New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1852-12-25

UuQS u rough. Uub pTISk huu nOb uuplcuShne
kind of music, in scraping the snow from the
pavement in front of their dwellings, and from
the tops of their houses; whence it was mad
delight to the boys to see 1t come Pumping down
into the road below, and splitting into artificial
little snow-storms.
The house fronts looked black enough, and
the windows blacker, contrasting with the
smooth white sheet of snow upon the roofs, and
with the dirtier snow upon the ground; which
last deposit had been ploughed up in deep fur
rows by the heavy wheels of carts and wagons
burrows that crossed and recrossed each other
hundreds of times where the great streets
branched off and made intricate channels, hard
to trace, in the thick yellow mud and icy water,
The sky was gloomy, and the shortest streets
were choked up with dingy mist, half thawed,
half frozen, whose heavier particles descended
in shower OF sooty atoms, as if all the Chin
neys in Great Britain, had, by one consent,
caught fire, and were blazing away to their
dear hearts content. There was nothing very
cheerful in the climate or the town, and yet was
there an air of cheerfulness abroad that the
clearest summer air and brightest summer sun
might have endeavored to ditfuse in vain.
For the people who were shoveling away on
the house-tops were jovial and full of glee call
ing out to one another from the parapets, and
now and then exchanging facetious snow ball
better natured missile far than many wordy
jest-laughng heartily if it went right, and not
less heartily if it went wrong. The poulterers'
shops were still half open, and the fruiterers'
were radiant in their glory. There were great,
round, ot-bellied baskets of chesnuts, shaped
like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, oling
at the doors, and tumbling out into the street in
their apoplectic opulenee. There were ruddy,
brown faced, broad girthed Spanish Onions,
shining in the fairness Of their growth like Span
ish Friars and winking from their shelves in
wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and
glanced demurely at the hung-up mistletoe.
There were pears and apples, clustered high in
blooming pyramids there were punches of
grapes, made, in the shopkeepers' benevolence,
to dangle from conspicuous hooks, that peoples
mouths might water gratis as they passed
there were piles Of flberts, messy and brown,
recalling, in their fragrance, ancient walks
among the woods, and pleasant shuftlings ankle
deep through witheFed leaves there were Nor
folk Biffins, SQUAD and swarthy, setting off the
yellow of the oranges and lemons and, in the
great compactness Of their juicy persons, ur-
gently entreating and beseeching to be carried
home in paper bags and eaten after dinner. The
very gold and silver fish, set forth among these
choice fruits in bowl, though members Of
dull and stagnant- blooded race, appeared to
know that there was something going on and,
to "a fish, went gasping round and round their
little world in slow and passionless excitement.
The Groeers oh the grocers T! nearly closed,
with perhaps two shutters down, or one; but
through those gaps such glmpses 1t was not
alone that the scales descending on the counter
made merry sound, or that the Irvine and
roller parted company so briskly, or that the
cannisters were ratified up and down like Jug
Cling tricks, or even that the blended scents Of
tea and coffee were so grateful to the nose, or
even that the raisins were so plentiful and rare,
the almonds so extremely white, the sticks of
cinnamon, $50 long and straight, the other spices
so delicious, the candied fruits so caked and
spotted with molten sugar as to make the coolest
lookers-on feel faint and subsequently bilious
Nor was it that the figs were moist and pulpy,
or that the French plums blushed in modest
tartness from their highly decorated boxes, or
that everything was good to eat and in it's
Christmas dress but the customers were all so
hurried and SO eager in the hopeful promise of
the day, that they tumbled up against each
other at the door, ciashing their wicker baskets
mildly, and lfet their purchases upon the couu-
ter, and came running back to fetch them, and
hundreds Of the like mistakes in the
best humor possible while the grocer and his
people were SO frank and fresh that the polished
hearts with which they fastened their aprons
behind might have been their own, worn outside
for general inspection, and for Christmas DAVIS
to peck at if they chose
But soon the steeples called good people all,
to church and chapel and away they came,
locking through the streets in their best Clothes
and with their gayest faces And at the same
time there emerged from scores of by streets,
lanes, and nameless turnings, innumerable peo-
pie, carrying their dinners to the bakers shops
The sight Of these poor jewellers appeared to
interest the Spirit very much, for he stood with
Scrooge beside him in bakers doorway, and
ornff 4t,us..
sprinkled incense on their dinners from his
torch. And it was very uncommon kind of
torch, for once or twice when there were angry
words between some dinner carriers who had
ostled with each other, he shed few drops of
water on them from it, and their good humor
was restored directly. For they said, it was a
shame to quarrel upon Christmas Day And
10 it was! God love it, so it was
In time the bells ceased, and the bakers were
shut ups and yet there was genial shadowing
orth Of all these dinners and the progress Of
heir cooking, in the thawed blotch of wet above
zach bakers oven; where the pavement smoked
Is il its stones were cooking too.
Z" ls there peculiar flavor in what you sprin-
lle from your torch" asked Scrooge
" There is My own
s' Would it apply to any kind of dinner on
his day" asked Scrooge.
why to poor one most ," asked Scrooge
because it needs it most
esprit" said Scrooge, after moments
bought, Ct wonder you, OF all the beings in the
many worlds about us, should desire to cramp
hese peoples opportunities of innocent enjoy
nentn'
81 p cried the Spirit.
" You seek to close theseplaces on the Seventh
Jay r. said Scrooge. And it comes to the
anne thing"
81 seek! !" exclaimed the Spirit.
Forgive me if | am wrong. 1t has been
lone III your name, or, at least, in that of YOUR
amily,' said Scrooge
'sThere are some upon this earth of YOURS"
eturned the Spirit, g who lay claim to know
IS, and who do their deeds of passion pride, ILL.,
Will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfshness in
ur name who are as strange to us and all our
18th and kin, as if they had never lived. Re-
member that, and charge their doings on them |
elves, not u.s.
Scrooge promised that he would; and they
vent on, invisible as they had been before, into
he suburbs OF the town. 1t was remarkable |
!uahty OF the Ghost (Which Scrooge had OBJ
erved at the baker'sl that, Notwithstanding his
,gantlc size, he could accommodate himself to
my place with ease; and that he stood beneath
low roof quite as gracefully and like super |
atural creature, as it was possible he could |
ave done in any lofty hall.
And perhaps it was the pleasure the rood
plrlt had in showing off this power of his, or
lse it was his own kind, generous, hearty ma |
are, and his sympathy with all poor men, that
I'd him straight to Scrooge's clerks; for there |
G went, and took Scrooge with him, holding to |
is robe; and on the threshold of the door the |