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ih <.il ! ahb ýý"9 §J' I lalnet asn.oto . on eon Io ofithhr saup rbe e ohe. Wdt a fthu 70o1on w nwee e y, ca even I t!, flowdeerless ir1 wtoe ith hoerd q1 , no hest if soonBP~ t.O to91 'oh r m know that wool .seulghtltoto yon~ bltli a fun l ne ere,'. w nith her hed "pf tohat 1 pwat half Sip aisnthin. a d u fol o Simflhesaw nomr to you delight to tor. th host. i al ýi No more;' I thao to wha~S~sict hip and place: tintindll of 3# hee he tn Uuwhr nowon the mohther. tnthat thee Widle o 1 'Dt ýýP~ 'the mother b ne s enoedb it boo tww eto * pc° a' 'tfor that i 1Lt" 7 a 1si tibia *0 Mgktw$' best maann sae Wase-rubnd viai9r ~ srs mast of hS on bib7an down t nt hi ow orele ea4¶? etmea. ;*;~*ii~%w~·tolrdt3~ to his if du~on't I now," abe ado s tbaghieg as he leoghed. itwas. 1 iacrcdsd isoe-wia %wa not shot up, andhebehd a I caIsIIUoSre 116el seeizjg him. the pont of eath, host' eeleue. tlone the *-txg. ;inabroken oloe," ciuowo the things "sid> hot,`othat it ass, d saveme," bakl i a Ili mano Yls f ll the wBalt it. c anbe called a etag 050,I 'no 'tebla reoletance kttiý 5a iu 1'bed by any effort dbrc d o &ahatntria ight con loeeat0zbibl,hedaedr~ abid by" t endden action tupon laa beead beeth it that the ex itewhblalorm; bat though t town with- oit·hs forces he tligh, which streamed frco t , n bol, upibotd'gwonnd. : being exnuted, end an cid owiasnemo; and, owa bedttom. Hle sae squse1 ee&1 hiiblahani re h iyl toa te l to bedbbeore hessakiuttoub eary'slesp. ages ~lre....7%e Second of the Three Spirsits. AWA4*O iltte ts eof a prodig.ously tough l ittlt u bed to get his thong _te ad no o ion to be told Ss$ Upon the soke of One. .as'e reMltoeed to coneoliousnese "i 'a time, fobr the speclal pur Steooferenoe with the second lt d to him through Jacob .n tIt, finding. that he old when o h began hte ]of teurtio. this new spectre ). put thdte every one aside a. .d, lying down again, A gtarp I . abe n ll round the bed. edo ehaeng p thepirit on the SaIt e anoe, andid not wish to b rre ond made neous. ad .tkQ frt hnd-.eeyn sort, who osne eth helvee oa being acquainted with a ,or two, and being usually equal to the dly, express the wide range of their Str adventure by observing that they qe fr o anything from piothend-toss to lee btween which opposite ex no ~ t, there lies a tolerably wide t .rehpsense range of subJeets.. With for oeroge quite as hardily as 'tnd elli on you to believe that wrep rady godg broad field of strange ee ald tha nothing between a baby A l x'necere w~old have astoniseed him mush. Sbeing prepared for almost anything, he was oot by any means prepared for nothing; auid, consequently, when the Bell struck One, ndno shape appeared, be was taken with a ashetf m of trembling. ive minutes, ten unIu e. u.rter of an hour went by, yet no t ase A o thisntie, ho lay on his bid, t o hy cor conad eentre of a blaseof rwudd ,*e strent ed upon itwhenthe olwo d the 'hot' and which being only 1 wtmov larmizLt than adosen of ghosts, s wa powerless to soake out what it meant, ewold be at; and was sometimes apprehen. lhat he might be at that oery moment an Lgn ase of spo.taneoti combustion, lettieof having the consolation of knowing it. At hist, however, be began to think-as you or [would have thought at first; for it is always the peron not in the predicament who knows what oujht tokave been done in it, and would .nqoestionably have done it too-at last, I say, began to think that the source and secret of hin ghastly" light might be in the adjoining r9om: from whence, on further tracing it, it .eemed to shine. This idea taking full pos. tesl.n of his mind, he got up softly and shuffied [ hie slippers to the door. ohe moment Scrooge's hand was on the lock, a itrange voice otolled him by his name, and bade him enter. He obeyed. It was his own room. There was no doubt abbut that. But it had undergone a surprising transformation. The walls and oeiling were so Bng with living green, that it looked a perfect frove, fom every part of which, bright gleam mg berries glistted. The crisp leaves of-holly, mistetoee and iv, reflected back the light as if so many little mirrors had'been scattered there; and such a mighty blase went roaring up the chimney, as that dull petrifaction of a hearth had never known in Scrooge's time, or Mar e, or r many and many a winter season ~lhe. herped up upon the loor,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, aelsta of oysters, red-hot oheenuts, cherry heeoked apples, juicy oranges. luscious pears, immense twelfth.cakes, and- seething bowls of uneh, that made the chamber dim with their elcito.n steam. In easy state upon this couch, e aat jolly Giant, glorious to see ; who bore gowi tch, Inshape not nlike Plenty's hornfand held it np, high up, to seyi its light n Scrooge, as he cme peepn round the door "ooman .' exclaimed the ( host. ", Come in end knoorme better, man.!" Scrooge entered timidly, and hung his head before' the '8pirit. He was net the dogged Leroeog hi had been; and though its eyes were lear and kind, he did not like to meet them. I am the Ghost of Christmas Present," said he prit. Look gt me " e grevop reently did so. It was clothed in spe" deep green robe, or mantle, bordered e white fur. This garment hung so loosely )nte figure, that its capacious breast was bare, t if diain to be warded or concealed by oy ar.tf.I Its feet, observable beneath the Mople dis of the garment, were also bare; and I in its I t wore no other covering than a tly set here and there with shining ioles. Its dark brown curio were long and 'ee; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, to open hand, its cherry voice, its unconstrained lema-aor, and itsc oyful air. Girded round its .idle was an antique scabbard; but no sword reainIt, .nd the ancient sheath was ealjg up ith rust. "You have never seen the like of me before !" -claimed the Spirit. "'Never Scrooge made answer to it. " Have never walked forth with the younger I embers of my family; meaing, (for I am ery young,) my older brothers horn in these tr years ?" pursued the Phantom. " I da't think I have," said .roge. "I am pidl havenot. Have you had manybroth. I es,Sdilt . s ,ke than eighteen hundired," said the "A tremendous fAmly to provi*br," mout "Spirt," saiWd crogeniM*,e lve.y" - onduct ts whesre youwll. mwent +t nighteon C o.-pu.- andllelarnu t a this work- a Vnow. To-n hiht, ify t to teach t "'Touches robe!" - T did as he held it f mistletoe, ivy, turh ,t e p~olry : apt. pieau.sa. Ms t'an punch, did the room, the heabes f 4te t sof.snw pt e , ar d to trtes, in the thick yellotr mad ndy w;ter. Wh, and h e shoiteo sr wooee hla f thao, row by t he wheels f cart an d wageds funrows thitn reesed ,d reotonsed baclsothe dear heart's content. There t hndred inof theeime hor the eatown t aots tbranhed sad made tttlloate losnnd at the e summy aw l a nd bthehtest summer en to trac h e Adeoke d to dingy e ithalf thain. half frosin, whose hbeheer particles descende In a shower of soot atoms, calf all the chm neye° in Gret obtten, had, by one consM, orght Ihe, an were sho ling awa y to n dthe house-tops content. There notglng very cheerful n theolimate or the town, rapd yet was there n eihr of oeel a aetiobrusd that the -betters ehad .o ed to dit In vme a i on. o th people who were shotill al n away on the hos-tops were jovial and falloglee; call ing out to one anther from the parapets, e nd now end then exchanging a facetious snow-ball -better natured missIle tan manyf a wordy iedt-l oshnh heril if it oeno right, ndoot y itwent wrong. The poulterers' shops wore stIll half open, and the fruiterbra'. wbrekradiant In their glory. There were grent, round, pat-bellIed baskets of cheonuto, shaped like the 'walstooatsoojolly old gentlemen, lollIng at she deors, end tumbling out int the streotin their apopleetic opulence. There were ruddy, browfaced, broad-thed Spanish Onions, t inaa the fatnes of their gdwth like Span l*rP ares; and winkiag from their shelves in wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and claheed demurely at the hang-up mistletoe. here were-pears and apples, clustered high iq blooming pyramids; there were bunches of grpe, made, in the shopkeepers' benevolence, twd.ngle from conspicuous hdoks, that people's mouths might water gratis as they passed; there were piles of filberts, mossy and brown, recalling, in their fragrafce, ancient walks among the woods, and pleasant shufiings ankle deep hrough witheed leaves: there were Nor iflk BIfflis, squab and swarthy, setting off the yellow of the oranges and lemons, and, in the great compactness of their juicy persons, ur g ntreating and beseeching to be carried 3a pspe'bags and .atenafterdinner. The very gold and silver fish, set forth among these choioe finit itea bowl, though members of a dull and stagnant-blooded race, appeared to know that there was something going on; and, to s 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 gap such glimpses! It was not alone that the scasles descending on the counter made a merry sound, or that the twine and roller parted company so briskly, or that the cannisters were rattled up and down like jug gling tricks, or even that the blended scents of tea and cofbe were so grateful to the nose, or even that the raisins were so pll ntul and rare, the almonds so extremely whi4 the sticks of cinnamon, e long and straight, ae other spices so delicious, the candied fruits so caked and spotted with molten sugar as to make the coldest lookers-on feel faint and subsdque"tly lillious. 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, clashing their wicker baskets mildly, and iet their purchases upon the coun ter, and came running sack to fetch them, and committed hundreds of the like mistakes in the best humor peosible; while the grocer and his people were so frank and fresh that the polished nearts with which they fastened their aprons behind might have been their own, worn outside for general inspection, and for Christmas dale to peek at if they chose. But soon the steeples called good people all, to church and chapel and away they came, flooking 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 peo ple, carrying their dinners to the bakers' shops. The sight of these poor revellers appeared to interest the Sirit very much, for he stood with Srooge a.s him in a baker's doorway, and taking covers as their bearers passed, sprinki ase on their dinners from his torch. it was a very uncommon kind of torch, for oiee 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 humor was restored directly. For they said, it was a shame to quarrel upon Christmas Day. And so it was I 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 flavor in what you sprin kle 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 poor one most ?.' asked Scrooge. "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 enjoy ment !" "I!" cried the Spirit. " You seek to close theseplaces on the Seventhl 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. Re poember that, and charge their doings on them selves, 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 aremarkable quality of the Ghost (which Scrooge had ob served at the baker's; that, notwithstanding his 'igantic size, he could accommodate- himself to any place with ease; and that he stood beneath a low roof quite as gracefully and like a super natural creature, as it was possible he could have done in any lofty hall. And perhaps it was the pleasure th#good Spirit had in showing off this power of his, or else it was his own kind, generous, hearty na ture, and his sa pathy with all poor men, that led him straightto 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'` dwelling with the sprinklings of his torch. Think of that! Bob had but fifteen "Bob" a week himself; he pocketed on Satu4days but fifteen copies of his Christian name ;aiid get the Ghost of Christmas Present blessed hit four roomed house! Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit, Cratchit's wife, dressed out but Jfoorly 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 pro perty, conferred upon his son and heir in honor of the day) into his mouth, rejoiced to find himself so gallantly attired, and yearned to show his linen in the fashionable parks. And now two smaller Cratohits, boy and girl, came tearing in, soreaming that outelde the baker's they had smelt the gooe, and known it for their known; and basking in luxurious thoughts of sage-and-onions, thhe young Cratchita danced about the table, and exalted Master Peter Cra.ehit the skies, while he (he not proud, although Is collars nearly choked him) blew the Are, until the slow potatoes, bubbling up, knoked proudly at the saucepan lid to be let out and peeled. " What has eveor got your precious father, , ' said Mrs. Cratohit. "And your bro. iy Tim ; and Martha warn't as late last a as day by half.an-hour I" are's Martat , mother!" cried the two I -. ae.., my oar, andr hvey dear, L mohn tuetferh,' wl g Sherie haw s al s Bd eve iAir ate. rilta a ts seal crm,". said Mrs. Crrtt . "0$ 4 ye dan be lore thefiremy dear, and havrea warm, Lord t " io, nol There', fathe coming," orled the t two younkCratdhlte, who were every where at once. 'Hide, Marthe, hide I" 8o Martha hid herself, and inoamslittle Bob, . the fthher, with at least three feet of comforter, exclusive of the fringe,, hnging down beforeI him; andhi thread.baeolotheedarned up aend I brushed, to lok seasonable; and Tiny Tim upon i his shoulder. Alas for Tiny Tim, he bore a 1 little orutch, and had his limbs supported by an I "Why, where's our Martha ?" cried Bob 1 Oratohit, lookin round. " Not coming, said Mrs. Cratchit. "Not coming!" said Bob, with a sudden de ole.sion 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 Ohristmas Day I" Martha didn'tlike to see him disappointed, if ware 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 of into the wash-house, that he might hear the pudding singing in the oopper. And how did little Tih behave ?" asked Mrs. Cratchit, when she had rallied Bob on his credulity, and Bob had hugged his daughter to i 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 coripple, ann it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day who made lame beggars walk and blind men see." Bob's voioe was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled mote 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 coufs, as if, poor follow, they were capable of being mad. more shabby--com pounded some hot mixture in a jug withgin and lemons. and stirred it round andround, and put it on the hob to simmer; Master Peter and the two ubiquitous young Cratchite went to fetch the goose, with which they soon returned in high procession. Such a bustle ensued that you might have 1 thought a goose the rarest of all birds; a feath ered phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter of course: and, in truth, it was some- . thing very like it in that house. Mrs. Cratchit made the gravy (ready before-hand in a little saucepan) hissing hot; Master Peter mashed i the potete with incredible vigor; Miss Belinda eweetened up the apple-sauce; Martha dusted the hot plates; Bob took Tiny Tim beside himin a tiny corner at the table; the two young Crat chits 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 1 on, and grace was said. It was succeeded by a breathless pause, as Mrs. Cratchit, looking slow ly all along the carving-knife, prepared toi plunge it on the breast; but when she did, and when the long-expected gush of stuffmg issued forth, one murmur of delight arose all round the board, and even Tiny Tim, excited I by the young Cratchits, beat on the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried ( Hurrah ! T1.-.,n.... ...,,,,;, ^^^ P~0^1L didn't believe there ever was such a goose cook ed. Itp tenderness and flavor, size and cheap- i noes, were the themes of universal admiration. . Eked out by the apple-saunce and mashed pota- I toes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole 1 famtly; indeed, as Mrs. Cratchit said with great (surveying one small atom of a bone pon the dish), they hadn't ate it all at last! I Yet every one had had enough, and the youngest a Jratchits in particular, were steeped in sage end onion to the eyebrows! But now, the t plates being changed by Miss Belinda, Mrs. Dratchit left the room alone-too nervous to bear witnesses-to take the pudding up, and I bring it in. Suppose it should not be done enough! Sup pose it should break in turning out! Suppose a somebody should have got over the wall of the I back-yard, and stolen it, while they were merry s with the goose: a supposition at which the two I young Cratphitabecame livid! All sorts of hor :ors were supposed. Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. A smell like a washing lay! That was the cloth. A smell like an sating-house, and a pastry cook's next door to tach other, with a laundress's next door to that ' Phut was the pudding. In half a minute Mrs. Dratchit entered: flushed, but smiling proudly: with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, o hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quar ern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christ nas holly stuck into the top. Oh, a wonderful pudding! Bob Cratchitsaid, and calmly too, that he regarded it as the great st success achieved by Mrs. Cratchit since their narriage. Mrs. Cratchit said that now the weight was off her mind, she would confess she lad her doubts about the quantity of flour. Everybody had something to say about it, but sobody said or thought it was at all a small sudding for a large family. It would have been eresy to do so. Any Cratchit would have slushed to hint at such a thing. At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was a leared, the hearth swept, and the fire made up. t he compound in the jug being tasted and con- t adered perfect, apples and oranges were put apon the table, anda shovel-full of ~iestnuts on he fire. Then all the Cratchit family drew v oand the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit called n circle, meaning half a one; and at Bob h !ratchit's elbow stood the family display of t 1ass; two tumblers, and a custard-cup without t handle. -' These held the hot stuff from the jug, howev- b r, as well as golden goblets would have done; a ,nd Bob served it out with beaming looks, while a he chestnnts on the fire sputtered and crackled oisily. Then Bob proposed: h " A merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God h less us !" a Which all the family re-echoed. " God bless us every one !" said Tiny Tim, the h nst of all. a He sat very close to his father's side, upon his h ittle stool. Bob held his withered little hand tl ahis, as if he loved the child, and wished to p eep him by his side, and dreaded that he might .e taken from him. n "Spirit," said Scrooge, with an interest he h ad never felt before, "tell me if Tiny will tl ve." a "I see a vacant seat," replied the Ghost, b in the poor chimney corner, and a crutch k rithout an owner, carefully preserved. If these hado\re remain unaltered by the Future, the li hild will die." is "No, no," said Scrooge. "Oh no, kind tl pirit! say he will be spared." al "If these shadows remain unaltered by the a: uture, none other of my race," returned the w host, "will find him here. What then ? If It e be like to die, he had better do it, and doe- r rease the surplus population." hi "Scrooge hung his head to hear his own tl urds quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome to 'ith penitence and grief. at " Man," said the Ghost, "'if man you be in eart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant hi ntil you have discovered what the surplus is, ad where it is. Will you decide what men to sall live, and what men shall die? It may be, Sc sat in the sight of heaven you are more worth- to es and less fit to live than millions like this ci tor man's child. Oh God! to hear the Insect a the leaf pronouncing on the too much life of nong his hungry brothersin the dust!" at Scrooge bent before the Ghost's rebuke, and re camblin cast his eyes upon the ground. But ha Sraised them speedi!y on hearing his own th ems, as "Mr. Scrooge!" said Bob, "I'll give you ce r. Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast." . al " The ,Founde of the Feast indeed!" cried fr is. Crathlt, reddening. "I wish I had him in ire. I'dgive him a piece of my mind to Gast son, and I hope he'd have a good appetite it." SMy dear," said Bob,." the children, (rist- it, s Day." "' . "It should be Christmas Day, I am sure," nil id she, "on which -one drinks the health of as oh an odious, stingy, hard, unfeelingu a r. Scrooge. You knowhe is, Robert! Nobod .ows it better than you, poor fellow!" - . Slitohim.i A meerry Chritma u a uhappy e ar!-hte'll em very mery and Mty happy, I hbgroaodoubt?" -e ohnld n k~ the toast after her. It i . rd .tei prceedings which had no . ln in it. 'TnyTim d rakit lastofall, 1 buthe didn't oare two pence for it. Sorge I was thegre f e the family. The mention o hi name out a shadow on the party, which was not dispelled for full five minutes. After it had passed away, they wese ds times merrier than before, from the mere relief i of crooge 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-sixpenoe weekly. The I two young Oratohits laughed tremendously at the idea of Peter' being a man of business; and Peter himself looked thoughtfully at the fire from between his collars, asif he were delibera ting what particular investments he should favor when he came into the receipt of that bewilder ing income. Martha, who was a poor appren tice 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 shorning 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 soeenhisheadifyon had been there. Allthis time the cheenuts and the jug went round and round; and, by and by, they had song, about a lost child traveling in the snow, from Tiny. Tim, who had a plaintive little voice, andeang it very well indeed. There was nothing of high mark in this. They were not a handsome family; they werenot well dressed; their shoes were far from being water proof; their clothes were scanty ; and Peter might have known, and very likely did, the in ide of a pawnbroker's. But they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and content ed with the time; and when they faded, and looked happier yet in the bright sprinklinge of the Spirit's torch at parting, Sorooge had his eye upon them, and especially on Tiny Tim, until the leet. By this time it was getting dark, and snow ing prettpeavily; and Scrooge and the Spirit went along the streets, the brightness of the roaring fires in kitchens, parlors, and all sorts of rooms, was wonderful. Here, the flickering ofthe blase showed preparations for a noy din ner, with hotplates baking through and through before the fire, and deep red curtains, ready to be drawn, to shut out cold anddarknees. There, all the children of the house were running out into the snow to meet their matries sisters, brothers, cousins, uncles, aunts, and be the first to greet them. Here, agai, were shadows on the window-blind of guests assembling; and there a group of handsome girls, all hooded and four-booted, and all chattering at once, tripped lightly off to some near neighbor's house, where, we 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 eopleon their way to friendly gatherimgs, you might have thought that no one was at home to give them friendly welcome when they got there, instead of every house expecting company, and piling up its fres half-chimney high. Bleosings on it, how the Ghost exulted! How it bared its breadth of breast, and opened its capotious palm, and floated on, outpouring, with a gene rous hand, its bright and harmless mirth on ev erything within its reach! The very lamplight er, who ran on before, dotting the dusky street with specks of light, and who was dressed to spend the evening somewhere, laughed out loud ly as the Spirit passed; though little kenned the lamp-lighter that he had any company but And now, without a word of warning from the Ghost, they stood upon a bleak and desert moor, where monstrous massesof rude stone were cast about, as though it were the burial-place of gi ants; 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 forze, and coarse, rank gram. Down in the West the setting sun had left a streak of Eery red, which glared upon the desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, and frowning low or, lower, lower yet, was lost in the thick glo of darkest night. " What is this '" asked Scrooge. " A place where miners live, who labor in the bowels of the earth," said 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 fre. An old, old man and woman, with their children and their children's children, and ano ther generation beyond that, all decked out gaily in their holiday attire. The old man, in a voice that seldom arose above the howling of the wind upon the barren waste, was singing them a Chrietmas song. It had been a very old song when he wasa 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 vigor sank agein. 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 Sarooge'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 thun Beriog 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 the shore, on which the waters chafed and dashed, the wild year through, there 4 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 i the water-rose and fell about it, like the waves they skimmed. But even here, two men who watched the light had made a tire, that through the loophole in the thick stone wall shed out a ray of bright ness on the awful sea. Joining their horny hands over the rough table at which they sat, they wished each other a Merry Christmas in their can of grog; and one of them, the elder, too, with his face damaged and scarred with hard weather, as the figure-head of an old ship night 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 com anion 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 the festivities; and had remem bered 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 think ing 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 hegry laugh. It was a much greater surprise toBSorooge to recognize it as his own nephew's, and to find himseif in a bright, dry, gleaming room, with the Spirit standing smiling by his side, and Lokisg at that same nephew with approving _fabiltty. -udS "Ha,h !" laughed Scrooge's nephew. " Ha, ha, ha!" If you should happen, by any unlikely chance, o know a man more blest in a laugh than irooge's nephew, all I can say is, I should like o know him, too. Introduce him to me, and I'll ultivate his acquaintance. It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment y things, that while there is infection in disease ad sorrow, there is nothing in the world so ir esistably contagious as laughter and good uumor. When Scrooge's nephew laughed in his way; holding his sides, rolling his head, td wisting his face into the most extravagant ontortitn: "Scroogvs niece, by marriage ughed as'heartil3 as he. And their assembled riends being not a .t belbindhand, rIared out, stily, " Hsa,ha! Ha, haha, ha !" . " He said that Christmas was a lumbug, as live!" tea Scroog'snephew. " lie believed I, too n' ' r 4arneeo , by hsha ,_lvs earesalways stenes h li + h~mW& bem 0 dote about her chin, Ina o g mother wheam sh le ughe l the esuna. air of eyes you nver Mw in any little * I ore's head. Altogether she .wa what yon h h~ rve ealledi , owvoki , yea "know but ; - a"e's a comical old fellow," Mt Boroge's al aephew, "that's the truth; and no.b leasant ahhe might be. However, his o carry hi heir own punishment, and I have nothing to a ay against him." tI Prm sure he is very rich, Fred," hinted w ocrooge's niece. " At least' you always tell me ti "What of that, my deor !" said Scrooge's aephew. " His wealth is of no use to him. He lon't do any good with it.' He don't make him- o elf comfortable with it. He hasn't thesatisfaeo- h ion of thinking-ha, ha, hale-that he is ever ca oing to benefit s with it." I have no patience with him." observed g loreoge's niece. Sorooge's niece's sisters, and C 611 the other ladies, expressed the same opinion. ir "Oh, I have?" said Scrooge's nephew. "I w nt sorry for him; I couldn't be angry with u im f I tried. Who suffers by his ill whims? o0 Himself, always. Here, he takes it into his ol lead to dislike us, and he won't come and dine ol with us. What's the consequence? He don't a lose much of a dinner." p " Indeed,I think he loses a very good dinner," oterrupted Scrooge's neice. Everybody else laid the same, and they must be allowed to have been competent judges, because they had just lad dinner; and, with the desert upon the ta ble, were clustered round the fire, by lamp- d .ight. "WellI I am very glad to hear it," said p Lcrooge's nephew, '" because I haven't any great !aith in these young housekeepers. WbaA. do a ou say Topper?" Topper had clearly got his eye upon one of n Scrooge's niece's sisters, for he answered that a su oatohelor was a wretched outcast, who no right 0 express an opinion on the subject. Whereat u crooge's niece's sister-the plump one with the lace ttltker-not the one with the roses blushed, ci " Do go on. Fred," said Scrooge's niece, clap- a ping her hands, " He never finishes what u he begins to asy! He is such a ridiounous fel Low!" Scrooge's nephew revelled in another laugh, and as it was impossible to keep the infection off; ri though the plump sister tried hard to do it with ti romatic vinegar; his example was unanimously h bllowed. " I was only going to say," said Scrooge's I eephew, "that the consequence of his taking a a lioeike to us, and not making merry with us is, a an I think, that he loses some pleasant mo- g aeats, which could do him no harm. I am sure ti ae loses pleasanter companions than he can find tl n his own thoughts, either in his mouldy old h offce, or his dusty chambers. I mean to give him the same chance every year, whether he el likes it or not, for I pity him. He may rail at w lhristmse till he dies, but he can't help think- s ing better of it-I defy him-if he finds me go- e ing there, in good temper, year after year, and Saying Uncle Scrooge, how are you ? If it only n put him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty ounds, that's something; and I think I shook d imyesterday." p It was their turn to laugh now, and the notion r f his shaking Scrooge. But being thoroughly b good-natured, and not much caring what they w laughed at, so that they laughed at any rate, he w encouraged themrin their merriment, and passed I the bottle joyously. h After tea, they had some music. For they ti were a musical family, and knew what they a were about, when they sung a glee or catch, I can assure you: especially Topper, who could S growl away in the bass like a good one, and never swell the large veins in his forehead, or ii get red in the face overit. Scrooge's niece played well upon the harp ; and played among Ather tunes a simple little air (a mere nothing: pou might learn to whistle it in two minutes,) a which had been familiar to the child who fetched h brcroge from the boarding-school, as he had I been reminded by the Ghost of Christmas Past. d When this strain of music sounded, all the tl hinge that Ghost had shown him, came upon is mind; he softened more and more; and hought that if he could have listened to it often, years ago, he might have cultivated the tindness of life for his own happiness with his ,wn hands, without resorting to the sexton' spade that buried Jacob Marley. But they didn't devote the whole evening to tL nusic. After a while they played at forfeits, a 'or it is good to be children sometimes, and lever better than at Christmas, when its mighty w Founder was a child himself. Stop! There lm was first a game at blindman's buff. Of course h there was. And I no more believe Topper was really blind than I believe he had eyes in his a bootse. My opinion is, that it was a done thing w between him and Scrooge's nephew; and that the Ghost of Christmas Present knew it. The way he went after the plump sister in the lace e tucker, was an outrage on the credulity of hu- n nan nature. Knocking down the fire-irons, tumbling over the chairs, bumping up against n the piano, smothering himself' among the cur tains, wherever she went, there he went. He a always knew where the plump sister was. He wouldn't catch anybody else. If you had fallen t1 op against him, as some of them did, and stood im here, he would have made a feint of endeavor- tl ug to seize you, which would have been an affront to your understanding; and would in- ti tantly have sidled off in the direction of the h lump sister. She often cried out that it wasn't air; and it really was not. But when, at lhst, ie caught her; when, in spite of all her silken tl 'ustlings, and her rapid flutterings past him, he n ,other into a corner whence there was no es- h ape; then his conduct was the most execrable p For his pretending not to know her : his pretend- a ng that it was necessary to touch her head- h trees, and further to assure himself of her iden ity by pressing a certain ring upon her finger, ti and a certain chain upon her neck; was vile, k nonstrous! No doubt she told him her opinion gl f it, 'when, another blindman being in office, tl hey were so very confidential together, behind st he curtains. hi Scrooge's niece was not one of the blind man's uff party, but was made comfortable with a crge chair and footstool in a snug corner, where e. qhost and Scrooge were close behind her. ut soe joined in the forfeits, and loved her love admiration with all the letters of the alpha. at. Likewise at the game of How, When, and Ihere, she was very great, and to the secret joy Scrooge's nephew, beat her sisters hollow: sough they were sharp girls too, as Topper huldhave told you. There might have been en t people, yoong and old, but they all laen and so did Scrooge; for, wholly firget ng the interest he had m what was going on, lat his voice made no sound in their ears, he metimes came out with his guess quite loud, d very often guessed right, too; for the sharp itneedle, best Whitechapel warranted not to it in the eye, was not sharper than Scrooge: Lunt as he took it in his head to be. The Ghost was greatly pleased to find him in is mood, and looked upon him with such favor at he begged like a boy to be allowed to stay til the guests departed. But this the Spirit id could not be done. "Here's a new game," said Scrooge. "One slf hour, Spirit, only one ! " It was a game called Yes and No, where I rooge's nephew had to think of something, and I .erest must find out what; he only answering I their questions yes or no, as the case was. se brisk fire of questioning to which he was posed, elicited from him that he was thinking a live animal, rather a disagreeable animal savage animal, an animal that growled and rnted sometimes, and talked sometimes, and red in London, ank walked about the streets, c d wasn't made a show of, and wasn't led by ybody, and didn't live in a menagerie, and I s never killed in_ a market, and was not a nso, or an ass, or a cow, or a bull, or a tiger. a dog, or a pig, or a cat, or a bear. At every sah question that was put to him, this nephew st into a fresh roar of laughter; and was j inexpressibly tickled, that he was obliged to t op off of the sofa and stamp. At last the I amp sister, falling into a similar state, cried ( ;I have found it out! I know what it is, red! Iknow whatit isl" "' What is it? " cried Fred. "It's your Uncle Scro-o-o-oge!" Which it certainly was. Admiration was the dversal sentiment, though some objected that 1reply to " sl it a bear ?" ought to have been es-;" inasmuch as an answer in the negative is sufficient to have diverted their thoughts h t , Mr. Scrooge, supposing they had ever had y tendency that way. " He has given us plenty of.merriment, I am y re," said Fred, " and it would. be_ ugrateful tto drink his health. Here ilegldq of mull- I wine ready to our hand at tte moment; and I S eUnle osroolgeP " .W.el! Unse oog !,, t e)ý eri..ý. "A Merry Osltmnas and a, appy New Year the old man, whatever he is!" said Scoeg e's phew. He woulIg't take it from me, but a sA it, n eleea. Unest ne Sooge had ioperoepti nd h of her that hI. a u the i an audible speeh, t him the, But the who n the breath of the last ds hew; d he nd the Spirit t travels. M saw, and far they went, ted, but always with md. rit stood beside slok hey w arfi; on foreign lands, T were close at home; by struggling he) were patien in tlei greater h verty, and it wa rich. In al o ial and jail, in miser's every r in man in his little brief authori .ads ,et the door, and bsrred the5 s left his blessing, and tioght Sore It was 'a long night, if it Wre e eoge had his dofbts of tl, bes 3hristmns Holidays appeaceg tobe cc nto the space of time t ai teh A ts estnge, too, that e eSioe Inaltered in his outward form, the Oh ader, learly older. Srooge had be ev tngse, butnever poe of it, uill h Children's Twelfth Night 'partt wha A it the Spirit as they sitodtso_ ro in ~ lace, he noticed that its hair was gra " Are spirits' lives so short?" a a d My lif upon this globe is very br lied the Ghost. "It snds tonight. "h To-night !" cried grooge. "To-niht at midnight. a Hark Th lra-ing near."' The chimes were ringong the th -qu asat eleven at that moment. " Forgive me if I am not justifed in w mLk," said Scrooge, looking intently at s pirit'e robe, " but I seesomethinn strange, W ot belonging to yourself, protruding from y kirts. Is it afootor a claw " "It might be a claw, for the flesh there a ipon it," was the Spirit's sorrowful repl 'Look here." Tl From the foldingsof Its robe it brought y eIbldren, wretched, abut, friehtful, kidio niserable. They t khsi abat feset, and cl opon the outside of s l Srt. "Oh, Man ! look- ,IWgOkL, look downher aclaimed the Ghost. I There were a boy and girl. Yg me 'ogged, scowling, wolfish; but , tso heir humility. Where gracefu .Bi to ave filled their features out, and to with its fresh tints, a stale and oh ike that of age, had pinched, andt and pulled them into shreds. night have sat enthroned, devils, k,, lared out menacingly. No change, node 1ion, no perversion of humanity, in any w hrough all the mysteries of worderfulcre ns monsters half so horrible sand dread. Scrooge started back, appalled. Having 't sown to him in this way, he tried to say owre fine children, but the words choked t selves, rather than be parties to a lie of e snormous magnitude. aa " Spirit! are the yours " Scrooge oo no more "They are Man's," said the Spirit, lc t own upon them. "And they cling to me, o pealing from their fthers. This boy is . c ance. This girl is Want. Beware of bath, and all of their degree, but mcit of all ware this boy, for on his brow I see that writ ro which is Doom, unless the writing be r e Deny it!" cried the Spirit, stretching out sand toward the city. "Slander those P ell it ye! Admit it oryour factious p and make it worse ! A.d hide the end ! ta " Have they no refuge or resource "' a Scrooge. g "Are there no prisons?" said the Spirit,t ag on him for the last time with his owe w 'Are there no work-houses ?" The bell struck twelve. : Scoorge looked about him for the law it not. As the last note oeased ae rememberd the prediction of old JI ley, and lifting up his eyes, beheld a Phan Iraped and Ihooded, coming, like a mist a the ground, towards him. jol Stave IV ...... The Last of the Sprits. The Phantom slowly, gravely, sile.tly, roached. When it came near lim, . ent down upon his knee; for ,veryt hrough which this spirit mo.el,5 catter gloom and mytery. It was shrouded in a 4 eq rhich concealed its head, its ace, eft nothing of it visible save one and. But for this, it would have been ult to detach its figure from th* nlf, eparate it from the darkness by whia it urrounded. He felt thati was tall and stately whe ame beside him, and that its mysterious p cee filled him with a solemn dread. He k to more, for the Spirit neither spoke nor mo " I am in the presence of the thostof Chr ass Yet to Come ?" said Scrooge. The Spirit answered not, but pointed do rard with its hand. " You are about to show me shadows of hings that have not happened, but will hap the time before us," Scrooge pursued. hat so, Spirit " The upper portion of the garment was c racted for an instant in its folds, as if the Sp ad inclined its head. That was the only wer he received. Although well used to ghostly company his time, Scrooge feared the silent shal such that his legs trembled beneath him, F e found that he could hardly stand when c repared to follow it. The Spirit paused a sent, as obserbing his condition, and givi im time to recover. But Scrooge was all the worse for this. d arilled him with a vague, uncertain horror, now that behind the dusky shroud there we hostly eyes intently fixed upon him, when I sough he stretched his own to the utmost, con se nothing but a spectral hand and one gre cap of black. "Ghost of the Future !" he exclaimed, "I fe on more than any Spectre I have seen. B SI know your purpose is to do me good, and hope to live to be another mitan from wha a as, I am prepared to bear you company, a o it with a thankful heart. Will you not epe me ?" It gave him no reply. The hand ~ po id straight before theta. " Lead on!" said Scrooge. "Lead 44 ght is waning thast, and it is precqtu ins'e e, I know. Lead on, Spirit!" The phantom moved away as it had come ards him. Scrooge followed in the shadow t s dress, which bore him up, he thought, orried hint along. They scarcely seemed to enter the city; f .e city rather seemed to spring up about the id encompass them of its own act. But the t ley were, in the heart of it, on 'Change, amo me merchants; who hurried up and down, a linked the money in their pockets, and co rsed in groups, and looked at their watth a id trifled thoughtfully with their great go als, and so forth, as Scrooge had seen the ten. p The spirit stopped beside one little knot p isiness men. Observing that the hand we inted to them, Scrooge advanced to listen t eir talk. I " No," said a great fat man with a men rous chin, " I don't know much about it ther way, I only know he's dead." a " When did he die ?" inquired another. " Last night, I believe," I "Why, what was the matter with him?' ked a third, taking a vast quantity of snu h . of a very large snuff box. "I thought heli t ser die." " God knows," said the first, with a yawn, " What has he done with his money e askedt . d-faced gentleman with a pendulous excre ace on the end of his nose, that shook like hli of c turkey cock. " I haven't heard," said the man with t rge chin, yawning again. "Left it to 0 mpany, perhaps. He hasn't left it to m tat's all 1 know." This pleasantry was received with a gener ugh. f "It's likely to be a very eheap funeral," sa Ssame speaker ; for upon my lfe I don't kno any body to g to it Suppose wei.mgpp rty and volunteer 1" SI don't mind going if a lunch served the entleman with the snose. "Mutt ImusthelBdif' ens. BAnother laugh. "Well, I am the most dislnteqsted amo u, after all", said the frst sp$,ker. "for 1 ar wear k glovs and neer eat t l offer. fo, if anybody elet 1l, W .. _ eme to think of it, rm not at alwe I his most particular blead; the we rand quk 'wheever we met. seake a stroslll awapl eed with lze