3 The second of the three spirits

3 The second of the three spirits

　　When Scrooge woke up，he realized immediately that the church clock was just going to strike one．He felt sure that the second spirit would Soon visit him．This time he wanted to be ready，so he pulled back all the curtains round his bed himself，and lay there，waiting．At one o'clock，instead of a spirit，a strong light shone down on Scrooge's bed．He felt very frightened．After a few minutes he thought that perhaps the light was coming from the next room，so he got up and went to the door．When he touched it，a strange voice called his name，and asked him to enter．He obeyed．

　　Although he recognized it as his own room，it looked very different now．The walls were covered with bright green leaves，and there was a good fire burning in the fireplace．On the floor were big plies of the best Christmas food—wonderful rich dark cakes，warm soft bread，colourful apples and oranges，plates of yellow butter，cooked chickens，boxes of chocolates and sugared sweets．Sitting beside all this was a large，smiling spirit，who called out cheerfully to Scrooge， ‘Come in！Chme in，man！I am the ghost of Christmas Present！Look at me！’

　　Since the first ghost's visit，Scrooge was no longer very sure of himself．So although the spirit's eyes were clear and kind，Scrooge was afraid to look straight into its face．But he could see that its body was dressed in a long green robe，its long brown hair fell freely down its back，and its face wore a warm and friendly smile．Light shone from the torch which it was holding in its strong right hand．

　　‘Spirit，’said Scrooge quietly，‘take me where you want．Last night I learned a lesson which is working now．If you have anything to teach me tonight，let me learn from you．’

　　‘Touch my robe！’said the spirit，and Scrooge obeyed．

　　The food，the room，the fire all disappeared，and they were standing outside in the cold，snowy streets on Christmas morning．Althought the sky was grey and the streets were dirty，the people looked surprisingly cheerful，as they hurried to the bakers'shops with their Christmas dinners，all ready for cooking．The spirit seemed specially interested in poor people．He stood with Scrooge in a baker's doorway and held his torch over the dinners as they were carried past him．Sometimes，when he saw people pushing each other or getting angry，he lifted his torch over their heads，and immediately they became kinder，or stopped arguing，‘because it's Christmas，’they told each other．

　　‘What does your torch do，spirit？’asked Scrooge．

　　‘It gives a special taste to people's dinners on this day，’answered the spirit．

　　‘Why do you use it most on poor people？’said Scrooge．

　　‘Because poor people need it most，’was the reply．

　　They went on through London，and came to the small house where Scrooge's clerk lived．Here the spirit smiled，and held his torch high over the door．Inside，Bob Cratchit's wife and second daughter，Belinda，in their everyday dresses，but looking clean and pretty，were putting plates on the table for their Christmas dinner．Bob's son Peter was helping to cook the potatoes，and two smaller Cratchits，a boy and a girl，were running round excitedly．Just then the eldest daughter，Martha，arrived home from work．

　　‘Here's Martha，mother！’cried the two young Cratchits happily．‘We're having a really big chicken for dinner， Martha！’In fact it was only a small chicken，but it seemed large to the excited children．

　　‘My dear，how late you are！’said Mrs Cratchit，kissing her daughter several times．

　　‘We were so busy yesterday，mother！’replied the girl．‘That's why we didn't finish until this morning！’

　　‘Well！Never mind，now that you're here．God bless you！ Sit down by the fire，my dear！’

　　‘No，no！Father's coming！’ried the two young Cratchits．‘Hide，Martha，hide！’

　　So Martha hid herself，and in came Bob in his thin coat and long white scarf，with his son Tiny Tim in his arms．Poor Tiny Tim！He had not walked since he was born，and although he could pull himself and his thin little legs along with the help of a wooden crutch，he was not strong enough to travel far alone．

　　‘Why，where's Martha？’cried Bob，looking round．

　　‘Not coming，’said Mrs Cratchit．

　　‘Not coming！’repeated Bob，his cheerful smile disappearing．‘Not coming on Christmas Day！’

　　But Martha didn't like to worry her father for a minute，so she ran out from behind the door and kissed him， while the two young Cratchits showed Tiny Tim the chicken，now ready to eat．

　　Scrooge and the spirit watched as the family sat down to eat．It was a poor enough meal，but to them it seemed wonderful，and they ate every bit of it．

　　‘It's the best chicken I've ever tasted，’said Bob， smiling round at his family， who， with their mouths full，all agreed．

　　And then，the most exciting moment of the day！Belinda put a clean plate in front of each person， and they all turned to look at Mrs Cratchit as she came in from the kitchen．Her face was hot from her morning's work， but she was smiling happily as she carried in-the Christmas pudding， in its little circle of blue fire！

　　Oh，it was a wonderful pudding！They were all delighted with it．

　　‘It's your greatest success in all the years that we've been married，my dear！’said Bob．

　　‘Well，I did wonder how much fruit to put in it，’said his wife，‘but， yes， it's a good one！’And she laughed just like a young girl．

　　Nobody said that it was a very small pudding for a large family．Nobody even thought it．No Cratchit ever said or thought things like that．

　　At last，when they had finished their meal，the children cleared the table and washed the plates．Then they all sat round the fire， eating apples and oranges．There was a large bowl of fruit and sugar and hot water and something a little stronger，but only three people could drink at the same time， because the family only owned two glasses and a cup．But this did not worry the Cratchits at all．Now Bob lifted his glass and said，‘A merry Christmas to us all， my dears！ God bless us！’

　　The family repeated his wish，and Tiny Tim said，last of all，‘God bless us every one！’He sat very close to his father， on a small chair．Bob held his son's thin little hand in this own．The boy had a special place in his father's heart．

　　‘Spirit，’said Scrooge，with an interest that he had never felt before，‘ tell me if Tiny Tim will live．’

　　‘In the future I see an empty chair by the fire， with a crutch beside it．If these shadows do not change， the child will die．’

　　‘No，no！’said Scrooge．‘Oh no，kind spirit！Say that he will live！’

　　‘If his life does not change soon， he will die before next Christmas．What does that matter？There are too many people in the world，so it's a good thing if some of them die．’

　　Scrooge was ashamed and sad to hear his own words spoken by the spirit．But he lifted his head when he heard his name．

　　‘Mr Scrooge！’said Bob．‘Let's drink to Mr Scrooge， whose money has paid for this meal！’

　　‘His money！’said Mrs Cratchit angrily．‘What can we buy with his fifteen shillings a week？ Why should we drink to the health of a hateful，hard，unfeeling，mean old man like Scrooge？’

　　‘My dear，’said Bob gently，‘remember it's Christmas．’

　　‘Well，Bob， I'll drink to his health only because of you and because it's Christmas．Long life to Mr Scrooge！A merry Christmas and a happy new year to him！ He'll be very merry and very happy，I'm sure！’

　　When the children heard Scrooge's name，a dark shadow came over their happiness for a while，and they were quiet and a little sad．But five minutes later they were talking，and laughing，and telling stories，ten times merrier than before．They were not a good-looking or a well-dressed family， but they were happy and grateful and loved each other．As they disappeared in the light of the spirit's torch，Scrooge could not take his eyes off them， especially Tiny Tim．

　　By this time it was getting dark，and snowing heavily．The spirit took Scrooge into many houses，where fires were burning cheerfully，and food was cooking，and people were merrily welcoming their friends and families into their homes．The ghost was delighted to see all this excitement，and made sure that he lifted his torch over every poor family，to give them more fun，and better food，and greater happiness．

　　Then the spirit took Scrooge away from the busy capital，to a wild，lonely place in the country，where no trees grew．Here they visited a small stone house， a long way from any town or village， where an old man and woman were singing Christmas carols，with their children and grandchildren．The spirit did not stay long here， but told Scrooge to hold his robe again．

　　‘Where are we going？ Not up in the air， surely！’And Scrooge，terribly frightened，looked down as they flew over the land and then over the sea．It was stormy， windy weather， and the waves crashed violently underneath them．

　　The spirit took Scrooge to a lighthouse built on a lonely rock， several miles from land．A light was kept burning at the top， in order to warn sailors to keep away from the dangerous rocks．Two men lived here in this cold， unfriendly place， far away from their families，but the spirit smiled to see them shake hands，wish each other a merry Christmas，and sing a carol together in front of their fire．

　　Again the spirit and Scrooge flew on，and together they landed on a ship in the middle of the sea．Here every man， although many miles from home，had a kind word for his friend， or thought warmly of his family，because it was Christmas．

　　It was a great surprise to Scrooge，while listening to the noise of the wind and waves，to hear a happy laugh．He recognized it as his nephew's，and found himself，with the smiling spirit beside him，in his nephew's bright，warm sitting-room．

　　When Scrooge's nephew laughed，everybody who was with him wanted to laugh too．He had that kind of laugh．And at the moment， his very pretty wife and several of his friends were laughing with him．

　　‘He said that Christmas was humbug！Ha ha ha！’cried Scrooge's nephew．

　　‘That's very bad of him，Fred！’said his wife．

　　‘He's a strange old man，’said Scrooge's nephew，‘but I'm sorry for him．His money is no use to him，you see．He isn't at all happy or comfortable，although he's rich．It's sad to think of him sitting alone in his cold room．And so I'm going to invite him every Christmas．He can be cross and miserable if be likes，but I'll go on inviting him and one day perhaps he'll think better of Christmas！’

　　After tea，the cheerful little group sang songs，and played music．Scrooge recognized the song that his little sister used to sing， and remembered sadly what the ghost of Christmas Past had shown him．Later the friends played guessing games，and Scrooge joined in the games with delight．Nobody except the spirit could hear him，but he often guessed the right answer．

　　‘It's time to go now，’said the ghost，smiling at the old man's childish excitement．

　　‘No，spirit，please，let me stay a little longer．Look， they're playing a new game！’

　　It was a game called Yes and No，in which Scrooge's nephew had to think of something，and the others had to ask questions to discover what it was．The only possible answers were Yes or No．Scrooge heard that Fred was thinking of a living animal，a wild animal，sometimes an angry animal， which lived in London and walked in the streets．Every time he answered a question，Fred could not stop himself laughing．At last，his wife's dark， pretty sister started laughing too．

　　‘I know what it is，Fred！I know！’she cried out．‘It's your uncle Scro-o-o-o-oge！’

　　Everyone laughed until they cried．What a wonderful game！ What a clever idea of Fred's！But at last Fred dried his eyes， and said，‘We've been very merry because of him， so I think we should drink to his health．Here's to Uncle Scrooge！A merry Christmas and a happy new year to the old man！Uncle Scrooge！’

　　‘To Uncle Scrooge！’they all cried，cheerfully lifting their glasses．

　　Uncle Scrooge wanted to thank them，but the spirit hurried him away．The ghost seemed much older now： his brown hair had become grey．

　　‘Are spirits' lives so short？’asked Scrooge．

　　‘My life in this world ends at midnight tonight．Listen！It's a quarter to midnight now！’

　　The church clock was striking the three quarters．

　　‘Excuse me for asking，spirit，’said Scrooge，‘but what are those strange things near your foot？’

　　‘Oh man， look here！’said the spirit sadly，and brought out from under his robe two ghostly figures， a boy and a girl．They were thin and poorly dressed， with cold， mean eyes and dry，yellow skin， and their faces showed only a frightening and murderous hate．Scrooge had never seen anything so terrible or so sad．

　　‘These miserable children are Man's，’said the spirit．‘The boy is Crime．The girl is Need．They will destroy Man if nothing is done about them．’

　　‘Can't anyone help them？’cried Scrooge．

　　‘Are there no prisons？’said the spirit，turning on Scrooge for the last time with his own words．‘Are there on workhouses？’

　　The clock struck twelve．Scrooge looked，but could no longer see the ghost or the children．He was alone again．