{"id":254,"date":"2014-06-17T22:59:48","date_gmt":"2014-06-17T22:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/?post_type=chapter&p=254"},"modified":"2019-07-04T22:26:45","modified_gmt":"2019-07-04T22:26:45","slug":"a-christmas-carol-stave-5","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/chapter\/a-christmas-carol-stave-5\/","title":{"raw":"A Christmas Carol: Stave 5","rendered":"A Christmas Carol: Stave 5"},"content":{"raw":"

The End of It<\/h1>\r\nYes! 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!\r\n\r\n\u2018I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!\u2019 Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. \u2018The 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!\u2019\r\n\r\nHe 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.\r\n\r\n\u2018They are not torn down.\u2019 cried Scrooge, folding one of his bed-curtains in his arms, \u2018they are not torn down, rings and all. They are here \u2013 I am here \u2013 the shadows of the things that would have been, may be dispelled. They will be. I know they will!\u2019\r\n\r\nHis 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.\r\n\r\n\u2018I don\u2019t know what to do!\u2019 cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath; and making a perfect Laoco\u00f6n of himself with his stockings[footnote]Scrooge struggles with his stockings as Laoco\u00f6n struggles with the two sea serpents (Aeneid<\/em>, Bk. 2).[\/footnote]. \u2018I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!\u2019\r\n\r\nHe had frisked into the sitting-room, and was now standing there: perfectly winded.\r\n\r\n\u2018There\u2019s the saucepan that the gruel was in!\u2019 cried Scrooge, starting off again, and going round the fireplace. \u2018There\u2019s the door, by which the Ghost of Jacob Marley entered! There\u2019s the corner where the Ghost of Christmas Present sat! There\u2019s the window where I saw the wandering Spirits! It\u2019s all right, it\u2019s all true, it all happened. Ha ha ha!\u2019\r\n\r\nReally, 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!\r\n\r\n\u2018I don\u2019t know what day of the month it is.\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018I don\u2019t know how long I\u2019ve been among the Spirits. I don\u2019t know anything. I\u2019m quite a baby. Never mind. I don\u2019t care. I\u2019d rather be a baby. Hallo! Whoop! Hallo here!\u2019\r\n\r\nHe 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!\r\n\r\nRunning 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!\r\n\r\n\u2018What\u2019s to-day?\u2019 cried Scrooge, calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look about him.\r\n\r\n\u2018Eh?\u2019 returned the boy, with all his might of wonder.\r\n\r\n\u2018What\u2019s to-day, my fine fellow?\u2019 said Scrooge.\r\n\r\n\u2018To-day?\u2019 replied the boy. \u2018Why, Christmas Day.\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018It\u2019s Christmas Day!\u2019 said Scrooge to himself. \u2018I haven\u2019t 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!\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018Hallo!\u2019 returned the boy.\r\n\r\n\u2018Do you know the Poulterer\u2019s, in the next street but one, at the corner?\u2019 Scrooge inquired.\r\n\r\n\u2018I should hope I did,\u2019 replied the lad.\r\n\r\n\u2018An intelligent boy!\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018A remarkable boy! Do you know whether they\u2019ve sold the prize Turkey that was hanging up there? \u2013 Not the little prize Turkey: the big one?\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018What, the one as big as me?\u2019 returned the boy.\r\n\r\n\u2018What a delightful boy!\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018It\u2019s a pleasure to talk to him. Yes, my buck!\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018It\u2019s hanging there now,\u2019 replied the boy.\r\n\r\n\u2018Is it?\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018Go and buy it.\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018Walk-er[footnote]A Victorian cockney expression, indicating amused incredulity; more fully, \u201cHooky Walker.\u201d [O.E.D.][\/footnote]!\u2019 exclaimed the boy.\r\n\r\n\u2018No, no,\u2019 said Scrooge, \u2018I am in earnest. Go and buy it, and tell them to bring it here, that I may give them the direction where to take it. Come back with the man, and I\u2019ll give you a shilling. Come back with him in less than five minutes and I\u2019ll give you half-a-crown!\u2019\r\n\r\nThe 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.\r\n\r\n\u2018I\u2019ll send it to Bob Cratchit\u2019s,\u2019 whispered Scrooge, rubbing his hands, and splitting with a laugh. \u2018He sha\u2019nt know who sends it. It\u2019s twice the size of Tiny Tim. Joe Miller[footnote]Joe Miller (1684-1738). A famous comic actor. In 1739, John Mottley published a joke book, Joe Miller\u2019s Jests. Due to the wide sales of the book, many popular jokes came to be known as Joe Millers[\/footnote] never made such a joke as sending it to Bob\u2019s will be!\u2019\r\n\r\nThe 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\u2019s man. As he stood there, waiting his arrival, the knocker caught his eye.\r\n\r\n\u2018I shall love it, as long as I live!\u2019 cried Scrooge, patting it with his hand. \u2018I scarcely ever looked at it before. What an honest expression it has in its face. It\u2019s a wonderful knocker. \u2013 Here\u2019s the Turkey. Hallo! Whoop! How are you? Merry Christmas!\u2019\r\n\r\nIt was a Turkey! He never could have stood upon his legs, that bird. He would have snapped them short off in a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax.\r\n\r\n\u2018Why, it\u2019s impossible to carry that to Camden Town,\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018You must have a cab.\u2019\r\n\r\nThe 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.\r\n\r\nShaving was not an easy task, for his hand continued to shake very much; and shaving requires attention, even when you don\u2019t 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.\r\n\r\nHe 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, \u2018Good morning, sir! A merry Christmas to you!\u2019 And Scrooge said often afterwards, that of all the blithe sounds he had ever heard, those were the blithest in his ears.\r\n\r\nHe 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, \u2018Scrooge and Marley\u2019s, I believe.\u2019 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.\r\n\r\n\u2018My dear sir,\u2019 said Scrooge, quickening his pace, and taking the old gentleman by both his hands. \u2018How do you do? I hope you succeeded yesterday. It was very kind of you. A merry Christmas to you, sir!\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018Mr Scrooge?\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018Yes,\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018That 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\u2019 \u2013 here Scrooge whispered in his ear.\r\n\r\n\u2018Lord bless me!\u2019 cried the gentleman, as if his breath were taken away. \u2018My dear Mr Scrooge, are you serious?\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018If you please,\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018Not a farthing less. A great many back-payments are included in it, I assure you. Will you do me that favour?\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018My dear sir,\u2019 said the other, shaking hands with him. \u2018I don\u2019t know what to say to such munificence-\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018Don\u2019t say anything please,\u2019 retorted Scrooge. \u2018Come and see me. Will you come and see me?\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018I will!\u2019 cried the old gentleman. And it was clear he meant to do it.\r\n\r\n\u2018Thank you,\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018I am much obliged to you. I thank you fifty times. Bless you!\u2019\r\n\r\nHe 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 \u2013 that anything \u2013 could give him so much happiness. In the afternoon he turned his steps towards his nephew\u2019s house.\r\n\r\nHe passed the door a dozen times, before he had the courage to go up and knock. But he made a dash, and did it:\r\n\r\n\u2018Is your master at home, my dear?\u2019 said Scrooge to the girl. Nice girl! Very.\r\n\r\n\u2018Yes, sir.\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018Where is he, my love?\u2019 said Scrooge.\r\n\r\n\u2018He\u2019s in the dining-room, sir, along with mistress. I\u2019ll show you up-stairs, if you please.\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018Thank you. He knows me,\u2019 said Scrooge, with his hand already on the dining-room lock. \u2018I\u2019ll go in here, my dear.\u2019\r\n\r\nHe 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.\r\n\r\n\u2018Fred!\u2019 said Scrooge.\r\n\r\nDear 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\u2019t have done it, on any account.\r\n\r\n\u2018Why bless my soul!\u2019 cried Fred, \u2018who\u2019s that?\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018It\u2019s I. Your uncle Scrooge. I have come to dinner. Will you let me in, Fred?\u2019\r\n\r\nLet him in! It is a mercy he didn\u2019t 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, wonderful happiness!\r\n\r\nBut 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.\r\n\r\nAnd 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.\r\n\r\nHis 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\u2019clock.\r\n\r\n\u2018Hallo!\u2019 growled Scrooge, in his accustomed voice, as near as he could feign it. \u2018What do you mean by coming here at this time of day?\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018I am very sorry, sir,\u2019 said Bob. \u2018I am<\/em> behind my time.\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018You are!\u2019 repeated Scrooge. \u2018Yes. I think you are. Step this way, sir, if you please.\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018It\u2019s only once a year, sir,\u2019 pleaded Bob, appearing from the Tank. \u2018It shall not be repeated. I was making rather merry yesterday, sir.\u2019\r\n\r\n\u2018Now, I\u2019ll tell you what, my friend,\u2019 said Scrooge, \u2018I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore,\u2019 he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again; \u2018and therefore I am about to raise your salary!\u2019\r\n\r\nBob 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.\r\n\r\n\u2018A merry Christmas, Bob!\u2019 said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. \u2018A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I\u2019ll 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[footnote]A hot punch made of red wine, oranges, sugar, and spice. The liquid is the same colour as a bishop\u2019s cassock; hence the name.[\/footnote], Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!\u2019\r\n\r\nScrooge 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.\r\n\r\nHe 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!\r\n
\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"

The End of It<\/h1>\n

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!<\/p>\n

\u2018I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!\u2019 Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. \u2018The 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!\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2018They are not torn down.\u2019 cried Scrooge, folding one of his bed-curtains in his arms, \u2018they are not torn down, rings and all. They are here \u2013 I am here \u2013 the shadows of the things that would have been, may be dispelled. They will be. I know they will!\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t know what to do!\u2019 cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath; and making a perfect Laoco\u00f6n of himself with his stockings[1]<\/sup><\/a>. \u2018I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!\u2019<\/p>\n

He had frisked into the sitting-room, and was now standing there: perfectly winded.<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s the saucepan that the gruel was in!\u2019 cried Scrooge, starting off again, and going round the fireplace. \u2018There\u2019s the door, by which the Ghost of Jacob Marley entered! There\u2019s the corner where the Ghost of Christmas Present sat! There\u2019s the window where I saw the wandering Spirits! It\u2019s all right, it\u2019s all true, it all happened. Ha ha ha!\u2019<\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t know what day of the month it is.\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018I don\u2019t know how long I\u2019ve been among the Spirits. I don\u2019t know anything. I\u2019m quite a baby. Never mind. I don\u2019t care. I\u2019d rather be a baby. Hallo! Whoop! Hallo here!\u2019<\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

\u2018What\u2019s to-day?\u2019 cried Scrooge, calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look about him.<\/p>\n

\u2018Eh?\u2019 returned the boy, with all his might of wonder.<\/p>\n

\u2018What\u2019s to-day, my fine fellow?\u2019 said Scrooge.<\/p>\n

\u2018To-day?\u2019 replied the boy. \u2018Why, Christmas Day.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s Christmas Day!\u2019 said Scrooge to himself. \u2018I haven\u2019t 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!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Hallo!\u2019 returned the boy.<\/p>\n

\u2018Do you know the Poulterer\u2019s, in the next street but one, at the corner?\u2019 Scrooge inquired.<\/p>\n

\u2018I should hope I did,\u2019 replied the lad.<\/p>\n

\u2018An intelligent boy!\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018A remarkable boy! Do you know whether they\u2019ve sold the prize Turkey that was hanging up there? \u2013 Not the little prize Turkey: the big one?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018What, the one as big as me?\u2019 returned the boy.<\/p>\n

\u2018What a delightful boy!\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018It\u2019s a pleasure to talk to him. Yes, my buck!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s hanging there now,\u2019 replied the boy.<\/p>\n

\u2018Is it?\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018Go and buy it.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Walk-er[2]<\/sup><\/a>!\u2019 exclaimed the boy.<\/p>\n

\u2018No, no,\u2019 said Scrooge, \u2018I am in earnest. Go and buy it, and tell them to bring it here, that I may give them the direction where to take it. Come back with the man, and I\u2019ll give you a shilling. Come back with him in less than five minutes and I\u2019ll give you half-a-crown!\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ll send it to Bob Cratchit\u2019s,\u2019 whispered Scrooge, rubbing his hands, and splitting with a laugh. \u2018He sha\u2019nt know who sends it. It\u2019s twice the size of Tiny Tim. Joe Miller[3]<\/sup><\/a> never made such a joke as sending it to Bob\u2019s will be!\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u2019s man. As he stood there, waiting his arrival, the knocker caught his eye.<\/p>\n

\u2018I shall love it, as long as I live!\u2019 cried Scrooge, patting it with his hand. \u2018I scarcely ever looked at it before. What an honest expression it has in its face. It\u2019s a wonderful knocker. \u2013 Here\u2019s the Turkey. Hallo! Whoop! How are you? Merry Christmas!\u2019<\/p>\n

It was a Turkey! He never could have stood upon his legs, that bird. He would have snapped them short off in a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax.<\/p>\n

\u2018Why, it\u2019s impossible to carry that to Camden Town,\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018You must have a cab.\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Shaving was not an easy task, for his hand continued to shake very much; and shaving requires attention, even when you don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

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, \u2018Good morning, sir! A merry Christmas to you!\u2019 And Scrooge said often afterwards, that of all the blithe sounds he had ever heard, those were the blithest in his ears.<\/p>\n

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, \u2018Scrooge and Marley\u2019s, I believe.\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

\u2018My dear sir,\u2019 said Scrooge, quickening his pace, and taking the old gentleman by both his hands. \u2018How do you do? I hope you succeeded yesterday. It was very kind of you. A merry Christmas to you, sir!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Mr Scrooge?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Yes,\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018That 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\u2019 \u2013 here Scrooge whispered in his ear.<\/p>\n

\u2018Lord bless me!\u2019 cried the gentleman, as if his breath were taken away. \u2018My dear Mr Scrooge, are you serious?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018If you please,\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018Not a farthing less. A great many back-payments are included in it, I assure you. Will you do me that favour?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018My dear sir,\u2019 said the other, shaking hands with him. \u2018I don\u2019t know what to say to such munificence-\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t say anything please,\u2019 retorted Scrooge. \u2018Come and see me. Will you come and see me?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I will!\u2019 cried the old gentleman. And it was clear he meant to do it.<\/p>\n

\u2018Thank you,\u2019 said Scrooge. \u2018I am much obliged to you. I thank you fifty times. Bless you!\u2019<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 that anything \u2013 could give him so much happiness. In the afternoon he turned his steps towards his nephew\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

\u2018Is your master at home, my dear?\u2019 said Scrooge to the girl. Nice girl! Very.<\/p>\n

\u2018Yes, sir.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Where is he, my love?\u2019 said Scrooge.<\/p>\n

\u2018He\u2019s in the dining-room, sir, along with mistress. I\u2019ll show you up-stairs, if you please.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Thank you. He knows me,\u2019 said Scrooge, with his hand already on the dining-room lock. \u2018I\u2019ll go in here, my dear.\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2018Fred!\u2019 said Scrooge.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t have done it, on any account.<\/p>\n

\u2018Why bless my soul!\u2019 cried Fred, \u2018who\u2019s that?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s I. Your uncle Scrooge. I have come to dinner. Will you let me in, Fred?\u2019<\/p>\n

Let him in! It is a mercy he didn\u2019t 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, wonderful happiness!<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019clock.<\/p>\n

\u2018Hallo!\u2019 growled Scrooge, in his accustomed voice, as near as he could feign it. \u2018What do you mean by coming here at this time of day?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I am very sorry, sir,\u2019 said Bob. \u2018I am<\/em> behind my time.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018You are!\u2019 repeated Scrooge. \u2018Yes. I think you are. Step this way, sir, if you please.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s only once a year, sir,\u2019 pleaded Bob, appearing from the Tank. \u2018It shall not be repeated. I was making rather merry yesterday, sir.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Now, I\u2019ll tell you what, my friend,\u2019 said Scrooge, \u2018I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore,\u2019 he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again; \u2018and therefore I am about to raise your salary!\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2018A merry Christmas, Bob!\u2019 said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. \u2018A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I\u2019ll 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[4]<\/sup><\/a>, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!\u2019<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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!<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

  1. Scrooge struggles with his stockings as Laoco\u00f6n struggles with the two sea serpents (Aeneid<\/em>, Bk. 2). ↵<\/a><\/li>
  2. A Victorian cockney expression, indicating amused incredulity; more fully, \u201cHooky Walker.\u201d [O.E.D.] ↵<\/a><\/li>
  3. Joe Miller (1684-1738). A famous comic actor. In 1739, John Mottley published a joke book, Joe Miller\u2019s Jests. Due to the wide sales of the book, many popular jokes came to be known as Joe Millers ↵<\/a><\/li>
  4. A hot punch made of red wine, oranges, sugar, and spice. The liquid is the same colour as a bishop\u2019s cassock; hence the name. ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":["charles-dickens"],"pb_section_license":"public-domain"},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[59],"license":[78],"class_list":["post-254","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","contributor-charles-dickens","license-public-domain"],"part":239,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2501,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/254\/revisions\/2501"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/239"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/254\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=254"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=254"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/englishliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}