Scrooge Page #4

to prosecute me?

All you would get out of it is

about eleven pounds odd.

And to pack me off to Botany Bay,

would be poor compensation for the panic

that would arise among the share holders.

Panic, Sir?

- Yes, panic.

Would any of you gentlemen care to deny

that if this juicy little scandal

leaked out now

the annual shareholders meeting

would resemble an orchestra

of scorched cats.

Result...

bankruptcy all around.

Strike that speech out of the minutes!

- Yes, Sir.

Mr. Jorkin doesn't exaggerate the

imprudence of allowing his ...

misdemeanors to be made public.

Are you in sympathy with Mr. Jorkin

by any chance, Mr. Scrooge?

Not, l confess, with his methods.

Mr. Marley and l have a proposition

to make to the representatives

of the company which might solve

some of the difficulties

to our general advantage.

- The devil you have!

You want to watch these two fellows,

you know.

They'd skin Jack Ketch alive and

he'd never know they'd done it.

Can we hear the proposition?

Shall l be Spokesman?

Mr. Marley and myself

are prepared to make good

out of our own private resources,

the sum of money appropriated

by Mr. Jorkin.

reprieved, reprieved!

Curfew shall not ring tonight,

Mr. Snedrig.

Order, order!

ln return,

we wish to be allowed the option of buying

up further shares in the company.

To a maximum of fifty-one percent

of the total.

ln short gentleman,

if you wish to save the fair name of the

company by accepting their generous offer,

They become the company.

Fifty-one percent!? Never, never!

Out of question!

and also out of order, Mr. Scrooge!

Pardon me...

if you can find the grace to,

l've just come from Mr. Marley's

with a message for Mr. Scrooge.

Well, can l give it to him?

Well please your great kind self, dear.

l'm to say ...

that Mr. Marley ain't expected to live

through the night,

and that if Mr. Scrooge wants

to take his leave of him,

he should nip along smartly or there won't

be no Mr. Marley to take leave of

as we know the use of the word.

He's breathing very queer

when he does breathe at all.

Excuse me, Mr. Scrooge.

- l'm busy!

lt's about Mr. Marley,

he's dying, Sir.

Well what can l do about it?

lf he's dying, he's dying.

Well, the message was for you

to go at once, Sir.

lt is now a quarter to five.

The business of the office

is not yet finished,

l shall go when the office is closed.

At seven o'clock.

Yes, Sir.

He'll come at Seven.

l'll try and get Mr. Marley to hold out

'til then, l'm sure.

Much obliged.

Good night to ya.

And a Merry Christmas

if it ain't out of keepin'

with the situation.

Thank you, the same to you.

l hope you'll find Mr. Marley well, Sir.

- l should think that's highly unlikely.

Yes, l suppose so, Sir, but ..

seems odd to think of the place

without him, Sir.

Why should it be anymore odd

than it was with him, hmm?

We've all got to die, Cratchit.

l suppose you will want the whole day

off tomorrow, as usual.

lf quite convenient, Sir?

Every Christmas you say the same thing.

And every Christmas, it's

just as inconvenient as it was

the Christmas before. Goodnight.

Ours is a highly competitive

profession, Sir.

ls he dead yet?

l'll have another look, if you'd like?

- No, don't bother.

l'll see for myself.

Goodnight, Sir.

Oh, oh Jacob.

Well have they...have they

seen to you properly?

Last rights and all that, hmm?

There's uh... there's nothing

l can do, hmm?

Oh?

What ... particularly?

While...

- Huh??

...there's still time...

Time? ...

Time for what?

We...

We were wrong.

- Huh?

Wrong.

- Wrong?

Oh ...

Well we - we can't be right

all the time.

Nobody's perfect.

We've been no worse

than the next man.

Or better, if it comes to that.

You mustn't reproach yourself, Jacob.

We are wrong.

- What?

Save ... yourself.

What? Save myself?

Save myself from what?

Hmm?

Speak up...

ls he dead?

Yes.

Just like you said.

l always know.

One shadow more.

- No!

No more.

l cannot bear it.

Jacob Marley worked at your side

for eighteen years.

He was the only friend you ever had.

But what did you feel when

you signed the registrar at his burial

and took his money, his house,

and his few lean sticks of furniture?

Did you feel a little pity for him?

Look at your face, Ebenezer.

A face of a wrenching, grasping,

scraping, covetous old sinner.

No,... no,... no, no, no,... no.

Come in, come in, Ebenezer Scrooge.

l await you.

Yes, l'm - l'm coming.

Come in! ... Come in!

l'm coming.

Ebenezer, come in!

Come in, come in!

And know me better, man.

l am the Spirit of Christmas Present.

Look upon me.

You've never seen the like of

me before. ... Have you?

Never.

And l wish the pleasure had been

indefinitely postponed.

So, ...

is your heart still unmoved

towards us, then?

l'm too old! l'm beyond hope!

Go and redeem some younger,

more promising creature, and

leave me to keep Christmas

in my own way.

Mortal!

We spirits of Christmas do not live

only one day of our year.

We live the whole 365.

So is it true of the child

born in Bethlehem.

He does not live in men's hearts only

one day of the year,

but in all the days of the year.

You have chosen not to seek him

in your heart.

Therefore, you shall come with me

and seek him in the hearts

of men of good will.

Come.

Touch my robe.

"Hark! The herald angels sing,"

"Glory to the newborn King!"

- What place is this?

A place where miners live, who

labor in the bowels of the earth.

But they know me.

Come.

"Joyful, all ye nations, rise,"

"Join the triumph of the skies;"

"With angelic hosts, proclaim,"

"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

"Hark! The herald angels sing,"

"Glory to the newborn King!"

Why, it's Cratchit!

lt's Bob Cratchit!

He's coming mother!

Father's here with tiny Tim!

Here, Martha.

You hide,

and we'll tell him you've been held up

and who knows when you'll be here.

Yes! Go hide! !

- Oh, goodness! Where?

Behind the scullery door, quickly, Martha!

Hi.

A Merry Christmas.

Why, ...

Where's our Martha?

Oh, she's not coming.

Not coming?

Not coming on Christmas day?

Yes l am, Father!

l can't bear to let them tease you.

Why, bless your heart.

lt never would have been Christmas,

if they'd kept you late.

ls the pudding still singing

in the copper, Peter?

Yes, come and hear it.

You come, too, Mary and Belinda!

You come along as well, Martha.

Come and hear the pudding

singing in the copper.

l'll come in a minute.

- All right.

Sit you down before the fire,

We had such a deal of work

to finish up last night,

that l never did think l'd get away.

We had to clear away this morning,

and then l ran all the way so's

to be here in time.

How did little Tim behave in church?

As good as gold and better.

Sometimes he gets thoughtful sitting

by himself so much

and thinks the strangest things

you ever heard.

He told me,

he wasn't going to feel shy if people

looked at him because he was a cripple,

as it might be pleasant to them,

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