thing any longer. And therefore," he continued,
leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig
in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the
Tank again : " and therefore I am about to raise
your salary ! "
P
Bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler
He had a momentary idea of knocking Scrooge
down with it ; holding him ; and calling to the
people in the court for help and a strait-waistcoat.
" A merry Christmas, Bob ! " said Scrooge, with
an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he
clapped him on the back. " A merrier Christmas,
164 A CHRISTMAS CAROL.
Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you, for
many a year ! I '11 raise your salary, and endeavour
to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss
your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas
bowl of smoking bishop, Bob !
THE END OF IT. 1 65
Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle
before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit ! "
Scrooge was better than his word. He did it
all, and infinitely more ; and to Tiny Tim, who did
NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good
a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as
the good old city knew, or any other good old
city, town, or borough, in the good old world.
Some people laughed to see the alteration in him,
but he let them laugh, and little heeded them ; for
he was wise enough to know that nothing ever
happened on this globe, for good, at which some
people did not have their fill of laughter in the
outset ; and knowing that such as these would be
blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they
should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have
the malady in less attractive forms. His own
heart laughed : and that was quite enough for
him.
He had no farther intercourse with Spirits, but
166 A CHRISTMAS CAROL.
lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever after-
wards ; and it was always said of him, that he
knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man aim
possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said
of us, and all of us ! And so, as Tiny Tim ob-
served, God Bless Us, Every One !
CENTRAL CIRCU
' MJM
THE END.
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