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VII . The Cratchits ’ Christmas Soon everybody was busy . Mrs Cratchit made the gravy hot , Peter mashed the potatoes , and Belinda made the apple sauce sweet . Bob put Tiny Tim beside him at the table . The two young Cratchits put spoons in their mouths , so that they would not shout for goose before their turn . At last the goose arrived . When Mrs Cratchit cut into it , a cry of joy went around the table . Even Tiny Tim beat on the table with the handle of his knife and cried , “ Hurrah ! ” There was never such a goose ! Everyone talked about its taste , its size and its low price . It was not a big bird , but with apple sauce and potatoes it was enough for the whole family . The youngest Cratchits were full of sage and onion up to their eyebrows ! Then Mrs Cratchit went out alone to bring the pudding . She was very nervous . What if it was not cooked enough ? What if it broke ? What if someone climbed over the back wall and stole it ? But in half a minute she came back , red in the face but proud . The pudding was round and hard like a cannon ball , and it was burning with a blue flame , with a bit of holly on top . Oh , a wonderful pudding ! Bob said that it was his wife’s greatest success since their marriage . It was a small pudding for a large family , but nobody said so . Nobody even thought it . After dinner they put apples and oranges on the table and chestnuts on the fire . The whole family sat around the fire in a circle , and Bob poured a hot drink into two glasses and a cup without a handle . “ A merry Christmas to us all , my dears , ” said Bob . “ God bless us ! ” The whole family said it after him . “ God bless us , every one ! ” said Tiny Tim , the last of all . He sat on his little stool very close to his father . Bob held the child’s thin little hand in his own , as if he was afraid to lose him . “ Spirit , ” said Scrooge , with a new feeling in his heart , “ tell me if Tiny Tim will live . ” “ I see an empty seat by the fire , ” said the Ghost , “ and a little crutch with no owner , carefully kept . If nothing changes in the future , the child will die . ” “ No , no , ” said Scrooge . “ Oh , no , kind Spirit ! Say that he will live . ” “ If nothing changes , he will not be here next Christmas , ” said the Ghost . “ What then ? If he is going to die , he had better do it . Then there will be fewer people in the world . ” Scrooge hung his head in shame when he heard his own words . “ Man , ” said the Ghost , “ do not say that there are too many people until you know who they are and where they are . Perhaps in the eyes of Heaven you are less worthy to live than millions like this poor man’s child . ” Then Scrooge heard his own name and looked up . “ Mr Scrooge ! ” said Bob . “ Let’s drink to Mr Scrooge . He gives us this feast ! ”
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