incessant labor by immortal creatures; for this earth must pass into eternity before 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 life too short for its vast means of usefulness. not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused. yet, such was i. oh, such was i! _scro._ but you were always a good man of business jacob. _gho._ business! [_wringing his hands and shaking chain._] mankind was my business. the common welfare was my business. charity, mercy, forbearance and benevolence were all my business. the dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business. [_holds up chain at arm's length, and drops it._] at this time of the rolling year i suffer most. why did i walk through crowds of fellow beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them, to that blessed star which led the wise men to a poor abode? were there no poor houses to which its light would have conducted _me_? hear me! my time is nearly gone. _scro._ i will; but don't be hard upon me. don't be flowery, jacob, pray. _gho._ how it is that i appear before you in a shape that you can see, i may not tell. i have sat invisible beside you many and many a day. that is no light part of my penance. i am here to-night to warn you that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. a chance and hope of my procuring, ebenezer. _scro._ you were always a good friend to me. thank 'er. _gho._ you will be haunted by three spirits. _scro._ is that the chance and hope you mentioned, jacob? _gho._ it is. _scro._ i--i think i'd rather not. _gho._ without their visits you can not hope to shun the path i tread. expect the first to-morrow, when the bell tolls one. _scro._ couldn't i take'em all at once, and have it over, jacob? _gho._ expect the second on the next night at the same hour. the third on the night following, when the last stroke of twelve has ceased to vibrate. look to see me no more; and look that, for your own sake, you remember what has passed between us. [_ghost replaces bandage around jaws, rises, winds chain about his arm, walks backward to window, beckoning scrooge, who rises and follows. as soon as ghost walks through window, which opens for him, he motions for scrooge to stop, and disappears through trap. window closes as before._] curtain. stave two. scene i.--_scrooge's bed room. a small, four-post bedstead with curtains at_ l. e., _bureau_ r. e. _bell tolls twelve. scrooge pulls curtains aside and sits on side of bed. touches spring of his repeater, which also strikes twelve._ _scro._ way, it isn't possible that i can have slept through a whole day, and far into another night. it isn't possible that anything has happened to the sun, and this is twelve o'clock at noon. (_the spirit of christmas past rises from the hearth as scrooge finishes his speech._) _scro._ are you the spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to me? _spirit._ i am. _scro._ who, and what are you? _spir._ i am the ghost of christmas past. _scro._ long past? _spir._ no; your past. _scro._ i beg you will be covered. _spir._ what! would you so soon put out, with worldly hands, the light i give? is it not enough that you are one of those whose passions made this cap, and force me through whole trains of years to wear it low upon my brow? _scro._ i have no intention of offending you. may i make bold to enquire what business has brought you here? _spir._ your welfare. _scro._ i am much obliged, but i think a night of unbroken rest would be more conducive to that end. _spir._ your reclamation, then. take heed! observe the shadows of the past, and profit by the recollection of them. _scro._ what would you have me do? _spir._ remain where you are, while memory recalls the past. scene ii.--_the spirit waves a wand, the scene opens and displays a dilapidated school-room. young scrooge discovered seated at a window, reading._ _scro._ (_trembling_) good heavens! i was a boy! it's the old school; and its the christmas i was left alone. _spir._ you remember it? _scro._ yes, yes; i know! i was reading all about ali baba. dear old honest ali baba. and valentine and his wild brother, orson; and the sultan's groom turned upside down by the geni. served him right, i'm glad of it; what business had _he_ to be married to the princess! [_in an earnest and excited manner, and voice between, laughing and crying._] there's the parrot: green body and yellow tail, with a thing like a lettuce growing out of the top of his head; there he is! poor robin crusoe, where have you been, robin crusoe? there goes friday, running for his life to the little creek. halloo! hoop! halloo! [_changing to a pitiful tone, in allusion to his former self._] poor boy. _spir._ strange to have forgotten this for so many years. _scro._ (_putting his hand in his pocket and drying his eyes on his cuff_) i wish--but it's too late now. _spir._ what is the matter? _scro._ nothing; nothing. there was a boy singing a christmas carol at my door, last night, i should like to have given him something, that's all. [_young scrooge rises and walks up and down. door opens and fanny scrooge darts in and puts her arms about his neck and kisses him._] _fanny._ dear, dear brother! i have come to bring you home, dear brother. (_clapping her hands and laughing gleefully._) to bring you home, home, home! _young s._ home, little fan? _fan._ yes! home for good, and all. home for ever and ever. father is so much kinder than he used to be, that home is like heaven. he spoke so gently to me one 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 to be a man, and never to come back here; but first we're to be together all the christmas long, and have the merriest time in all the world. _young s._ you're quite a woman, little fan! [_she claps her hands and laughs, tries to touch his head, but being too little, laughs again. stands on tip-toe to embrace him, and in childish eagerness and glee, drags him willingly towards the door. exeunt._] _voice_ [_outside_]. bring down master scrooge's box, there. [_scene closes_] _spir._ always a delicate creature, whom a breath might have withered. but she had a large heart. _scro._ so she had. you're right. i will not gainsay it, spirit. lord forbid. _spir._ she died a woman, and had, as i think, children. _scro._ one child. _spir._ true; your nephew. _scro._ [_uneasily_] yes. _spir._ let us see another christmas. (_waves wand._) scene iii.--_fezziwig's ball, full depth of stage, representing a wareroom. fezziwig and mrs. fezziwig l., the former standing and clapping his hands, and the latter seated in an arm-chair, manifesting delight. old bald-headed fiddler, on an elevated seat, at the back. dick wilkins, with two miss fezziwigs, forward to right and back. scrooge's former self advances and retires to the partners, with fancy steps: hands around; right and left; ladies change; balance; promenade. other characters to fill up the picture. laughter and merriment to follow scrooge's speech._ _spir._ do you know it? _scro._ know it! i was apprenticed here. why, its old fezziwig. bless his heart; its fezziwig alive again, and mrs fezziwig, too. dick wilkins, to be sure, with fezziwig's two daughters. bless me, yes. there he is. he was very much attached to me, was dick. poor dick. and see me, cutting the pigeon-wing. dear, dear, dear! (_dance comes to an end amid general hilarity and merriment, and the scene closes in._) _spir._ a small matter to make these silly folks so full of gratitude. _scro._ small! why, old fezziwig was one of the best men that ever lived. he never missed giving his employees a christmas ball. _spir._ why, is it not! he spent but a few pounds of money--three or four pounds, perhaps--. is that so much that he deserves your praise? _scro._ it isn't that, spirit. he had the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our services light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. say that his power lives in words and looks; in things so light and unsignificant that it is impossible to add and count 'em up; what then? the happiness he gives is quite as great if it cost a fortune--oh, dear. _spir._ what is the matter? _scro._ nothing, particular. _spir._ something, i think. _scro._ no, no. i should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk, just now, that's all. _spir._ my time grows short, let us hurry on. do you remember this? (_waves wand._) scene iv.--_a room. enter belle and scrooge's former self, at twenty-five years of age._ _scro._ it is belle, as sure as i am a living sinner. _belle._ it matters little to you. to you very little. another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as i would have tried to do, i have no just cause to grieve. _young s._ what idol has displaced you? _belle._ a golden one. _young s._ this is the even-handed dealing of the world. there is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity, as the pursuit of wealth. _belle._ you fear the world too much. all your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. i have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master passion _gain_, engrosses you. have i not? _young s._ what then? even if i have grown so much wiser, what then? i am not changed toward you, (_she shakes her head._) am i? _belle._ our contract is an old one. it was made when we were both poor and content to be so, until in good season, we could improve our worldly fortune by our patient industry. you _are_ changed. when it was made you were another man. _young s._ i was a boy. _belle._ your own feeling tells you that you were not what you are. i am. that which promised happiness when we were one in heart is fraught with misery now that we are two. how often and how keenly i have thought of this, i will not say. it is enough that i _have_ thought of it, and can release you. _young s._ have i ever sought release? _belle._ in words; no, never. _young s._ in what, then? _belle._ in a changed nature; in an altered spirit; in another atmosphere of life; another hope as to its great end. in everything that made my love of any worth or value in your sight. if this had never been between us, tell me, would you seek me out and try to win me now? ah, no! _young s._ you think not? _belle._ i would gladly think otherwise, if i could; heaven knows. when i have learned a truth like this, i know how strong and irresistible it must be. but if you were free to-day, to-morrow, 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 enough to your one guiding principle to do so, do i not know that your repentance and regret would surely follow? i do; and i release you, with a full heart, for the love of him you once were. (_he is about to speak, but with her head turned from him she resumes._) you may--the memory of what is past half makes me hope you will--have pain in this. a very, very brief time, and you will dismiss the recollection of it, gladly, as an unprofitable dream, from which it happened well that you awoke. may you be happy in the life you have chosen. fare well. [_exit._] _young s._ (_following_) belle, belle! hear me. let me explain. [_exit._] [_scene closes._] _scro._ spirit, show me no more! conduct me home. why do you delight to torture me? _spir._ o, mortal, what a treasure didst thou cast away. she, whom you resigned for paltry gold, became the happy wife of your former schoolmate, kemper. one shadow more. behold now the tender mother of smiling children, in their joyous home--a home that might have been your own. _scro._ no more! no more! i don't wish to see it. _spir._ behold. (_waves wand._) scene v.--_drawing room. six or eight children, of various sizes, in groups, playing with toys. a christmas tree, trimmed and lighted. mr. and mrs. kemper seated at table; their daughter belle seated at fire, dressing a doll for one of the girls._ _mr. k._ belle, i saw an old friend of yours this afternoon. _mrs. k._ who was it? _mr. k._ guess? _mrs. k._ how can i? tut, don't i know (_laughingly_), mr. scrooge? _mr. k._ mr. scrooge it was--your old sweetheart (_laughing_). i passed his office window, and as it was not shut up, and he had a candle inside, i could scarcely help seeing him. his partner, old jacob marley, lies upon the point of death, i hear. and there he sat, alone. quite alone in the world, i do believe. _mrs. k._ poor old man. [_scene closes._] _scro._ spirit (_in a broken voice_), remove me from this place. _spir._ i told you these were shadows of the things that have been. that they are what they are, do not blame me. _scro._ i am to blame for what they are, and now that i see what they might have been, i am more wretched than ever. remove me! i can not bear it. (_turns upon the spirit, and struggles with it._) leave me! take me back! haunt me no longer! (_seizes the extinguisher-cap, presses it down, while spirit sinks through trap, and disappears. when trap is replaced, scrooge reels to the bedstead, apparently exhausted, and with the cap grasped in his hand, falls asleep._) curtain. stave three. scene i.--_adjoining room in scrooge's house. flat to represent piles of turkeys, geese, game, poultry, joints of meat, sucking-pigs, strings of sausages, oysters, mince pies, plum-puddings, pears, apples, oranges, cakes and bowls of punch; also holly, mistletoe and ivy._ _the spirit of christmas present_ r. [_a giant_], _discovered holding a glowing torch--shaped like a cornucopia, to shed its light on scrooge's entrance._ _spir._ come in! _enter scrooge, timidly_, l. _spir._ come in, and know me better, man. you have never seen the like of me before. _scro._ never. _spir._ have never walked forthwith the younger members of my family, meaning--for i am very young--my elder brothers, born in these later years? _scro._ i don't think i have. i am afraid i have not. have you had many brothers, spirit? _spir._ more than eighteen hundred. _scro._ a tremendous family to provide for. spirit, conduct me where you will. i went forth last night on compulsion, and i learned a lesson which is working now. to-night, if you have aught to teach me, let me profit by it. _spir._ touch my robe, and remember that we are invisible, and unable to manifest our presence to those with whom we come in contact. loose not your hold, lest you should lose yourself. [_exeunt_ l.] scene ii.--_bob cratchit's home. mrs. cratchit discovered laying cloth. belinda assisting her. master peter cratchit blowing the fire._ _mrs. c._ what has ever got your precious father, then? and your brother, tiny tim! and martha warn't as late last christmas day by half an hour? _enter little cratchit and martha. door in flat._ _little c._ here's martha, mother! here's martha hurrah! oh, martha, there's such a big goose at the bakers, next door. i smelt it cooking. _mrs. c._ why, bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are! (_kissing her and taking off her bonnet and shawl._) _martha._ we'd a deal of work to finish up last night, and had to clear away this morning, mother. _mrs. c._ well, never mind, so long as you are come. sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm, lord bless ye. _little c._ no, no! there's father coming. hide, martha, hide. (_martha gets behind the door._) _enter bob cratchit with tiny tim on his shoulder and little crutch in his hand. spirit and scrooge following, coming down front, and observing with interest all that passes._ _bob._ why, where's our martha? (_looking around and putting tiny tim down._) _little c._ come, tiny tim, and see the pudding boil. [_exeunt children._] _mrs. c._ not coming. _bob._ not coming! not coming, on christmas day? _mar._ (_running into his arms._) dear father! i could not see you disappointed, if it were only in joke. _bob._ (_embraces her._) you're a good girl, martha, and a great comfort to us all. (_commences to mix a bowl of punch._) _mrs. c._ and how did little tim behave? _bob._ as good as gold, and better. somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. he told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon christmas day, who made lame beggars walk and blind men see. tiny tim is growing strong and hearty. _enter little cratchit and peter cratchit with the goose, followed by tiny tim._ _little c._ hurrah! hurrah! here's peter with the big goose. _tiny tim._ hurrah! (_children place chairs around the table; bob puts tiny tim in a high chair beside him, and peter on his left, facing front, belinda and little cratchit opposite. mrs. c. and martha at the end of the table. bob carves and serves the goose, mrs. c. the gravy and mashed potatoes, and martha the apple-sauce._) _little c._ oh! oh! look at the stuffing. _tiny t._ hurrah! _bob._ i don't believe there ever was such a goose as this cooked. it's more tender than a woman's love, and only cost two and sixpence. a merry christmas to us all, my dears. god bless us. _all._ god bless us. _tiny t._ god bless us every one. _scro._ spirit, tell me if tiny tim will live? _spir._ i see a vacant seat in the poor chimney-corner and a crutch without an owner carefully preserved. if these shadows remain unaltered by the future, none other of my race will find him here. what then? if he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. _scro._ (_hangs his head._) my very words. _spir._ man--if man you be in heart, not adamant--forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered what the surplus is, and where it is. will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die. it may be, in the sight of heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child. oh, heaven! to hear the insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers of the dust! _mrs. c._ now, martha and belinda, change the plates, while i bring the nuts, apples and oranges. _bob._ (_rising and placing the punch-bowl on the table._) here is what will remind us it is christmas. (_fills three tumblers and custard-cup without a handle, and passes them to mrs. c., peter and martha._) i'll give you mr. scrooge, the founder of the feast. _mrs. c._ the founder of the feast, indeed! i wish i had him here, i'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and i hope he'd have a good appetite for it. _bob._ my dear, the children! christmas day. _mrs. c._ it should be christmas day, i am sure, on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as mr. scrooge. you know he is, robert. nobody knows it better than you, poor fellow. _bob._ my dear. christmas day. _mrs. c._ i'll drink his health for your sake and the day's, not for his. long life to him. a merry christmas and a happy new year! he'll be very merry and very happy, i have no doubt. _all._ a merry christmas, and a happy new year. _scro._ spirit, take me away. i see the very mention of my name casts a gloom on what, were it not for me, would be a very happy party. _spir._ wait; they will soon put the memory of you aside, and will be ten times merrier than before, and tiny tim will sing. _scro._ no, no; take me hence. (_as they retire toward the door, the spirit shakes his torch toward the party, which restores good humor._) _little c._ oh! we forgot the pudding! _all._ the pudding! the pudding! (_laughter and confusion._) scene iii.--_a street. mansion with lighted window, showing shadow of a group. sounds of music inside._ _enter spirit and scrooge_ l. _a lamp-lighter with torch and ladder_ r; _as he passes them, the spirit waves his torch, and the lamp-lighter exits singing a carol. enter two men, quarreling._ _first man._ but, i know better, it is not so. _second man._ it is so, and i will not submit to contradiction. (_spirit waves his torch over them._) _first man._ well, i declare, here we are, old friends, quarreling on christmas day. it is a shame to quarrel on christmas day. _second man._ so it is a shame to quarrel on this day. god love it, so it is; come, and if we are not merry for the rest of it, it shall not be my fault. [_exeunt._] _scro._ spirit, is there a peculiar flavor in what you sprinkle from your torch? _spir._ there is. my own. _scro._ i notice that you sprinkle it to restore good humor, and over dinners. would it apply to any kind of dinner on this day? _spir._ to any kindly given. to a poor one most. _scro._ why to a poor one most? _spir._ because it needs it most. _enter ignorance and want; approaching the spirit, they kneel at his feet. scrooge starts back appalled._ _spir._ look here! oh, man, look here! look! look down here. behold, where graceful youth should have filled their features out and touched them with its freshest tints; a stale and shriveled hand, like that of age, has pinched and twisted them and pulled them into shreds. where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurk and glare out, menacing. no change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread. _scro._ they are fine-looking children. spirit, are they yours? _spir._ they are man's. and they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. this boy is ignorance, this girl is want. beware them 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, great city. slander those who tell it ye. admit it for your factious purposes, make it worse, and abide the end. _scro._ have they no refuge or resource? _spir._ are there no prisons? are there no work-houses? _scro._ my very words, again. _spir._ begone! hideous, wretched creatures, your habitation should not be in a christian land. (_ignorance and want slouch off._) let us proceed, time is passing, and my life is hastening to an end. _scro._ are spirit's lives so short? _spir._ my life on this globe is very brief. it ends to-night. _scro._ to-night? _spir._ to-night, at midnight. (_exeunt._) scene iv--_drawing room. mr. and mrs. fred merry, miss julia kemper, miss sarah kemper, mr. thomas topper, mr. henry snapper, discovered seated around the dessert table. servant serving coffee._ _all._ (_laughing_) ha, ha! ha, ha, ha, ha! _enter spirit and scrooge_, l. _fred._ he said christmas was a humbug, as i live. _all._ ha, ha! ha, ha, ha, ha! _fred._ he believed it, too. _mrs. m._ more shame for him, fred! _fred._ he's a comical old fellow, that's the truth; and not so pleasant as he might be; however, his offenses carry their own punishment, and i have nothing to say against him. _mrs. m._ i'm sure he's very rich, fred. at least you always tell _me_ so. _fred._ what of that, my dear. his wealth is of no use to him. he don't do any good with it. he don't make himself comfortable with it. he hasn't the satisfaction of thinking--ha, ha, ha, ha!--that he is ever going to benefit us with it. _mrs. m._ i have no patience with him. _julia._ neither have i for such a stingy old wretch! _fred._ oh, i have. i am sorry for him; i couldn't be angry with him if i tried. who suffers by his ill whims? himself, always. here he takes it into his head to dislike us, and he won't come and dine with us. what's the consequence? he don't lose much of a dinner. _mrs. m._ indeed, i think he loses a very good dinner. _sarah._ a much better one than he could have served up in his old dingy chambers. _fred._ well, i'm very glad to hear it, because i haven't great faith in these young housekeepers. what do _you_ say, topper? _topper._ a bachelor like myself is a wretched outcast, and has no right to express an opinion on such an important subject. _mrs. m._ do go on, fred. he never finishes what he begins to say. he is such a ridiculous fellow. _fred._ i was only going to say, that the consequence of our uncle taking a dislike to us, and not making merry with us, _is_, as i think, that he loses some pleasant moments, which could do him no harm. i am sure he loses pleasanter companions than he finds 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 thinking better of it--i defy him--if he finds me going there, in good temper, year after year, and saying, uncle scrooge, i wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year! if it only puts him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty pounds, _that's_ something; and i think i shook him yesterday.--come, let us have some music. here, thomas, clear away. [_all rise and go to the piano. waiter clears table during the singing of a christmas carol or any selected piece._] _fred._ we must not devote the whole evening to music. suppose we have a game? _all._ agreed. _spir._ time flies; i have grown old. we must hasten on. _scro._ no, no! one half hour, spirit, only one. _fred._ i have a new game to propose. _sarah._ what is it? _fred._ it is a game called yes and no. i am to think of something and you are all to guess what it is. i am thinking of an animal, a live animal, rather a disagreeable animal, a savage animal that growls and grunts sometimes, and talks sometimes, and lives in london, and walks about the streets, and is not made a show of, and is not led by anybody and don't live in a menagerie, and is not a horse, a cow or a donkey or a bull. there, now guess? _mrs. m._ is it a pig? _fred._ no. _julia._ is it a tiger? _fred._ no. _topper._ is it a dog? _fred._ no. _sarah._ is it a cat? _snapper._ it's a monkey. _fred._ no. _mrs. m._ is it a bear? _fred._ no. _julia._ i have found it out! i know what it is, fred! i know what it is! _fred._ what is it? _julia._ it's your uncle scro-o-o-oge! _fred._ yes. _all._ ha, ha, ha! ha, ha, ha! _mrs. m._ it is hardly fair, you ought to have said yes, when i said, it's a bear. _fred._ he has given us plenty of merriment, i'm sure, and it would be ungrateful not to drink his health. here is some mulled wine ready to our hand at the moment; and when you are ready i say uncle scrooge! (_servant brings wine forward._) _all._ well! uncle scrooge! _fred._ a merry christmas, and a happy new year to the old man. he wouldn't take it from me, but may he have it, nevertheless. uncle scrooge! _all._ uncle scrooge, uncle scrooge! (_scrooge seems to make efforts to reply to the toast, while spirit drags him away._) curtain. stave four. scene i.--_scrooge's chambers._ _scrooge discovered upon his knees._ _scro._ can this be the spirit of christmas future that i see approaching? shrouded in a black garment, which conceals its head, its form, its face, and leaves nothing visible save one outstretched hand. i am in the presence of the ghost of christmas yet to come. it points onward with its hand. you are about to show me the shadows of things that have not happened, but will happen in the time before us. is that so, spirit? (_rises and stands trembling._) ghost of the future, i fear you more than any spectre i have seen; but as i know your purpose is to do me good, and as i hope to live to be another man from what i was, i am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart. will you not speak to me? it will not speak. the hand points straight before us. lead on! lead on! the night is waning fast, and it is precious time to me, i know. lead on, spirit. (_scrooge crosses stage, as if following spirit to tormentor entrance, and remains while the scene changes._) scene ii.--_a street._ _scro._ ah, here comes stevens and there jones. i have always made it a point to stand well in their esteem--that is in a business point of view. _enter mr. stevens_ r. _and mr. jones_ l., _meeting_. _stevens._ how are you? _jones._ pretty well. so old scratch has got his own, at last, hey? _stev._ so i am told. cold, isn't it? _jones._ seasonable for christmas-time. you're not a skater, i suppose? _stev._ no, no. something else to think of. good morning. [_exeunt in opposite directions._] _scro._ ah, here are more of my old business friends; the spirit directs me to hear what they say. _enter mr. fatchin, mr. snuffer and mr. redface._ _mr. f._ no; i don't know much about it, either way; i only know he's dead. _mr. r._ when did he die? _mr. f._ last night, i believe. _mr. s._ why, what was the matter with him? (_takes snuff out of a large snuff-box._) i thought he would never die. _mr. f._ i did not take the trouble to inquire. _mr. r._ what has he done with his money? _mr. f._ i haven't heard (_yawning_); left it to his company, perhaps. he hasn't left it to _me_. that's all i know. (_all laugh._) it's likely to be a very cheap funeral, for upon my life i don't know of any body to go to it. suppose we make up a party and volunteer? _mr. r._ i don't mind going if a lunch is provided. i must be fed if i make one. (_all laugh._) _mr. f._ well, i am the most disinterested, after all, for i never wear black gloves and i never eat lunch. but i'll offer to go, if any body else will. when i come to think of it, i am not at all sure that i wasn't his most particular friend; for we used to stop and speak whenever we met. _mr. s._ i would volunteer, but that i have another little matter to attend to that will prevent me. however, i have no objections to joining you in a drink to his memory. _mr. r._ i am with you. let us adjourn to the punch bowl. [_exeunt._] _scro._ to whom can these allusions refer; jacob marley has been dead these seven years, and surely those whom i have considered my best friends would not speak of my death so unfeelingly. i suppose, however, that these conversations have some latent moral for my own improvement, and as i have now resolved upon a change of life, i shall treasure up all i see and hear. lead on, shadow, i follow! (_crosses to the opposite entrance and remains._) scene iii.--_interior of a junk or pawn-shop._ _enter old joe, ushering in mrs. mangle, mrs. dilber and mr. shroud, door in flat._ _old joe._ you couldn't have met in a better place; come in. you were made free here long ago, you know, and the other two ain't strangers. stop till i shut the door of the shop. ah! how it shrieks! there isn't such a rusty bit of metal in the place as its own hinges, i believe, and i'm sure there's no such old bones here as mine. ha, ha! we're all suitable to our calling, we're well matched. come, come! we are at home here. (_trims smoky lamp at table._) _mrs. m._ what odds, then! what odds, mrs. dilber? (_throws her bundle on the floor and sits on a stool, resting her elbows on her knees._) every person has a right to take care of themselves. _he_ always did. _mrs. d._ that's true, indeed! no man cared for himself more than he did. _mrs. m._ why, then, don't stand staring as if you was afraid, woman; who's the wiser? we're not going to pick holes in each other's coats, i suppose? _mr. shroud._ no, indeed! we should hope not. _mrs. m._ very well, then: that's enough. who's the worse for the loss of a few things like these? not a dead man, i suppose. _mr. s._ (_laughing._) no, indeed. _mrs. m._ if he wanted to keep 'em after he was dead, the wicked old screw, why wasn't he natural in his life time? if he had been, he'd have had somebody to look after him when he was struck with death, instead of lying gasping out his last there, alone by himself. _mrs. d._ it's the truest word ever was spoke. it's a judgment on him. _mrs. m._ i wish it was a little heavier judgment, and it should have been, you may depend upon it, if i could have laid my hands 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 to let them see it. we knew pretty well that we were helping ourselves, before we met here, i believe. it's no sin. open the bundle, joe. _mr. s._ oh, no; we don't mind showing what we have. here, joe, value these. (_mrs. d. and mr. s. lay their packages on the table and joe proceeds to examine them._) _joe._ (_chalking the figures on the wall as he names them._) a seal, eight shillings; pencil-case, three and six pence; pair of sleeve-buttons, five and four-pence; scarf-pin, ninepence. nine and four, thirteen, and six, is nineteen--seven. one and five's six, and thirteen is nine, and eight makes seventeen. that's your account, and i wouldn't give another sixpence if i was to be boiled for it. who's next? _mrs. d._ i hope you'll be more liberal with me, mr. joe. i'm a poor, lone widow, and it's hard for me to make a living. _joe._ i always give too much to the ladies. it's a weakness of mine, and that's the way i ruin myself. under-clothing, sheets, towels, sugar-tongs; these tea-spoons are old-fashioned, and the boots won't bear mending. one pound six, that's your account. if you asked me another penny, and made it an open question i'd repent of being liberal, and knock off half a crown. _mrs. m._ now, undo _my_ bundle, joe. _joe._ (_opening bundle._) what do you call this? bed curtains? _mrs. m._ ah! (_laughing._) bed curtains. _joe._ you don't mean to say you took 'em down, rings and all, with old scrooge lying there? _mrs. m._ yes i do. why not? _joe._ you were born to make your fortune, and you'll certainly do it. _mrs. m._ i certainly shan't hold my hand, when i can get anything in it by reaching it out, for the sake of such a man as _he_ was, i promise you, joe. don't drop that oil upon the blanket, now. _joe._ his blankets? _mrs. m._ whose else's do you think? he isn't likely to take cold without 'em, i dare say. joe. i hope he didn't die of anything catching. eh? (_stopping his work and looking up._) _mrs. m._ don't you be afraid of that: i ain't so fond of his company that i'd loiter about him for such things if he did. ah, you may look through that shirt till your eyes ache, but you won't find a hole in it nor a thread-bare place. it's the best he had, and a fine one, too. they'd have wasted it if it hadn't been for me. _joe._ what do you call wasting of it? _mrs. m._ (_laughing._) putting it on him to be buried in, to be sure. somebody was fool enough to do it, but i took it off again. if calico ain't good enough for such a purpose, it isn't good enough for anything. it's as becoming to the body. he can't look uglier than he did in that one. _joe._ well, well! i'll ruin myself again. i'll give you two guineas for the lot, and go to the bankrupt court. (_takes bag of coin and counts out their amounts._) _mrs. m._ ha, ha! this is the end of it, you see. he frightened every one away from him when he was alive, to profit us when he was dead. _all._ ha, ha, ha! [_exeunt door in flat, old joe lighting them out._] _scro._ spirit! i see, i see. this is my own case, if nothing happens to change it. my life tends this way. spirit, in leaving this. i shall not leave its lesson; trust me. if there is any person in the city who feels the least emotion for the death here announced, show that person to me. [_crosses to_ l., _while scene closes in_.] scene iv.--_street. exterior of scrooge & marley's counting house._ _scro._ why, here is my place of business, and has been occupied by scrooge & marley for many years. i see the house, let me behold what i shall be in the days to come. why, spirit, the house is yonder. why do you point away? (_goes to the window and looks in._) it is the old office still; the same furniture; but no one occupies my chair. ah! some one comes. _enter james badger from counting house, going off right, meets mrs. badger at right entrance._ _mrs. b._ ah! james. i have waited for you so long. what news? is it good or bad? _james._ bad. _mrs b._ we are quite ruined? _james._ no. there is hope yet, caroline. _mrs. b._ if _he_ relents, there is. nothing is past hope, if such a miracle has happened. _james._ he is past relenting. he is dead. _mrs. b._ dead! thank heaven; we are saved. (_pause._) i pray forgiveness, i am sorry that i gave expression to the emotions of my heart. _james._ what the half drunken woman, whom i told you of last night, said to me when i tried to see him and obtain a week's delay, and what i thought was a mere excuse to avoid me, turns out to have been quite true. he was not only very ill, but dying then. _mrs. b._ to whom will our debt be transferred? _james._ i don't know, and i have been unable to ascertain. at all events, before that time we shall be ready with the money; and even though we were not, it would be a bad fortune indeed to find so merciless a creditor in his successor. we may sleep to-night with light hearts, caroline! _mrs. b._ yes; and our dear children will be brighter when they find the gloom dispelled from the minds of their parents. we cannot deny that this man's death has occasioned some happiness. _james._ come, let us hurry home [_exeunt_, r.] _scro._ spirit, it is evident that the only emotion you can show me, caused by the event foreshadowed, is one of pleasure. let me see some tenderness connected with the death of another, or what has just been shown me will be forever present in my mind. scene v.--_bob cratchit's home. mrs. cratchit, belinda, little cratchit and peter cratchit discovered at table, the two former sewing and the latter reading a book._ _peter._ (_reading._) and he took a child and set him in the midst of them. _scro._ where have i heard those words? i have not dreamed them. why does he not go on? _mrs c._ (_betrays emotions; lays her work upon the table, and puts her hand to her face._) the color hurts my eyes. _bel._ yes, poor tiny tim! _mrs. c._ they're better now. it makes them weak by candle-light; and i wouldn't show weak eyes to your father when he comes home, for the world. it must be near his time. (_resumes her work._) _peter._ past it, rather (_shutting up book_), but i think he has walked a little slower than he used, these last few evenings, mother. _mrs. c._ (_in a faltering voice._) i have known him walk with--i have known him walk with tiny tim upon his shoulder very fast indeed. _peter._ and so have i, often. _bel._ and so have i. _mrs. c._ but he was very light to carry, and his father loved him so, that it was no trouble; no trouble. and there is your father at the door. _enter bob cratchit. belinda and little cratchit meet him; peter places a chair for him, and mrs. c. averts her head to conceal her emotion. bob kisses belinda, and takes little c. on his knees, who lays his little cheek against his face._ _bob._ hard at work, my dears; hard at work. why, how industrious you are, and what progress you are making. you will be done long before sunday. _mrs. c._ sunday! you went to-day, then, robert? _bob._ yes, my dear; i wish you could have gone, it would have done you good to see how green a place it is. but you'll see it often. i promised him that i would walk there on a sunday. my little, little child! my little child! (_rises and retires up stage to compose himself; returns and resumes his place at the table._) oh, i must tell you of the extraordinary kindness of mr scrooge's nephew, whom i have scarcely seen but once, and who, meeting me in the street, and seeing that i looked a little--just a little--down, you know, inquired what had happened to distress me. on which, for he is the pleasantest-spoken gentleman you ever heard, i told him. i am heartily sorry for it, mr. cratchit, he said, and heartily sorry for your good wife. by-the-bye, how he ever knew _that_, i don't know. _mrs. c._ knew what, my dear? _bob._ why, that you were a good wife. _peter._ everybody knows that! _bob._ very well observed, my boy. i hope they do. heartily sorry, he said, for your good wife. if i can be of service to you in any way, he said, giving me his card, that's where i live; pray come to me. now, it wasn't for the sake of anything he might be able to do for us, so much as for his kind way, that this was quite delightful. it really seemed as if he had known our tiny tim, and felt with us. _mrs. c._ i'm sure he's a good soul. _bob._ you would be sure of it, my dear, if you saw and spoke to him. i shouldn't be at all surprised--mark my words--if he got peter a better situation. _mrs. c._ only hear that, peter. _bel._ and then peter will be keeping company with some one, and setting up for himself. _peter._ (_grinning_.) get along with you! _bob._ it's just as likely as not, one of these days; though there's plenty of time for that, my dear. but, however and whenever we part from one another, i am sure we shall none of us forget poor tiny tim, shall we? _all._ never, father. _bob._ and i know, i know, my dears, that when we recollect how patient and how mild he was--although he was a little child--we shall not quarrel easily among ourselves, and forget poor tiny tim in doing it. _all._ no, never, father. (_all rise._) _bob._ i am very happy. i am very happy! (_kisses mrs c., belinda, young c. and shakes hands with peter._) spirit of tiny tim, thy childish essence is from above. curtain. stave five. scene i.--_scrooge's chamber. scrooge discovered on his knees at the easy chair._ _scro._ spirit! hear me! i am not the man i was. i will not be the man i must have been, but for this intercourse. why have shown me all that you have, if i am past all hope? good spirit, your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. assure me that i yet may change the shadows you have shown me, by an altered life. your hand trembles. 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 within me. i will not shut out the lessons that they teach. oh! tell me i may sponge away the shadows of the future. (_grasps the easy chair in his agony, as if struggling to detain it._) do not go, i entreat you. it shrinks, it has collapsed, it has dwindled down into an easy chair. yes! my own chair, my own room and best--and happiest of all--my own time before me to make amends in. oh, jacob marley, heaven and the christmas time be praised for this! i say it on my knees, old jacob; on my knees! (_rises and goes and opens door_ r., 2d e.) they are not torn down--the bed curtains are not torn down, rings and all. they are there--i am here--the shadows of the things that would have been, may be dispelled. they will be; i know they will! (_commences to dress himself, putting everything on wrong, etc._) i don't know what to do! (_laughing and crying._) 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 giddy as a drunken man. a merry christmas to every body! a happy new year to all the world! halloo here! waoop! halloo! (_dancing and capering around the room._) there's the saucepan that the gruel was in; there's the door by which the ghost of jacob marley entered; there's the corner (_pointing into adjoining room_) where the ghost of christmas past sat. it's all right; it's all true; it all happened. ha, ha, ha! (_laughing heartily._) i don't know what day of the month it is. i don't know how long i've been among the spirits. i don't know any thing. i'm quite a baby. never mind; i don't care. i'd rather be a baby. haloo! whoop! halloo here! (_bells or chimes commences to ring. goes to window and opens it._) no fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; golden sunlight, heavenly sky; sweet, fresh air; merry bells. oh, glorious! glorious! (_looking out of window_) hey! you boy in your sunday clothes, what's to-day? _voice outside._ eh? _scro._ what's to day my fine fellow? _voice outside._ to-day! why. christmas day. _scro._ it's christmas day; i haven't missed it. the spirits have done it all in one night. they can do any thing they like. of course they can. of course they can. (_returns to window._) halloo, my fine fellow! _voice outside._ halloo! _scro._ do you know the poulterers in the next street but one, at the corner? _voice outside._ i should hope i did. _scro._ an intelligent boy! a remarkable boy! do you know whether they've sold the prize turkey that was hanging up there? not the little prize turkey; the big one? _voice outside._ what the one as big as me? _scro._ what a delightful boy. it's a pleasure to talk to him. yes, my buck. _voice outside._ it's hanging there now. _scro._ is it? go and buy it. _voice outside._ what do you take me for? _scro._ no, no. i am in earnest. go and buy it, and tell 'em to bring it here, that i may give them the directions where to take it. come back with the man, and i'll give you a shilling. come back with him in less than five minutes, and i'll gave you half a crown. that boy's off like a shot. i'll send it to bob cratchit's. (_rubbing his hands and chuckling._) he shan't know who sent it. it's twice the size of tiny tim. joe miller never made such a joke as sending it to bob's will be. i must write the directions for that turkey. (_sits at table to write._) scene ii--_a street. exterior of scrooge's chambers._ _enter scrooge from the house._ _scro._ (_addressing the knocker on the door._) i shall love it as long as i live. (_patting the knocker._) i scarcely ever looked at it before. what an honest expression it has in its face. it's a wonderful knocker.--here's the turkey. _enter boy with large turkey._ _scro._ halloo! whoop! how are you! merry christmas! there's a turkey for you! this bird never could have stood upon his legs, he would have snapped 'em short off in a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax. here's your half-crown, boy. now take the monster to bob cratchit, camden-town; and tell him it's a present from his grandmother, who wishes him a merry christmas, and a happy new year. hold, that, turkey is too large for you to carry; take a cab, here's the money to pay for it. _enter mr. and mrs. badger_, r. _scro._ why, here comes james badger and wife, as sure as i live. good morning! _james._ good morning, sir! a merry christmas to you! _scro._ the same to you both, and many of them. _mrs. b._ he seems in a good humor, speak to him about it. _scro._ going to church, eh? _james._ we were going, sir, to hear the christmas carols, but mindful of the obligation resting upon us, which falls due to-morrow, and of our inability to meet the payment, we have called to beg your indulgence, and ask for a further extension of time. _scro._ why, james, how much do you owe me? _james._ twenty pounds, sir. _scro._ how long since you contracted the debt? _james._ ten years to morrow, sir. _scro._ then you have already paid me over half the amount in interest, which interest has been compounded, and i have, in fact, received more than the principal. my dear fellow, you owe me nothing, just consider the debt cancelled. _james._ surely, sir, you cannot mean it. _scro._ but i do. _mrs. b._ oh, sir, how can we ever sufficiently manifest our gratitude for such unexpected generosity? _scro._ by saying nothing about it. remember, james and wife, this is christmas day, and on this day, of all others, we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us. _james._ may heaven reward you, sir. you have lightened our hearts of a heavy burden. _scro._ there, there! go to church. _james._ we shall, sir, and remember our benefactor in our devotions. (_shaking hands._) i can say heartily a merry christmas. _mrs. b._ and a happy new year. [_exeunt_ l.] _scro._ i guess they are glad, now, that i am alive, and will be really sorry when i die. halloo! whoop! _enter mr. barnes_, l., _passes across stage; scrooge follows and stops him._ _scro._ my dear sir (_taking both, his hands_), how do you do? i hope you succeeded yesterday. it was very kind of you. a merry christmas to you, sir. _mr. b._ mr. scrooge? _scro._ yes. that is my name, and i fear it may not be pleasant to you. allow me to ask your pardon. and will you have the goodness--(_scrooge whispers in his ear._) _mr. b._ lord bless me--you take my breath away. my dear mr. scrooge, are you really serious? _scro._ if you please. not a farthing less. a great many back payments are included in it, i assure you. will you do me the favor? _mr. b._ my dear sir (_shaking hands with him_), i don't know what to say to such munifi-_scro._ don't say any thing, please. come and see me. will you come and see me? _mr. b._ i will--with great pleasure. [_exit_, r.] _scro._ thank'er. i am much obliged to you. i thank you fifty times. bless you! _enter bob cratchit_, r., _with tiny tim on his shoulder_. _scro._ halloo, bob cratchit! what do you mean by coming here? _bob._ i am very sorry, sir; i was not coming, i was only passing, sir, on my way to hear the christmas carols. _scro._ what right have you to be passing here to remind me that it is christmas? _bob._ it's only once a year, sir; it shall not be repeated. _scro._ now, i'll tell you what, my friend. i am not going to stand this any longer: and therefore i give you permission to pass my house fifty times a day, if you want to. i give you a week's vacation, without any deduction for lost time. i am about to raise your salary. (_giving him a dig in the waistcoat; bob staggers back, and scrooge follows him up._) a merry christmas, bob! (_slapping him on the back._) a merrier christmas, bob, my good fellow, than i have ever given you for many a year! i'll raise your salary, and endeavor to assist your struggling family, and i'll be tiny tim's godfather. come along, my good fellow, we'll go to church together, and discuss your affairs on the way. tiny tim, what do you say to that? _tiny tim._ i say god bless us, every one. _bob._ i would like to say something, sir, but you have deprived me of the power of speech. _scro._ come on, then, we'll talk it over as we go. come tiny tim, and go with your godfather. (_takes tim on his shoulder. exeunt_, l.) scene iii.--_drawing room in fred merry's house. fred, mrs. fred and mrs. kemper discovered seated at table, conversing._ _fred._ is it possible! you surprise me. i never had the least idea that you had ever met uncle scrooge, much less that he was an old admirer of yours. _mrs. m._ oh! do tell us all about it, dear mother; i'm dying to hear it. _mrs. k._ well, you must know, my dear children, that fanny scrooge--our mother, fred--was my earliest friend and schoolmate, and through her i became acquainted with her brother--your uncle; at that time a noble spirited boy, fresh from his studies. our friendship soon ripened into love, and a betrothal. i cannot describe to you how happy and light hearted i was, and how true and devoted your uncle continued. our marriage was deferred until such time as he should be in a position to provide us a suitable home. after he left mr. fezziwig's, where he had served his time, he entered the service of jacob marley, and subsequently became his partner. it was at this time i observed a change in him; he was not less ardent than before, but i soon discovered that avarice had become the guiding passion of his nature, and that our love was subservient to its influence. foreseeing that only misery could ensue from our union, i released him from the engagement. and now after the lapse of many years, with the exception of the day, five years ago, when he attended your father's funeral, we have not met or exchanged a word with each other. _mrs m._ but, mother, did you really love him? _mrs. k._ i did, my dear--previous to the discovery of the change in him. _mrs. m._ and did you not sacrifice your love in releasing him? _mrs. k._ i merely sacrificed my desires to common sense. love, to be lasting, must be mutual, and if it is not paramount to all other passions, it ends in misery or hate. hence, being guided by judgment, i soon found by experience that true love can again exist if worthily bestowed. _fred._ well, dear mother, i agree with your estimate of uncle scrooge. this is the sixth christmas day of our married life, and each christmas eve i have invited him to come and dine with us, but he has never yet honored us with his presence, and i suppose he never will. _scro._ (_gently opening the door and putting in his head._) fred! may i come in? (_all start and rise, and fred rushes toward the door with both hands extended._) _fred._ why, bless my soul! who's that? _scro._ it's i, your uncle scrooge. i have accepted your invitation. will you let me in? _fred._ let you in! (_shaking him heartily by both hands._) dear heart alive! why not! welcome! welcome! my wife, your niece--yes, you may. (_scrooge kisses her._) our mother. _scro._ belle! heavens! what shall i do? (_aside._) _mrs. k._ i fear that our meeting will be painful. i beg your permission, my son, to retire. _fred._ no, no, no. this is christmas day. everybody can be happy on this day that desires to be, and i know that your meeting can be made a pleasant and agreeable one if you both so will it. "peace on earth and good will to man," is the day's golden maxim. _scro._ although somewhat embarrassed, i concur most heartily in the wise and good-natured counsel of my dear nephew. never before have i experienced the joys common to this day, and never hereafter, while i am permitted to live, shall i miss them. in the past twenty-four hours i have undergone a complete revolution of ideas and desires, and have awakened unto a new life. instead of a sordid, avaricious old man, i trust you will find a cheerful, liberal christian, ever ready to extend to his fellow creatures a merry christmas, and a happy new year. _fred._ why! uncle, i wonder _you_ don't go into parliament. i could dance for joy. (_embracing him._) you dear old man! you shall ever find a hearty welcome here. _mrs. m._ i join with my husband in his earnest congratulations. _mrs. k._ i confess, mr. scrooge, that i am rejoiced to find your nephew's assertions so quickly verified, and that an opportunity is offered to renew an acquaintance which i hope will end in uninterrupted friendship. (_they shake hands._) _fred._ ah, here comes topper and the girls. _enter topper and julia kemper, snapper and sarah kemper._ _fred._ come, girls, hug and kiss your uncle scrooge, he has come to make merry with us. (_takes the girls to scrooge, and endeavors to make them hug, doing most of the hugging himself._) hug him hard! this is topper, and this is snapper, they are both sweet on the girls. (_all laugh._) _julia and sarah._ oh, you bad man. _fred._ come, let us lose no time. what do you say to a game? shall it be blind man's buff? _all._ agreed. _fred._ come, uncle scrooge, the oldest, first. _scro._ do with me as you please; it is christmas day. (_they play a lively game, falling over chairs, etc. scrooge catches each lady, and guesses wrong, until he gets mrs. merry, who, in turn, catches topper, who pulls the bandage down and goes for julia, and pretends that he tells who she is by the way the hair is fixed, etc. scrooge and mrs. kemper retire up stage, and converse._) _julia._ ah, that's not fair, you peeped. i won't play any more. (_goes up stage with topper._) _fred._ well, i could have guessed that catch, and it's nothing more than fair that he should peep before making it. it seems, my dear, that our company have divided into couples. ought we not demand an explanation? _mrs. m._ as master of the house, it is your duty. _fred._ mr. thomas topper and others, we have long suspected you of some horrible design against the peace and happiness of this family. what say you to the charge? _julia._ on behalf our clients, we plead guilty. _sarah._ and urge extenuating circumstances. _fred._ then nothing more remains, but for the court to pronounce sentence, which is, that you be placed under the bonds of matrimony, at such time and place as may suit your convenience. but, madam belle kemper and ebenezer scrooge, what have you to say in your defense. _mrs. k._ only this, that christmas works wonders. _scro._ in other words, mrs. kemper finds that christmas has restored me to a primitive condition, and leaves it to time to test the merits of the happy change. (_to audience._) we all have cause to bless christmas, and it shall always be my delight to wish you a merry christmas, and a happy new year, with tiny tim's addition of "god bless us every one." _curtain._ * * * * * transcriber's notes: obvious punctuation errors repaired. corrections were made in the text where part of a phrase or name was only partially italic. for example, on page 34, the "f." of _mr. f._ on one part of dialogue had been printed as "_mr._ f." these things were repaired. page iii, "peice" changed to "piece" (piece can be performed) page vi, "past" changed to "past" (hearth for the spirit of christmas past) page vii, "suit" changed to "suite" (fireplace l. suite of) page vii, "dressar" changed to "dresser" (oranges on dresser) page viii, "windew" changed to "window" (g. window l. c.) page viii, "cratchet's" changed to "cratchit's" (scene v.--bob cratchit's) page 10, "calender" changed to "calendar" (the long calendar of) page 12, "sch." changed to "scro." (_scro._. oh! i was afraid) page 15, "make" changed to "made" (i made it link) page 16, "invisable" changed to "invisible" (sat invisible beside) page 19, "use" changed to "used" (than he used to be) page 19, "gho." changed to "scro." (_scro._ know it!) page 20, "to" changed to "too" (the world too much) page 21, "chosing" changed to "choosing" (or choosing her) page 23, "mistleto" changed to "mistletoe" (also holly, mistletoe) page 25, "hurrrh" changed to "hurrah" (hurrah! hurrah! here's) page 26, "ahd" changed to "and" (than before, and tiny) page 28, "scro." changed to "spir." (_spir._ begone! hideous) page 28, "desert" changed to "dessert" (around the dessert table) page 29, "househeepers" changed to "housekeepers" (these young housekeepers) page 29, "vain" changed to "vein" (puts him in the vein) page 31, "prepered" changed to "prepared" (i am prepared to) page 31, "be ore" changed to "before" (before us. lead) page 32, "that" changed to "that's" (that's all i know) page 33, "skrieks" changed to "shrieks" (how it shrieks!) page 34, "mysel" changed to "myself" (i ruin myself) page 45, "suapper" changed to "snapper" (and this is snapper) a christmas carol by charles dickens illustrated by george alfred williams new york the platt & peck co. _copyright, 1905, by_ the baker & taylor company [illustration: "he had been tim's blood horse all the way from church."] introduction the combined qualities of the realist and the idealist which dickens possessed to a remarkable degree, together with his naturally jovial attitude toward life in general, seem to have given him a remarkably happy feeling toward christmas, though the privations and hardships of his boyhood could have allowed him but little real experience with this day of days. dickens gave his first formal expression to his christmas thoughts in his series of small books, the first of which was the famous "christmas carol," the one perfect chrysolite. the success of the book was immediate. thackeray wrote of it: "who can listen to objections regarding such a book as this? it seems to me a national benefit, and to every man or woman who reads it, a personal kindness." this volume was put forth in a very attractive manner, with illustrations by john leech, who was the first artist to make these characters live, and his drawings were varied and spirited. there followed upon this four others: "the chimes," "the cricket on the hearth," "the battle of life," and "the haunted man," with illustrations on their first appearance by doyle, maclise, and others. the five are known to-day as the "christmas books." of them all the "carol" is the best known and loved, and "the cricket on the hearth," although third in the series, is perhaps next in point of popularity, and is especially familiar to americans through joseph jefferson's characterisation of caleb plummer. dickens seems to have put his whole self into these glowing little stories. whoever sees but a clever ghost story in the "christmas carol" misses its chief charm and lesson, for there is a different meaning in the movements of scrooge and his attendant spirits. a new life is brought to scrooge when he, "running to his window, opened it and put out his head. no fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; golden sun-light; heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. oh, glorious! glorious!" all this brightness has its attendant shadow, and deep from the childish heart comes that true note of pathos, the ever memorable toast of tiny tim, "god bless us, every one!" "the cricket on the hearth" strikes a different note. charmingly, poetically, the sweet chirping of the little cricket is associated with human feelings and actions, and at the crisis of the story decides the fate and fortune of the carrier and his wife. dickens's greatest gift was characterization, and no english writer, save shakespeare, has drawn so many and so varied characters. it would be as absurd to interpret all of these as caricatures as to deny dickens his great and varied powers of creation. dickens exaggerated many of his comic and satirical characters, as was his right, for caricature and satire are very closely related, while exaggeration is the very essence of comedy. but there remains a host of characters marked by humour and pathos. yet the pictorial presentation of dickens's characters has ever tended toward the grotesque. the interpretations in this volume aim to eliminate the grosser phases of the caricature in favour of the more human. if the interpretations seem novel, if scrooge be not as he has been pictured, it is because a more human scrooge was desired--a scrooge not wholly bad, a scrooge of a better heart, a scrooge to whom the resurrection described in this story was possible. it has been the illustrator's whole aim to make these people live in some form more fully consistent with their types. george alfred williams. _chatham, n.j._ contents a christmas carol stave page i _marley's ghost_ 11 ii _the first of the three spirits_ 32 iii _the second of the three spirits_ 51 iv _the last of the spirits_ 76 v _the end of it_ 93 illustrations a christmas carol _"he had been tim's blood horse all the way from church."_ frontispiece _"a merry christmas, uncle! god save you!" cried a cheerful voice._ 14 _to sit staring at those fixed glazed eyes in silence, for a moment, would play, scrooge felt, the very deuce with him._ 26 _"you recollect the way?" inquired the spirit. "remember it!" cried scrooge, with fervour; "i could walk it blindfold."_ 36 _"why, it's ali baba!" scrooge exclaimed in ecstasy. "it's dear old honest ali baba!"_ 38 a christmas carol in prose being a ghost story of christmas stave one marley's ghost marley was dead, to begin with. there is no doubt whatever about that. the register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. scrooge signed it. and scrooge's name was good upon 'change for anything he chose to put his hand to. old marley was as dead as a door-nail. mind! i don't mean to say that i know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. i might have been inclined, myself, 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 hands shall not disturb it, or the country's done for. you will, therefore, permit me to repeat, emphatically, that marley was as dead as a door-nail. scrooge knew he was dead? of course he did. how could it be otherwise? scrooge and he were partners for i don't know how many years. scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. and even scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain. the mention of marley's funeral brings me back to the point i started from. there is no doubt that marley was dead. this must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story i am going 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 own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot--say st. paul's church-yard, for instance--literally to astonish his son's weak mind. scrooge never painted out old marley's name. there it stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse door: scrooge and marley. the firm was known as scrooge and marley. sometimes people new to the business called scrooge scrooge, and sometimes marley, but he answered to both names. it was all the same to him. oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. the cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. a frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. he carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn't thaw it one degree at christmas. external heat and cold had little influence on scrooge. no warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. no wind that blew was bitterer than he, no 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 rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. they often "came down" handsomely and scrooge never did. nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, "my dear scrooge, how are you? when will you come to see me?" no beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children 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, when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, "no eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!" but what did scrooge care? it was the very thing he liked. to edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call "nuts" to scrooge. once upon a time--of all the good days in the year, on christmas eve--old scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. it was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping 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 neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. the fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that, although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. to see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that nature lived hard by and was brewing on a large scale. the door of scrooge's counting-house was open, that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk'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 predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of strong imagination, he failed. "a merry christmas, uncle! god save you!" cried a cheerful voice. it was the voice of scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach. "bah!" said scrooge. "humbug!" he had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again. "christmas a humbug, uncle!" said scrooge's nephew. "you don't mean that, i am sure?" "i do," said scrooge. "merry christmas! what right have you to be merry? what reason have you to be merry? you're poor enough." "come, then," returned the nephew gaily. "what right have you to be dismal? what reason have you to be morose? you're rich enough." scrooge, having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, "bah!" again; and followed it up with "humbug!" "don't be cross, uncle!" said the nephew. [illustration: _"a merry christmas, uncle! god save you!" cried a cheerful voice._] "what else can i be," returned the uncle, "when i live in such a world of fools as this? merry christmas! out upon merry christmas! what's christmas-time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, and 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 my will," said scrooge indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with 'merry christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. he should!" "uncle!" pleaded the nephew. "nephew!" returned the uncle sternly, "keep christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine." "keep it!" repeated scrooge's nephew. "but you don't keep it." "let me leave it alone, then," said scrooge. "much good may it do you! 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 nephew; "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 shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. and therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, i believe that it _has_ done me good, and _will_ do me good; and i say, god bless it!" the clerk in the tank involuntarily applauded. becoming immediately sensible of the impropriety, he poked the fire, and extinguished the last frail spark for ever. "let me hear another sound from _you_," said scrooge, "and you'll keep your christmas by losing your situation! you're quite a powerful speaker, sir," he added, turning to his nephew. "i wonder you don't go into parliament." "don't be angry, uncle. come! dine with us to-morrow." scrooge said that he would see him----yes, indeed he did. he went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first. "but why?" cried scrooge's nephew. "why?" "why did you get married?" said scrooge. "because i fell in love." "because you fell in love!" growled scrooge, as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry christmas. "good afternoon!" "nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that happened. why give it as a reason for not coming now?" "good afternoon," said scrooge. "i want nothing from you; i ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?" "good afternoon!" said scrooge. "i am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. we have never had any quarrel to which i have been a party. but i have made the trial in homage to christmas, and i'll keep my christmas humour to the last. so a merry christmas, uncle!" "good afternoon," said scrooge. "and a happy new year!" "good afternoon!" said scrooge. his nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding. he stopped at the outer door to bestow the greetings of the season on the clerk, who, cold as he was, was warmer than scrooge; for he returned them cordially. "there's another fellow," muttered scrooge, who overheard him: "my clerk, with fifteen shillings a week, and a wife and family, talking about a merry christmas. i'll retire to bedlam." this lunatic, in letting scrooge's nephew out, had let two other people in. they were portly gentlemen, pleasant to behold, and now stood, with their hats off, in scrooge's office. they had books and papers in their hands, and bowed to him. "scrooge and marley's, i believe," said one of the gentlemen, referring to his list. "have i the pleasure of addressing mr. scrooge, or mr. marley?" "mr. marley has been dead these seven years," scrooge replied. "he died seven years ago, this very night." "we have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner," said the gentleman, presenting his credentials. it certainly was; for they had been two kindred spirits. at the ominous word "liberality" scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back. "at this festive season of the year, mr. scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir." "are there no prisons?" asked scrooge. "plenty of prisons," said the gentleman, laying down the pen again. "and the union workhouses?" demanded scrooge. "are they still in operation?" "they are. still," returned the gentleman, "i wish i could say they were not." "the treadmill and the poor law are in full vigour, then?" said scrooge. "both very busy, sir." "oh! i was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course," said scrooge. "i am very glad to hear it." "under the impression that they scarcely furnish christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude," returned the gentleman, "a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. we choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when want is keenly felt, and abundance rejoices. what shall i put you down for?" "nothing!" scrooge replied. "you wish to be anonymous?" "i wish to be left alone," said scrooge. "since you ask me what i wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. i don't make merry myself at christmas, and i can't afford to make idle people merry. i help to support the establishments i have mentioned--they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there." "many can't go there; and many would rather die." "if they would rather die," said scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. besides--excuse me--i don't know that." "but you might know it," observed the gentleman. "it's not my business," scrooge returned. "it's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people's. mine occupies me constantly. good afternoon, gentlemen!" seeing clearly that it would be useless to pursue their point, the gentlemen withdrew. scrooge resumed his labours with an improved opinion of himself, and in a more facetious temper than was usual with him. meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so, that people ran about with flaring links, proffering their services to go before horses in carriages, and conduct them on their way. the ancient tower of a church, whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at scrooge out of a gothic window in the wall, became invisible, and struck the hours and quarters in the clouds, with tremulous vibrations afterwards, as if its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there. the cold became intense. in the main street, at the corner of the court, some labourers 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 suddenly 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 glorious pageant, with which it was next to impossible to believe that such dull principles as bargain and sale had anything to do. the lord mayor, in the stronghold of the mighty mansion house, gave orders to his fifty cooks and butlers to keep christmas as a lord mayor's household should; and even the little tailor, whom he had fined five shillings on the previous monday for being drunk and blood-thirsty in the streets, stirred up to-morrow's pudding in his garret, while his lean wife and the baby sallied out to buy the beef. foggier yet, and colder! piercing, searching, biting cold. if the good st. dunstan had but nipped the evil spirit's nose with a touch of such weather 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 mumbled by the hungry cold as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped down at scrooge's keyhole to regale him with a christmas carol; but, at the first sound of "god bless you, merry gentleman, may nothing you dismay!" scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action, that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog, and even more congenial frost. at length the hour of shutting up the counting-house arrived. with an ill-will scrooge dismounted from his stool, and tacitly admitted the fact to the expectant clerk in the tank, who instantly snuffed his candle out, and put on his hat. "you'll want all day to-morrow, i suppose?" said scrooge. "if quite convenient, sir." "it's not convenient," said scrooge, "and it's not fair. if i was to stop half-a-crown for it, you'd think yourself ill used, i'll be bound?" the clerk smiled faintly. "and yet," said scrooge, "you don't think _me_ ill used when i pay a day's wages for no work." the clerk observed that it was only once a year. "a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of december!" said scrooge, buttoning his great-coat to the chin. "but i suppose you must have the whole day. be here all the earlier next morning." the clerk promised that he would; and scrooge walked out with a growl. the office was closed in a twinkling, and the clerk, with the long ends of his white comforter dangling below his waist (for he boasted no great-coat), went down a slide on cornhill, at the end of a lane of boys, twenty times, in honour of its being christmas-eve, and then ran home to camden town as hard as he could pelt, to play at blindman's buff. scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern; and having read all the newspapers, and beguiled the rest of the evening with his banker's book, went home to bed. he lived in chambers which had once belonged to his deceased partner. they were a gloomy suite of rooms, in a lowering pile 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 have forgotten the way out again. it was old enough now, and dreary enough; for nobody lived in it but scrooge, the other rooms being all let out as offices. the yard was so dark that even scrooge, who knew its every stone, was fain to grope with his hands. the fog and frost so hung about the black old gateway of the house, that it seemed as if the genius of the weather sat in mournful meditation on the threshold. now, it is a fact that there was nothing at all particular about the knocker on the door, except that it was very large. it is also a fact that scrooge had seen it, night and morning, during his whole residence in that place; also that scrooge had as little of 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-years'-dead partner that afternoon. and then let any man explain to me, if he can, how it happened that 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 marley's face. marley's face. it was not in impenetrable shadow, as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. it was not angry or ferocious, but 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 of hot air; and, though the eyes were wide open, they were perfectly motionless. that, and its livid colour, made it horrible; but its horror seemed to be in spite of the face, and beyond its control, rather than a part of its own expression. as scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon, it was a knocker again. to say that he was not startled, or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue. but he put his hand upon the key he had relinquished, turned it sturdily, walked in, and lighted his candle. he _did_ pause, with a moment's irresolution, before he shut the door; and he _did_ look cautiously behind it first, as if he half expected to be terrified with the sight of marley's pigtail sticking out into the hall. but there was nothing on the back of the door, except the screws and nuts that held the knocker on, so he said, "pooh, pooh!" and closed it with a bang. the sound resounded through the house like thunder. every room above, and every cask in the wine merchant's cellars below, appeared to have a separate peal of echoes of its own. scrooge was not a man to be frightened by echoes. he fastened the door, and walked across the hall, and up the stairs: slowly, too: trimming his candle as he went. you may talk vaguely about driving a coach and six up a good old flight of stairs, or through a bad young act of parliament; but i mean to say you might have got a hearse up that staircase, and taken it broadwise, 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 he saw a locomotive hearse going on before him in the gloom. half-a-dozen gas-lamps out of the street wouldn't have lighted the entry too well, so you may suppose that it was pretty dark with scrooge's dip. up scrooge went, not caring a button for that. darkness is cheap, and scrooge liked it. but, before he shut his heavy door, he walked through his rooms to see that all was right. he had just enough recollection of the face to desire to do that. sitting-room, bedroom, lumber-room. all as they should be. nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa; a small fire in the grate; spoon and basin ready; and the little saucepan 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 hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall. lumber-room as usual. old fire-guard, old shoes, two fish baskets, washing-stand on three legs, and a poker. quite satisfied, he closed his door, and locked himself in; double locked himself in, which was not his custom. thus secured against surprise, he took off his cravat; put on his dressing-gown and slippers, and his nightcap; and sat down before the fire to take his gruel. it was a very low fire indeed; nothing on such a bitter night. he was obliged to sit close to it, and brood over it, before he could extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel. the fire-place was an old one, built by some dutch merchant long ago, and paved all round with quaint dutch tiles, 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 that face of marley, seven years dead, came like the ancient prophet's rod, and swallowed up the whole. if each smooth tile had been a blank at first, with power to shape some picture on its surface from the disjointed fragments of his thoughts, there would have been a copy of old marley's head on every one. "humbug!" said scrooge; and walked across the room. after several turns he sat down again. as he threw his head back in the chair, his glance happened to rest upon a bell, a disused bell, that hung in the room, and communicated, 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 he looked, he saw this bell begin to swing. it swung so softly in the outset that it scarcely made a sound; but soon it rang out loudly, and so did every bell in the house. this might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour. the bells ceased, as they had begun, together. they were succeeded by a clanking noise, deep down below, as if some person were dragging a heavy chain over the casks in the wine merchant's cellar. scrooge then remembered to have heard that ghosts in haunted houses were described as dragging chains. the cellar door flew open with a booming sound, and then he heard the noise much louder on the floors below; then coming up the stairs; then coming straight towards his door. "it's humbug still!" said scrooge. "i won't believe it." his colour changed, though, when, without a pause, it came on through the heavy door, and passed into the room before his eyes. upon its coming in, the dying flame leaped up, as though it cried, "i know him! marley's ghost!" and fell again. the same face: the very same. marley in his pigtail, usual waistcoat, tights, and boots; the tassels on the latter bristling, like his pigtail, and his coat-skirts, and the hair upon his 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, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. his body was transparent; so that scrooge, observing him, and looking through his waistcoat, could see the two buttons on his coat behind. scrooge had often heard it said that marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. no, nor did he believe it even now. though he looked the phantom through and through, and saw it standing before him; though he felt the chilling influence of its death-cold eyes; and marked the very texture of the folded kerchief bound about its head and chin, which wrapper he had not observed before; he was still incredulous, and fought against his senses. "how now!" said scrooge, caustic and cold as ever. "what do you want with me?" "much!"--marley's voice, no doubt about it. "who are you?" "ask me who i _was_." "who _were_ you, then?" said scrooge, raising his voice. "you're particular, for a shade." he was going to say "_to_ a shade," but substituted this, as more appropriate. "in life i was your partner, jacob marley." "can you--can you sit down?" asked scrooge, looking doubtfully at him. "i can." "do it, then." scrooge asked the question, because he didn't know whether a ghost so transparent might find himself in a condition to take a chair; and felt that, in the event of its being impossible, it might involve the necessity of an embarrassing explanation. but the ghost sat down on the opposite side of the fire-place, as if he were quite used to it. "you don't believe in me," observed the ghost. "i don't," said scrooge. "what evidence would you have of my reality beyond that of your own senses?" "i don't know," said scrooge. "why do you doubt your senses?" "because," said scrooge, "a little thing affects them. a slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. you may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. there's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!" scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, nor did he feel in his heart by any means waggish then. the truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the spectre's voice disturbed the very marrow in his bones. to sit staring at those fixed glazed eyes in silence, for a moment, would play, scrooge felt, the very deuce with him. there was something very awful, too, in the spectre's being provided with an infernal atmosphere of his own. scrooge could not feel it himself, but this was clearly the case; for though the ghost sat perfectly motionless, its hair, and skirts, and tassels were still agitated as by the hot vapour from an oven. "you see this toothpick?" said scrooge, returning quickly to the charge, for the reason just assigned; and wishing, though it were only for a second, to divert the vision's stony gaze from himself. "i do," replied the ghost. "you are not looking at it," said scrooge. "but i see it," said the ghost, "notwithstanding." "well!" returned scrooge, "i have but to swallow this, and be for the rest of my days persecuted by a legion of goblins, all of my own creation. humbug, i tell you; humbug!" at this the spirit raised a frightful cry, and shook its chain with such a dismal and appalling noise, that scrooge held on tight to his chair, to save himself from falling in a swoon. but how much greater was his horror when the phantom, taking off the bandage round his head, as if it were too warm to wear indoors, its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast! scrooge fell upon his knees, and clasped his hands before his face. "mercy!" he said. "dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me?" "man of the worldly mind!" replied the ghost, "do you believe in me or not?" "i do," said scrooge. "i must. but why do spirits walk the earth, and why do they come to me?" [illustration: _to sit staring at those fixed glazed eyes in silence, for a moment, would play, scrooge felt, the very deuce with him._] "it is required of every man," the ghost returned, "that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel 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 through the world--oh, woe is me!--and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!" again the spectre raised a cry, and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands. "you are fettered," said scrooge, trembling. "tell me why?" "i wear the chain i forged in life," replied the ghost. "i made it link by link, and yard by yard; i girded it on of my own free-will, and of my own free-will i wore it. is its pattern strange to _you_?" scrooge trembled more and more. "or would you know," pursued the ghost, "the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? it was full as heavy and as long as this, seven christmas-eves ago. you have laboured on it since. it is a ponderous chain!" scrooge glanced about him on the floor, in the expectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or sixty fathoms of iron cable, but he could see nothing. "jacob!" he said imploringly. "old jacob marley, tell me more! speak comfort to me, jacob!" "i have none to give," the ghost replied. "it comes from other regions, ebenezer scrooge, and is conveyed by other ministers, to other kinds of men. nor 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 beyond our counting-house--mark me;--in life my spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole; and weary journeys lie before me!" it was a habit with scrooge, whenever he became thoughtful, to put his hands in his breeches pockets. pondering on what the ghost had said, he did so now, but without lifting up his eyes, or getting off his knees. "you must have been very slow about it, jacob," scrooge observed in a business-like manner, though with humility and deference. "slow!" the ghost repeated. "seven years dead," mused scrooge. "and travelling all the time?" "the whole time," said the ghost. "no rest, no peace. incessant torture of remorse." "you travel fast?" said scrooge. "on the wings of the wind," replied the ghost. "you might have got over a great quantity of ground in seven years," said scrooge. the ghost, on hearing this, set up another cry, and clanked its chain so hideously in the dead silence of the night, that the ward would have been justified in indicting it for a nuisance. "oh! captive, bound, and double-ironed," cried the phantom, "not to know that ages of incessant labour, by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before 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 life too short for its vast means of usefulness! not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunities misused! yet such was i! oh, such was i!" "but you were always a good man of business, jacob," faltered scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. "business!" cried the ghost, wringing its hands again. "mankind was my business. the common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were, all, my business. the dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!" it held up its chain at arm's length, as if that were the cause of all its unavailing grief, and flung it heavily upon the ground again. "at this time of the rolling year," the spectre said, "i suffer most. why did i walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed star which led the wise men to a poor abode? were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted _me_?" scrooge was very much dismayed to hear the spectre going on at this rate, and began to quake exceedingly. "hear me!" cried the ghost. "my time is nearly gone." "i will," said scrooge. "but don't be hard upon me! don't be flowery, jacob! pray!" "how it is that i appear before you in a shape that you can see, i may not tell. i have sat invisible beside you many and many a day." it was not an agreeable idea. scrooge shivered, and wiped the perspiration from his brow. "that is no light part of my penance," pursued the ghost. "i am here to-night to warn you that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. a chance and hope of my procuring, ebenezer." "you were always a good friend to me," said scrooge. "thankee!" "you will be haunted," resumed the ghost, "by three spirits." scrooge's countenance fell almost as low as the ghost's had done. "is that the chance and hope you mentioned, jacob?" he demanded in a faltering voice. "it is." "i--i think i'd rather not," said scrooge. "without their visits," said the ghost, "you cannot hope to shun the path i tread. expect the first to-morrow when the bell tolls one." "couldn't i take 'em all at once, and have it over, jacob?" hinted scrooge. "expect the second on the next night at the same hour. the third, upon the next night when the last stroke of twelve has ceased to vibrate. look to see me no more; and look that, for your own sake, you remember what has passed between us!" when it had said these words, the spectre took its wrapper from the table, and bound it round its head as before. scrooge knew this by the smart sound its teeth made when the jaws were brought together by the bandage. he ventured to raise his eyes again, and found his supernatural visitor confronting him in an erect attitude, with its chain wound over and about its arm. the apparition walked backward from him; and, at every step it took, the window raised itself a little, so that, when the spectre reached it, it was wide open. it beckoned scrooge to approach, which he did. when they were within two paces of each other, marley's ghost held up its hand, warning him to come no nearer. scrooge stopped. not so much in obedience as in surprise and fear; for, on the raising of the hand, he became sensible of confused noises in the air; incoherent sounds of lamentation and regret; wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self-accusatory. the spectre, after listening for a moment, joined in the mournful dirge; and floated out upon the bleak, dark night. scrooge followed to the window: desperate in his curiosity. he looked out. the air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went. every one of them wore chains like marley's ghost; some few (they might be guilty governments) were linked together; 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 being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below upon a doorstep. the misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever. whether these creatures faded into mist, or mist enshrouded them, he could not tell. but they and their spirit voices faded together; and the night became as it had been when he walked home. scrooge closed the window, and examined the door by which the ghost had entered. it was double locked, as he had locked it with his own hands, and the bolts were undisturbed. 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 world, or the dull conversation of the ghost, or the lateness of the hour, much in need of repose, went straight to bed without undressing, and fell asleep upon the instant. stave two the first of the three spirits when scrooge awoke it was so dark, that, looking out of bed, he could scarcely distinguish the transparent window from the opaque walls of his chamber. he was endeavouring to pierce the darkness with his ferret eyes, when the chimes of a neighbouring church struck the four quarters. so he listened for the hour. to his great astonishment, the heavy bell went on from six to seven, and from seven to eight, and regularly up to twelve; then stopped. twelve! it was past two when he went to bed. the clock was wrong. an icicle must have got into the works. twelve! he touched the spring of his repeater, to correct this most preposterous clock. its rapid little pulse beat twelve, and stopped. "why, it isn't possible," said scrooge, "that i can have slept through a whole day and far into another night. it isn't possible that anything has happened to the sun, and this is twelve at noon!" the idea being an alarming one, he scrambled out of bed, and groped his way to the window. he was obliged to rub the frost off with the sleeve of his dressing-gown before he could see anything; and could see very little then. all he could 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 possession of the world. this was a great relief, because "three days after sight of this first of exchange pay to mr. ebenezer scrooge or his order," and so forth, would have become a mere united states security if there were no days to count by. scrooge went to bed again, and thought, and thought, and thought it over and over, and could make nothing of it. the more he thought, the more perplexed he was; and, the more he endeavoured not to think, the more he thought. marley's ghost bothered him exceedingly. every time he resolved within himself, after mature inquiry, that it was all a dream, his mind flew back again, like a strong spring released, to its first position, and presented the same problem to be worked all through, "was it a dream or not?" scrooge lay in this state until the chime had gone three quarters more, when he remembered, on a sudden, that the ghost had warned him of a visitation when the bell tolled one. he resolved to lie awake until the hour was passed; and, considering that he could no more go to sleep than go to heaven, this was, perhaps, the wisest resolution in his power. the quarter was so long, that he was more than once convinced he must have sunk into a doze unconsciously, and missed the clock. at length it broke upon his listening ear. "ding, dong!" "a quarter past," said scrooge, counting. "ding, dong!" "half past," said scrooge. "ding, dong!" "a quarter to it," said scrooge. "ding, dong!" "the hour itself," said scrooge triumphantly, "and nothing else!" he spoke before the hour bell sounded, which it now did with a deep, dull, hollow, melancholy one. light flashed up in the room upon the instant, and the curtains of his bed were drawn. the curtains of his bed were drawn aside, i tell you, by a hand. not the curtains at his feet, nor the curtains at his back, but those to which his face was addressed. the curtains of his bed were drawn aside; and scrooge, starting up into a half-recumbent attitude, found himself face to face with the unearthly visitor who drew them: as close to it as i am now to you, and i am standing in the spirit at your elbow. it was a strange figure--like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child's proportions. its hair, which hung about its neck and down its back, was white, as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom 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: and, in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem, had its dress trimmed with summer flowers. but the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light, by which all this was visible; and which was doubtless the occasion of its using, in its duller moments, a great extinguisher for a cap, which it now held under its arm. even this, though, when scrooge looked at it with increasing steadiness, was _not_ its strangest quality. for, as its belt sparkled and glittered, now in one part and now in another, and what was light one 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 head without a body: of which dissolving parts no outline would be visible in the dense gloom wherein they melted away. and, in the very wonder of this, it would be itself again; distinct and clear as ever. "are you the spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to me?" asked scrooge. "i am!" the voice was soft and gentle. singularly low, as if, instead of being so close beside him, it were at a distance. "who and what are you?" scrooge demanded. "i am the ghost of christmas past." "long past?" inquired scrooge; observant of its dwarfish stature. "no. your past." perhaps scrooge could not have told anybody why, if anybody could have asked him; but he had a special desire to see the spirit in his cap; and begged him to be covered. "what!" exclaimed the ghost, "would you so soon put out, with worldly hands, the light i give? is it not enough that you are one of those whose passions made this cap, and force me through whole trains of years to wear it low upon my brow?" scrooge reverently disclaimed all intention to offend or any knowledge of having wilfully "bonneted" the spirit at any period of his life. he then made bold to inquire what business brought him there. "your welfare!" said the ghost. scrooge expressed himself much obliged, but could not help thinking that a night of unbroken rest would have been more conducive to that end. the spirit must have heard him thinking, for it said immediately: "your reclamation, then. take heed!" it put out its strong hand as it spoke, and clasped him gently by the arm. "rise! and walk with me!" it would have been in vain for scrooge to plead that the weather and the hour were not adapted to pedestrian purposes; that bed was warm, and the thermometer a long way below freezing; that he was clad but lightly in his slippers, dressing-gown, and nightcap; and that he had a cold upon him at that time. the grasp, though gentle as a woman's hand, was not to be resisted. he rose: but, finding that the spirit made towards the window, clasped its robe in supplication. "i am a mortal," scrooge remonstrated, "and liable to fall." "bear but a touch of my hand _there_," said the spirit, laying it upon his heart, "and you shall be upheld in more than this!" as the words were spoken, they passed through the wall, and stood upon an open country road, with fields on either hand. the city had entirely vanished. not a vestige of it was to be seen. the darkness and the mist had vanished with it, for it was a clear, cold, winter day, with the snow upon the ground. "good heaven!" said scrooge, clasping his hands together as he looked about him. "i was bred in this place. i was a boy here!" the spirit gazed upon him mildly. its gentle touch, though it had been light and instantaneous, appeared still present to the old man's sense of feeling. he was conscious of a thousand odours floating in the air, each one connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long forgotten! "your lip is trembling," said the ghost. "and what is that upon your cheek?" scrooge muttered, with an unusual catching in his voice, that it was a pimple; and begged the ghost to lead him where he would. "you recollect the way?" inquired the spirit. "remember it!" cried scrooge with fervour; "i could walk it blindfold." "strange to have forgotten it for so many years!" observed the ghost. "let us go on." [illustration: _"you recollect the way?" inquired the spirit. "remember it!" cried scrooge with fervour; "i could walk it blindfold."_] they walked along the road, scrooge recognising every gate, and post, and tree, until a little market-town appeared in the distance, with its bridge, its church, and 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 farmers. all these boys were in great spirits, and shouted to each other, until the broad fields were so full of merry music, that the crisp air laughed to hear it. "these are but shadows of the things that have been," said the ghost. "they have no consciousness of us." the jocund travellers came on; and as they came, scrooge knew and named them every one. why was he rejoiced beyond all bounds to see them? why did his cold 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 parted at cross-roads and by-ways for their several homes? what was merry christmas to scrooge? out upon merry christmas! what good had it ever done to him? "the school is not quite deserted," said the ghost. "a solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still." scrooge said he knew it. and he sobbed. they left the high-road by a well-remembered lane, and soon approached a mansion of dull red brick, with a little weather-cock surmounted cupola on the roof and a bell hanging in it. it was a large house, but one of broken fortunes: for the spacious offices were little 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, and glancing through the open doors of many rooms, they found them poorly furnished, cold, and vast. there was an earthly savour in the air, a chilly bareness in the place, which associated itself somehow with too much getting up by candle-light, and not too much to eat. they went, the ghost and scrooge, across the hall, to a door at the back of the house. it opened before them, and disclosed a long, bare, melancholy room, made barer still by lines of plain deal forms and desks. at one of these a lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire; and scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he had used to be. not a latent echo in the house, not a squeak and scuffle from the mice behind the panelling, not a drip from the half-thawed water-spout in the dull yard behind, not a sigh among the leafless boughs of one despondent poplar, not the idle swinging of an empty storehouse door, no, not a clicking in the fire, but fell upon the heart of scrooge with softening influence, and gave a freer passage to his tears. the spirit touched him on the arm, and pointed to his younger self, intent upon his reading. suddenly a man in foreign garments: wonderfully real and distinct to look at: stood outside the window, with an axe stuck in his belt, and leading by the bridle an ass laden with wood. "why, it's ali baba!" scrooge exclaimed in ecstasy. "it's dear old honest ali baba! yes, yes, i know. one christmas-time when yonder solitary child was left here all alone, he _did_ come, for the 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 damascus; don't you see him? and the sultan's groom turned upside down by the genii: there he is upon his head! serve him right! i'm glad of it. what business had _he_ to be married to the princess?" to hear scrooge expending all the earnestness of his nature on such subjects, in a most extraordinary voice between laughing and crying; and to see his heightened and excited face; would have been a surprise to his business friends in the city, indeed. [illustration: _"why, it's ali baba!" scrooge exclaimed in ecstasy. "it's dear old honest ali baba."_] "there's the parrot!" cried scrooge. "green body and yellow tail, with a thing like a lettuce growing out of the top of his head; there he is! poor robin 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 thought he was dreaming, but he wasn't. it was the parrot, you know. there goes friday, running for his life to the little creek! halloa! hoop! halloo!" then, with a rapidity of transition very foreign to his usual character, he said, in pity for his former self, "poor boy!" and cried again. "i wish," scrooge muttered, putting his hand in his pocket, and looking about him, after drying his eyes with his cuff: "but it's too late now." "what is the matter?" asked the spirit. "nothing," said scrooge. "nothing. there was a boy singing a christmas carol at my door last night. i should like to have given him something: that's all." the ghost smiled thoughtfully, and waved its hand: saying, as it did so, "let us see another christmas!" scrooge's former self grew larger at the words, and the room became a little darker and more dirty. the panels shrunk, the windows cracked; fragments of plaster 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 that it was quite correct: that everything had happened so; that there he was, alone again, when all the other boys had gone home for the jolly holidays. he was not reading now, but walking up and down despairingly. scrooge looked at the ghost, and, with a mournful shaking of his head, glanced anxiously towards the door. it opened; and a little girl, much younger than the boy, came darting in, and, putting her arms about his neck, and often kissing him, addressed him as her "dear, dear brother." "i have come to bring you home, dear brother!" said the child, clapping her tiny hands, and bending down to laugh. "to bring you home, home, home!" "home, little fan?" returned the boy. "yes!" said the child, brimful of glee. "home for good and all. home for ever and ever. father is so much kinder than he used to be, that home's like heaven! he spoke so gently to me one 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 to be a man!" said the child, opening her eyes; "and are never to come back here; but first we're to be together all the christmas long, and have the merriest time in all the world." "you are quite a woman, little fan!" exclaimed the boy. she clapped her hands and laughed, and tried to touch his head; but, being too little, laughed again, and stood on tiptoe to embrace him. then she began to drag him, in her childish eagerness, towards the door; and he, nothing loath to go, accompanied her. a terrible voice in the hall cried, "bring down master scrooge's box, there!" and in the hall appeared the schoolmaster himself, who glared on master scrooge with a ferocious condescension, and threw him into a dreadful state of mind by shaking hands with him. he then conveyed him and his sister into the veriest old well of a shivering best parlour that ever was seen, where the 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 meagre servant to offer a glass of "something" to the postboy who answered that he thanked the gentleman, but, if it was the same tap as he had tasted before, he had rather not. master scrooge's trunk being by this time tied on to the top of the chaise, the children bade the schoolmaster good-bye right willingly; and, getting into it, drove gaily down the garden sweep; the quick wheels dashing the hoar frost and snow from off the dark leaves of the evergreens like spray. "always a delicate creature, whom a breath might have withered," said the ghost. "but she had a large heart!" "so she had," cried scrooge. "you're right. i will not gainsay it, spirit. god forbid!" "she died a woman," said the ghost, "and had, as i think, children." "one child," scrooge returned. "true," said the ghost. "your nephew!" scrooge seemed uneasy in his mind; and answered briefly, "yes." although they had but that moment left the school behind them, they were now in the busy thoroughfares of a city, where shadowy passengers 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 plain enough, by the dressing of the shops, that here, too, it was christmas-time again; but it was evening, and the streets were lighted up. the ghost stopped at a certain warehouse door, and asked scrooge if he knew it. "know it!" said scrooge. "was i apprenticed here?" they went in. at sight of an old gentleman in a welsh wig, sitting behind such a high desk, that if he had been two inches taller, he must have knocked his head against the ceiling, scrooge cried in great excitement: "why, it's old fezziwig! bless his heart, it's fezziwig alive again!" 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 his organ of benevolence; and called out, in a comfortable, oily, rich, fat, jovial voice: "yo ho, there! ebenezer! dick!" scrooge's former self, now grown a young man, came briskly in, accompanied by his fellow-'prentice. "dick wilkins, to be sure!" said scrooge to the ghost. "bless me, yes. there he is. he was very much attached to me, was dick. poor dick! dear, dear!" "yo ho, my boys!" said fezziwig. "no more work to-night. christmas-eve, dick. christmas, ebenezer! let's have the shutters up," cried old fezziwig with a sharp clap of his hands, "before a man can say jack robinson!" you wouldn't believe how those two fellows went at it! they charged into the street with the shutters--one, two, three--had 'em up in their places--four, five, six--barred 'em and pinned 'em--seven, eight, nine--and came back before you could have got to twelve, panting like race-horses. "hilli-ho!" cried old fezziwig, skipping down from the high desk with wonderful agility. "clear away, my lads, and let's have lots of room here! hilli-ho, dick! chirrup, ebenezer!" clear away! there was nothing they wouldn't have cleared away, or couldn't have cleared away, with old fezziwig looking on. it was done in a minute. every movable was packed off, as if it were dismissed from public life for evermore; the floor was swept and watered, the lamps were trimmed, fuel was heaped upon the fire; and the warehouse was as snug, and warm, and dry, and bright a ball-room as you would desire to see upon a winter's night. in came a fiddler with a music-book, and went up to the lofty desk, and made an orchestra of it, and tuned like fifty stomachaches. in came mrs. fezziwig, one vast substantial smile. in came the three miss fezziwigs, beaming and lovable. in came the six young followers whose hearts they broke. in came all the young men and women employed in the business. in came the housemaid, with her cousin the baker. in came the cook, with her brother's particular friend the milkman. in came the boy from over the way, who was suspected of not having board enough 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, any how and every how. 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 starting off again as soon as they got there; all top couples at last, and not a bottom one to help them! when this result was brought about, old fezziwig, clapping his hands to stop the dance, cried out, "well done!" and the fiddler plunged his hot face into a pot of porter, especially provided for that purpose. but, scorning rest upon his reappearance, he instantly began again, though there were no dancers yet, as if the other fiddler had been carried home, exhausted, on a shutter, and he were a bran-new man resolved to beat him out of sight, or perish. 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 mince-pies, and plenty of beer. but 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 stood out to dance with mrs. fezziwig. top couple, too; with a good stiff piece of work cut out for them; three or four and twenty pair of partners; people who were not to be trifled with; people who _would_ dance, and had no notion of walking. but if they had been twice as many--ah! four times--old fezziwig would have been a match for them, and so would mrs. fezziwig. as to _her_, she was worthy to be his partner in every sense of the term. if that's not high praise, tell me higher, and i'll use it. 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 become of them next. and when old fezziwig and mrs. fezziwig had gone all through the dance; advance and retire, both hands to your partner, bow and curtsy, cork-screw, thread-the-needle, and back again to your place; fezziwig "cut"--cut so deftly, that he appeared to wink with his legs, and came upon his feet again without a stagger. when the clock struck eleven, this domestic ball broke up. mr. and mrs. fezziwig took their stations, one on either side the door, and, shaking hands 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, they did the same to them; and thus the cheerful voices died away, and the lads were left to their beds; which were under a counter in the back-shop. 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 corroborated everything, remembered everything, enjoyed everything, and underwent the strangest agitation. it was not until now, when the bright faces of his former self and dick were turned from them, that he remembered the ghost, and became conscious that it was looking full upon him, while the light upon its head burnt very clear. "a small matter," said the ghost, "to make these silly folks so full of gratitude." "small!" echoed scrooge. the spirit signed to him to listen to the two apprentices, who were pouring out their hearts in praise of fezziwig; and, when he had done so, said: "why! is it not? he has spent but a few pounds of your mortal money: three or four, perhaps. is that so much that he deserves this praise?" "it isn't that," said scrooge, heated by the remark, and speaking unconsciously like his former, not his latter self. "it isn't that, spirit. he has the 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 so slight and insignificant that it is impossible to add and count 'em up: what then? the happiness he gives is quite as great as if it cost a fortune." he felt the spirit's glance, and stopped. "what is the matter?" asked the ghost. "nothing particular," said scrooge. "something, i think?" the ghost insisted. "no," said scrooge, "no. i should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now. that's all." his former self turned down the lamps as he gave utterance to the wish; and scrooge and the ghost again stood side by side in the open air. "my time grows short," observed the spirit. "quick!" this was not addressed to scrooge, or to any one whom he could see, but it produced an immediate effect. for again scrooge saw himself. he was older now; 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. there was an eager, greedy, restless motion in the eye, which showed the passion that had taken root, and where the shadow of the growing tree would fall. he was not alone, but sat by the side of a fair young girl in a mourning dress: in whose eyes there were tears, which sparkled in the light that shone out of the ghost of christmas past. "it matters little," she said softly. "to you, very little. another idol has displaced me; and, if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come as i would have tried to do, i have no just cause to grieve." "what idol has displaced you?" he rejoined. "a golden one." "this is the even-handed dealing of the world!" he said. "there is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth!" "you fear the world too much," she answered gently. "all your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. i have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master passion, gain, engrosses you. have i not?" "what then?" he retorted. "even if i have grown so much wiser, what then? i am not changed towards you." she shook her head. "am i?" "our contract is an old one. it was made when we were both poor, and content to be so, until, in good season, we could improve our worldly fortune by our patient industry. you _are_ changed. when it was made you were another man." "i was a boy," he said impatiently. "your own feeling tells you that you were not what you are," she returned. "i am. that which promised happiness when we were one in heart is fraught with misery now that we are two. how often and how keenly i have thought of this i will not say. it is enough that i _have_ thought of it, and can release you." "have i ever sought release?" "in words. no. never." "in what, then?" "in a changed nature; in an altered spirit; in another atmosphere of life; another hope as its great end. in everything that made my love of any worth or value in your sight. if this had never been between us," said the girl, looking mildly, but with steadiness, upon him, "tell me, would you seek me out and try to win me now? ah, no!" he seemed to yield to the justice of this supposition in spite of himself. but he said, with a struggle, "you think not." "i would gladly think otherwise if i could," she answered. "heaven knows! when _i_ have learned a truth like this, i know how strong and irresistible it must be. but if you were free to-day, to-morrow, 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 enough to your one guiding principle to do so, do i not know that your repentance and regret would surely follow? i do; and i release you. with a full heart, for the love of him you once were." he was about to speak; but, with her head turned from him, she resumed. "you may--the memory of what is past half makes me hope you will--have pain in this. a very, very brief time, and you will dismiss the recollection of it gladly, as an unprofitable dream, from which it happened well that you awoke. may you be happy in the life you have chosen!" she left him, and they parted. "spirit!" said scrooge, "show me no more! conduct me home. why do you delight to torture me?" "one shadow more!" exclaimed the ghost. "no more!" cried scrooge. "no more! i don't wish to see it. show me no more!" but the relentless ghost pinioned him in both his arms, and forced him to observe what happened next. they were in another scene and place; a room, not very large or handsome, but full of comfort. near to the winter fire sat a beautiful young girl, so like that last that scrooge believed it was the same, until he saw _her_, now a comely matron, sitting opposite her daughter. the noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous, for there were more children there than scrooge in his agitated state of mind could count; and, unlike the celebrated herd in the poem, they were not forty children conducting themselves like one, but every child was conducting itself like forty. the consequences 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 they did, bold young brood, i couldn't have done it; i should have expected my arm to have grown round it for a punishment, and never come straight again. and yet i should have dearly liked, i own, to have touched her lips; to have questioned her, that she might have opened them; to have looked upon the lashes of her downcast eyes, and never raised a blush; to have let loose waves of hair, an inch of which would be a keepsake beyond price: in short, i should have liked, i do confess, to have had the lightest licence of a child, and yet to have been man enough to know its value. but now a knocking at the door was heard, and such a rush immediately ensued that she, with laughing face and plundered dress, was borne towards it in the centre of a flushed and boisterous group, just in time to greet the father, who came home attended by a man laden with christmas toys and presents. then the shouting and the struggling, and the onslaught that was made on the defenceless porter! the scaling 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 the neck, pummel 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 his mouth, and was more than suspected of having swallowed a fictitious turkey, glued on a wooden platter! the immense relief of finding this a false alarm! the joy, and gratitude, and ecstasy! they are all indescribable alike. it is enough that by degrees, the children and their emotions got out of the parlour, and, by one stair at a time, up to the top of the house, where they went to bed, and so subsided. and now scrooge looked on more attentively than ever, when the master of the house, having his daughter leaning fondly on him, sat down with her and her mother at his own fireside; and when he thought that such another creature, quite as graceful and as full of promise, might have called him father, and been a spring-time in the haggard winter of his life, his sight grew very dim indeed. "belle," said the husband, turning to his wife with a smile, "i saw an old friend of yours this afternoon." "who was it?" "guess!" "how can i? tut, don't i know?" she added in the same breath, laughing as he laughed. "mr. scrooge." "mr. scrooge it was. i passed his office window; and as it was not shut up, and he had a candle inside, i could scarcely help seeing him. his partner lies upon the point of death, i hear; and there he sat alone. quite alone in the world, i do believe." "spirit!" said scrooge in a broken voice, "remove me from this place." "i told you these were shadows of the things that have been," said the ghost. "that they are what they are, do not blame me!" "remove me!" scrooge exclaimed. "i cannot bear it!" he turned upon the ghost, and seeing that it looked upon him with a face in which in some strange way there were fragments of all the faces it had shown him, wrestled with it. "leave me! take me back! haunt me no longer!" in the struggle--if that can be called a struggle in which the ghost, with no visible resistance on its own part, was undisturbed by any effort of its adversary--scrooge observed that its light was burning high and bright; and dimly connecting that with its influence over him, he seized the extinguisher cap, and by a sudden action pressed it down upon its head. the spirit dropped beneath it, so that the extinguisher covered its whole form; but, though scrooge pressed it down with all his force, he could not hide the light, which streamed from under it in an unbroken flood upon the ground. he was conscious of being exhausted, and overcome by an irresistible drowsiness; and, further, of being in his own bedroom. he gave the cap a parting squeeze, in which his hand relaxed; and had barely time to reel to bed before he sank into a heavy sleep. stave three the second of the three spirits awaking in the middle of a prodigiously tough snore, and sitting up in bed to get his thoughts together, scrooge had no occasion to be told that the bell was again upon the stroke of one. he felt that he was restored to consciousness in the right nick of time, for the especial purpose of holding a conference with the second messenger dispatched 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 spectre would draw back, he put them every one aside with his own hands, and, lying down again, established a sharp look-out all round the bed. for he wished to challenge the spirit on the moment of its appearance, and did not wish to be taken by surprise and made nervous. gentlemen of the free-and-easy sort, who plume themselves on being acquainted with a move or two, and being usually equal to the time of day, express the wide range of their capacity for adventure by observing 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 quite as hardily as this, i don't mind calling on you to believe that he was ready for a good broad field of strange appearances, and that nothing between a baby and a rhinoceros would have astonished him very much. now, being prepared for almost anything, he was not by any means prepared for nothing; and consequently, when the bell struck one, and no shape appeared, he was taken with a violent fit of trembling. five minutes, ten minutes, a quarter of an hour went by, yet nothing came. all this time he lay upon his bed, the very core and centre of a blaze of ruddy light, which streamed upon it when the clock proclaimed 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 at 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 always the person not in the predicament who knows what ought to have been done in it, and would unquestionably have done it too--at last, i say, he began to think that the source and secret of this ghostly light might be in the adjoining room, from whence, on further tracing it, it seemed to shine. this idea taking full possession of his mind, he got up softly, and shuffled in his slippers to the door. the moment scrooge's hand was on the lock, a strange voice called him by his name, and bade him enter. he obeyed. it was his own room. there was no doubt about that. but it had undergone a surprising transformation. the walls and ceiling were so hung with living green, that it looked a perfect grove; from every part of which bright gleaming berries glistened. the crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe, and ivy reflected back the light, as if so many little mirrors had been scattered there; and such a mighty 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 chestnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious pears, immense twelfth-cakes, and seething bowls of punch, that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam. in easy state upon this couch there sat a jolly giant, glorious to see; who bore a glowing torch, in shape not unlike plenty's horn, and held it up, high up, to shed its light on scrooge as he came peeping round the door. "come in!" exclaimed the ghost. "come in! and know me better, man!" scrooge entered timidly, and hung his head before this spirit. he was not the dogged scrooge he had been; and, though the spirit's eyes were clear and kind, he did not like to meet them. "i am the ghost of christmas present," said the spirit. "look upon me!" scrooge reverently did so. it was clothed in one simple deep green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur. this garment hung so loosely on the figure, that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice. 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 its genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanour, and its joyful air. girded round its middle was an antique scabbard; but no sword was in it, and the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust. "you have never seen the like of me before!" exclaimed the spirit. "never," scrooge made answer to it. "have never walked forth with the younger members of my family; meaning (for i am very young) my elder brothers born in these later years?" pursued the phantom. "i don't think i have," said scrooge. "i am afraid i have not. have you had many brothers, spirit?" "more than eighteen hundred," said the ghost. "a tremendous family to provide for," muttered scrooge. the ghost of christmas present rose. "spirit," said scrooge submissively, "conduct me where you will. i went forth last night on compulsion, and i learnt a lesson which is working now. to-night, if you have aught to teach me, let me profit by it." "touch my robe!" scrooge did as he was told, and held it fast. holly, mistletoe, red berries, ivy, turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, meat, pigs, sausages, oysters, pies, puddings, fruit, and punch, all vanished instantly. so did the room, the fire, the ruddy glow, the 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 pavement in front of their dwellings, and from the tops of their houses, whence it was mad delight to the boys to see it come plumping down into the road below, and splitting into artificial little snow-storms. the house-fronts looked black enough, and the windows blacker, contrasting with the smooth white sheet of snow upon the roofs, and with the dirtier snow upon the ground; which last deposit had been ploughed up in deep furrows by the heavy wheels of carts and waggons; furrows that crossed and recrossed each other hundreds of times where the great streets branched off; and made intricate channels, hard to trace, in the thick yellow mud and icy water. the sky was gloomy, and the shortest streets were choked up with a dingy mist, half thawed, half frozen, whose heavier particles descended in a shower of sooty atoms, as if all the chimneys in great britain had, by one consent, caught fire, and were blazing away to their dear hearts' content. there was nothing very cheerful in the climate or the town, and yet was there an air of cheerfulness abroad that the clearest summer air and brightest summer sun might have endeavoured to diffuse in vain. for, the people who were shovelling 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 pears and apples clustered high in blooming pyramids; there were bunches of grapes, made, in the shopkeepers' benevolence, to dangle from conspicuous hooks that people's mouths might water gratis as they passed; there were piles of filberts, mossy and brown, recalling, in their fragrance, ancient walks among the woods, and pleasant shufflings ankle deep through withered leaves; there were norfolk biffins, squab and swarthy, setting off the yellow of the oranges and lemons, and, in the great compactness of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching to be carried home in paper bags, and eaten after dinner. the very gold and silver fish, set forth among these choice fruits in a bowl, though members of a dull and stagnant-blooded race, appeared to know that there was something going on; and, to a fish, went gasping round and round their little world in slow and passionless excitement. the grocers'! oh, the grocers'! nearly closed, with perhaps two shutters down, or one; but through those gaps such glimpses! it was not alone that the scales descending on the counter made a merry sound, or that the twine and roller parted company so briskly, or that the canisters were rattled up and down like juggling tricks, or even that the blended scents of tea and coffee were so grateful to the nose, or even that the raisins were so plentiful and rare, the almonds so extremely white, 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 the day, that they tumbled up against each other at the door, crashing their wicker baskets wildly, and left their purchases upon the counter, and came running back to fetch them, and committed hundreds of the like mistakes, in the best humour possible; while the grocer and his people were so frank and fresh, that the polished hearts with which they fastened their aprons behind might have been their own, worn outside for general inspection, and for christmas daws to peck at if they chose. but soon the steeples called good people all to church and chapel, and away they came, flocking through the streets in their best clothes, and with their gayest faces. and at the same time there emerged, from scores of by-streets, lanes, and nameless turnings, innumerable people, carrying their dinners to the bakers' shops. the sight of these poor revellers 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 torch, for once or twice, when there were angry words between some dinner-carriers who had jostled each other, he shed a few drops of water on them from it, and their good-humour was restored directly. for they said, it was a shame to quarrel upon christmas-day. and so it was! god love it, so it was! in time the bells ceased, and the bakers were shut up; and yet there was a genial shadowing forth of all these dinners, and the progress of their cooking, in the thawed blotch of wet above each baker's oven; where the pavement smoked as if its stones were cooking too. "is there a peculiar flavour in what you sprinkle from your torch?" asked scrooge. "there is. my own." "would it apply to any kind of dinner on this day?" asked scrooge. "to any kindly given. to a poor one most." "why to a poor one most?" asked scrooge. "because it needs it most." "spirit!" said scrooge after a moment's thought. "i wonder you, of all the beings in the many worlds about us, should desire to cramp these people's opportunities of innocent enjoyment." "i!" cried the spirit. "you would deprive them of their means of dining every seventh day, often the only day on which they can be said to dine at all," said scrooge; "wouldn't you?" "i!" cried the spirit. "you seek to close these places on the seventh day," said scrooge. "and it comes to the same thing." "_i_ seek!" exclaimed the spirit. "forgive me if i am wrong. it has been done in your name, or at least in that of your family," said scrooge. "there are some upon this earth of yours," returned the spirit, "who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us, and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us." scrooge promised that he would; and they went on, invisible, as they had been before, into the suburbs of the town. it was a remarkable quality of the ghost (which scrooge had observed at the baker's), that, notwithstanding his gigantic size, he could accommodate himself to any place with ease; and that he stood beneath a low roof quite as gracefully and like a supernatural creature as it was possible he could have done in any lofty hall. and perhaps it was the pleasure the good spirit had in showing off this power of his, or else it was his own kind, generous, hearty nature, and his sympathy with all poor men, that led him straight to scrooge'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 his torch. think of that! bob had but fifteen "bob" a week himself; he pocketed on saturdays but fifteen copies of his christian name; and yet the ghost of christmas present blessed his four-roomed house! then up rose mrs. cratchit, cratchit's wife, dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap, and make a goodly show for sixpence; and she laid the cloth, assisted by belinda cratchit, second of her daughters, also brave in ribbons; while master peter cratchit plunged a fork into the saucepan of potatoes, and, getting the corners of his monstrous shirt collar (bob's private property, conferred upon his son and heir in honour 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 the goose, and known it for their own; and, basking in luxurious thoughts of sage and onion, these young cratchits danced about the table, and exalted master peter cratchit to the skies, while he (not proud, although his collars nearly choked him) blew the fire, until the slow potatoes, bubbling up, knocked loudly at the saucepan lid to be let out and peeled. "what has ever got your precious father, then?" said mrs. cratchit. "and your brother, tiny tim? and martha warn't as late last christmas-day by half an hour!" "here's martha, mother!" said a girl, appearing as she spoke. "here's martha, mother!" cried the two young cratchits. "hurrah! there's _such_ a goose, martha!" "why, bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are!" said mrs. cratchit, kissing her a dozen times, and taking off her shawl and bonnet for her with officious zeal. "we'd a deal of work to finish up last night," replied the girl, "and had to clear away this morning, mother!" "well! never mind so long as you are come," said mrs. cratchit. "sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm, lord bless ye!" "no, no! there's father coming," cried the two young cratchits, who were everywhere at once. "hide, martha, hide!" so martha hid herself, and in came little 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 shoulder. alas for tiny tim, he bore a little crutch, and had his limbs supported by an iron frame! "why, where's our martha?" cried bob cratchit, looking round. "not coming," said mrs. cratchit. "not coming!" said bob with a sudden declension in his high spirits; for he had been tim's blood horse all the way from church, and had come home rampant. "not coming upon christmas-day!" martha didn't like to see him disappointed, if it were only in joke; so she came out prematurely from behind the closet door, and ran into his arms, while the two young cratchits hustled tiny tim, and bore him off into the wash-house, that he might hear the pudding singing in the copper. "and how did little tim behave?" asked mrs. cratchit when she had rallied bob on his credulity, and bob had hugged his daughter to his heart's content. "as good as gold," said bob, "and better. somehow, he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. he told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon christmas-day who made lame beggars walk and blind men see." bob's voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled more when he said that tiny tim was growing strong and hearty. his active little crutch was heard upon the floor, and back came tiny tim before another word was spoken, escorted by his brother and sister to his stool beside the fire; and 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 round and round, and put it on the hob to simmer, master peter and the two ubiquitous 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; a feathered phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter of course--and, in truth, it was something very like it in that house. mrs. cratchit made the gravy (ready beforehand in a little saucepan) hissing hot; master peter mashed the potatoes with incredible vigour; miss belinda sweetened up the apple 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 succeeded by a breathless pause, as mrs. cratchit, looking slowly all along the carving-knife, prepared to plunge it in the breast; but when she did, and when the long-expected gush of stuffing issued forth, one murmur of delight arose all round the board, and even tiny tim, excited by the two young cratchits, beat on the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried hurrah! there never was such a goose. bob said he didn't believe there ever was such a goose cooked. its tenderness and flavour, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. eked out by apple sauce and mashed potatoes, it 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 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 witnesses--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 back-yard and stolen it, while they were merry with the goose--a supposition at which the two young cratchits became livid! all sorts of horrors were supposed. hallo! a great deal of steam! the pudding was out of the copper. a smell like a washing-day! that was the cloth. a smell like an eating-house and a pastrycook's 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 the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with christmas holly stuck into the top. oh, a wonderful pudding! bob cratchit said, and calmly too, that he regarded it as the greatest success achieved by mrs. cratchit since their marriage. mrs. cratchit said that, now the weight was off her mind, she would confess she had her doubts about the quantity of flour. everybody had something to say about it, but nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family. it would have been flat heresy to do so. any cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing. at last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth swept, and the fire made up. the compound in the jug being tasted, and considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovel full of chestnuts on the fire. then all the cratchit family drew round the hearth in what bob cratchit called a circle, meaning half a one; and at bob cratchit's elbow stood the family display of glass. two tumblers and a custard cup 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 cracked noisily. then bob proposed: "a merry christmas to us all, my dears. god bless us!" which all the family re-echoed. "god bless us every one!" said tiny tim, the last of all. he sat very close to his father's side, upon his little stool. bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded that he might be taken from him. "spirit," said scrooge with an interest he had never felt before, "tell me if tiny tim will live." "i see a vacant seat," replied the ghost, "in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. if these shadows remain unaltered by the future, the child will die." "no, no," said scrooge. "oh, no, kind spirit! say he will be spared." "if these shadows remain unaltered by the future, none other of my race," returned the ghost, "will find him here. what then? if he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population." scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief. "man," said the ghost, "if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered what the surplus is, and where it is. 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 millions like this poor man's child. oh god! to hear the insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!" scrooge bent before the ghost's rebuke, and, trembling, cast his eyes upon the ground. but he raised them speedily on hearing his own name. "mr. scrooge!" said bob. "i'll give you mr. scrooge, the founder of the feast!" "the founder of the feast, indeed!" cried mrs. cratchit, reddening. "i wish i had him here. i'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and i hope he'd have a good appetite for it." "my dear," said bob, "the children! christmas-day." "it should be christmas-day, i am sure," said she, "on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as mr. scrooge. you know he is, robert! nobody knows it better than you do, poor fellow!" "my dear!" was bob's mild answer. "christmas-day." "i'll drink his health for your sake and the day's," said mrs. cratchit, "not for his. long life to him! a merry christmas and a happy new year! he'll be very merry and very happy, i have no doubt!" the children drank the toast after her. it was the first of their proceedings which had no heartiness in it. tiny tim drank it last of all, but he didn't care twopence for it. scrooge was the ogre of the family. the mention of his name cast a dark shadow on the party, which was not dispelled for full five minutes. after it had passed away they were ten times merrier than before, from the mere relief of scrooge the baleful being done with. bob cratchit told them how he had a situation in his eye for master peter, which would bring in, if obtained, full five-and-sixpence weekly. the two young cratchits laughed tremendously at the idea of peter's being a man of business; and peter himself looked thoughtfully at the fire from between his collars, as if he were deliberating what particular investments he should favour 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 had seen a countess and a lord some days before, and how the lord "was much about as tall as peter"; at which peter pulled up his collars so high, that you couldn't have seen his head if you had been there. all this time the chestnuts and the jug went round and round; and by-and-by they had a song, about a lost child travelling in the snow, from tiny tim, who had a plaintive little voice, and sang it very well indeed. there was nothing of high mark in this. they were not a handsome family; they were not well dressed; their shoes were far from being waterproof; their clothes were scanty; and peter might have known, and very likely did, the inside of a pawn-broker's. but they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and contented with the time; and when they faded, and looked happier yet in the bright sprinklings of the spirit's torch at parting, scrooge had his eye upon them, and especially on tiny tim, until the last. by this time it was getting dark, and snowing pretty heavily; and as scrooge and the spirit went along the streets, the brightness of the roaring fires in kitchens, parlours, and all sorts of rooms was wonderful. here, the flickering of the blaze showed preparations for a cosy dinner, with hot plates 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, again, were shadows on the window blinds of guests assembling; and there a group of handsome girls, all hooded and fur-booted, and all chattering at once, tripped lightly off to some near neighbour's house; where, woe upon the single man who saw them enter--artful witches, well they knew it--in a glow! but, if you had judged from the numbers of people on their way to friendly gatherings, you might have thought that no one was at home to give them welcome when they got there, instead of every house expecting company, and piling up its fires half-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 lamp-lighter, who ran on before, dotting the dusky street with specks of light, and who was dressed to spend the evening somewhere, laughed out loudly as the spirit passed, though little kenned the lamp-lighter that he had any company but christmas. and now, without a word of warning from the ghost, they stood upon a bleak and desert moor, where monstrous masses of rude stone were cast about, as though it were the burial-place or giants; and 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 setting sun had left a streak of fiery red, which glared upon the desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, and, frowning lower, lower, lower yet, was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night. "what place is this?" asked scrooge. "a place where miners live, who labour in the bowels of the earth," returned the spirit. "but they know me. see!" a light shone from the window of a hut, and swiftly they advanced towards it. passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. an old, old man and woman, with their children and their children's children, and another generation beyond that, all decked out gaily 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 song; it had been a very old song when he was a boy; and from time to time they all joined in the chorus. so surely as they raised their voices, the old man got quite blithe and loud; and, so surely as they stopped, his vigour sank again. the spirit did not tarry here, but bade scrooge hold his robe, and, passing on above the moor, sped whither? not to sea? to sea. to scrooge'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 thundering of water, as it rolled and roared, and raged among the dreadful caverns it had worn, and fiercely tried to undermine the earth. built upon a dismal reef of sunken rocks, some league or so from shore, on which the waters chafed and dashed, the wild year through, there stood a solitary lighthouse. great heaps of seaweed clung to its base, and storm-birds--born of the wind, one might suppose, as seaweed of the water--rose and fell about it, like the waves they skimmed. but, even here, two men who watched the light had made a fire that through the loophole in the thick stone wall shed out a ray of brightness on the awful sea. 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 too, with his face all damaged and scarred with hard weather, as the figure-head of an old ship might be, struck up a sturdy song that was like a gale in itself. again the ghost sped on, above the black and heaving sea--on, on--until, being far away, as he told scrooge, from any shore, they lighted on a ship. they stood beside the helmsman at the wheel, the look-out in the bow, the officers who had the watch; dark, ghostly 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, waking or sleeping, good or bad, had had a kinder word for one another on that day than on any day in the year; and had shared to some extent in its festivities; and had remembered those he cared for at a distance, and had known that they delighted to remember him. it was a great surprise to scrooge, while listening to the moaning of the wind, and thinking what a solemn thing it was to move on through the lonely darkness over an unknown abyss, 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 recognise it as his own nephew's, and to find himself in a bright, dry, gleaming room, with the spirit standing smiling by his side, and looking at that same nephew with approving affability! "ha, ha!" laughed scrooge's nephew. "ha, ha, ha!" if you should happen, by any unlikely chance, to know a man more blessed in a laugh than scrooge's nephew, all i can say is, i should like to know him too. introduce him to me, and i'll cultivate his acquaintance. it is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that, while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour. when scrooge's nephew laughed in this way, holding his sides, rolling his head, and twisting his face into the most extravagant contortions, scrooge's niece, by marriage, laughed as heartily as he. and their assembled friends, being not a bit behindhand, roared out lustily. "ha, ha! ha, ha, ha, ha!" "he said that christmas was a humbug, as i live!" cried scrooge's nephew. "he believed it, too!" "more shame for him, fred!" said scrooge's niece indignantly. bless those women! they never do anything by halves. they are always in earnest. she was very pretty; exceedingly pretty. with a dimpled, surprised-looking, capital face; a ripe little mouth, that seemed made to be kissed--as no doubt 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 in any little creature's head. altogether she was what you would have called provoking, you know; but satisfactory, too. oh, perfectly satisfactory! "he's a comical old fellow," said scrooge's nephew, "that's the truth; and not so pleasant as he might be. however, his offences carry their own punishment, and i have nothing to say against him." "i'm sure he is very rich, fred," hinted scrooge's niece. "at least, you always tell _me_ so." "what of that, my dear?" said scrooge's nephew. "his wealth is of no use to him. he don't do any good with it. he don't make himself comfortable with it. he hasn't the satisfaction of thinking--ha, ha, ha!--that he is ever going to benefit us with it." "i have no patience with him," observed scrooge's niece. scrooge's niece's sisters, and all the other ladies, expressed the same opinion. "oh, i have!" said scrooge's nephew. "i am sorry for him; i couldn't be angry with him if i tried. who suffers by his ill whims? himself always. here he takes it into his head to dislike us, and he won't come and dine with us. what's the consequence? he don't lose much of a dinner." "indeed, i think he loses a very good dinner," interrupted scrooge's niece. everybody else said the same, and they must be allowed to have been competent judges, because they had just had dinner; and, with the dessert upon the table, were clustered round the fire, by lamp-light. "well! i am very glad to hear it," said scrooge's nephew, "because i haven't any great faith in these young housekeepers. what do _you_ say, topper?" topper had clearly got his eye upon one of scrooge's niece's sisters, for he answered that a bachelor was a wretched outcast, who had no right to express an opinion on the subject. whereat scrooge's niece's sister--the plump one with the lace tucker, not the one with the roses--blushed. "do go on, fred," said scrooge's niece, clapping her hands. "he never finishes what he begins to say! he is such a ridiculous fellow!" scrooge's nephew revelled in another laugh, and, as it was impossible to keep the infection off, though the plump sister tried hard to do it with aromatic vinegar, his example was unanimously followed. "i was only going to say," said scrooge's nephew, "that the consequence of his taking a dislike to us, and not making merry with us, is, as i think, that he loses some pleasant moments, which could do him no harm. i am sure he loses pleasanter companions than he can find in his own thoughts, either in his mouldy 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 thinking better of it--i defy him--if he finds me going there in good temper, year after year, and saying, 'uncle scrooge, how are you?' if it only puts him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty pounds, _that's_ something; and i think i shook him yesterday." it was their turn to laugh, now, at the notion of his shaking scrooge. but, being thoroughly good-natured, and not much caring what they laughed at, so that they laughed at any rate, he encouraged them in their merriment, and passed the bottle, joyously. after tea they had some music. for they were a musical family, and knew what they were about when they sung a glee or catch, i can assure you: especially topper, who could growl away in the bass like a good one, and never swell the large veins in his forehead, or get red in the face over it. scrooge's niece 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 this strain of music sounded, all the things that ghost had shown him came upon his mind; he softened more and more; and thought that if he could have listened to it often, years ago, he might have cultivated the kindnesses of life for his own happiness with his own hands, without resorting to the sexton's spade that buried jacob marley. but they didn't devote the whole evening to music. after awhile they played at forfeits; for it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at christmas, when its mighty founder was a child himself. stop! there was first a game at blindman's buff. of course there was. and i no more believe topper was really blind than i believe he had eyes in his boots. my opinion is, that it was a done thing between him and scrooge's nephew; and that the ghost of christmas present knew it. the way he went after that plump sister in the lace tucker was an outrage on the credulity of human nature. knocking down the fire-irons, tumbling over the chairs, bumping up against the piano, smothering himself amongst 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 endeavouring 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 last, he caught her; when, in spite of all her silken rustlings, and her rapid flutterings past him, he got her into a corner whence there was no escape, then his conduct was the most execrable. for his pretending not to know her; his pretending that it was necessary to touch her head-dress, and further to assure himself of her identity by pressing a certain ring upon her finger, and a certain chain about her neck, was vile, monstrous! no doubt she told him her opinion of it when, another blind man being in office, they were so very confidential together behind the curtains. scrooge's niece was not one of the blindman's buff party, but was made comfortable with a large chair and a footstool, in a snug corner where the ghost and scrooge were close behind her. but she joined in the forfeits, and loved her love to admiration with all the letters of the alphabet. likewise at the game 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 interest he had in what was going on, that his voice made no sound in their ears, he sometimes came out with his guess quite loud, and very often guessed right, too, for the sharpest needle, best whitechapel, warranted not to cut in the eye, was not sharper than scrooge; blunt as he took it in his head to be. the ghost was greatly pleased to find him in this mood, and looked upon him with such favour, that he begged like a boy to be allowed to stay until the guests departed. but this the spirit said could not be done. "here is a new game," said scrooge. "one half-hour, spirit, only one!" it was a game called yes and no, where scrooge's nephew had to think of something, and the rest must find out what; he only answering to their questions yes or no, as the case was. the brisk fire of questioning to which he was exposed elicited from him that he was thinking of an animal, a live animal, rather a disagreeable animal, a savage 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, or a cat, or a bear. at every fresh question that was put to him, this nephew burst into a fresh roar of laughter; and was so inexpressibly tickled, that he was obliged to get up off the sofa, and stamp. at last the plump sister, falling into a similar state, cried out: "i have found it out! i know what it is, fred! i know what it is!" "what is it?" cried fred. "it's your uncle scro-o-o-o-oge!" which it certainly was. admiration was the universal sentiment, though some objected that the reply to "is it a bear?" ought to have been "yes": inasmuch as an answer in the negative was sufficient to have diverted their thoughts from mr. scrooge, supposing they had ever had any tendency that way. "he has given us plenty of merriment, i am sure," said fred, "and it would be ungrateful not to drink his health. here is a glass of mulled wine ready to our hand at the moment; and i say, 'uncle scrooge!'" "well! uncle scrooge!" they cried. "a merry christmas and a happy new year to the old man, whatever he is!" said scrooge's nephew. "he wouldn't take it from me, but may he have it nevertheless. uncle scrooge!" uncle scrooge had imperceptibly become so gay and light of heart, that he would have pledged the unconscious company in return, and thanked them in an inaudible speech, if the ghost had given him time. but the whole scene passed off in the breath of the last word spoken by his nephew; and he and the spirit were again upon their travels. much they saw, and far they went, and many homes they visited, but always with a happy end. the spirit stood beside sick-beds, and they were cheerful; on foreign lands, 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 gaol, in misery's every refuge, where vain man in his little brief authority had not made fast the door, and barred the spirit out, he left his blessing, and taught scrooge his precepts. it was a long night, if it were only a night; but scrooge had his doubts of this, because the christmas holidays appeared to be condensed into the space of time they passed 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 never spoke of it, until they left a children's twelfth-night party, when, looking at the spirit as they stood together in an open place, he noticed that its hair was grey. "are spirits' lives so short?" asked scrooge. "my life upon this globe is very brief," replied the ghost. "it ends to-night." "to-night!" cried scrooge. "to-night at midnight. hark! the time is drawing near." the chimes were ringing the three-quarters past eleven at that moment. "forgive me if i am not justified in what i ask," said scrooge, looking intently at the spirit's robe, "but i see something strange, and not belonging to yourself, protruding from your skirts. is it a foot or a claw?" "it might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it," was the spirit's sorrowful reply. "look here." from the foldings of its robe it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. they knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment. "oh, man! look here! look, look, down here!" exclaimed the ghost. they were a boy and girl. yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. no change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread. scrooge started back, appalled. having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude. "spirit! are they yours?" scrooge could say no more. "they are man's," said the spirit, looking down upon them. "and they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. this boy is ignorance. this girl is want. beware of them 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!" cried the spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. "slander those who tell it ye! admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse! and bide the end!" "have they no refuge or resource?" cried scrooge. "are there no prisons?" said the spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. "are there no workhouses?" the bell struck twelve. scrooge looked about him for the ghost, and saw it not. as the last stroke ceased to vibrate, he remembered the prediction of old jacob marley, and, lifting up his eyes, beheld a solemn phantom, draped and hooded, coming like a mist along the ground towards him. stave four the last of the spirits the phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached. when it came near him, scrooge bent down upon his knee; for in the very air through which this spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery. it was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible, save one outstretched hand. but for this, it would have been difficult to detach its figure from the night, and separate it from the darkness by which it was surrounded. he felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside him, and that its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dread. he knew no more, for the spirit neither spoke nor moved. "i am in the presence of the ghost of christmas yet to come?" said scrooge. the spirit answered not, but pointed onward with its hand. "you are about to show me shadows of the things that have not happened, but will happen in the time before us," scrooge pursued. "is that so, spirit?" the upper portion of the garment was contracted for an instant in its folds, as if the spirit had inclined its head. that was the only answer he received. although well used to ghostly company by this time, scrooge feared the silent shape so much that his legs trembled beneath him, and he found that he could hardly stand when he prepared to follow it. the spirit paused a moment, as observing his condition, and giving him time to recover. but scrooge was all the worse for this. it thrilled him with a vague uncertain horror to know that, behind the dusky shroud, there were ghostly eyes intently fixed upon him, while he, though he stretched his own to the utmost, could see nothing but a spectral hand and one great heap of black. "ghost of the future!" he exclaimed, "i fear you more than any spectre i have seen. but, as i know your purpose is to do me good, and as i hope to live to be another man from what i was, i am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart. will you not speak to me?" it gave him no reply. the hand was pointed straight before them. "lead on!" said scrooge. "lead on! the night is waning fast, and it is precious time to me, i know. lead on, spirit!" the phantom moved away as it had come towards him. scrooge followed in the shadow of its dress, which bore him up, he thought, and carried him along. they scarcely seemed to enter the city; for the city rather seemed to spring up about them, and encompass them of its own act. but there they were in the heart of it; on 'change, amongst the merchants; who hurried up and down, and chinked the money in their pockets, and conversed in groups, and looked at their watches, and trifled thoughtfully with their great gold seals; and so forth, as scrooge had seen them often. the spirit stopped beside one little knot of business men. observing that the hand was pointed to them, scrooge advanced to listen to their talk. "no," said a great fat man with a monstrous chin, "i don't know much about it either way. i only know he's dead." "when did he die?" inquired another. "last night, i believe." "why, what was the matter with him?" asked a third, taking a vast quantity of snuff out of a very large snuff-box. "i thought he'd never die." "god knows," said the first with a yawn. "what has he done with his money?" asked a red-faced gentleman with a pendulous excrescence on the end of his nose, that shook like the gills of a turkey-cock. "i haven't heard," said the man with the large chin, yawning again. "left it to his company, perhaps. he hasn't left it to _me_. that's all i know." this pleasantry was received with a general laugh. "it's likely to be a very cheap funeral," said the same speaker; "for, upon my life, i don't know of anybody to go to it. suppose we make up a party, and volunteer?" "i don't mind going if a lunch is provided," observed the gentleman with the excrescence on his nose. "but i must be fed if i make one." another laugh. "well, i am the most disinterested among you, after all," said the first speaker, "for i never wear black gloves, 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 at all sure that i wasn't his most particular friend; for we used to stop and speak whenever we met. bye, bye!" speakers and listeners strolled away, and mixed with other groups. scrooge knew the men, and looked towards the spirit for an explanation. the phantom glided on into a street. its finger pointed to two persons meeting. scrooge listened again, thinking that the explanation might lie here. he knew these men, also, perfectly. they were men of business: very wealthy, and of great importance. he had made a point always of standing well in their esteem: in a business point of view, that is; strictly in a business point of view. "how are you?" said one. "how are you?" returned the other. "well!" said the first. "old scratch has got his own at last, hey?" "so i am told," returned the second. "cold, isn't it?" "seasonable for christmas-time. you are not a skater, i suppose?" "no. no. something else to think of. good morning!" not another word. that was their meeting, their conversation, and their parting. scrooge was at first inclined to be surprised that the spirit should attach importance to conversations apparently so trivial; but, feeling assured that they must have some hidden purpose, he set himself to consider what it was likely to be. they could scarcely be supposed to have any bearing 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 improvement, he resolved to treasure up every word he heard, and everything he saw; and especially to observe the shadow of himself when it appeared. for he had an expectation that the conduct of his future self would give him the clue he missed, and would render the solution of these riddles easy. he looked about in that very place for his own image, but another man stood in his accustomed corner, and, though the clock pointed to his usual 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 surprise, however; for he had been revolving in his mind a change of life, and thought and hoped he saw his new-born resolutions carried out in this. quiet and dark, beside him stood the phantom, with its outstretched hand. when he roused himself from his thoughtful quest, he fancied, from the turn of the hand, and its situation in reference to himself, that the unseen eyes were looking at him keenly. it made him shudder, and feel very cold. they left the busy scene, and went into an obscure part of the town, where scrooge had never penetrated before, although he recognised its situation and its bad 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 cesspools, disgorged their offences of smell, and dirt, and life upon the straggling streets; and the whole quarter reeked with crime, with filth and misery. far in this den of infamous resort, there was a low-browed, beetling shop, below a pent-house roof, where iron, old rags, bottles, bones, and greasy offal were bought. upon the floor within were piled up heaps of rusty keys, nails, chains, hinges, files, scales, weights, and refuse iron of all kinds. secrets that few would like to scrutinise were bred and hidden in mountains of unseemly rags, masses of corrupted fat, and sepulchres of bones. sitting in among the wares he dealt in, by a charcoal stove made of old bricks, was a grey-haired rascal, nearly seventy years of age, who had screened himself from the cold air without by a frouzy curtaining of miscellaneous tatters hung upon a line, and smoked his pipe in all the luxury of calm retirement. scrooge and the phantom came into the presence of this man, just as a woman with a heavy bundle slunk into the shop. but she had scarcely entered, when another woman, 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 the recognition of each other. after a short period of blank astonishment, in which the old man with the pipe had joined them, they all three burst into a laugh. "let the charwoman alone to be the first!" cried she who had entered first. "let the laundress alone to be the second; and let the undertaker's man alone to be the third. look here, old joe, here's a chance! if we haven't all three met here without meaning it!" "you couldn't have met in a better place," said old joe, removing his pipe from his mouth. "come into the parlour. you were made free of it long ago, you know; and the 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 believe; and i'm sure there's no such old bones here as mine. ha! ha! we're all suitable to our calling, we're well matched. come into the parlour. come into the parlour." the parlour was the space behind the screen of rags. the old man raked the fire together with an old stair-rod, and, having trimmed his smoky lamp (for it was night) with the stem of his pipe, put it into his mouth again. while he did this, the woman who had already spoken threw her bundle on the floor, and sat down in a flaunting manner on a stool; crossing her elbows on her knees, and looking with a bold defiance at the other two. "what odds, then? what odds, mrs. dilber?" said the woman. "every person has a right to take care of themselves. _he_ always did!" "that's true, indeed!" said the laundress. "no man more so." "why, then, don't stand staring as if you was afraid, woman! who's the wiser? we're not going to pick holes in each other's coats, i suppose?" "no, indeed!" said mrs. dilber and the man together. "we should hope not." "very well, then!" cried the woman. "that's enough. who's the worse for the loss of a few things like these? not a dead man, i suppose?" "no, indeed," said mrs. dilber, laughing. "if he wanted to keep 'em after he was dead, a wicked old screw," pursued the woman, "why wasn't he natural in his lifetime? if he had been, he'd have had somebody to look after him when he was struck with death, instead of lying gasping out his last there, alone by himself." "it's the truest word that ever was spoke," said mrs. dilber, "it's a judgment on him." "i wish it was a little heavier judgment," replied the woman; "and it should have been, you may depend upon it, if i could have laid my hands 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 for them to see it. we knew pretty well that we were helping ourselves before we met here, i believe. it's no sin. open the bundle, joe." but the gallantry of her friends would not allow of this; and the man in faded black, mounting the breach first, produced _his_ plunder. it was not extensive. 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 old joe, who chalked the sums he was disposed to give for each upon the wall, and added them up into a total when he found that there was nothing more to come. "that's your account," said joe, "and i wouldn't give another sixpence, if i was to be boiled for not doing it. who's next?" mrs. dilber was next. sheets and towels, a little wearing apparel, two old-fashioned silver tea-spoons, a pair of sugar-tongs, and a few boots. her account was stated on the wall in the same manner. "i always give too much to ladies. it's a weakness of mine, and that's the way i ruin myself," said old joe. "that's your account. if you asked me for another penny, and made it an open question, i'd repent of being so liberal, and knock off half-a-crown." "and now undo _my_ bundle, joe," said the first woman. joe went down on his knees for the greater convenience of opening it, and, having unfastened a great many knots, dragged out a large heavy roll of some dark stuff. "what do you call this?" said joe. "bed-curtains?" "ah!" returned the woman, laughing and leaning forward on her crossed arms. "bed-curtains!" "you don't mean to say you took 'em down, rings and all, with him lying there?" said joe. "yes, i do," replied the woman. "why not?" "you were born to make your fortune," said joe, "and you'll certainly do it." "i certainly shan't hold my hand, when i can get anything in it by reaching it out, for the sake of such a man as he was, i promise you, joe," returned the woman coolly. "don't drop that oil upon the blankets, now." "his blankets?" asked joe. "whose else's do you think?" replied the woman. "he isn't likely to take cold without 'em, i dare say." "i hope he didn't die of anything catching? eh?" said old joe, stopping in his work, and looking up. "don't you be afraid of that," returned the woman. "i an't so fond of his company that i'd loiter about him for such things, if he did. ah! you may look through that shirt till your eyes ache; but you won't find a hole in it, nor a threadbare place. it's the best he had, and a fine one too. they'd have wasted it, if it hadn't been for me." "what do you call wasting of it?" asked old joe. "putting it on him to be buried in, to be sure," replied the woman with a laugh. "somebody was fool enough to do it, but i took it off again. if calico an't good enough for such a purpose, it isn't good enough for anything. it's quite as becoming to the body. he can't look uglier than he did in that one." scrooge listened to this dialogue in horror. as they sat grouped about their spoil, in the scanty light afforded by the old man's lamp, he viewed them with a detestation and disgust which could hardly have been greater, though they had been obscene demons, marketing the corpse itself. "ha, ha!" laughed the same woman when old joe, producing a flannel bag with money in it, told out their several gains upon the ground. "this is the end of it, you see! he frightened every one away from him when he was alive, to profit us when he was dead! ha, ha, ha!" "spirit!" said scrooge, shuddering from head to foot. "i see, i see. the case of this unhappy man might be my own. my life tends that way now. merciful heaven, what is this?" he recoiled in terror, for the scene had changed, and now he almost touched a bed: a bare, uncurtained bed: on which, beneath a ragged sheet, there lay a something covered up, which, though it was dumb, announced itself in awful language. the room was very dark, too dark to be observed with any accuracy, though scrooge glanced round it in obedience to a secret impulse, anxious to know what kind of room it was. a pale light, rising in the outer air, fell straight upon the bed: and on it, plundered and bereft, unwatched, unwept, uncared for, was the body of this man. scrooge glanced towards the phantom. its steady hand was pointed to the head. the cover was so carelessly adjusted that the slightest raising of it, the motion of a finger upon scrooge's part, would have disclosed the face. he thought of it, felt how easy it would be to do, and longed to do it; but had no more power to withdraw the veil than to dismiss the spectre at his side. oh, cold, cold, rigid, dreadful death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion! but of the loved, revered, and honoured head thou canst 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 hand was open, generous, and true; the heart brave, warm, and tender; and the pulse a man's. strike, shadow, strike! and see his good deeds springing from the wound, to sow the world with life immortal! no voice pronounced these words in scrooge's ears, and yet he heard them when he looked upon the bed. he thought, if this man could be raised up now, what would be his foremost thoughts? avarice, hard dealing, griping cares? they have brought him to a rich end, truly! he lay, in the dark, empty house, with not a man, a woman, or a child to say he was kind to me in this or that, and for the 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 hearth-stone. what _they_ wanted in the room of death, and why they were so restless and disturbed, scrooge did not dare to think. "spirit!" he said, "this is a fearful place. in leaving it, i shall not leave its lesson, trust me. let us go!" still the ghost pointed with an unmoved finger to the head. "i understand you," scrooge returned, "and i would do it if i could. but i have not the power, spirit. i have not the power." again it seemed to look upon him. "if there is any person in the town who feels emotion caused by this man's death," said scrooge, quite agonised, "show that person to me, spirit! i beseech you." the phantom spread its dark robe before him for a moment, like a wing; and, withdrawing it, revealed a room by daylight, where a mother and her children were. she was expecting some one, and with anxious eagerness; for she walked up and down the room; started at every sound; looked out from the window; glanced at the clock; tried, but in vain, to work with her needle; and could hardly bear the voices of her children in their play. at length the long-expected knock was heard. she hurried to the door, and met her husband; a man whose face was careworn and depressed, though he was young. there was a remarkable expression in it now; a kind of serious delight of which he felt ashamed, and which he struggled to repress. he sat down to the dinner that had been hoarding for him by the fire, and, when she asked him faintly what news (which was not until after a long silence), he appeared embarrassed how to answer. "is it good," she said, "or bad?" to help him. "bad," he answered. "we are quite ruined?" "no. there is hope yet, caroline." "if _he_ relents," she said, amazed, "there is! nothing is past hope, if such a miracle has happened." "he is past relenting," said her husband. "he is dead." she was a mild and patient creature, if her face spoke truth; but she was thankful in her soul to hear it, and she said so with clasped hands. she prayed forgiveness the next moment, and was sorry; but the first was the emotion of her heart. "what the half-drunken woman, whom i told you of last night, said to me when i tried to see him and obtain a week's delay, and what i thought was a mere excuse to avoid me, turns out to have been quite true. he was not only very ill, but dying, then." "to whom will our debt be transferred?" "i don't know. but, before that time, we shall be ready with the money; and, even though we were not, it would be bad fortune indeed to find so merciless a creditor in his successor. we may sleep to-night with light hearts, caroline!" yes. soften it as they would, their hearts were lighter. the children's faces, hushed and clustered round to hear what they so little understood, were brighter; and it was a happier house for this man's death! the only emotion that the ghost could show him, caused by the event, was one of pleasure. "let me see some tenderness connected with a death," said scrooge; "or that dark chamber, spirit, which we left just now, will be for ever present to me." the ghost conducted him through several streets familiar to his feet; and, as they went along, scrooge looked here and there to find himself, but nowhere was he to be seen. they entered poor bob cratchit's house,--the dwelling he had visited before,--and found the mother and the children seated round the fire. quiet. very quiet. the noisy little cratchits were as still as statues in one corner, and sat looking up at peter, who had a book before him. the mother and her daughters were engaged in sewing. but surely they were very quiet! "'and he took a child, and set him in the midst of them.'" where had scrooge heard those words? he had not dreamed them. the boy must have read them out, as he and the spirit crossed the threshold. why did he not go on? the mother laid her work upon the table, and put her hand up to her face. "the colour hurts my eyes," she said. the colour? ah, poor tiny tim! "they're better now again," said cratchit's wife. "it makes them weak by candle-light; and i wouldn't show weak eyes to your father, when he comes home, for the world. it must be near his time." "past it rather," peter answered, shutting up his book. "but i think he has walked a little slower than he used, these few last evenings, mother." they were very quiet again. at last she said, and in a steady, cheerful voice, that only faltered once: "i have known him walk with--i have known him walk with tiny tim upon his shoulder very fast indeed." "and so have i," cried peter. "often." "and so have i," exclaimed another. so had all. "but he was very light to carry," she resumed, intent upon her work, "and his father loved him so, that it was no trouble: no trouble. and there is your father at the door!" she hurried out to meet him; and little bob in his comforter--he had need of it, poor fellow--came in. his tea was ready for him on the hob, and they all tried who should help him to it most. then the two young cratchits got upon his knees, and laid, each child, a little cheek against his face, as if they said, "don't mind it, father. don't be grieved!" bob was very cheerful with them, and spoke pleasantly to all the family. he looked at the work upon the table, and praised the industry and speed of mrs. cratchit and the girls. they would be done long before sunday, he said. "sunday! you went to-day, then, robert?" said his wife. "yes, my dear," returned bob. "i wish you could have gone. it would have done you good to see how green a place it is. but you'll see it often. i promised him that i would walk there on a sunday. my little, little child!" cried bob. "my little child!" he broke down all at once. he couldn't help it. if he could have helped it, he and his child would have been farther apart, perhaps, than they were. he left the room, and went up-stairs into the room above, which was lighted cheerfully, and hung with christmas. there was a chair set close beside the child, and there were signs of some one having been there lately. poor bob sat down in it, and, when he had thought a little and composed himself, he kissed the little face. he was reconciled to what had happened, and went down again quite happy. they drew about the fire, and talked; the girls and mother working still. bob told them of the extraordinary kindness of mr. scrooge's nephew, whom he had scarcely seen but once, and who, meeting 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 pleasantest-spoken gentleman you ever heard, i told him. 'i am heartily sorry for it, mr. cratchit,' he said, 'and heartily sorry for your good wife.' by-the-bye, how he ever knew _that_ i don't know." "knew what, my dear?" "why, that you were a good wife," replied bob. "everybody knows that," said peter. "very well observed, my boy!" cried bob. "i hope they do. 'heartily sorry,' he said, 'for your good wife. if i can be of service to you in any way,' 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 to do for us, so much as for his kind way, that this was quite delightful. it really seemed as if he had known our tiny tim, and felt with us." "i'm sure he's a good soul!" said mrs. cratchit. "you would be sure of it, my dear," returned bob, "if you saw and spoke to him. i shouldn't be at all surprised--mark what i say!--if he got peter a better situation." "only hear that, peter," said mrs. cratchit. "and then," cried one of the girls, "peter will be keeping company with some one, and setting up for himself." "get along with you!" retorted peter, grinning. "it's just as likely as not," said bob, "one of these days; though there's plenty of time for that, my dear. but, however and whenever we part from one another, i am sure we shall none of us forget poor tiny tim--shall we--or this first parting that there was among us?" "never, father!" cried they all. "and i know," said bob, "i know, my dears, that when we recollect how patient and how mild he was, although he was a little, little child, we shall not quarrel easily among ourselves, and forget poor tiny tim in doing it." "no, never, father!" they all cried again. "i am very happy," said little bob, "i am very happy!" mrs. cratchit kissed him, his daughters kissed him, the two young cratchits kissed him, and peter and himself shook hands. spirit of tiny tim, thy childish essence was from god! "spectre," said scrooge, "something informs me that our parting moment is at hand. i know it, but i know not how. tell me what man that was whom we saw lying dead?" the ghost of christmas yet to come conveyed him, as before--though at a different time, he thought: indeed, there seemed no order in these latter visions, save that they were in the future--into the resorts of business men, but showed him not himself. indeed, the spirit did not stay for anything, but went straight on, as to the end just now desired, until besought by scrooge to tarry for a moment. "this court," said scrooge, "through which we hurry now, is where my place of occupation is, and has been for a length of time. i see the house. let me behold what i shall be in days to come." the spirit stopped; the hand was pointed elsewhere. "the house is yonder," scrooge exclaimed. "why do you point away?" the inexorable finger underwent no change. scrooge hastened to the window of his office, and looked in. it was an office still, but not his. the furniture was not the same, and the figure in the chair was not himself. the phantom pointed as before. he joined it once again, and, wondering why and whither he had gone, accompanied it until they reached an iron gate. he paused to look round before entering. a churchyard. here, then, the wretched man, whose name he had now to learn, lay underneath the ground. it was a worthy place. walled in by houses; overrun by grass and weeds, the growth of vegetation's death, not life; choked up with too much burying; fat with repleted appetite. a worthy place! the spirit stood among the graves, and pointed down to one. he advanced towards it trembling. the phantom was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn shape. "before i draw nearer to that stone to which you point," said scrooge, "answer me one question. are these the shadows of the things that will be, or are they shadows of the things that may be only?" still the ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood. "men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead," said scrooge. "but if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. say it is thus with what you show me!" the spirit was immovable as ever. scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went; and, following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, ebenezer scrooge. "am _i_ that man who lay upon the bed?" he cried upon his knees. the finger pointed from the grave to him, and back again. "no, spirit! oh no, no!" the finger still was there. "spirit!" he cried, tight clutching at its robe, "hear me! i am not the man i was. i will not be the man i must have been but for this intercourse. why show me this, if i am past all hope?" for the first time the hand appeared to shake. "good spirit," he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: "your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. assure me that i yet may change these shadows you have shown me by an altered life?" the kind hand trembled. "i will honour 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 within me. i will not shut out the lessons that they teach. oh, tell me i may sponge away the writing on this stone!" in his agony, he caught the spectral hand. it sought to free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and detained it. the spirit, stronger yet, repulsed him. holding up his hands in a last prayer to have his fate reversed, he saw an alteration in the phantom's hood and dress. it shrunk, collapsed, and dwindled down into a bedpost. stave five the end of it yes! and the bedpost was his own. the bed was his own, the room was his own. best and happiest of all, the time before him was his own, to make amends in! "i will live in the past, the present, and the future!" scrooge repeated as he scrambled out of bed. "the spirits of all three shall strive within me. oh, jacob marley! heaven and the christmas time be praised for this! i say it on my knees, old jacob; on my knees!" he was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. he had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the spirit, and his face was wet with tears. "they are not torn down," cried scrooge, folding one of his bed-curtains in his arms, "they are not torn down, rings and all. they are here--i am here--the shadows of the things that would have been may be dispelled. they will be. i know they will!" his hands were busy with his garments all this time; turning them inside out, putting them on upside down, tearing them, mislaying them, making them parties to every kind of extravagance. "i don't know what to do!" cried scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath; and making a perfect laocoã¶n 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 school-boy. i am as giddy as a drunken man. a merry christmas to everybody! a happy new year to all the world! hallo here! whoop! hallo!" he had frisked into the sitting-room, and was now standing there: perfectly winded. "there's the saucepan that the gruel was in!" cried scrooge, starting off again, and going round the fire-place. "there's the door by which the ghost of jacob marley entered! there's the corner where the ghost of christmas present sat! there's the window where i saw the wandering spirits! it's all right, it's all true, it all happened. ha, ha, ha!" really, for a man who had been out of practice for so many years, it was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh. the father of a long, long line of brilliant laughs! "i don't know what day of the month it is," said scrooge. "i don't know how long i have been among the spirits. i don't know anything. i'm quite a baby. never mind. i don't care. i'd rather be a baby. hallo! whoop! hallo here!" he was checked in his transports by the churches ringing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard. clash, clash, hammer; ding, dong, bell! bell, dong, ding; hammer, clang, clash! oh, glorious, glorious! running to the window, he opened it, and put out his head. no fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; golden sun-light; heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. oh, glorious! glorious! "what's to-day?" cried scrooge, calling downward to a boy in sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look about him. "eh?" returned the boy with all his might of wonder. "what's to-day, my fine fellow?" said scrooge. "to-day!" replied the boy. "why, christmas day." "it's christmas day!" said scrooge to himself. "i haven't missed it. the spirits have done it all in one night. they can do anything they like. of course they can. of course they can. hallo, my fine fellow!" "hallo!" returned the boy. "do you know the poulterer's in the next street but one, at the corner?" scrooge inquired. "i should hope i did," replied the lad. "an intelligent boy!" said scrooge. "a remarkable boy! do you know whether they've sold the prize turkey that was hanging up there?--not the little prize turkey: the big one?" "what! the one as big as me?" returned the boy. "what a delightful boy!" said scrooge. "it's a pleasure to talk to him. yes, my buck!" "it's hanging there now," replied the boy. "is it?" said scrooge. "go and buy it." "walk-er!" exclaimed the boy. "no, no," said scrooge, "i am in earnest. go and buy it, and tell 'em to bring it here, that i may give them the directions where to take it. come back with the man, and i'll give you a shilling. come back with him in less than five minutes, and i'll give you half-a-crown!" the boy was off like a shot. he must have had a steady hand at a trigger who could have got a shot off half so fast. "i'll send it to bob cratchit's," whispered scrooge, rubbing his hands, and splitting with a laugh. "he shan't know who sends it. it's twice the size of tiny tim. joe miller never made such a joke as sending it to bob's will be!" the hand in which he wrote the address was not a steady one; but write it he did, somehow, and went down-stairs to open the street-door, ready for the coming of the poulterer's man. as he stood there, waiting his arrival, the knocker caught his eye. "i shall love it as long as i live!" cried scrooge, patting it with his hand. "i scarcely ever looked at it before. what an honest expression it has in its face! it's a wonderful knocker!--here's the turkey. hallo! whoop! how are you? merry christmas!" it _was_ a turkey! he never could have stood upon his legs, that bird. he would have snapped 'em short off in a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax. "why, it's impossible to carry that to camden town," said scrooge. "you must have a cab." the chuckle with which he said this, and the chuckle with which he paid for the turkey, and the chuckle with which he paid for the cab, and the chuckle with which he recompensed the boy, were only to be exceeded by the chuckle with which he sat down breathless in his chair again, and chuckled till he cried. shaving was not an easy task, for his hand continued to shake very much; and shaving requires attention, even when you don't dance while you are at it. but, if he had cut the end of his nose off, he would have put a piece of sticking-plaster over it, and been quite satisfied. he dressed himself "all in his best," and at last got out into the streets. the people were by this time pouring forth, as he had seen them with the ghost of christmas present; 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-humoured fellows said, "good morning, sir! a merry christmas to you!" and scrooge said often afterwards that, of all the blithe sounds he had ever heard, those were the blithest in his ears. he had not gone far when, coming on towards him, he beheld the portly gentleman who had walked into his counting-house the day before, and said, "scrooge and marley's, i believe?" it sent a pang across his heart to think how this old gentleman would look upon him when they met; but he knew what path lay straight before him, and he took it. "my dear sir," said scrooge, quickening his pace, and taking the old gentleman by both his hands, "how do you do? i hope you succeeded yesterday. it was very kind of you. a merry christmas to you, sir!" "mr. scrooge?" "yes," said scrooge. "that is my name, and i fear it may not be pleasant to you. allow me to ask your pardon. and will you have the goodness----" here scrooge whispered in his ear. "lord bless me!" cried the gentleman, as if his breath were taken away. "my dear mr. scrooge, are you serious?" "if you please," said scrooge. "not a farthing less. a great many back-payments are included in it, i assure you. will you do me that favour?" "my dear sir," said the other, shaking hands with him, "i don't know what to say to such munifi----" "don't say anything, please," retorted scrooge. "come and see me. will you come and see me?" "i will!" cried the old gentleman. and it was clear he meant to do it. "thankee," said scrooge. "i am much obliged to you. i thank you fifty times. bless you!" he went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted the children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows; and found that everything could yield him pleasure. he had never dreamed that any walk--that anything--could give him so much happiness. in the afternoon he turned his steps towards his nephew's house. he passed the door a dozen times before he had the courage to go up and knock. but he made a dash, and did it. "is your master at home, my dear?" said scrooge to the girl. nice girl! very. "yes sir." "where is he, my love?" said scrooge. "he's in the dining-room, sir, along with mistress. i'll show you up-stairs, if you please." "thankee. he knows me," said scrooge, with his hand already on the dining-room lock. "i'll go in here, my dear." he turned it gently, and sidled his face in round the door. they were looking at the table (which was spread out in great array); for these young housekeepers are always nervous on such points, and like to see that everything is right. "fred!" said scrooge. dear heart alive, how his niece by marriage started! scrooge had forgotten, for the moment, about her sitting in the corner with the footstool, or he wouldn't have done it on any account. "why, bless my soul!" cried fred, "who's that?" "it's i. your uncle scrooge. i have come to dinner. will you let me in, fred?" let him in! it is a mercy he didn't shake his arm off. he was at home in five minutes. nothing could be heartier. his niece looked just the same. so did topper when _he_ came. so did the plump sister when _she_ came. so did every one when _they_ came. wonderful party, wonderful games, wonderful unanimity, won-der-ful happiness! but he was early at the office next morning. oh, he was early there! if he could only be there first, and catch bob cratchit coming late! that was the thing he had set his heart upon. and he did it; yes, he did! the clock struck nine. no bob. a quarter past. no bob. he was full eighteen minutes and a half behind his time. scrooge sat with his door wide open, that he might see him come into the tank. 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 nine o'clock. "hallo!" growled scrooge in his accustomed voice as near as he could feign it. "what do you mean by coming here at this time of day?" "i am very sorry, sir," said bob. "i _am_ behind my time." "you are!" repeated scrooge. "yes. i think you are. step this way, sir, if you please." "it's only once a year, sir," pleaded bob, appearing from the tank. "it shall not be repeated. i was making rather merry yesterday, sir." "now, i'll tell you what, my friend," said scrooge. "i am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. and therefore," he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the tank again: "and therefore i am about to raise your salary!" bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler. he had a momentary idea of knocking scrooge down with it, holding him, and calling to the people in the court for help and a strait-waistcoat. "a merry christmas, bob!" said scrooge with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. "a merrier christmas, bob, my good fellow, than i have given you for many a year! i'll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a christmas bowl of smoking bishop, bob! make up the fires and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, bob cratchit!" * * * * * scrooge was better than his word. he did it all, and infinitely more; and 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. 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 laughter in the outset; and, knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins as have the malady in less attractive forms. his own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him. he had no further intercourse with spirits, but lived upon the total-abstinence principle ever afterwards; 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! distributed proofreading canada team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net a christmas carol the original manuscript charles dickens [illustration] _a facsimile of the manuscript in the pierpont morgan library_ with a transcript of the first edition and john leech's illustrations [illustration: _mr. fezziwig's ball._] [illustration: a christmas carol by charles dickens] a christmas carol the original manuscript _by_ _charles dickens_ [illustration] a facsimile of the manuscript in the pierpont morgan library _with the illustrations of john leech and the text from the first edition_. [illustration: mr. fezziwig's ball. _london · chapman & hall, 186 strand._] [_this illustration is reproduced in full color on the inside front cover._] a christmas carol note to reader all inconsistencies of spelling and punctuation in the first edition have been retained by the publishers. the portions of manuscript reproduced on pages 38, 42, 56, 58, 70, 92 and 136 appeared originally on the verso of the facing manuscript page. /title/ a christmas carol in prose being a ghost story of christmas by charles dickens ------------------------------the illustrations by john leech ------------------------------chapman and hall 186 strand mdcccxliii /my own, and only, ms of the book/ charles dickens [illustration: original manuscript of the title page.] preface i have endeavoured in this ghostly little book, to raise the ghost of an idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. may it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it. their faithful friend and servant, c. d. december, 1843. [illustration: original manuscript of the preface.] stave i. marley's ghost. marley was dead: to begin with. there is no doubt whatever about that. the register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. scrooge signed it: and scrooge's name was good upon 'change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. old marley was as dead as a door-nail. mind! i don't mean to say that i know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. i might have been inclined, myself, 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 hands shall not disturb it, or the country's done for. you will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that marley was as dead as a door-nail. scrooge knew he was dead? of course he did. how could it be otherwise? scrooge and he were partners for i don't know how many years. scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend and sole mourner. and even scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain. the mention of marley's funeral brings me back to the point i started from. there is no doubt that marley was dead. this must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story i am going 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 own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot--say saint paul's churchyard for instance--literally to astonish his son's weak mind. scrooge never painted out old marley's name. there it [illustration: original manuscript of page 1.] stood, years afterwards, above the warehouse door: scrooge and marley. the firm was known as scrooge and marley. sometimes people new to the business called scrooge scrooge, and sometimes marley, but he answered to both names: it was all the same to him. oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. the cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. a frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. he carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn't thaw it one degree at christmas. external heat and cold had little influence on scrooge. no warmth could warm, nor wintry weather chill him. no wind that blew was bitterer than he, no 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 rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. they often "came down" handsomely, and scrooge never did. nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, "my dear scrooge, how are you? when will you come to see me?" no beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children 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 blindmen's dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, "no eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!" but what did scrooge care? it was the very thing he liked. to edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance, was what the knowing ones call "nuts" to scrooge. once upon a time--of all the good days in the year, on christmas eve--old scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. it was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the [illustration: original manuscript of page 2.] people in the court outside go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping 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 neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. the fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. to see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale. the door of scrooge's counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk'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 predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed. "a merry christmas, uncle! god save you!" cried a cheerful voice. it was the voice of scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach. "bah!" said scrooge, "humbug!" he had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again. "christmas a humbug, uncle!" said scrooge's nephew. "you don't mean that, i am sure." "i do," said scrooge. "merry christmas! what right have you to be merry? what reason have you to be merry? you're poor enough." "come, then," returned the nephew gaily. "what right have you to be dismal? what reason have you to be morose? you're rich enough." scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, "bah!" again; and followed it up with "humbug." "don't be cross, uncle," said the nephew. "what else can i be" returned the uncle, "when i live in such [illustration: original manuscript of page 3.] a world of fools as this? merry christmas! out upon merry christmas! what's christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, and 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 my will," said scrooge, indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with 'merry christmas,' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. he should!" "uncle!" pleaded the nephew. "nephew!" returned the uncle, sternly, "keep christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine." "keep it!" repeated scrooge's nephew. "but you don't keep it." "let me leave it alone, then," said scrooge. "much good may it do you! 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 nephew: "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 shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. and therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, i believe that it _has_ done me good, and _will_ do me good; and i say, god bless it!" the clerk in the tank involuntarily applauded: becoming immediately sensible of the impropriety, he poked the fire, and extinguished the last frail spark for ever. "let me hear another sound from _you_" said scrooge, "and you'll keep your christmas by losing your situation. you're quite a powerful speaker, sir," he added, turning to his nephew. "i wonder you don't go into parliament." "don't be angry, uncle. come! dine with us to-morrow." scrooge said that he would see him--yes, indeed he did. he went the whole length of the expression, and said that he would see him in that extremity first. [illustration: original manuscript of page 4.] "but why?" cried scrooge's nephew. "why?" "why did you get married?" said scrooge. "because i fell in love." "because you fell in love!" growled scrooge, as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry christmas. "good afternoon!" "nay, uncle, but you never came to see me before that happened. why give it as a reason for not coming now?" "good afternoon," said scrooge. "i want nothing from you; i ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?" "good afternoon," said scrooge. "i am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute. we have never had any quarrel, to which i have been a party. but i have made the trial in homage to christmas, and i'll keep my christmas humour to the last. so a merry christmas, uncle!" "good afternoon!" said scrooge. "and a happy new year!" "good afternoon!" said scrooge. his nephew left the room without an angry word, notwithstanding. he stopped at the outer door to bestow the greetings of the season on the clerk, who, cold as he was, was warmer than scrooge; for he returned them cordially. "there's another fellow," muttered scrooge; who overheard him: "my clerk, with fifteen shillings a-week, and a wife and family, talking about a merry christmas. i'll retire to bedlam." this lunatic, in letting scrooge's nephew out, had let two other people in. they were portly gentlemen, pleasant to behold, and now stood, with their hats off, in scrooge's office. they had books and papers in their hands, and bowed to him. "scrooge and marley's, i believe," said one of the gentlemen, referring to his list. "have i the pleasure of addressing mr. scrooge, or mr. marley?" "mr. marley has been dead these seven years," scrooge replied. "he died seven years ago, this very night." "we have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner," said the gentleman, presenting his credentials. it certainly was; for they had been two kindred spirits. at the ominous word "liberality," scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back. [illustration: original manuscript of page 5.] "at this festive season of the year, mr. scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir." "are there no prisons?" asked scrooge. "plenty of prisons," said the gentleman, laying down the pen again. "and the union workhouses?" demanded scrooge. "are they still in operation?" "they are. still," returned the gentleman, "i wish i could say they were not." "the treadmill and the poor law are in full vigour, then?" said scrooge. "both very busy, sir." "oh! i was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course," said scrooge. "i'm very glad to hear it." "under the impression that they scarcely furnish christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude," returned the gentleman, "a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. we choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when want is keenly felt, and abundance rejoices. what shall i put you down for?" "nothing!" scrooge replied. "you wish to be anonymous?" "i wish to be left alone," said scrooge. "since you ask me what i wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. i don't make merry myself at christmas, and i can't afford to make idle people merry. i help to support the establishments i have mentioned: they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there." "many can't go there; and many would rather die." "if they would rather die," said scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. besides--excuse me--i don't know that." "but you might know it," observed the gentleman. "it's not my business," scrooge returned. "it's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people's. mine occupies me constantly. good afternoon, gentlemen!" seeing clearly that it would be useless to pursue their point, the gentlemen withdrew. scrooge resumed his labours with an improved opinion of himself, and in a more facetious temper than was usual with him. [illustration: original manuscript of page 6.] meanwhile the fog and darkness thickened so, that people ran about with flaring links, proffering their services to go before horses in carriages, and conduct them on their way. the ancient tower of a church, whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at scrooge out of a gothic window in the wall, became invisible, and struck the hours and quarters in the clouds, with tremulous vibrations afterwards, as if its teeth were chattering in its frozen head up there. the cold became intense. in the main street, at the corner of the court, some labourers 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 waterplug 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 glorious pageant, with which it was next to impossible to believe that such dull principles as bargain and sale had anything to do. the lord mayor, in the stronghold of the mighty mansion house, gave orders to his fifty cooks and butlers to keep christmas as a lord mayor's household should; and even the little tailor, whom he had fined five shillings on the previous monday for being drunk and blood-thirsty in the streets, stirred up to-morrow's pudding in his garret, while his lean wife and the baby sallied out to buy the beef. foggier yet, and colder! piercing, searching, biting cold. if the good saint dunstan had but nipped the evil spirit's nose with a touch of such weather 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 mumbled by the hungry cold as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped down at scrooge's keyhole to regale him with a christmas carol: but at the first sound of- "god bless you merry gentleman! may nothing you dismay!" scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action, that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost. at length the hour of shutting up the counting-house arrived. with an ill-will scrooge dismounted from his stool, and tacitly admitted the fact to the expectant clerk in the tank, who instantly snuffed his candle out, and put on his hat. "you'll want all day to-morrow, i suppose?" said scrooge. [illustration: original manuscript of page 7.] "if quite convenient, sir." "it's not convenient," said scrooge, "and it's not fair. if i was to stop half-a-crown for it, you'd think yourself ill used, i'll be bound?" the clerk smiled faintly. "and yet," said scrooge, "you don't think _me_ ill-used, when i pay a day's wages for no work." the clerk observed that it was only once a year. "a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every twenty-fifth of december!" said scrooge, buttoning his great-coat to the chin. "but i suppose you must have the whole day. be here all the earlier next morning!" the clerk promised that he would; and scrooge walked out with a growl. the office was closed in a twinkling, and the clerk, with the long ends of his white comforter dangling below his waist (for he boasted no great-coat), went down a slide on cornhill, at the end of a lane of boys, twenty times, in honour of its being christmas-eve, and then ran home to camden town as hard as he could pelt, to play at blindman's-buff. scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern; and having read all the news-papers, and beguiled the rest of the evening with his banker's-book, went home to bed. he lived in chambers which had once belonged to his deceased partner. they were a gloomy suite of rooms, in a lowering pile 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 have forgotten the way out again. it was old enough now, and dreary enough, for nobody lived in it but scrooge, the other rooms being all let out as offices. the yard was so dark that even scrooge, who knew its every stone, was fain to grope with his hands. the fog and frost so hung about the black old gateway of the house, that it seemed as if the genius of the weather sat in mournful meditation on the threshold. now, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular about the knocker on the door, except that it was very large. it is also a fact, that scrooge had seen it night and morning during his whole residence in that place; also that scrooge had as little of 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-years' dead partner that afternoon. and then let any man explain to me, if he can, how it happened that 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 [illustration: original manuscript of page 8.] marley's face. marley's face. it was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. it was not angry or ferocious, but looked at scrooge as marley used to look: with ghostly spectacles turned up upon its ghostly forehead. the hair was curiously stirred, as if by breath or hot-air; and though the eyes were wide open, they were perfectly motionless. that, and its livid colour, made it horrible; but its horror seemed to be, in spite of the face and beyond its control, rather than a part of its own expression. as scrooge looked fixedly at this phenomenon, it was a knocker again. to say that he was not startled, or that his blood was not conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy, would be untrue. but he put his hand upon the key he had relinquished, turned it sturdily, walked in, and lighted his candle. he _did_ pause, with a moment's irresolution, before he shut the door; and he _did_ look cautiously behind it first, as if he half-expected to be terrified with the sight of marley's pigtail sticking out into the hall. but there was nothing on the back of the door, except the screws and nuts that held the knocker on; so he said "pooh, pooh!" and closed it with a bang. the sound resounded through the house like thunder. every room above, and every cask in the wine-merchant's cellars below, appeared to have a separate peal of echoes of its own. scrooge was not a man to be frightened by echoes. he fastened the door, and walked across the hall, and up the stairs: slowly too: trimming his candle as he went. you may talk vaguely about driving a coach-and-six up a good old flight of stairs, or through a bad young act of parliament; but i mean to say you might have got a hearse up that staircase, and taken it broadwise, 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 he saw a locomotive hearse going on before him in the gloom. half a dozen gas-lamps out of the street wouldn't have lighted the entry too well, so you may suppose that it was pretty dark with scrooge's dip. up scrooge went, not caring a button for that: darkness is cheap, and scrooge liked it. but before he shut his heavy door, he walked through his rooms to see that all was right. he had just enough recollection [illustration: original manuscript of page 9.] of the face to desire to do that. sitting room, bed-room, lumber-room. all as they should be. nobody under the table, nobody under the sofa; a small fire in the grate; spoon and basin ready; and the little saucepan 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 hanging up in a suspicious attitude against the wall. lumber-room as usual. old fire-guard, old shoes, two fish-baskets, washing-stand on three legs, and a poker. quite satisfied, he closed his door, and locked himself in; double-locked himself in, which was not his custom. thus secured against surprise, he took off his cravat; put on his dressing-gown and slippers, and his night-cap; and sat down before the fire to take his gruel. it was a very low fire indeed; nothing on such a bitter night. he was obliged to sit close to it, and brood over it, before he could extract the least sensation of warmth from such a handful of fuel. the fire-place was an old one, built by some dutch merchant long ago, and paved all round with quaint dutch tiles, 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 that face of marley, seven years dead, came like the ancient prophet's rod, and swallowed up the whole. if each smooth tile had been a blank at first, with power to shape some picture on its surface from the disjointed fragments of his thoughts, there would have been a copy of old marley's head on every one. "humbug!" said scrooge; and walked across the room. after several turns, he sat down again. as he threw his head back in the chair, his glance happened to rest upon a bell, a disused bell, that hung in the room, and communicated 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 he looked, he saw this bell begin to swing. it swung so softly in the outset that it scarcely made a sound; but soon it rang out loudly, and so did every bell in the house. this might have lasted half a minute, or a minute, but it seemed an hour. the bells ceased as they had begun, together. they were succeeded by a clanking noise, deep down below; as if some person were dragging [illustration: original manuscript of page 10.] a heavy chain over the casks in the wine-merchant's cellar. scrooge then remembered to have heard that ghosts in haunted houses were described as dragging chains. the cellar-door flew open with a booming sound, and then he heard the noise much louder, on the floors below; then coming up the stairs; then coming straight towards his door. "it's humbug still!" said scrooge. "i won't believe it." his colour changed though, when, without a pause, it came on through the heavy door, and passed into the room before his eyes. upon its coming in, the dying flame leaped up, as though it cried "i know him! marley's ghost!" and fell again. the same face: the very same. marley in his pig-tail, usual waistcoat, tights, and boots; the tassels on the latter bristling, like his pigtail, and his coat-skirts, and the hair upon his 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 cashboxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel. his body was transparent: so that scrooge, observing him, and looking through his waistcoat, could see the two buttons on his coat behind. scrooge had often heard it said that marley had no bowels, but he had never believed it until now. no, nor did he believe it even now. though he looked the phantom through and through, and saw it standing before him; though he felt the chilling influence of its death-cold eyes; and marked the very texture of the folded kerchief bound about its head and chin, which wrapper he had not observed before: he was still incredulous, and fought against his senses. "how now!" said scrooge, caustic and cold as ever. "what do you want with me?" "much!"--marley's voice, no doubt about it. "who are you?" "ask me who i _was_." "who _were_ you then?" said scrooge, raising his voice. "you're particular--for a shade." he was going to say "_to_ a shade," but substituted this, as more appropriate. "in life i was your partner, jacob marley." "can you--can you sit down?" asked scrooge, looking doubtfully at him. "i can." "do it then." scrooge asked the question, because he didn't know whether a ghost so [illustration: original manuscript of page 11.] [illustration] [illustration: _marley's ghost._] _london · chapman & hall, 186 strand._ [_this illustration is reproduced in full color on the front cover._] transparent might find himself in a condition to take a chair; and felt that in the event of its being impossible, it might involve the necessity of an embarrassing explanation. but the ghost sat down on the opposite side of the fire-place, as if he were quite used to it. "you don't believe in me," observed the ghost. "i don't," said scrooge. "what evidence would you have of my reality, beyond that of your senses?" "i don't know," said scrooge. "why do you doubt your senses?" "because," said scrooge, "a little thing affects them. a slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. you may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. there's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!" scrooge was not much in the habit of cracking jokes, nor did he feel, in his heart, by any means waggish then. the truth is, that he tried to be smart, as a means of distracting his own attention, and keeping down his terror; for the spectre's voice disturbed the very marrow in his bones. to sit, staring at those fixed, glazed eyes, in silence for a moment, would play, scrooge felt, the very deuce with him. there was something very awful, too, in the spectre's being provided with an infernal atmosphere of its own. scrooge could not feel it himself, but this was clearly the case; for though the ghost sat perfectly motionless, its hair, and skirts, and tassels, were still agitated as by the hot vapour from an oven. "you see this toothpick?" said scrooge, returning quickly to the charge, for the reason just assigned; and wishing, though it were only for a second, to divert the vision's stony gaze from himself. "i do," replied the ghost. "you are not looking at it," said scrooge. "but i see it," said the ghost, "notwithstanding." "well!" returned scrooge. "i have but to swallow this, and be for the rest of my days persecuted by a legion of goblins, all of my own creation. humbug, i tell you--humbug!" at this, the spirit raised a frightful cry, and shook its chain with such a dismal and appalling noise, that scrooge held on tight to his chair, to save himself from falling in a swoon. but how much greater was his horror, when the phantom taking off the bandage round its head, as if it were too [illustration: original manuscript of page 12.] warm to wear in-doors, its lower jaw dropped down upon its breast! scrooge fell upon his knees, and clasped his hands before his face. "mercy!" he said. "dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me?" "man of the worldly mind!" replied the ghost, "do you believe in me or not?" "i do," said scrooge. "i must. but why do spirits walk the earth, and why do they come to me?" "it is required of every man," the ghost returned, "that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel 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 through the world--oh, woe is me!--and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!" again the spectre raised a cry, and shook its chain, and wrung its shadowy hands. "you are fettered," said scrooge, trembling. "tell me why?" "i wear the chain i forged in life," replied the ghost. "i made it link by link, and yard by yard; i girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will i wore it. is its pattern strange to _you_?" scrooge trembled more and more. "or would you know," pursued the ghost, "the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? it was full as heavy and as long as this, seven christmas eves ago. you have laboured on it, since. it is a ponderous chain!" scrooge glanced about him on the floor, in the expectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or sixty fathoms of iron cable: but he could see nothing. "jacob," he said, imploringly. "old jacob marley, tell me more. speak comfort to me, jacob." "i have none to give," the ghost replied. "it comes from other regions, ebenezer scrooge, and is conveyed by other ministers, to other kinds of men. nor 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 beyond our counting-house--mark me!--in life my spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole; and weary journeys lie before me!" it was a habit with scrooge, whenever he became thoughtful, [illustration: original manuscript of page 13.] to put his hands in his breeches pockets. pondering on what the ghost had said, he did so now, but without lifting up his eyes, or getting off his knees. "you must have been very slow about it, jacob," scrooge observed, in a business-like manner, though with humility and deference. "slow!" the ghost repeated. "seven years dead," mused scrooge. "and travelling all the time?" "the whole time," said the ghost. "no rest, no peace. incessant torture of remorse." "you travel fast?" said scrooge. "on the wings of the wind," replied the ghost. "you might have got over a great quantity of ground in seven years," said scrooge. the ghost, on hearing this, set up another cry, and clanked its chain so hideously in the dead silence of the night, that the ward would have been justified in indicting it for a nuisance. "oh, captive, bound, and double-ironed," cried the phantom, "not to know, that ages of incessant labour by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before 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 life too short for its vast means of usefulness. not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunities misused! yet such was i! oh! such was i!" "but you were always a good man of business, jacob," faultered scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. "business!" cried the ghost, wringing its hands again. "mankind was my business. the common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. the dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!" it held up its chain at arm's length, as if that were the cause of all its unavailing grief, and flung it heavily upon the ground again. "at this time of the rolling year," the spectre said, "i suffer most. why did i walk through the crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed star which led the wise men to a poor abode? were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted _me_!" scrooge was very much dismayed to hear the spectre going on at [illustration: original manuscript of page 14.] this rate, and began to quake exceedingly. "hear me!" cried the ghost. "my time is nearly gone." "i will," said scrooge. "but don't be hard upon me! don't be flowery, jacob! pray!" "how it is that i appear before you in a shape that you can see, i may not tell. i have sat invisible beside you many and many a day." it was not an agreeable idea. scrooge shivered, and wiped the perspiration from his brow. "that is no light part of my penance," pursued the ghost. "i am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. a chance and hope of my procuring, ebenezer." "you were always a good friend to me," said scrooge. "thank'ee!" "you will be haunted," resumed the ghost, "by three spirits." scrooge's countenance fell almost as low as the ghost's had done. "is that the chance and hope you mentioned, jacob?" he demanded, in a faultering voice. "it is." "i--i think i'd rather not," said scrooge. "without their visits," said the ghost, "you cannot hope to shun the path i tread. expect the first to-morrow, when the bell tolls one." "couldn't i take 'em all at once, and have it over, jacob?" hinted scrooge. "expect the second on the next night at the same hour. the third upon the next night when the last stroke of twelve has ceased to vibrate. look to see me no more; and look that, for your own sake, you remember what has passed between us!" when it had said these words, the spectre took its wrapper from the table, and bound it round its head, as before. scrooge knew this, by the smart sound its teeth made, when the jaws were brought together by the bandage. he ventured to raise his eyes again, and found his supernatural visitor confronting him in an erect attitude, with its chain wound over and about its arm. the apparition walked backward from him; and at every step it took, the window raised itself a little, so that when the spectre reached it, it was wide open. it beckoned scrooge to approach, which he did. when they were within two paces of each other, marley's ghost held up its hand, warning him to come no nearer. scrooge stopped. not so much in obedience, as in surprise and fear: for on the raising of the hand, he became sensible of confused noises in the [illustration: original manuscript of page 15.] [illustration: verso of original manuscript page 16.] air; incoherent sounds of lamentation and regret; wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self-accusatory. the spectre, after listening for a moment, joined in the mournful dirge; and floated out upon the bleak, dark night. scrooge followed to the window: desperate in his curiosity. he looked out. the air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went. every one of them wore chains like marley's ghost; some few (they might be guilty governments) were linked together; 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 ancle, who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below, upon a door-step. the misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever. whether these creatures faded into mist, or mist enshrouded them, he could not tell. but they and their spirit voices faded together; and the night became as it had been when he walked home. scrooge closed the window, and examined the door by which the ghost had entered. it was double-locked, as he had locked it with his own hands, and the bolts were undisturbed. he tried to say "hum-bug!" 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 world, or the dull conversation of the ghost, or the lateness of the hour, much in need of repose; went straight to bed, without undressing, and fell asleep upon the instant. [illustration: original manuscript of page 16.] stave ii. the first of the three spirits. when scrooge awoke, it was so dark, that looking out of bed, he could scarcely distinguish the transparent window from the opaque walls of his chamber. he was endeavouring to pierce the darkness with his ferret eyes, when the chimes of a neighbouring church struck the four quarters. so he listened for the hour. to his great astonishment the heavy bell went on from six to seven, and from seven to eight, and regularly up to twelve; then stopped. twelve! it was past two when he went to bed. the clock was wrong. an icicle must have got into the works. twelve! he touched the spring of his repeater, to correct this most preposterous clock. its rapid little pulse beat twelve; and stopped. "why, it isn't possible," said scrooge, "that i can have slept through a whole day and far into another night. it isn't possible that anything has happened to the sun, and this is twelve at noon!" the idea being an alarming one, he scrambled out of bed, and groped his way to the window. he was obliged to rub the frost off with the sleeve of his dressing-gown before he could see anything; and could see very little then. all he could 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 possession of the world. this was a great relief, because "three days after sight of this first of exchange pay to mr. ebenezer scrooge or his order," and so forth, would have become a mere united states' security if there were no days to count by. scrooge went to bed again, and thought, and thought, and thought it over and over and over, and could make nothing of it. the more he thought, the more perplexed he was; and the more he endeavoured not to think, the more he thought. marley's ghost bothered him exceedingly. every time he resolved within himself, after mature inquiry, that it was all a dream, his mind flew back again like a strong spring released, to its first position, and presented the same problem to be worked all through, "was it a dream or not?" scrooge lay in this state until the chimes had gone three quarters more, when he remembered, on a sudden, that the ghost had [illustration: original manuscript of page 17.] [illustration: verso of original manuscript of page 18.] warned him of a visitation when the bell tolled one. he resolved to lie awake until the hour was past; and considering that he could no more go to sleep than go to heaven, this was perhaps the wisest resolution in his power. the quarter was so long, that he was more than once convinced he must have sunk into a doze unconsciously, and missed the clock. at length it broke upon his listening ear. "ding, dong!" "a quarter past," said scrooge, counting. "ding, dong!" "half past!" said scrooge. "ding, dong!" "a quarter to it," said scrooge. "ding, dong!" "the hour itself," said scrooge, triumphantly, "and nothing else!" he spoke before the hour bell sounded, which it now did with a deep, dull, hollow, melancholy one. light flashed up in the room upon the instant, and the curtains of his bed were drawn. the curtains of his bed were drawn aside, i tell you, by a hand. not the curtains at his feet, nor the curtains at his back, but those to which his face was addressed. the curtains of his bed were drawn aside; and scrooge, starting up into a half-recumbent attitude, found himself face to face with the unearthly visitor who drew them: as close to it as i am now to you, and i am standing in the spirit at your elbow. it was a strange figure--like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child's proportions. its hair, which hung about its neck and down its back, was white as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom 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; and, in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem, had its dress trimmed with summer flowers. but the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light, by which all this was visible; and which was doubtless the occasion of its using, in its duller moments, a great extinguisher for [illustration: original manuscript of page 18.] a cap, which it now held under its arm. even this, though, when scrooge looked at it with increasing steadiness, was _not_ its strangest quality. for as its belt sparkled and glittered now in one part and now in another, and what was light one 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 head without a body: of which dissolving parts, no outline would be visible in the dense gloom wherein they melted away. and in the very wonder of this, it would be itself again; distinct and clear as ever. "are you the spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to me?" asked scrooge. "i am!" the voice was soft and gentle. singularly low, as if instead of being so close beside him, it were at a distance. "who, and what are you?" scrooge demanded. "i am the ghost of christmas past." "long past?" inquired scrooge: observant of its dwarfish stature. "no. your past." perhaps, scrooge could not have told anybody why, if anybody could have asked him; but he had a special desire to see the spirit in his cap; and begged him to be covered. "what" exclaimed the ghost, "would you so soon put out, with worldly hands, the light i give? is it not enough that you are one of those whose passions made this cap, and force me through whole trains of years to wear it low upon my brow!" scrooge reverently disclaimed all intention to offend, or any knowledge of having wilfully "bonneted" the spirit at any period of his life. he then made bold to inquire what business brought him there. "your welfare!" said the ghost. scrooge expressed himself much obliged, but could not help thinking that a night of unbroken rest would have been more conducive to that end. the spirit must have heard him thinking, for it said immediately: "your reclamation, then. take heed!" it put out its strong hand as it spoke, and clasped him gently by the arm. "rise! and walk with me!" it would have been in vain for scrooge to plead that the weather and the hour were not adapted to pedestrian purposes; that bed was warm, and the thermometer a long way below freezing; that he was clad but lightly in his slippers, [illustration: original manuscript of page 19.] dressing-gown, and nightcap; and that he had a cold upon him at that time. the grasp, though gentle as a woman's hand, was not to be resisted. he rose: but finding that the spirit made towards the window, clasped its robe in supplication. "i am a mortal," scrooge remonstrated, "and liable to fall." "bear but a touch of my hand _there_," said the spirit, laying it upon his heart, "and you shall be upheld in more than this!" as the words were spoken, they passed through the wall, and stood upon an open country road, with fields on either hand. the city had entirely vanished. not a vestige of it was to be seen. the darkness and the mist had vanished with it, for it was a clear, cold, winter day, with snow upon the ground. "good heaven!" said scrooge, clasping his hands together, as he looked about him. "i was bred in this place. i was a boy here!" the spirit gazed upon him mildly. its gentle touch, though it had been light and instantaneous, appeared still present to the old man's sense of feeling. he was conscious of a thousand odours floating in the air, each one connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long, forgotten! "your lip is trembling," said the ghost. "and what is that upon your cheek?" scrooge muttered, with an unusual catching in his voice, that it was a pimple; and begged the ghost to lead him where he would. "you recollect the way?" inquired the spirit. "remember it!" cried scrooge with fervour--"i could walk it blindfold." "strange to have forgotten it for so many years!" observed the ghost. "let us go on." they walked along the road; scrooge recognising every gate, and post, and tree; until a little market-town appeared in the distance, with its bridge, its church, and 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 farmers. all these boys were in great spirits, and shouted to each other, until the broad fields were so full of merry music, that the crisp air laughed to hear it. "these are but shadows of the things that have been," said the ghost. "they have no consciousness of us." the jocund travellers came on; and as they came, scrooge knew and named them every one. why was he rejoiced beyond all bounds to see them! why did his cold eye glisten, and his heart [illustration: original manuscript of page 20.] leap up as they went past! why was he filled with gladness when he heard them give each other merry christmas, as they parted at cross-roads and bye-ways, for their several homes! what was merry christmas to scrooge? out upon merry christmas! what good had it ever done to him? "the school is not quite deserted," said the ghost. "a solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still." scrooge said he knew it. and he sobbed. they left the high-road, by a well remembered lane, and soon approached a mansion of dull red brick, with a little weathercock-surmounted cupola, on the roof, and a bell hanging in it. it was a large house, but one of broken fortunes; for the spacious offices were little 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, and glancing through the open doors of many rooms, they found them poorly furnished, cold, and vast. there was an earthy savour in the air, a chilly bareness in the place, which associated itself somehow with too much getting up by candle-light, and not too much to eat. they went, the ghost and scrooge, across the hall, to a door at the back of the house. it opened before them, and disclosed a long, bare, melancholy room, made barer still by lines of plain deal forms and desks. at one of these a lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire; and scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he had used to be. not a latent echo in the house, not a squeak and scuffle from the mice behind the panneling, not a drip from the half-thawed water-spout 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 door, no, not a clicking in the fire, but fell upon the heart of scrooge with softening influence, and gave a freer passage to his tears. the spirit touched him on the arm, and pointed to his young self, intent upon his reading. suddenly a man, in foreign garments: wonderfully real and distinct to look at: stood outside the window, with an axe stuck in his belt, and leading an ass laden with wood by the bridle. "why, it's ali baba!" scrooge exclaimed in ecstacy. "it's dear old honest ali baba! yes, yes, i know! one christmas time, when yonder solitary child was left here all alone, he _did_ come, for the first [illustration: original manuscript of page 21.] 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 damascus; don't you see him! and the sultan's groom turned upside-down by the genii; there he is upon his head! serve him right. i'm glad of it. what business had _he_ to be married to the princess!" to hear scrooge expending all the earnestness of his nature on such subjects, in a most extraordinary voice between laughing and crying; and to see his heightened and excited face; would have been a surprise to his business friends in the city, indeed. "there's the parrot!" cried scrooge. "green body and yellow tail, with a thing like a lettuce growing out of the top of his head; there he is! poor robin 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 thought he was dreaming, but he wasn't. it was the parrot, you know. there goes friday, running for his life to the little creek! halloa! hoop! halloo!" then, with a rapidity of transition very foreign to his usual character, he said, in pity for his former self, "poor boy!" and cried again. "i wish," scrooge muttered, putting his hand in his pocket, and looking about him, after drying his eyes with his cuff: "but it's too late now." "what is the matter?" asked the spirit. "nothing," said scrooge. "nothing. there was a boy singing a christmas carol at my door last night. i should like to have given him something: that's all." the ghost smiled thoughtfully, and waved its hand: saying as it did so, "let us see another christmas!" scrooge's former self grew larger at the words, and the room became a little darker and more dirty. the panels shrunk, the windows cracked; fragments of plaster 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 that it was quite correct; that everything had happened so; that there he was, alone again, when all the other boys had gone home for the jolly holidays. he was not reading now, but walking up and down despairingly. scrooge looked at the ghost, and with a mournful shaking of his head, glanced anxiously towards the door. it opened; and a little girl, much younger than the boy, came darting in, and putting her arms about his neck, and often kissing him, addressed him as her "dear, dear brother." [illustration: original manuscript of page 22.] "i have come to bring you home, dear brother!" said the child, clapping her tiny hands, and bending down to laugh. "to bring you home, home, home!" "home, little fan?" returned the boy. "yes!" said the child, brimful of glee. "home, for good and all. home, for ever and ever. father is so much kinder than he used to be, that home's like heaven! he spoke so gently to me one 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 to be a man!" said the child, opening her eyes, "and are never to come back here; but first, we're to be together all the christmas long, and have the merriest time in all the world." "you are quite a woman, little fan!" exclaimed the boy. she clapped her hands and laughed, and tried to touch his head; but being too little, laughed again, and stood on tiptoe to embrace him. then she began to drag him, in her childish eagerness, towards the door; and he, nothing loth to go, accompanied her. a terrible voice in the hall cried, "bring down master scrooge's box, there!" and in the hall appeared the schoolmaster himself, who glared on master scrooge with a ferocious condescension, and threw him into a dreadful state of mind by shaking hands with him. he then conveyed him and his sister into the veriest old well of a shivering best-parlour that ever was seen, where the 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 meagre servant to offer a glass of "something" to the postboy, who answered that he thanked the gentleman, but if it was the same tap as he had tasted before, he had rather not. master scrooge's trunk being by this time tied on to the top of the chaise, the children bade the schoolmaster good-bye right willingly; and getting into it, drove gaily down the garden-sweep; the quick wheels dashing the hoar-frost and snow from off the dark leaves of the evergreens like spray. "always a delicate creature, whom a breath might have withered," said the ghost. "but she had a large heart!" "so she had," cried scrooge. "you're right. i'll not gainsay it, spirit. god forbid!" "she died a woman," said the ghost, "and had, as i [illustration: original manuscript of page 23.] think, children." "one child," scrooge returned. "true," said the ghost. "your nephew!" scrooge seemed uneasy in his mind; and answered briefly, "yes." although they had but that moment left the school behind them, they were now in the busy thoroughfares of a city, where shadowy passengers 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 plain enough, by the dressing of the shops, that here too it was christmas time again; but it was evening, and the streets were lighted up. the ghost stopped at a certain warehouse door, and asked scrooge if he knew it. "know it!" said scrooge. "was i apprenticed here?" they went in. at sight of an old gentleman in a welch wig, sitting behind such a high desk, that if he had been two inches taller he must have knocked his head against the ceiling, scrooge cried in great excitement: "why, it's old fezziwig! bless his heart; it's fezziwig alive again!" 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 his organ of benevolence; and called out in a comfortable, oily, rich, fat, jovial voice: "yo ho, there! ebenezer! dick!" scrooge's former self, now grown a young man, came briskly in, accompanied by his fellow-'prentice. "dick wilkins, to be sure!" said scrooge to the ghost. "bless me, yes. there he is. he was very much attached to me, was dick. poor dick! dear, dear!" "yo ho, my boys!" said fezziwig. "no more work to-night. christmas eve, dick. christmas, ebenezer! let's have the shutters up," cried old fezziwig, with a sharp clap of his hands, "before a man can say, jack robinson!" you wouldn't believe how those two fellows went at it! they charged into the street with the shutters--one, two, three--had 'em up in their places--four, five, six--barred 'em and pinned 'em--seven, eight, nine--and came back before you could have got to twelve, panting like race-horses. "hilli-ho!" cried old fezziwig, skipping down from the high desk, with wonderful agility. "clear away, my lads, and let's have lots of room here! hilli-ho, dick! chirrup, ebenezer!" clear away! there was nothing they wouldn't have cleared away, or couldn't have cleared away, with old fezziwig looking on. it was [illustration: original manuscript of page 24.] [illustration: verso of original manuscript page 25.] done in a minute. every movable was packed off, as if it were dismissed from public life for ever-more; the floor was swept and watered, the lamps were trimmed, fuel was heaped upon the fire; and the warehouse was as snug, and warm, and dry, and bright a ball-room, as you would desire to see upon a winter's night. in came a fiddler with a music-book, and went up to the lofty desk, and made an orchestra of it, and tuned like fifty stomach-aches. in came mrs. fezziwig, one vast substantial smile. in came the three miss fezziwigs, beaming and loveable. in came the six young followers whose hearts they broke. in came all the young men and women employed in the business. in came the housemaid, with her cousin, the baker. in came the cook, with her brother's particular friend, the milkman. in came the boy from over the way, who was suspected of not having board enough 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 starting off again, as soon as they got there; all top couples at last, and not a bottom one to help them. when this result was brought about, old fezziwig, clapping his hands to stop the dance, cried out, "well down!" and the fiddler plunged his hot face into a pot of porter, especially provided for that purpose. but scorning rest upon his reappearance, he instantly began again, though there were no dancers yet, as if the other fiddler had been carried home, exhausted, on a shutter; and he were a bran-new man resolved to beat him out of sight, or perish. 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 mince-pies, and plenty of beer. but 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 stood out to dance with mrs. fezziwig. top couple too; with a good stiff piece of work cut out for them; three or four and twenty pair of partners; people who were not to be trifled with; people who _would_ dance, and had no notion of walking. but if they had been twice as many: ah, four times: old fezziwig would have been a match for them, and so would mrs. fezziwig. as [illustration: original manuscript of page 25.] [illustration: verso of original manuscript page 26.] to _her_, she was worthy to be his partner in every sense of the term. if that's not high praise, tell me higher, and i'll use it. 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 become of 'em next. and when old fezziwig and mrs. fezziwig had gone all through the dance; advance and retire, hold hands with your partner; bow and curtsey; corkscrew; thread-the-needle, and back again to your place; fezziwig "cut"--cut so deftly, that he appeared to wink with his legs, and came upon his feet again without a stagger. when the clock struck eleven, this domestic ball broke up. mr. and mrs. fezziwig took their stations, one on either side the door, and shaking hands 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, they did the same to them; and thus the cheerful voices died away, and the lads were left to their beds; which were under a counter in the back-shop. 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 corroborated everything, remembered everything, enjoyed everything, and underwent the strangest agitation. it was not until now, when the bright faces of his former self and dick were turned from them, that he remembered the ghost, and became conscious that it was looking full upon him, while the light upon its head burnt very clear. "a small matter," said the ghost, "to make these silly folks so full of gratitude." "small!" echoed scrooge. the spirit signed to him to listen to the two apprentices, who were pouring out their hearts in praise of fezziwig: and when he had done so, said, "why! is it not? he has spent but a few pounds of your mortal money: three or four, perhaps. is that so much that he deserves this praise?" "it isn't that," said scrooge, heated by the remark, and speaking unconsciously like his former, not his latter, self. "it isn't that, spirit. he has the 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 so slight and insignificant that it is impossible to add and count 'em up: what then? the happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune." he felt the spirit's glance, and stopped. "what is the matter?" asked the ghost. "nothing particular," said scrooge. "something, i think?" the ghost insisted. "no," said scrooge, "no. i should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now! that's all." [illustration: original manuscript of page 26.] his former self turned down the lamps as he gave utterance to the wish; and scrooge and the ghost again stood side by side in the open air. "my time grows short," observed the spirit. "quick!" this was not addressed to scrooge, or to any one whom he could see, but it produced an immediate effect. for again scrooge saw himself. he was older now; 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. there was an eager, greedy, restless motion in the eye, which showed the passion that had taken root, and where the shadow of the growing tree would fall. he was not alone, but sat by the side of a fair young girl in a mourning-dress: in whose eyes there were tears, which sparkled in the light that shone out of the ghost of christmas past. "it matters little," she said, softly. "to you, very little. another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as i would have tried to do, i have no just cause to grieve." "what idol has displaced you?" he rejoined. "a golden one." "this is the even-handed dealing of the world!" he said. "there is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professes to condemn with such severity as the pursuit of wealth!" "you fear the world too much," she answered, gently. "all your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. i have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion, gain, engrosses you. have i not?" "what then?" he retorted. "even if i have grown so much wiser, what then? i am not changed towards you." she shook her head. "am i?" "our contract is an old one. it was made when we were both poor and content to be so, until, in good season, we could improve our worldly fortune by our patient industry. you _are_ changed. when it was made, you were another man." "i was a boy," he said impatiently. "your own feeling tells you that you were not what you are," she returned. "i am. that which promised happiness when we were one in heart, is fraught with misery now that we are two. how often and how keenly i have thought of this, i will not say. it is enough that i _have_ thought of it, and can release you." "have i ever sought release?" [illustration: original manuscript of page 27.] "in words. no. never." "in what, then?" "in a changed nature; in an altered spirit; in another atmosphere of life; another hope as its great end. in everything that made my love of any worth or value in your sight. if this had never been between us," said the girl, looking mildly, but with steadiness, upon him; "tell me, would you seek me out and try to win me now? ah, no!" he seemed to yield to the justice of this supposition, in spite of himself. but he said, with a struggle, "you think not." "i would gladly think otherwise if i could," she answered, "heaven knows! when _i_ have learned a truth like this, i know how strong and irresistible it must be. but if you were free to-day, to-morrow, 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 enough to your one guiding principle to do so, do i not know that your repentance and regret would surely follow? i do; and i release you. with a full heart, for the love of him you once were." he was about to speak; but with her head turned from him, she resumed. "you may--the memory of what is past half makes me hope you will--have pain in this. a very, very brief time, and you will dismiss the recollection of it, gladly, as an unprofitable dream, from which it happened well that you awoke. may you be happy in the life you have chosen!" she left him; and they parted. "spirit!" said scrooge, "show me no more! conduct me home. why do you delight to torture me?" "one shadow more!" exclaimed the ghost. "no more!" cried scrooge. "no more. i don't wish to see it. show me no more!" but the relentless ghost pinioned him in both his arms, and forced him to observe what happened next. they were in another scene and place: a room, not very large or handsome, but full of comfort. near to the winter fire sat a beautiful young girl, so like the last that scrooge believed it was the same, until he saw _her_, now a comely matron, sitting opposite her daughter. the noise in this room was perfectly tumultuous, for there were more children there, than scrooge in his agitated state of mind could [illustration: original manuscript of page 28.] count; and, unlike the celebrated herd in the poem, they were not forty children conducting themselves like one, but every child was conducting itself like forty. the consequences 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 they did, bold young brood, i couldn't have done it; i should have expected my arm to have grown round it for a punishment, and never come straight again. and yet i should have dearly liked, i own, to have touched her lips; to have questioned her, that she might have opened them; to have looked upon the lashes of her downcast eyes, and never raised a blush; to have let loose waves of hair, an inch of which would be a keepsake beyond price: in short, i should have liked, i do confess, to have had the lightest license of a child, and yet been man enough to know its value. but now a knocking at the door was heard, and such a rush immediately ensued that she with laughing face and plundered dress was borne towards it the centre of a flushed and boisterous group, just in time to greet the father, who, came home attended by a man laden with christmas toys and presents. then the shouting and the struggling, and the onslaught that was made on the defenceless porter! the scaling 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 the 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 his mouth, and was more than suspected of having swallowed a fictitious turkey, glued on a wooden platter! the immense relief of finding this a false alarm! the joy, and gratitude, and ecstacy! they are all indescribable alike. it is enough that by degrees the children and their emotions got out of the parlour and by one stair at a time, up to the top of the house; where they went to bed, and so subsided. and now scrooge looked on more attentively than ever, when the master of the house, having his daughter leaning fondly on him, sat down with her and her mother at his own fireside; and when he thought that such another [illustration: original manuscript of page 29.] creature, quite as graceful and as full of promise, might have called him father, and been a spring-time in the haggard winter of his life, his sight grew very dim indeed. "belle," said the husband, turning to his wife with a smile, "i saw an old friend of yours this afternoon." "who was it?" "guess!" "how can i? tut, don't i know," she added in the same breath, laughing as he laughed. "mr. scrooge." "mr. scrooge it was. i passed his office window; and as it was not shut up, and he had a candle inside, i could scarcely help seeing him. his partner lies upon the point of death, i hear; and there he sat alone. quite alone in the world, i do believe." "spirit!" said scrooge in a broken voice, "remove me from this place." "i told you these were shadows of the things that have been," said the ghost. "that they are what they are, do not blame me!" "remove me!" scrooge exclaimed. "i cannot bear it!" he turned upon the ghost, and seeing that it looked upon him with a face, in which in some strange way there were fragments of all the faces it had shown him, wrestled with it. "leave me! take me back. haunt me no longer!" in the struggle, if that can be called a struggle in which the ghost with no visible resistance on its own part was undisturbed by any effort of its adversary, scrooge observed that its light was burning high and bright; and dimly connecting that with its influence over him, he seized the extinguisher-cap, and by a sudden action pressed it down upon its head. the spirit dropped beneath it, so that the extinguisher covered its whole form; but though scrooge pressed it down with all his force, he could not hide the light: which streamed from under it, in an unbroken flood upon the ground. he was conscious of being exhausted, and overcome by an irresistible drowsiness; and, further, of being in his own bedroom. he gave the cap a parting squeeze, in which his hand relaxed; and had barely time to reel to bed, before he sank into a heavy sleep. [illustration: original manuscript of page 30.] [illustration] [illustration: scrooge's third visitor. _london · chapman & hall, 186 strand._] [_this illustration is reproduced in full color on the back cover._] [illustration: verso of original manuscript page 31.] stave iii. the second of the three spirits. awaking in the middle of a prodigiously tough snore, and sitting up in bed to get his thoughts together, scrooge had no occasion to be told that the bell was again upon the stroke of one. he felt that he was restored to consciousness in the right nick of 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 spectre would draw back, he put them every one aside with his own hands; and lying down again, established a sharp look-out all round the bed. for he wished to challenge the spirit on the moment of its appearance, and did not wish to be taken by surprise and made nervous. gentlemen of the free-and-easy sort, who plume themselves on being acquainted with a move or two, and being usually equal to the time-of-day, express the wide range of their capacity for adventure by observing 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 quite as hardily as this, i don't mind calling on you to believe that he was ready for a good broad field of strange appearances, and that nothing between a baby and a rhinoceros would have astonished him very much. now, being prepared for almost anything, he was not by any means prepared for nothing; and, consequently, when the bell struck one, and no shape appeared, he was taken with a violent fit of trembling. five minutes, ten minutes, a quarter of an hour went by, yet nothing came. all this time, he lay upon his bed, the very core and centre of a blaze of ruddy light, which streamed upon it when the clock proclaimed 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 at 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 always the person not in the predicament who knows what ought to have been done in it, and would unquestionably have done it too--at last, i say, he began to think that the source and secret of this ghostly light might be in the adjoining room: from [illustration: original manuscript of page 31.] whence, on further tracing it, it seemed to shine. this idea taking full possession of his mind, he got up softly and shuffled in his slippers to the door. the moment scrooge's hand was on the lock, a strange voice called him by his name, and bade him enter. he obeyed. it was his own room. there was no doubt about that. but it had undergone a surprising transformation. the walls and ceiling were so hung with living green, that it looked a perfect grove, from every part of which, bright gleaming berries glistened. the crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe, and ivy reflected back the light, as if so many little mirrors had been scattered there; and such a mighty 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 upon 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 chestnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious pears, immense twelfth-cakes, and seething bowls of punch, that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam. in easy state upon this couch, there sat a jolly giant, glorious to see; who bore a glowing torch, in shape not unlike plenty's horn, and held it up, high up, to shed its light on scrooge, as he came peeping round the door. "come in!" exclaimed the ghost. "come in! and know me better, man!" scrooge entered timidly, and hung his head before this spirit. he was not the dogged scrooge he had been; and though its eyes were clear and kind, he did not like to meet them. "i am the ghost of christmas present," said the spirit. "look upon me!" scrooge reverently did so. it was clothed in one simple deep green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur. this garment hung so loosely on the figure, that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice. 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 its genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanour, and its joyful air. girded round its middle was an antique scabbard; but no sword was in it, and the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust. "you have never seen the like of me before!" exclaimed [illustration: original manuscript of page 32.] the spirit. "never," scrooge made answer to it. "have never walked forth with the younger members of my family; meaning (for i am very young) my elder brothers born in these later years?" pursued the phantom. "i don't think i have," said scrooge. "i am afraid i have not. have you had many brothers, spirit?" "more than eighteen hundred," said the ghost. "a tremendous family to provide for!" muttered scrooge. the ghost of christmas present rose. "spirit," said scrooge submissively, "conduct me where you will. i went forth last night on compulsion, and i learnt a lesson which is working now. to-night, if you have aught to teach me, let me profit by it." "touch my robe!" scrooge did as he was told, and held it fast. holly, mistletoe, red berries, ivy, turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, meat, pigs, sausages, oysters, pies, puddings, fruit, and punch, all vanished instantly. so did the room, the fire, the ruddy glow, the 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 pavement in front of their dwellings, and from the tops of their houses: whence it was mad delight to the boys to see it come plumping down into the road below, and splitting into artificial little snowstorms. the house fronts looked black enough, and the windows blacker, contrasting with the smooth white sheet of snow upon the roofs, and with the dirtier snow upon the ground; which last deposit had been ploughed up in deep furrows by the heavy wheels of carts and waggons; furrows that crossed and recrossed each other hundreds of times where the great streets branched off, and made intricate channels, hard to trace, in the thick yellow mud and [illustration: original manuscript of page 33.] icy water. the sky was gloomy, and the shortest streets were choked up with a dingy mist, half thawed half frozen, whose heavier particles descended in a shower of sooty atoms, as if all the chimneys in great britain had, by one consent, caught fire, and were blazing away to their dear hearts' content. there was nothing very cheerful in the climate or the town, and yet was there an air of cheerfulness abroad that the clearest summer air and brightest summer sun might have endeavoured to diffuse in vain. for the people who were shovelling away on the house-tops 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 pears and apples, clustered high in blooming pyramids; there were bunches of grapes, made, in the shopkeepers' benevolence, to dangle from conspicuous hooks, that people's mouths might water gratis as they passed; there were piles of filberts, mossy and brown, recalling, in their fragrance, ancient walks among the woods, and pleasant shufflings ankle deep through withered leaves; there were norfolk biffins, squab and swarthy, setting off the yellow of the oranges and lemons, and, in the great compactness of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching to be carried home in paper bags and eaten after dinner. the very gold and silver fish, set forth among these choice fruits in a bowl, though members of a dull and stagnant-blooded race, appeared to know that there was something going on; and, to a fish, went grasping round and round their little world in slow and passionless excitement. the grocers'! oh the grocers'! nearly closed, with perhaps two shutters down, or one; but through those gaps such glimpses! it was not alone that the scales descending on the counter made a merry sound, or that the twine and roller parted company so briskly, or that the canisters were rattled up and down like juggling tricks, or even that the blended scents of tea and coffee were so grateful to the nose, or even that the raisins were so plentiful and rare, the almonds so extremely white, 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 [illustration: original manuscript of page 34.] 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 the day, that they tumbled up against each other at the door, clashing their wicker baskets wildly, and left their purchases upon the counter, and came running back to fetch them, and committed hundreds of the like mistakes in the best humour possible; while the grocer and his people were so frank and fresh that the polished hearts with which they fastened their aprons behind might have been their own, worn outside for general inspection, and for christmas daws to peck at if they chose. but soon the steeples called good people all, to church and chapel, and away they came, flocking through the streets in their best clothes, and with their gayest faces. and at the same time there emerged from scores of bye streets, lanes, and nameless turnings, innumerable people, carrying their dinners to the bakers' shops. the sight of these poor revellers 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 torch, for once or twice when there were angry words between some dinner-carriers who had jostled with each other, he shed a few drops of water on them from it, and their good humour was restored directly. for they said, it was a shame to quarrel upon christmas day. and so it was! god love it, so it was! in time the bells ceased, and the bakers' were shut up; and yet there was a genial shadowing forth of all these dinners and the progress of their cooking, in the thawed blotch of wet above each baker's oven; where the pavement smoked as if its stones were cooking too. "is there a peculiar flavour in what you sprinkle from your torch?" asked scrooge. "there is. my own." "would it apply to any kind of dinner on this day?" asked scrooge. "to any kindly given. to a poor one most." "why to a poor one most?" asked scrooge. "because it needs it most." "spirit," said scrooge, after a moment's thought, "i wonder you, of all the beings in the many worlds about us, should desire to cramp these people's opportunities of innocent enjoyment." "i!" cried the spirit. "you would deprive them of their means of dining every seventh day, often the only day on which they can be said to dine at all," said scrooge. "wouldn't you?" "i!" cried the spirit. [illustration: original manuscript of page 35.] "you seek to close these places on the seventh day?" said scrooge. "and it comes to the same thing." "_i_ seek!" exclaimed the spirit. "forgive me if i am wrong. it has been done in your name, or at least in that of your family," said scrooge. "there are some upon this earth of yours," returned the spirit, "who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name; who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us." scrooge promised that he would; and they went on, invisible, as they had been before, into the suburbs of the town. it was a remarkable quality of the ghost (which scrooge had observed at the baker's) that notwithstanding his gigantic size, he could accommodate himself to any place with ease; and that he stood beneath a low roof quite as gracefully and like a supernatural creature, as it was possible he could have done in any lofty hall. and perhaps it was the pleasure the good spirit had in showing off this power of his, or else it was his own kind, generous, hearty nature, and his sympathy with all poor men, that led him straight to scrooge'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 his torch. think of that! bob had but fifteen "bob" a-week himself; he pocketed on saturdays but fifteen copies of his christian name; and yet the ghost of christmas present blessed his four-roomed house! then up rose mrs. cratchit, cratchit's wife, dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap and make a goodly show for sixpence; and she laid the cloth, assisted by belinda cratchit, second of her daughters, also brave in ribbons; while master peter cratchit plunged a fork into the saucepan of potatoes, and getting the corners of his monstrous shirt-collar (bob's private property, conferred upon his son and heir in honour 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 the goose, and known it for their own; and basking in luxurious thoughts of sage-and-onion, these young cratchits danced about the table, and exalted master peter cratchit to the skies, while he (not proud, although his collars nearly choked him) blew the fire, until the slow potatoes bubbling up, knocked loudly at the saucepan-lid to be let out and peeled. "what has ever got your precious father then," said mrs. cratchit. "and your brother, tiny tim; and martha warn't as late last christmas day by half-an-hour!" "here's martha, mother!" said a girl, appearing as she spoke. [illustration: original manuscript of page 36.] "here's martha, mother!" cried the two young cratchits. "hurrah! there's _such_ a goose, martha!" "why, bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are!" said mrs. cratchit, kissing her a dozen times, and taking off her shawl and bonnet for her, with officious zeal. "we'd a deal of work to finish up last night," replied the girl, "and had to clear away this morning, mother!" "well! never mind so long as you are come," said mrs. cratchit. "sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm, lord bless ye!" "no no! there's father coming," cried the two young cratchits, who were everywhere at once. "hide martha, hide!" so martha hid herself, and in came little bob, the father, with at least three feet of comforter exclusive of the fringe, hanging down before him; and his thread-bare clothes darned up and brushed, to look seasonable; and tiny tim upon his shoulder. alas for tiny tim, he bore a little crutch, and had his limbs supported by an iron frame! "why, where's our martha?" cried bob cratchit looking around. "not coming," said mrs. cratchit. "not coming!" said bob, with a sudden declension in his high spirits; for he had been tim's blood horse all the way from church, and had come home rampant. "not coming upon christmas day!" martha didn't like to see him disappointed, if it were only in joke; so she came out prematurely from behind the closet door, and ran into his arms, while the two young cratchits hustled tiny tim, and bore him off into the wash-house, that he might hear the pudding singing in the copper. "and how did little tim behave?" asked mrs. cratchit, when she had rallied bob on his credulity and bob had hugged his daughter to his heart's content. "as good as gold," said bob, "and better. somehow he gets thoughtful sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. he told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon christmas day, who made lame beggars walk and blind men see." bob's voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled more when he said that tiny tim was growing strong and hearty. his active little crutch was heard upon the floor, and back came tiny tim before another word was spoken, escorted by his brother and sister to his stool beside the fire; and 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 round and round and put it on the hob to simmer; master peter and the two ubiquitous young cratchits went to fetch the goose, with which they soon returned in high procession. [illustration: original manuscript of page 37.] such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds; a feathered phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter of course: and in truth it was something very like it in that house. mrs. cratchit made the gravy (ready beforehand in a little saucepan) hissing hot; master peter mashed the potatoes with incredible vigour; miss belinda sweetened up the apple-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 succeeded by a breathless pause, as mrs. cratchit, looking slowly all along the carving-knife, prepared to plunge it in the breast; but when she did, and when the long expected gush of stuffing issued forth, one murmur of delight arose all round the board, and even tiny tim, excited by the two young cratchits, beat on the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried hurrah! there never was such a goose. bob said he didn't believe there ever was such a goose cooked. its tenderness and flavour, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. eked out by the apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family; indeed, as mrs. cratchit said with a 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 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 witnesses--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 back-yard, and stolen it, while they were merry with the goose: a supposition at which the two young cratchits became livid! all sorts of horrors were supposed. hallo! a great deal of steam! the pudding was out of the copper. a smell like a washing-day! that was the cloth. a smell like an eating-house, and a pastry cook's 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 the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with christmas holly stuck into the top. oh, a wonderful pudding! bob cratchit said, and calmly too, that he regarded it as the greatest success achieved by mrs. cratchit since their marriage. mrs. cratchit said that now the weight was off her mind, she would confess she [illustration: original manuscript of page 38.] had had her doubts about the quantity of flour. everybody had something to say about it, but nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family. it would have been flat heresy to do so. any cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing. at last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth swept, and the fire made up. the compound in the jug being tasted and considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovel-full of chesnuts on the fire. then all the cratchit family drew round the hearth, in what bob cratchit called a circle, meaning half a one; and at bob cratchit's elbow stood the family display of glass; two tumblers, and a custard-cup 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 chesnuts 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 re-echoed. "god bless us every one!" said tiny tim, the last of all. he sat very close to his father's side, upon his little stool. bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded that he might be taken from him. "spirit," said scrooge, with an interest he had never felt before, "tell me if tiny tim will live." "i see a vacant seat," replied the ghost, "in the poor chimney corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. if these shadows remain unaltered by the future, the child will die." "no, no," said scrooge. "oh no, kind spirit! say he will be spared." "if these shadows remain unaltered by the future, none other of my race," returned the ghost, "will find him here. what then? if he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population." scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief. "man," said the ghost, "if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered what the surplus is, and where it is. 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 millions like this poor man's child. oh god! to hear the insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!" scrooge bent before the ghost's rebuke, and trembling cast his eyes upon the ground. but he raised them speedily, on hearing his own name. "mr. scrooge!" said bob; "i'll give you mr. scrooge, the founder of [illustration: original manuscript of page 39.] the feast!" "the founder of the feast indeed!" cried mrs. cratchit, reddening. "i wish i had him here. i'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and i hope he'd have a good appetite for it." "my dear," said bob, "the children; christmas day." "it should be christmas day, i am sure," said she, "on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as mr. scrooge. you know he is, robert! nobody knows it better than you do, poor fellow!" "my dear," was bob's mild answer, "christmas day." "i'll drink his health for your sake and the day's," said mrs. cratchit, "not for his. long life to him! a merry christmas and a happy new year!--he'll be very merry and very happy, i have no doubt!" the children drank the toast after her. it was the first of their proceedings which had no heartiness in it. tiny tim drank it last of all, but he didn't care twopence for it. scrooge was the ogre of the family. the mention of his name cast a dark shadow on the party, which was not dispelled for full five minutes. after it had passed away, they were ten times merrier than before, from the mere relief of scrooge the baleful being done with. bob cratchit told them how he had a situation in his eye for master peter, which would bring in, if obtained, full five-and-sixpence weekly. the two young cratchits laughed tremendously at the idea of peter's being a man of business; and peter himself looked thoughtfully at the fire from between his collars, as if he were deliberating what particular investments he should favour 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 a-bed to-morrow morning for a good long rest; to-morrow being a holiday she passed at home. also how she had seen a countess and a lord some days before, and how the lord "was much about as tall as peter;" at which peter pulled up his collars so high that you couldn't have seen his head if you had been there. all this time the chesnuts and the jug went round and round; and bye and bye they had a song, about a lost child travelling in the snow, from tiny tim; who had a plaintive little voice, and sang it very well indeed. there was nothing of high mark in this. they were not a handsome family; they were not well dressed; their shoes were far from being waterproof; their clothes were scanty; 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 when they faded, and looked happier yet in the bright [illustration: original manuscript of page 40.] sprinklings of the spirit's torch at parting, scrooge had his eye upon them, and especially on tiny tim, until the last. by this time it was getting dark, and snowing pretty heavily; and as scrooge and the spirit went along the streets, the brightness of the roaring fires in kitchens, parlours, and all sorts of rooms, was wonderful. here, the flickering of the blaze showed preparations for a cosy dinner, with hot plates 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, again, were shadows on the window-blind of guests assembling; and there a group of handsome girls, all hooded and fur-booted, and all chattering at once, tripped lightly off to some near neighbour's house; where, wo upon the single man who saw them enter--artful witches: well they knew it--in a glow! but if you had judged from the numbers of people on their way to friendly gatherings, you might have thought that no one was at home to give them welcome when they got there, instead of every house expecting company, and piling up its fires half-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 lamplighter, who ran on before dotting the dusky street with specks of light, and who was dressed to spend the evening somewhere, laughed out loudly as the spirit passed: though little kenned the lamplighter that he had any company but christmas! and now, without a word of warning from the ghost, they stood upon a bleak and desert moor, where monstrous masses of rude stone were cast about, as though it were the burial-place of giants; and 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 setting sun had left a streak of fiery red, which glared upon the desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, and frowning lower, lower, lower yet, was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night. "what place is this?" asked scrooge. "a place where miners live, who labour in the bowels of the earth," returned the spirit. "but they know me. see!" a light shone from the window of a hut, and swiftly they advanced towards it. passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. an old, old man and woman, with their children and [illustration: original manuscript of page 41.] [illustration: verso of original manuscript page 42.] their children's children, and another generation beyond that, all decked out gaily 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 song; it had been a very old song when he was a boy; and from time to time they all joined in the chorus. so surely as they raised their voices, the old man got quite blithe and loud; and so surely as they stopped, his vigour sank again. the spirit did not tarry here, but bade scrooge hold his robe, and passing on above the moor, sped whither? not to sea? to sea. to scrooge'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 thundering of water, as it rolled, and roared, and raged among the dreadful caverns it had worn, and fiercely tried to undermine the earth. built upon a dismal reef of sunken rocks, some league or so from shore, on which the waters chafed and dashed, the wild year through, there stood a solitary lighthouse. great heaps of sea-weed clung to its base, and storm-birds--born of the wind one might suppose, as sea-weed of the water--rose and fell about it, like the waves they skimmed. but even here, two men who watched the light had made a fire, that through the loophole in the thick stone wall shed out a ray of brightness on the awful sea. 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, too, with his face all damaged and scarred with hard weather, as the figure-head of an old ship might be: struck up a sturdy song that was like a gale in itself. again the ghost sped on, above the black and heaving sea--on, on--until, being far away, as he told scrooge, from any shore, they lighted on a ship. they stood beside the helmsman at the wheel, the look-out in the bow, the officers who had the watch; dark, ghostly 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, waking or sleeping, good or bad, had had a kinder word for another on that day than on any day in the year; and had shared to some extent in its festivities; and had remembered those he cared for at a distance, and had known that they delighted to remember him. it was a great surprise to scrooge, while listening to the moaning of the wind, and thinking what a solemn thing it was to move on through the lonely darkness over an unknown abyss, 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 recognise it as his own nephew's, and to find himself in a bright, dry, gleaming room, with the spirit standing smiling by his side, and looking at that same nephew with approving affability! [illustration: original manuscript of page 42.] "ha, ha!" laughed scrooge's nephew. "ha, ha, ha!" if you should happen, by any unlikely chance, to know a man more blest in a laugh than scrooge's nephew, all i can say is, i should like to know him too. introduce him to me, and i'll cultivate his acquaintance. it is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour. when scrooge's nephew laughed in this way: holding his sides, rolling his head, and twisting his face into the most extravagant contortions: scrooge's niece, by marriage, laughed as heartily as he. and their assembled friends being not a bit behindhand, roared out, lustily. "ha, ha! ha, ha, ha, ha!" "he said that christmas was a humbug, as i live!" cried scrooge's nephew. "he believed it too!" "more shame for him, fred!" said scrooge's niece, indignantly. bless those women; they never do anything by halves. they are always in earnest. she was very pretty: exceedingly pretty. with a dimpled, surprised-looking, capital face; a ripe little mouth, that seemed made to be kissed--as no doubt 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 in any little creature's head. altogether she was what you would have called provoking, you know; but satisfactory, too. oh, perfectly satisfactory! "he's a comical old fellow," said scrooge's nephew, "that's the truth; and not so pleasant as he might be. however, his offences carry their own punishment, and i have nothing to say against him." "i am sure he is very rich, fred," hinted scrooge's niece. "at least you always tell _me_ so." "what of that, my dear!" said scrooge's nephew. "his wealth is of no use to him. he don't do any good with it. he don't make himself comfortable with it. he hasn't the satisfaction of thinking--ha, ha, ha!--that he is ever going to benefit us with it." "i have no patience with him," observed scrooge's niece. scrooge's niece's sisters, and all the other ladies, expressed the same opinion. "oh, i have!" said scrooge's nephew. "i am sorry for him; i couldn't be angry with him if i tried. who suffers by his ill whims? himself, always. here, he takes it into his head to dislike us, and he won't come and dine with us. what's the consequence? he don't lose much of a dinner." "indeed, i think he loses a very good dinner," interrupted scrooge's niece. everybody else said the same, and they must be allowed to have been competent judges, because they had just had dinner; and, with the dessert upon the table, were clustered round the fire, by lamplight. [illustration: original manuscript of page 43.] "well! i am very glad to hear it," said scrooge's nephew, "because i haven't any great faith in these young housekeepers. what do _you_ say, topper?" topper had clearly got his eye upon one of scrooge's niece's sisters, for he answered that a bachelor was a wretched outcast, who had no right to express an opinion on the subject. whereat scrooge's niece's sister--the plump one with the lace tucker: not the one with the roses--blushed. "do go on, fred," said scrooge's niece, clapping her hands. "he never finishes what he begins to say! he is such a ridiculous fellow!" scrooge's nephew revelled in another laugh, and as it was impossible to keep the infection off; though the plump sister tried hard to do it with aromatic vinegar; his example was unanimously followed. "i was only going to say," said scrooge's nephew, "that the consequence of his taking a dislike to us, and not making merry with us, is, as i think, that he loses some pleasant moments, which could do him no harm. i am sure he loses pleasanter companions than he can find in his own thoughts, either in his mouldy 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 thinking better of it--i defy him--if he finds me going there, in good temper, year after year, and saying uncle scrooge, how are you? if it only puts him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty pounds, _that's_ something; and i think i shook him, yesterday." it was their turn to laugh now, at the notion of his shaking scrooge. but being thoroughly good-natured, and not much caring what they laughed at, so that they laughed at any rate, he encouraged them in their merriment, and passed the bottle, joyously. after tea, they had some music. for they were a musical family, and knew what they were about, when they sung a glee or catch, i can assure you: especially topper, who could growl away in the bass like a good one, and never swell the large veins in his forehead, or get red in the face over it. scrooge's niece 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 this strain of music sounded, all the things that ghost had shown him, came upon his mind; he softened more and more; and thought that if he could have listened to it often, years ago, he might have cultivated the kindnesses of life for his own happiness with his own hands, without resorting to the sexton's spade that buried jacob marley. but they didn't devote the whole evening to music. after a while they played at forfeits; for it is good to be children sometimes, and never [illustration: original manuscript of page 44.] better than at christmas, when its mighty founder was a child himself. stop! there was first a game at blindman's buff. of course there was. and i no more believe topper was really blind than i believe he had eyes in his boots. my opinion is, that it was a done thing between him and scrooge's nephew; and that the ghost of christmas present knew it. the way he went after that plump sister in the lace tucker, was an outrage on the credulity of human nature. knocking down the fire-irons, tumbling over the chairs, bumping up 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, and stood there; he would have made a feint of endeavouring 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 last, he caught her; when, in spite of all her silken rustlings, and her rapid flutterings past him, he got her into a corner whence there was no escape; then his conduct was the most execrable. for his pretending not to know her; his pretending that it was necessary to touch her head-dress, and further to assure himself of her identity by pressing a certain ring upon her finger, and a certain chain about her neck; was vile, monstrous! no doubt she told him her opinion of it, when, another blind-man being in office, they were so very confidential together, behind the curtains. scrooge's niece was not one of the blind-man's buff party, but was made comfortable with a large chair and a footstool, in a snug corner, where the ghost and scrooge were close behind her. but she joined in the forfeits, and loved her love to admiration with all the letters of the alphabet. likewise at the game 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 interest he had in what was going on, that his voice made no sound in their ears, he sometimes came out with his guess quite loud, and very often guessed right, too; for the sharpest needle, best whitechapel, warranted not to cut in the eye, was not sharper than scrooge: blunt as he took it in his head to be. the ghost was greatly pleased to find him in this mood, and looked upon him with such favour that he begged like a boy to be allowed to stay until the guests departed. but this the spirit said could not be done. "here's a new game," said scrooge. "one half hour, spirit, only one!" [illustration: original manuscript of page 45.] it was a game called yes and no, where scrooge's nephew had to think of something, and the rest must find out what; he only answering to their questions yes or no as the case was. the brisk fire of questioning to which he was exposed, elicited from him that he was thinking of an animal, a live animal, rather a disagreeable animal, a savage 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, or a cat, or a bear. at every fresh question that was put to him, this nephew burst into a fresh roar of laughter; and was so inexpressibly tickled, that he was obliged to get up off the sofa and stamp. at last the plump sister, falling into a similar state, cried out: "i have found it out! i know what it is, fred! i know what it is!" "what is it?" cried fred. "it's your uncle scro-o-o-o-oge!" which it certainly was. admiration was the universal sentiment, though some objected that the reply to "is it a bear?" ought to have been "yes;" inasmuch as an answer in the negative was sufficient to have diverted their thoughts from mr. scrooge, supposing they had ever had any tendency that way. "he has given us plenty of merriment, i am sure," said fred, "and it would be ungrateful not to drink his health. here is a glass of mulled wine ready to our hand at the moment; and i say 'uncle scrooge!'" "well! uncle scrooge!" they cried. "a merry christmas and a happy new year to the old man, whatever he is!" said scrooge's nephew. "he wouldn't take it from me, but may he have it, nevertheless. uncle scrooge!" uncle scrooge had imperceptibly become so gay and light of heart, that he would have pledged the unconscious company in return, and thanked them in an inaudible speech, if the ghost had given him time. but the whole scene passed off in the breath of the last word spoken by his nephew; and he and the spirit were again upon their travels. much they saw, and far they went, and many homes they visited, but always with a happy end. the spirit stood beside sick beds, and they were cheerful; on foreign lands, 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, [illustration: original manuscript of page 46.] hospital, and jail, in misery's every refuge, where vain man in his little brief authority had not made fast the door, and barred the spirit out, he left his blessing, and taught scrooge his precepts. it was a long night, if it were only a night; but scrooge had his doubts of this, because the christmas holidays appeared to be condensed into the space of time they passed 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 never spoke of it, until they left a children's twelfth night party, when, looking at the spirit as they stood together in an open place, he noticed that its hair was gray. "are spirits' lives so short?" asked scrooge. "my life upon this globe, is very brief," replied the ghost. "it ends to-night." "to-night!" cried scrooge. "to-night at midnight. hark! the time is drawing near." the chimes were ringing the three quarters past eleven at that moment. "forgive me if i am not justified in what i ask," said scrooge, looking intently at the spirit's robe, "but i see something strange, and not belonging to yourself, protruding from your skirts. is it a foot or a claw!" "it might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it," was the spirit's sorrowful reply. "look here." from the foldings of its robe, it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. they knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment. "oh, man! look here. look, look, down here!" exclaimed the ghost. they were a boy and girl. yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. no change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread. scrooge started back, appalled. having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine [illustration: original manuscript of page 47.] children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude. "spirit! are they yours?" scrooge could say no more. "they are man's," said the spirit, looking down upon them. "and they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. this boy is ignorance. this girl is want. beware them 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!" cried the spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. "slander those who tell it ye! admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse! and bide the end!" "have they no refuge or resource?" cried scrooge. "are there no prisons?" said the spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. "are there no workhouses?" the bell struck twelve. scrooge looked about him for the ghost, and saw it not. as the last stroke ceased to vibrate, he remembered the prediction of old jacob marley, and lifting up his eyes, beheld a solemn phantom, draped and hooded, coming, like a mist along the ground, towards him. [illustration: original manuscript of page 48.] [illustration] [illustration: the last of the spirits _london · chapman & hall, 186 strand._] [_this illustration is reproduced in full color on the inside back cover._] stave iv. the last of the spirits. the phantom slowly, gravely, silently, approached. when it came near him, scrooge bent down upon his knee; for in the very air through which this spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery. it was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. but for this it would have been difficult to detach its figure from the night, and separate it from the darkness by which it was surrounded. he felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside him, and that its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dread. he knew no more, for the spirit neither spoke nor moved. "i am in the presence of the ghost of christmas yet to come?" said scrooge. the spirit answered not, but pointed downward with its hand. "you are about to show me shadows of the things that have not happened, but will happen in the time before us," scrooge pursued. "is that so, spirit?" the upper portion of the garment was contracted for an instant in its folds, as if the spirit had inclined its head. that was the only answer he received. although well used to ghostly company by this time, scrooge feared the silent shape so much that his legs trembled beneath him, and he found that he could hardly stand when he prepared to follow it. the spirit paused a moment, as observing his condition, and giving him time to recover. but scrooge was all the worse for this. it thrilled him with a vague uncertain horror, to know that behind the dusky shroud there were ghostly eyes intently fixed upon him, while he, though he stretched his own to the utmost, could see nothing but a spectral hand and one great heap of black. "ghost of the future!" he exclaimed, "i fear you more than any spectre i have seen. but, as i know your promise is to do me good, and as i hope to live to be another man from what i was, i am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart. will you not speak to me?" it gave him no reply. the hand was pointed straight before them. "lead on!" said scrooge. "lead on! the night is waning fast, and it is precious time to me, i know. lead on, spirit!" [illustration: original manuscript of page 49.] the phantom moved away as it had come towards him. scrooge followed in the shadow of its dress, which bore him up, he thought, and carried him along. they scarcely seemed to enter the city; for the city rather seemed to spring up about them, and encompass them of its own act. but there they were, in the heart of it; on 'change, amongst the merchants; who hurried up and down, and chinked the money in their pockets, and conversed in groups, and looked at their watches, and trifled thoughtfully with their great gold seals; and so forth, as scrooge had seen them often. the spirit stopped beside one little knot of business men. observing that the hand was pointed to them, scrooge advanced to listen to their talk. "no," said a great fat man with a monstrous chin, "i don't know much about it, either way. i only know he's dead." "when did he die?" inquired another. "last night, i believe." "why, what was the matter with him?" asked a third, taking a vast quantity of snuff out of a very large snuff-box. "i thought he'd never die." "god knows," said the first, with a yawn. "what has he done with his money?" asked a red-faced gentleman with a pendulous excrescence on the end of his nose, that shook like the gills of a turkey-cock. "i haven't heard," said the man with the large chin, yawning again. "left it to his company, perhaps. he hasn't left it to _me_. that's all _i_ know." this pleasantry was received with a general laugh. "it's likely to be a very cheap funeral," said the same speaker; "for upon my life i don't know of anybody to go to it. suppose we make up a party and volunteer?" "i don't mind going if a lunch is provided," observed the gentleman with the excrescence on his nose. "but i must be fed, if i make one." another laugh. "well, i am the most disinterested among you, after all," said the first speaker, "for i never wear black gloves, 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 at all sure that i wasn't his most particular friend; for we used to stop and speak whenever we met. bye, bye!" speakers and listeners strolled away, and mixed with other groups. scrooge knew the men, and looked towards the spirit for an explanation. the phantom glided on into a street. its finger pointed to two persons meeting. scrooge listened again, thinking that the explanation might lie here. he knew these men, also, perfectly. they were men [illustration: original manuscript of page 50.] of business: very wealthy, and of great importance. he had made a point always of standing well in their esteem: in a business point of view, that is; strictly in a business point of view. "how are you?" said one. "how are you?" returned the other. "well!" said the first. "old scratch has got his own at last, hey?" "so i am told," returned the second. "cold, isn't it?" "seasonable for christmas time. you're not a skaiter, i suppose?" "no. no. something else to think of. good morning!" not another word. that was their meeting, their conversation, and their parting. scrooge was at first inclined to be surprised that the spirit should attach importance to conversations apparently so trivial; but feeling assured that they must have some hidden purpose, he set himself to consider what it was likely to be. they could scarcely be supposed to have any bearing 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 improvement, he resolved to treasure up every word he heard, and everything he saw; and especially to observe the shadow of himself when it appeared. for he had an expectation that the conduct of his future self would give him the clue he missed, and would render the solution of these riddles easy. he looked about in that very place for his own image; but another man stood in his accustomed corner, and though the clock pointed to his usual 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 surprise, however; for he had been revolving in his mind a change of life, and thought and hoped he saw his new-born resolutions carried out in this. quiet and dark, beside him stood the phantom, with its outstretched hand. when he roused himself from his thoughtful quest, he fancied from the turn of the hand, and its situation in reference to himself, that the unseen eyes were looking at him keenly. it made him shudder, and feel very cold. they left the busy scene, and went into an obscure part of the town, where scrooge had never penetrated before, although he recognised its situation, and its bad 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 cesspools, disgorged their offences of smell, and dirt, and life, upon the straggling streets; and the whole quarter [illustration: original manuscript of page 51.] reeked with crime, with filth, and misery. far in this den of infamous resort, there was a low-browed, beetling shop, below a pent-house roof, where iron, old rags, bottles, bones, and greasy offal, were bought. upon the floor within, were piled up heaps of rusty keys, nails, chains, hinges, files, scales, weights, and refuse iron of all kinds. secrets that few would like to scrutinise were bred and hidden in mountains of unseemly rags, masses of corrupted fat, and sepulchres of bones. sitting in among the wares he dealt in, by a charcoal-stove, made of old bricks, was a gray-haired rascal, nearly seventy years of age; who had screened himself from the cold air without, by a frousy curtaining of miscellaneous tatters, hung upon a line; and smoked his pipe in all the luxury of calm retirement. scrooge and the phantom came into the presence of this man, just as a woman with a heavy bundle slunk into the shop. but she had scarcely entered, when another woman, 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 the recognition of each other. after a short period of blank astonishment, in which the old man with the pipe had joined them, they all three burst into a laugh. "let the charwoman alone to be the first!" cried she who had entered first. "let the laundress alone to be the second; and let the undertaker's man alone to be the third. look here, old joe, here's a chance! if we haven't all three met here without meaning it!" "you couldn't have met in a better place," said old joe, removing his pipe from his mouth. "come into the parlour. you were made free of it long ago, you know; and the other two ain'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 believe; and i'm sure there's no such old bones here, as mine. ha, ha! we're all suitable to our calling, we're well matched. come into the parlour. come into the parlour." the parlour was the space behind the screen of rags. the old man raked the fire together with an old stair-rod, and having trimmed his smoky lamp (for it was night), with the stem of his pipe, put it in his mouth again. while he did this, the woman who had already spoken threw her bundle on the floor and sat down in a flaunting manner on a stool; crossing her elbows on her knees, and looking with a bold defiance at the other two. "what odds then! what odds, mrs. dilber?" said the woman. "every person has a right to take care of themselves. _he_ always did!" "that's true, indeed!" said the laundress. "no man more so." "why, then, don't stand staring as if you was afraid, woman; who's the wiser? we're not going to pick holes in each other's coats, i suppose?" "no, indeed!" said mrs. dilber and the man together. "we should hope not." [illustration: original manuscript of page 52.] "very well, then!" cried the woman. "that's enough. who's the worse for the loss of a few things like these? not a dead man, i suppose." "no, indeed," said mrs. dilber, laughing. "if he wanted to keep 'em after he was dead, a wicked old screw," pursued the woman, "why wasn't he natural in his lifetime? if he had been, he'd have had somebody to look after him when he was struck with death, instead of lying gasping out his last there, alone by himself." "it's the truest word that ever was spoke," said mrs. dilber. "it's a judgment on him." "i wish it was a little heavier one," replied the woman; "and it should have been, you may depend upon it, if i could have laid my hands 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 for them to see it. we knew pretty well that we were helping ourselves, before we met here, i believe. it's no sin. open the bundle, joe." but the gallantry of her friends would not allow of this; and the man in faded black, mounting the breach first, produced _his plunder_. it was not extensive. 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 old joe, who chalked the sums he was disposed to give for each upon the wall, and added them up into a total when he found that there was nothing more to come. "that's your account," said joe, "and i wouldn't give another sixpence, if i was to be boiled for not doing it. who's next?" mrs. dilber was next. sheets and towels, a little wearing apparel, two old-fashioned silver tea-spoons, a pair of sugar-tongs, and a few boots. her account was stated on the wall in the same manner. "i always give too much to ladies. it's a weakness of mine, and that's the way i ruin myself," said old joe. "that's your account. if you asked me for another penny, and made it an open question, i'd repent of being so liberal, and knock off half-a-crown." "and now undo _my_ bundle, joe," said the first woman. joe went down on his knees for the greater convenience of opening it, and having unfastened a great many knots, dragged out a large and heavy roll of some dark stuff. "what do you call this?" said joe. "bed-curtains!" "ah!" returned the woman, laughing and leaning forward on her crossed arms. "bed-curtains!" "you don't mean to say you took 'em down, rings and all, with him lying there?" said joe. "yes i do," replied the woman. "why not?" "you were born to make your fortune," said joe, "and you'll certainly do it." "i certainly shan't hold my hand, when i can get anything in it by reaching it out, for the sake of such a man as he was, i promise you, joe," returned the woman coolly. "don't drop that oil [illustration: original manuscript of page 53.] upon the blankets, now." "his blankets?" asked joe. "whose else's do you think?" replied the woman. "he isn't likely to take cold without 'em, i dare say." "i hope he didn't die of anything catching? eh?" said old joe, stopping in his work, and looking up. "don't you be afraid of that," returned the woman. "i an't so fond of his company that i'd loiter about him for such things, if he did. ah! you may look through that shirt till your eyes ache; but you won't find a hole in it, nor a threadbare place. it's the best he had, and a fine one too. they'd have wasted it, if it hadn't been for me." "what do you call wasting of it?" asked old joe. "putting it on him to be buried in, to be sure," replied the woman with a laugh. "somebody was fool enough to do it, but i took it off again. if calico an't good enough for such a purpose, it isn't good enough for anything. it's quite as becoming to the body. he can't look uglier than he did in that one." scrooge listened to this dialogue in horror. as they sat grouped about their spoil, in the scanty light afforded by the old man's lamp, he viewed them with a detestation and disgust, which could hardly have been greater, though they had been obscene demons, marketing the corpse itself. "ha, ha!" laughed the same woman, when old joe, producing a flannel bag with money in it, told out their several gains upon the ground. "this is the end of it, you see! he frightened every one away from him when he was alive, to profit us when he was dead! ha, ha, ha!" "spirit!" said scrooge, shuddering from head to foot. "i see, i see. the case of this unhappy man might be my own. my life tends that way, now. merciful heaven, what is this!" he recoiled in terror, for the scene had changed, and now he almost touched a bed: a bare, uncurtained bed: on which, beneath a ragged sheet, there lay a something covered up, which, though it was dumb, announced itself in awful language. the room was very dark, too dark to be observed with any accuracy, though scrooge glanced round it in obedience to a secret impulse, anxious to know what kind of room it was. a pale light, rising in the outer air, fell straight upon the bed; and on it, plundered and bereft, unwatched, unwept, uncared for, was the body of this man. scrooge glanced towards the phantom. its steady hand was pointed to the head. the cover was so carelessly adjusted that the slightest raising of it, the motion of a finger upon scrooge's part, would have disclosed the face. he thought of it, felt how easy it would be to do, and longed to do it; but had no more power to withdraw the veil than to dismiss the spectre at his side. [illustration: original manuscript of page 54.] oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion! but of the loved, revered, and honoured head, thou canst 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 hand was open, generous, and true; the heart brave, warm, and tender; and the pulse a man's. strike, shadow, strike! and see his good deeds springing from the wound, to sow the world with life immortal! no voice pronounced these words in scrooge's ears, and yet he heard them when he looked upon the bed. he thought, if this man could be raised up now, what would be his foremost thoughts? avarice, hard dealing, griping cares? they have brought him to a rich end, truly! he lay, in the dark empty house, with not a man, a woman, or a child, to say he was kind to me in this or that, and for the 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 hearth-stone. what _they_ wanted in the room of death, and why they were so restless and disturbed, scrooge did not dare to think. "spirit!" he said, "this is a fearful place. in leaving it, i shall not leave its lesson, trust me. let us go!" still the ghost pointed with an unmoved finger to the head. "i understand you," scrooge returned, "and i would do it, if i could. but i have not the power, spirit. i have not the power." again it seemed to look upon him. "if there is any person in the town, who feels emotion caused by this man's death," said scrooge quite agonized, "show that person to me, spirit, i beseech you!" the phantom spread its dark robe before him for a moment, like a wing; and withdrawing it, revealed a room by daylight, where a mother and her children were. she was expecting some one, and with anxious eagerness; for she walked up and down the room; started at every sound; looked out from the window; glanced at the clock; tried, but in vain, to work with her needle; and could hardly bear the voices of the children in their play. at length the long-expected knock was heard. she hurried to the door, and met her husband; a man whose face was care-worn and depressed, though he was young. there was a remarkable expression in it now; a kind of serious delight of which he felt ashamed, and which he struggled to repress. he sat down to the dinner that had been hoarding for him by the fire; and when she asked him faintly what news [illustration: original manuscript of page 55.] (which was not until after a long silence), he appeared embarrassed how to answer. "is it good," she said, "or bad?"--to help him. "bad," he answered. "we are quite ruined?" "no. there is hope yet, caroline." "if _he_ relents," she said, amazed, "there is! nothing is past hope, if such a miracle has happened." "he is past relenting," said her husband. "he is dead." she was a mild and patient creature if her face spoke truth; but she was thankful in her soul to hear it, and she said so, with clasped hands. she prayed forgiveness the next moment, and was sorry; but the first was the emotion of her heart. "what the half-drunken woman whom i told you of last night, said to me, when i tried to see him and obtain a week's delay; and what i thought was a mere excuse to avoid me; turns out to have been quite true. he was not only very ill, but dying, then." "to whom will our debt be transferred?" "i don't know. but before that time we shall be ready with the money; and even though we were not, it would be bad fortune indeed to find so merciless a creditor in his successor. we may sleep to-night with light hearts, caroline!" yes. soften it as they would, their hearts were lighter. the children's faces hushed, and clustered round to hear what they so little understood, were brighter; and it was a happier house for this man's death! the only emotion that the ghost could show him, caused by the event, was one of pleasure. "let me see some tenderness connected with a death," said scrooge; "or that dark chamber, spirit, which we left just now, will be for ever present to me." the ghost conducted him through several streets familiar to his feet; and as they went along, scrooge looked here and there to find himself, but nowhere was he to be seen. they entered poor bob cratchit's house; the dwelling he had visited before; and found the mother and the children seated round the fire. quiet. very quiet. the noisy little cratchits were as still as statues in one corner, and sat looking up at peter, who had a book before him. the mother and her daughters were engaged in sewing. but surely they were very quiet! "'and he took a child, and set him in the midst of them.'" where had scrooge heard these words? he had not dreamed them. the boy must have read them out, as he and the spirit crossed the threshold. why did he not go on? the mother laid her work upon the table, and put her hand up to her face. "the colour hurts my eyes," she said. the colour? ah, poor tiny tim! "they're better now again," said cratchit's wife. "it makes them [illustration: original manuscript of page 56.] weak by candle-light; and i wouldn't show weak eyes to your father when he comes home, for the world. it must be near his time." "past it rather," peter answered, shutting up his book. "but i think he's walked a little slower than he used, these few last evenings, mother." they were very quiet again. at last she said, and in a steady cheerful voice, that only faultered once: "i have known him walk with--i have known him walk with tiny tim upon his shoulder, very fast indeed." "and so have i," cried peter. "often." "and so have i!" exclaimed another. so had all. "but he was very light to carry," she resumed, intent upon her work, "and his father loved him so, that it was no trouble--no trouble. and there is your father at the door!" she hurried out to meet him; and little bob in his comforter--he had need of it, poor fellow--came in. his tea was ready for him on the hob, and they all tried who should help him to it most. then the two young cratchits got upon his knees and laid, each child a little cheek, against his face, as if they said, "don't mind it father. don't be grieved!" bob was very cheerful with them, and spoke pleasantly to all the family. he looked at the work upon the table, and praised the industry and speed of mrs. cratchit and the girls. they would be done long before sunday he said. "sunday! you went to-day then, robert?" said his wife. "yes, my dear," returned bob. "i wish you could have gone. it would have done you good to see how green a place it is. but you'll see it often. i promised him that i would walk there on a sunday. my little, little child!" cried bob. "my little child!" he broke down all at once. he couldn't help it. if he could have helped it, he and his child would have been farther apart perhaps than they were. he left the room, and went up stairs into the room above, which was lighted cheerfully, and hung with christmas. there was a chair set close beside the child, and there were signs of some one having been there, lately. poor bob sat down in it, and when he had thought a little and composed himself, he kissed the little face. he was reconciled to what had happened, and went down again quite happy. they drew about the fire, and talked; the girls and mother working still. bob told them of the extraordinary kindness of mr. scrooge's nephew, whom he had scarcely seen but once, and who, meeting him in the street that day, and [illustration: original manuscript of page 57.] seeing that he looked a little--"just a little down you know" said bob, enquired what had happened to distress him. "on which," said bob, "for he is the pleasantest-spoken gentleman you ever heard, i told him. 'i am heartily sorry for it, mr. cratchit,' he said, 'and heartily sorry for your good wife.' by the bye, how he ever knew _that_, i don't know." "knew what, my dear?" "why, that you were a good wife," replied bob. "everybody knows that!" said peter. "very well observed, my boy!" cried bob. "i hope they do. 'heartily sorry,' he said, 'for your good wife. if i can be of service to you in any way,' 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 to do for us, so much as for his kind way, that this was quite delightful. it really seemed as if he had known our tiny tim, and felt with us." "i'm sure he's a good soul!" said mrs. cratchit. "you would be surer of it, my dear," returned bob, "if you saw and spoke to him. i shouldn't be at all surprised, mark what i say, if he got peter a better situation." "only hear that, peter," said mrs. cratchit. "and then," cried one of the girls, "peter will be keeping company with some one, and setting up for himself." "get along with you!" retorted peter, grinning. "it's just as likely as not," said bob, "one of these days; though there's plenty of time for that, my dear. but however and whenever we part from one another, i am sure we shall none of us forget poor tiny tim--shall we--or this first parting that there was among us?" "never, father!" cried they all. "and i know," said bob, "i know, my dears, that when we recollect how patient and how mild he was; although he was a little, little child; we shall not quarrel easily among ourselves, and forget poor tiny tim in doing it." "no never, father!" they all cried again. "i am very happy," said little bob, "i am very happy!" mrs. cratchit kissed him, his daughters kissed him, the two young cratchits kissed him, and peter and himself shook hands. spirit of tiny tim, thy childish essence was from god! "spectre," said scrooge, "something informs me that our parting moment is at hand. i know it, but i know not how. tell me what man that was whom we saw lying dead?" the ghost of christmas yet to come conveyed him, as before--though at a different time, he thought: indeed, there seemed no order in these latter visions, save that they were in the future--into the resorts of business men, but showed him not himself. indeed, the spirit did not stay for anything, but went straight on, as to [illustration: original manuscript of page 58.] the end just now desired, until besought by scrooge to tarry for a moment. "this court," said scrooge, "through which we hurry now, is where my place of occupation is, and has been for a length of time. i see the house. let me behold what i shall be, in days to come." the spirit stopped; the hand was pointed elsewhere. "the house is yonder," scrooge exclaimed. "why do you point away?" the inexorable finger underwent no change. scrooge hastened to the window of his office, and looked in. it was an office still, but not his. the furniture was not the same, and the figure in the chair was not himself. the phantom pointed as before. he joined it once again, and wondering why and whither he had gone, accompanied it until they reached an iron gate. he paused to look round before entering. a churchyard. here, then, the wretched man whose name he had now to learn, lay underneath the ground. it was a worthy place. walled in by houses; overrun by grass and weeds, the growth of vegetation's death, not life; choked up with too much burying; fat with repleted appetite. a worthy place! the spirit stood among the graves, and pointed down to one. he advanced towards it trembling. the phantom was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn shape. "before i draw nearer to that stone to which you point," said scrooge, "answer me one question. are these the shadows of the things that will be, or are they shadows of the things that may be, only?" still the ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood. "men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead," said scrooge. "but if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. say it is thus with what you show me!" the spirit was immovable as ever. scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went; and following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, ebenezer scrooge. "am _i_ that man who lay upon the bed?" he cried, upon his knees. the finger pointed from the grave to him, and back again. "no, spirit! oh no, no!" the finger still was there. "spirit!" he cried, tight clutching at its robe, "hear me! i am not the man i was. i will not be the man i must have been but for this intercourse. why show me this, if i am past all hope?" [illustration: original manuscript of page 59.] for the first time the hand appeared to shake. "good spirit," he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: "your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. assure me that i yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life!" the kind hand trembled. "i will honour 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 within me. i will not shut out the lessons that they teach. oh, tell me i may sponge away the writing on this stone!" in his agony, he caught the spectral hand. it sought to free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and detained it. the spirit, stronger yet, repulsed him. holding up his hands in one last prayer to have his fate reversed, he saw an alteration in the phantom's hood and dress. it shrunk, collapsed, and dwindled down into a bedpost. [illustration: original manuscript of page 60.] stave v. the end of it. yes! and the bedpost was his own. the bed was his own, the room was his own. best and happiest of all, the time before him was his own, to make amends in! "i will live in the past, the present, and the future!" scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. "the spirits of all three shall strive within me. oh jacob marley! heaven, and the christmas time be praised for this! i say it on my knees, old jacob; on my knees!" he was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. he had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the spirit, and his face was wet with tears. "they are not torn down," cried scrooge, folding one of his bed-curtains in his arms, "they are not torn down, rings and all. they are here: i am here: the shadows of the things that would have been, may be dispelled. they will be. i know they will!" his hands were busy with his garments all this time: turning them inside out, putting them on upside down, tearing them, mislaying them, making them parties to every kind of extravagance. "i don't know what to do!" cried scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath; and making a perfect laocoön 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 school-boy. i am as giddy as a drunken man. a merry christmas to everybody! a happy new year to all the world. hallo here! whoop! hallo!" he had frisked into the sitting-room, and was now standing there: perfectly winded. "there's the saucepan that the gruel was in!" cried scrooge, starting off again, and frisking round the fire-place. "there's the door, by which the ghost of jacob marley entered! there's the corner where the ghost of christmas present, sat! there's the window where i saw the wandering spirits! it's all right, it's all true, it all happened. ha ha ha!" really, for a man who had been out of practice for so many years, it was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh. the father of a long, long, line of brilliant laughs! "i don't know what day of the month it is!" said scrooge. "i don't know how long i've been among the spirits. i don't know anything. i'm quite a baby. never mind. i don't care. i'd rather be a baby. hallo! whoop! hallo here!" [illustration: original manuscript of page 61.] he was checked in his transports by the churches ringing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard. clash, clang, hammer, ding, dong, bell. bell, dong, ding, hammer, clang, clash! oh, glorious, glorious! running to the window, he opened it, and put out his head. no fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; golden sunlight; heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. oh, glorious. glorious! "what's to-day?" cried scrooge, calling downward to a boy in sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look about him. "eh?" returned the boy, with all his might of wonder. "what's to-day, my fine fellow?" said scrooge. "to-day!" replied the boy. "why, christmas day." "it's christmas day!" said scrooge to himself. "i haven't missed it. the spirits have done it all in one night. they can do anything they like. of course they can. of course they can. hallo, my fine fellow!" "hallo!" returned the boy. "do you know the poulterer's, in the next street but one, at the corner?" scrooge inquired. "i should hope i did," replied the lad. "an intelligent boy!" said scrooge. "a remarkable boy! do you know whether they've sold the prize turkey that was hanging up there? not the little prize turkey: the big one?" "what, the one as big as me?" returned the boy. "what a delightful boy!" said scrooge. "it's a pleasure to talk to him. yes, my buck!" "it's hanging there now," replied the boy. "is it?" said scrooge. "go and buy it." "walk-er!" exclaimed the boy. "no, no," said scrooge, "i am in earnest. go and buy it, and tell 'em to bring it here, that i may give them the direction where to take it. come back with the man, and i'll give you a shilling. come back with him in less than five minutes, and i'll give you half-a-crown!" the boy was off like a shot. he must have had a steady hand at a trigger who could have got a shot off half so fast. "i'll send it to bob cratchit's!" whispered scrooge, rubbing his hands, and splitting with a laugh. "he sha'n't know who sends it. it's twice the size of tiny tim. joe miller never made such a joke as sending it to bob's will be!" [illustration: original manuscript of page 62.] [illustration: verso of manuscript page 63.] the hand in which he wrote the address was not a steady one, but write it he did, somehow, and went down stairs to open the street door, ready for the coming of the poulterer's man. as he stood there, waiting his arrival, the knocker caught his eye. "i shall love it, as long as i live!" cried scrooge, patting it with his hand. "i scarcely ever looked at it before. what an honest expression it has in its face! it's a wonderful knocker!--here's the turkey. hallo! whoop! how are you! merry christmas!" it _was_ a turkey! he never could have stood upon his legs, that bird. he would have snapped 'em short off in a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax. "why, it's impossible to carry that to camden town," said scrooge. "you must have a cab." the chuckle with which he said this, and the chuckle with which he paid for the turkey, and the chuckle with which he paid for the cab, and the chuckle with which he recompensed the boy, were only to be exceeded by the chuckle with which he sat down breathless in his chair again, and chuckled till he cried. shaving was not an easy task, for his hand continued to shake very much; and shaving requires attention, even when you don't dance while you are at it. but if he had cut the end of his nose off, he would have put a piece of sticking-plaister over it, and been quite satisfied. he dressed himself "all in his best," and at last got out into the streets. the people were by this time pouring forth, as he had seen them with the ghost of christmas present; 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-humoured fellows said, "good morning, sir! a merry christmas to you!" and scrooge said often afterwards, that of all the blithe sounds he had ever heard, those were the blithest in his ears. he had not gone far, when coming on towards him he beheld the portly gentleman, who had walked into his counting-house the day before and said, "scrooge and marley's, i believe?" it sent a pang across his heart to think how this old gentleman would look upon him when they met; but he knew what path lay straight before him, and he took it. "my dear sir," said scrooge, quickening his pace, and taking the old gentleman by both his hands. "how do you do? i hope you succeeded yesterday. it was very kind of you. a merry christmas to you, sir!" "mr. scrooge?" "yes," said scrooge. "that is my name, and i fear it may not be pleasant to you. allow me to ask your pardon. and will you have the goodness"--here scrooge whispered in his ear. "lord bless me!" cried the gentleman, as if his breath were gone. "my dear [illustration: original manuscript of page 63.] mr. scrooge, are you serious?" "if you please," said scrooge. "not a farthing less. a great many back-payments are included in it, i assure you. will you do me that favour?" "my dear sir," said the other, shaking hands with him. "i don't know what to say to such munifi--" "don't say anything, please," retorted scrooge. "come and see me. will you come and see me?" "i will!" cried the old gentleman. and it was clear he meant to do it. "thank'ee," said scrooge. "i am much obliged to you. i thank you fifty times. bless you!" he went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows; and found that everything could yield him pleasure. he had never dreamed that any walk--that anything--could give him so much happiness. in the afternoon, he turned his steps towards his nephew's house. he passed the door a dozen times, before he had the courage to go up and knock. but he made a dash, and did it: "is your master at home, my dear?" said scrooge to the girl. nice girl! very. "yes, sir." "where is he, my love?" said scrooge. "he's in the dining-room, sir, along with mistress. i'll show you up stairs, if you please." "thank'ee. he knows me," said scrooge, with his hand already on the dining-room lock. "i'll go in here, my dear." he turned it gently, and sidled his face in, round the door. they were looking at the table (which was spread out in great array); for these young housekeepers are always nervous on such points, and like to see that everything is right. "fred!" said scrooge. dear heart alive, how his niece by marriage started! scrooge had forgotten, for the moment, about her sitting in the corner with the footstool, or he wouldn't have done it, on any account. "why bless my soul!" cried fred, "who's that?" "it's i. your uncle scrooge. i have come to dinner. will you let me in, fred?" let him in! it is a mercy he didn't shake his arm off. he was at home in five minutes. nothing could be heartier. his niece looked just the same. so did topper when _he_ came. so did the plump sister, when _she_ came. so did every one when _they_ came. wonderful party, wonderful games, wonderful [illustration: original manuscript of page 64.] unanimity, won-der-ful happiness! but he was early at the office next morning. oh he was early there. if he could only be there first, and catch bob cratchit coming late! that was the thing he had set his heart upon. and he did it; yes he did! the clock struck nine. no bob. a quarter past. no bob. he was full eighteen minutes and a half, behind his time. scrooge sat with his door wide open, that he might see him come into the tank. 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 nine o'clock. "hallo!" growled scrooge, in his accustomed voice as near as he could feign it. "what do you mean by coming here at this time of day?" "i'm very sorry, sir," said bob. "i _am_ behind my time." "you are?" repeated scrooge. "yes. i think you are. step this way, if you please." "it's only once a year, sir," pleaded bob, appearing from the tank. "it shall not be repeated. i was making rather merry yesterday, sir." "now, i'll tell you what, my friend," said scrooge, "i am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. and therefore," he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the tank again: "and therefore i am about to raise your salary!" bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler. he had a momentary idea of knocking scrooge down with it; holding him; and calling to the people in the court for help and a strait-waistcoat. "a merry christmas, bob!" said scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. "a merrier christmas, bob, my good fellow, than i have given you, for many a year! i'll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a christmas bowl of smoking bishop, bob! make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, bob cratchit!" * * * * * scrooge was better than his word. he did it all, and infinitely more; and 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. 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 laughter in the outset; and knowing [illustration: original manuscript of page 65.] that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. his own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him. he had no further intercourse with spirits, but lived upon the total abstinence principle, ever afterwards; 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! the end. [illustration: original manuscript of page 66.] [illustration] [illustration: _the last of the spirits._] a christmas carol the original manuscript charles dickens [illustration: _scrooge's third visitor._] transcriber's note: this is a facsimile version of the original manuscript, hand-written by charles dickens. every effort has been made to preserve the appearance of the first edition--page breaks and labels have been kept, to match the original script, and spelling, grammar and typographical errors have been left unchanged. 