The Wingham Advance, 1923-12-20, Page 9-404
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The Old Mai Named Scrooge
4
Ii
kContinuedfrom second page,
ore ,coning to his room made: liiin c1ttivcx its :every liiirh, and,.. behold,
. the ghost of old Marley walked into his distit,tl -room, with a long,
1 Tieavy �h�tin c1a'agi,Ying' front lii�s waist.
rlictx Serooge summoned Ftp courage to speak to the ghost ii
told lttni that th chain
Christ'niils Carol in Prose
itept'itik from "Book of I;•nowiedgel' No. VIS
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dtipt,
e linin was all the misdeeds and unkind actions of
which he had been guilty, and that Scrooge himself was making
Itchain which would be an awful weight to him when he was .dead, The
• ghost also told hint that he would be visited by three spirits, the first
coming at one o'clock h, the morning; and if he valued his future
lie tee he had better take the advice he had given him and see what
`. 1h,, spirits would. Show him, But old Marley's ghost he would, see no
more. \'Vhen k vanished Scrooge looked out his window -and saw.
tnany such phantoms, with heavy chains about their' waists,'just at;'
iMarley had been burdened, Denouncing the- whole thing as "hum -
bum" he lay down on his bed as he was, and was soon asleep,
When he awoke it was still dark, and be: had no idea of the
4 tiro, But 'while he lay on the bed peering anxiously in the gloom,
Old c4trtainS were drawn aside by a hand, and the first of the promis-
e d spirit -visitors stood before him,
"It was a strange fig>,1re—like a child; yet not so like a. child as
lilts at old man, viewed, through some supernatural mediuni, which
4 gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being
diminished, to a child's proportions. Its hair, which hung about its
neck and down its back, was white, as if with age; and yet the face
had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the. skin. The
arms were very long and muscvlar; the bands the same, as if its hold
were of uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most . delicately
formed, were, like those upper members, bare. It wore a tunic of
the purest white, and round its waist was bound a lustrous belt,.the
sheen of which was beautiful, It held a brandh of fresh green holly
in its hand, and, in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem,
had its dress trimmed with summer ,flowers. But the strangest
thing about it was that from the crown of its head there spiting a
bright, clear jet of light, by which all this was "visible; and which was •
dOnbtless the occasion of its using, in its duller moments, a great ex-
tinguisher for a cap, which it now held under its arm."
. He told the miserly old man that he was the Ghost of Christ-
mas Past,' and before Scrooge knew it he found himself away many
miles, led by the spirit, and back many' wearyyears, seeing his own
boyhood's Home, as well as many happy scenes he had long forgotten,
but was delighted to see again, ]-1e was shown some jolly Christmases
of long ago, when he was a youth; and, best of all, the spirit took
him to a warehouse where he had been an 'apprentice. When they
peeped in, Scrooge cried out, on . seeing an old• gentleman in a Welsh
wig, sitting at a high desk:
"Why, it's old Fezziwig! Bless his heart, it's Fezziwig alive .
again!" .
"Old Fezziwig laid down his pen, and looked up at the clock,
viihich pointed to the hour of seven. He rubbed his hands, adjusted
hs capacious waistcoat, laughed all over himself, from' his shoes to
, his. organ of benevolence, and called out is a comfortable, oily, rich;
fat, jovial voice: "Yo ho, there! Ebenezer! Dick!
"Scrooge's former self, now grown a young man, came briskly
in, accompanied by his fellow-'prentice.
"Dick Wilkins, to be sure!' said Scrooge to the Ghost. "Bless
rte, yes. There he is. He was very mlich attached to me, was Dick.
Poor Dick! Dear, dear!"
` "Yo ho, niy boys!" said Fezziwig. "No more work to -night.
Christmas Eve, Dick? Christmas, Ebenezer! Let's have the shut-
ters up," cried old Fezziwig, with a sharp clap of his hands, before a
man can say Tack Robinson!"
"You wouldn't believe how those two fellows went at it. They
clittrged into the street with the.shutters (one, two, three), had 'em '
up' in their places (four, 'five, six), barred' em and pinned 'em (seven,
eight, nine), and came back before you could have got to twelve,
panting like race -horses.
"Hilli-ho!" cried old Fezziwig, skipping down from the high
desk with wonderful agiliay. "Clear away, my boys—lads, and let's
have lots of room here! Hilli-ho, Dick! Chirrup, Ebenezer!"
i Clear away! There was nothing that they wouldn't have clear-
edi away, or couldn't have cleared away, with old Fezziwig looking
on. It was done in a minute, Every movable was packed off, as if
it were dismissed from public life for evermore. The floor was swept
and watered, the lamps were trimmed, fuel was heaped upon the
fire, and the warehouse was as snug and warm and dry and bright a
ball -room as you would desire to .see upon a winter's night.
The Merriest, jolliest Christmas Party that Ever Was!
"In carie a fiddler with a music -book, and went up to the lofty
desk and made an orchestra of it, and tuned like fifty stomach-aches,
In tamMrs. Fezziwig, one vast substantial smile. In came the three
Miss Fezziwigs, beaming and lovable, In carne the six young fol-
io Iweis whose hearts they broke. In came all the young men and
women employed in the business. In came the housemaid, with her
cousin, the baker. In came the cook, with her brother's particular
friend, the milkman. In carte the boy from over the way, who was
sulpected of having board enough from his master, trying to hide
himself behind the girl from the next door but one, who was proved
to, have had her ears pulled by her mistress. In they, alt came, one
after another—some shyly, some boldly, some gracefully. some awk-
wardly, some pushing, some pulling, In they all came anyhow and
everyhow.
"Away they all went, twenty couples at once; hands half
round and back again the other way; down the middle and up again;
round and round a various stages of affectionate grouping; old top
couple always turning up in the wrong place; new top couple starting
off again as soon as they got there; all top couples at last; and not
a bottom one to help them. When this result was brought about,
old Fezziwig, clapping his hands to stop the dance, cried out "Well
dories and the fiddler plunged his hot face into a pot of porter, es
festally provided for that purpose. But, scorning rest, upon his ap-
peiranee be instantly began again, though there were no dancers yet,
as;if the other fiddler had been carried home, exhausted on a shutter; `
and he were it bran -new man resolved to beat him :out of sight, or
perish,"
And so the jolly party went on until eleven o'clock, when Ferzi-
wig and his wife wished them all a merry Christmas and parted franc
them as happy as happy could be. Scrooge was so delighted that ho
began to wish he cottld meet Bob Cratchit at once; he would not be
so rough with him now. But the ghost took him to another Christ-
mas, when old Marley was lying at death's door and Scrooge was
lonely in his office, while happiness was reigning its the home of an
old, sweetheart of his, who had { ,rtunately married a kindly, good-
natured man, There's no saying what else the Ghost of Christmas
Past would have shown him had Scrooge not managed to get•the ex-
tinguisher in his hand, which the ghost had carried all the time, and,
by pressing this down upon it, to put out the light of the ghost like
a snuffled cattdle, And he had "barely time to reel into bed before he
fell into a heavy sleep.
When he awoke again it was still dark outside, but his room
was filled with a mysterious ruddy light. The bell struck one. No
ghost appeared. Scrooge was trembling with fear. After a while he
ventured to get up, and shuffled in his slippers to the door.
"The moment Scrooge's hand was oft the lock a strange voice
called hint by his name, and bade him enter. He obeyed. It was his
own room. There was the doubt about that. But it had undergone
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YOUR CHRISTMAS SHOPPING,
Buying Christmas gifts ought to be an enjoyable under-
taicing because it is done with the idea of giving pleasure to
others. Unfortunately, however, it often resolves itself into a
tiring, nerve-racking business, When this happens it is usually
because the shopping has not been carefully planned before-
hand. Unless a list is made of the persons for whom you intend
to purchase presents, and some idea indicated of the amount
of money you wish to spend on each one and the kind of article
you mean to buy, 'chaos and disappointment are sure to result,
Pew women . have ttnlimited money to spend, and, there -
J
DAY DREAMS
From the painting by Florence Carlyle
6f.eiiv l�i'G
fore, they have to see how they can make the most of what
they have, to study the shop windows, catalogues, and advertise-
ments so that they will have some idea of values and prices.
Once the list is made it is a good idea to carry it about with
you in your purse, so that if you happen unexpectedly to see
something that will just suit your husband or one of your children
or your friends, you can buy it right away and triumphantly
cross the name off the list.
A gift that is chosen as the result of observation, and,
therefore, fills a need or gratifies a wish, is always the most
appreciated—even though its monetary worth may be slight.
When possible it is advisable to write down alternative
suggestions on your list, as by so doing you may save yourself
time and trouble.
Another time -saving notion is to group together on your
list all the articles that would be obtained in the same depar-
nient or the same shop.
''Shop early" is :a slogan of the Christmas shopping season,
and one which is worth putting into practice. By so doing
you avoid rush, receive the best attention, a widet
choice of goods, , and can accomplish twice as much in half
the tune,