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．
4 The last of the spirits
‘The third spirit will come at midnight．’scrooge suddenly remembered the words of Jacob Marley's ghost，and，lifting his eyes，saw a spirit，all in black，coming slowly towards him．It was a tall，silent figure，wearing a long black robe which hid its head and body．When it came close to him，it stopped and pointed onwards with one hand．Scrooge was more afraid of this spirit than he had been of the others，and his voice was shaking as he asked，‘Are you the spirit of Christmas Yet to Come？’the ghost neither spoke nor moved，but still pointed onwards．
‘Are you going to show me shadows of the things which haven't happened yet， but will happen in the future？’scrooge asked．
There was no answer．
‘Ghost of the future！’he continued．‘You frighten me very much，but I think you can help me to change my life．I'll be very grateful to you if you show me the future．Won't you speak to me？’
Again，no reply．
‘Well，show me the way，spirit！’said Scrooge finally．‘The night is passing，and time is valuable to me，I know．’
The ghost moved away，with Scrooge following in its shadow．Suddenly they were in the heart of the capital，among the businessmen and moneylenders．The ghost pointed to one small group of men，so Scrooge went closer to listen to their conversation．
‘No，I don't know much about it，’said one fat man．‘I only know he's dead．’
‘When did he die？’asked another man．
‘Last night，I think．’
‘Why，what was the matter with him？’asked a third．
‘I've no idea，’replied the fat man，looking bored．‘who cares？’
‘What's he done with his money？’asked a red-faced gentleman．
‘I haven't heard，’said the fat man．‘He hasn't left it to me， that's all I know．’
They all laughed at this．Scrooge knew the men， and looked towards the spirit， hoping it would explain what the conversation meant．But the ghost moved on，pointing at two more men．Scrooge listened again．He knew these men well．They were rich and important， and he had often done business with them．
‘How are you？’said one．
‘How are you？’replied the other．
‘Well！’said the first．‘The old man has died at last，has he？’
‘So they tell me，’replied the second．‘Cold，isn't it？’
‘Nice and frosty for Christmas．Good morning！’
Not another word．That was the end of their meeting．
Scrooge wondered why the spirit wanted him to hear these conversations．What could they mean？The dead man could not be his partner Jacob，because he was already dead．
Scrooge watched carefully，trying to understand．He looked round for his own shadow，but could not see himself anywhere．‘Perhaps that's not surprising，’he thought，‘because if I change my life，and I'm planning to do that，I won't be the same person in the future！’Just then he noticed the spirit，standing quiet and dark beside him， with its pointing hand．He felt the unseen eyes staring fixedly at him behind the black robe Scrooge's body shook，and he felt cold．
They left the busy offices and banks，and went to another part of the capital，where Scrooge had never been before．The streets were narrow and dirty，the houses miserably poor，the people unwashed and half-dressed．Down one street there was a small shop， where an old man was sitting waiting for customers．His business was buying old furniture or clothes，and selling them again，to the poorest people in London．As Scrooge and the spirit watched，three women arrived at the shop door at the same time， each carrying a large bundle．They looked very surprised and a little ashamed to see each other．Suddenly they all started laughing．
‘Ladies，you couldn't find a better place to meet，’said Joe， the old man，getting up．‘Now come inside，and show me what you've got to sell．’
Inside，the first woman put her bundle on the table and said，‘I don't care if everybody knows where this comes from！ We all have to take care of ourselves！ He always did！’
‘That's right，’agreed the second woman．
‘Very true，’agreed the third．
‘Does a dead man need these things？’continued the first woman．‘And why was he so mean while he was alive？’We all worked for him，didn't we？ Cleaned his house，washed his clothes，cooked his soup？ And what did we get？Three shillings a week！It's no surprise that he died alone， with no friends around him！’
‘You never spoke a truer word，’said the second．
‘He was a bad man，we all know that，’said the third．
‘Now what have we here？’said old Joe，opening the women's bundles．‘Buttons，pencils，boots，silver spoons，some excellent bed-curtains，blankets and—a very good shirt，’he added，feeling the fine cotton．
‘Yes，it was his best，’said the first woman．‘They put it on him after he died．But he doesn't need it now that he's dead！And the blankets and bed-curtains！He doesn't need them either！
‘You took the shirt off a dead body，and the blankets and curtains off his bed，while he was lying there！Well，well！’said Joe，shaking his head．‘Here's your money．’And he counted out several shillings into the women's hands．
‘Ha ha ha！’laughed the first woman．‘He frightened everyone away when he was alive，and we've made money out of him now that he's dead！ Ha ha ha！’
Scrooge felt sick and angry at the same time．‘Spirit，’he said，‘I see now．I could be that unhappy man．Good Heavens， what's this？’
Joe and the women had disappeared，and Scrooge was standing in a dark room．Opposite him was a bed， with no blankets or curtains．A light shone down from above，on to the body of a dead man，covered with a sheet．
‘How sad，’thought Scrooge，‘to die with no friends or family around him！ To lie in an empty room，with no candles or flowers，and robbed of his clothes！To know that nobody loves him， because he loved nobody in his life！Money can't buy a happy life，or a peaceful death！’He looked at the spirit， whose hand was pointing at the man's covered head．It would be easy to lift the sheet，and see who the man was．But for some reason Scrooge could not do it．
‘Spirit，’he said，‘this is a terrible place．Let's go！’
Still the ghost's unmoving finger pointed at the man's head．
‘I understand you，but I can't look at him，spirit，I can't！’said Scrooge wildly．‘If there's anyone in this town who feels anything at this man's death， show that person to me， spirit， please！’
For a moment the spirit lifted its dark robe like a wing，and showed Scrooge a room， where a mother and her children were sitting．The young woman kept looking at the clock，and when her husband arrived， she hurried to meet him．
‘What—what is the news？’she asked him worriedly．‘Is it good！…or… or bad？’
‘There is still hope，Caroline，’he replied．
‘How can there be hope？If that hard，mean old man wants us to pay back the money now，they'll send us to prison！We haven't got enough to pay him！’
‘He is dead，Caroline，’answered her husband．
‘Thank God for that！’cried the young woman from her heart．The next moment she realized what she had said．‘Oh， I didn't mean that．I'm sorry if anyone dies．’
‘Perhaps the person who inherits his business will give us more time to pay the money back．And we'll have the money by then．Tonight we can sleep well，Caroline！’
