Scrooge Page #5

being in church,

to remember upon Christmas day,

who made lame beggars walk

and blind men see.

He's growing strong and hearty though,

Martha, my dear.

lsn't he, my love?

Spirit, ... tell me...

will tiny Tim live?

l see a vacant seat in the

poor chimney corner,

and a crutch without an owner,

carefully preserved.

lf these shadows remain unaltered

by the Future,

none other of my way

shall find him there.

Oh, no!... No!

Kind Spirit, ...

say that he will be spared.

Why?

lf he be like to die, he better do it

and decrease the surplus population.

Well, my little cock sparrow,

here's your own stool by the fire

all ready for you.

There's such a goose, Martha!

l'm sure of it.

- And the pudding! Oh, the pudding!

lt shant be easy 'til it's eaten.

l confess, l've had my doubts about

the quantity of flour.

lt'll be a perfect pudding my love.

A perfect pudding.

Won't it, Martha, my dear?

Eh, Tim?

lt'll be the finest pudding in the

whole of London this Christmas,

and the goose'll be the finest goose.

- And ours'll be the finest Christmas.

Here's the punch, all steaming hot.

Oh, good!

No, no, no, take your turn,

one and all, if you please.

There's enough for one toast now

and another after that.

Thank you!

There! Bravo! There's bounty for you!

l declare l'd like to know how many

families of our acquaintance

could boast two rounds

of the best gin punch!

None! No one!

Now, has everybody got his drink?

- Yes! Yes!

Good. But before l give the toast,

l have a piece of momentous

information for all,

and Master Peter, in particular.

Master Peter?

Why, that's you, Peter!

What is it, Father? Yeah, what is it?

Master Peter, now grown to full estate

and dignity as son of the house,

and looking every inch the grand fellow

he is, in one of my own collars,

l have waited for this great moment,

to advise him that l have my eye

on a situation for him

which will bring him, if obtained,

full 5 and 6 pence weekly!

YA! ! You'll be quite the independent

gentleman now, Peter!

What next? l wonder.

Then a toast my love, my dearies.

To a Merry Christmas!

God bless us.

- God bless us!

God bless us, ...

every one.

l give you Mr. Scrooge,

the founder of the feast.

Oh no, Father!

He doesn't deserve it!

l wish l had him here now, l'd give him

a piece of my mind to feast himself upon.

My dear, the children ... Christmas Day!

Could only be on Christmas day

that l would drink the health

of such a hard, stingy,

unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge.

You know he is, Robert, nobody knows it

better than you do, poor fellow.

My dear,

Christmas day.

l'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 happy

and very merry, no doubt.

He said that Christmas was

"humbug", and he believed it, too.

l told you so.

Well, a Merry Christmas and a Happy

New Year to the poor old man.

He wouldn't let me wish it

to him personally,

but here it is, never the less,

Uncle Scrooge!

Yes, to Scrooge!

Uncle Scrooge!

Well, l don't know that our drinking

to him will do him much good.

Or do l. l hate him!

- Oh, l forbid it! l'm sorry for him.

l couldn't feel angry with him,

if l tried.

Who suffers worse from his humors?

Himself always.

Look at the way he's taken it in his head

to disown us without a shilling,

and won't even come to dinner with us.

And what's the consequence?

He's only cheated himself out of

a highly indigestible dinner.

lt was a wonderful dinner!

- Yes, it was a wonderful dinner.

Well l'm really glad you think so, Miss,

because l personally haven't very much

faith in these newlywed housekeepers.

Have you, Tupper?

Alas, as a bachelor,

l'm a wretched outcast,

with no right to express an opinion on

such a tender and delicate subject.

Have l, ... dear,

distant, unmovable, Miss Flora?

Now, you really are quite incorrigible,

Mr. Tupper.

Quite beyond hope.

...and have not charity, l am become

as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though l have the gift of prophecy

and understand all mysteries

and all knowledge,

and though l have all faith so

that l can remove mountains,

and have not charity,

l am nothing.

Do you feel more rested now,

my dear?

l do, bless your dear gentle heart.

Alice...

Do you know, me darlin',

l never thought there was

anyone like you

left in the whole wide world.

Cut me throat, rip me liver,

if l'm tellin' a lie.

This is the happiest Christmas

l ever had!

Alice?

Alice!?

Spirit, are these people real

or are they shadows?

They're real, we are the shadows.

Both of us?

Did you not cut yourself off

from your fellow beings,

when you lost the love of

that gentle creature?

Where are you taking me now.

My time with you, Ebenezer,

is almost done.

Will you profit by what l have shown

you of the good in most men's hearts?

l don't know.

How can l promise?

lf it's too hard a lesson

for you to learn,

then learn this lesson.

Spirit, are these yours?

They are man's.

They cling to me for protection

from their fetters.

This boy is lgnorance.

This girl is Want.

Beware of them both, but most of all,

beware of this boy.

But have they no refuge,

no resource?

Are there no prisons? ...

Are there no workhouses?

Are there no prisons?

Are there no workhouses?

l am in the presence of the

Spirit of Christmas yet to come.

And you are going to show me

shadows of things that have

not yet happened, but will happen?

Spirit of the Future, l fear you more

than any other specter that l've seen.

But even in my fear, l must tell you,

l am too old!

l cannot change.

l can't.

lt is not that l am impenitent;

it's just that l -

Oh, wouldn't it be better

if l just went home to bed?

No?

Lead me, then.

He shall cover thee with His feathers,

and under His wings thou shalt trust:

His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by

night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

A thousand shall fall at thy side,

and ten thousand at thy right hand;

but it shall not come nigh thee.

For He shall give his angels charge over

thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Because he hath set his love upon me,

therefore will l deliver him :

l will set him on high,

because he hath known my name.

Because thou hast made the LORD,

which is my refuge,

even the most High, thy habitation;

There shall no evil befall thee,

neither shall any plague

come nigh thy dwelling.

He shall call upon me,

and l will answer him :

l will be with him in trouble;

l will deliver him, and honor him.

Shall l stop reading?

No, no ...

it's only the color. lt hurts my eyes.

They're better now.

lt makes them weak, by candlelight.

And l wouldn't show your father weak

eyes, when he comes home, for the world.

lt must be near his time.

- Past it, rather.

But he seems to be walking

a little slower than he used ...

these last few evenings.

Why l've known him walk, with tiny Tim

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