The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1860-01-10
Not ccming upon Christmas Dnyr

4 c'li III IL Ntlc OllJ III u IphC so snc came
out prematureIy from behind tho closet
door, and ran into his arms, while tho two
/ young Craichits hustled Tiny Tim, and
bore him of into the washhouSc, that he
might hear the pudding singing in the
copper.
And how did little Tim behave" asked
Mrs. Cratchit, when she had rallied Bob
on his crcdnlity, and Bob had hlegcd his
daughter to his hearts content
AS good as gold said Bob, 'and BIT
ter. Somehow he gets thoughtful setting
by himself 80 much, and thinks tho sllang
est things YOU have heard lIo told me.
coming homo, that he hoped the people
saw him in III, church, because he was
cripple, rnl it might be pleasant for them
to remember upon Ch-stmas Day who
made lame bcggars walk, and bILA men
see
Bob's voice was tremulous when he told
them this, and trcmbed none when hc
sail that Tiny Tim WAS growing strong
and hearty.
Ills active little crutcli was heard upon
the floor, anl back camc Tiny Tin be-
fore another word was spoken. cscartrd
10y his brother and sister to his stool beside
the fire; and Bob, turning up his cuffs, as
il, poor fellow, they Were capable Of being
made moro slahby--compoundcl some
hot mixture in JUG with 9 n and lemons,
and stirred it round ana round, and pnt il
on tic hob to simmer; Master Peter AMI
the Two Ubiquitous young Crarhis wen,
to fetch the goose, with which they soon
returned in high procession
Such u hustle cnsucd that you might
have thought goose the rarest Of a'l
birds; n fe.thcred phcnomenan, to which
a black swan wcS matter of course; and,
in truth, it was something very like it in
that house M,s. Cratchit made the gra
w (rcady hoforahanl in little saan,rau}
kissing hot; Master Peter mashed the po.
latocs with incredible vigor; Mss Belinda
sweatoned up the appc.sauco; Malha dN'.
ted The hot plates; Bob took Tiny Tim
beside him in tiny corner, at The table;
the two young tra'chit- set chairs for cv-
cry ybody, not forgetting themselves. and
mounting guard upon their posts, crammni
spoon, iut1 their mouths east lhey should
shrek for goose hcf,rn their turn came 10
bc helped. At last the dishes were set on
and grace was said. 1t was succeeded by
a breathlcSs pause, as Mrs. Cratchit look
irg slowly all along tho carving knife,
prepared to plunge it in tho breast; but
when she did, and when the long expected
gush Of Stulfing issued forth, one murmer
of delight arose all round the board, and
even Tiny Tim, excited by the two young
Cratchits, beat on the table with the han.
die Of his knife, aud fcebly cried hurrah!
There never WAS such goose. Bob
sail he didn't believe there over was sxch
a goose cooked lis tandemer, and dayur.
size and chc.pncss, were the themes of uni.
yc'sai admiration. Ekel out by the ap-
pie sguce and mashed potatoes, i, was
sufficient dinner for the whole family; in
deed, as Mrs. Cratchit said with great De.
light (scryeying ono small atom Of 4 bono
on the Gish) they hadn't ate it all at last!
Yet every one had enough, and the young
est Cratchits especially, were stcorcl in
sage and onion to the eyebrows =. But now
The plates being changed BY Miss Belinda,
Mrs. Cratchit left the room alone-too
nervous TO bear witucsses-to take the
pulling up, and bring it in.
Suppose It should not be done enough!
Suppose it shoald break in turning out -
Suppose somebody should have got over
the wall of the back yard, and stolen it,
while they were merry with tho goose; a
-upposition at which the two young Crilch-
its became liyid! All sorts Of horrors
Were supposed
Halio a great deal of steam! The
pudding was out Of lie copper. 4 smell
like washing day! That was tie cloth.
\ smell like m e,ting house and u pastry
cooks next door to each other, with
laulras5cs next door to that was tho
padding. In half n minute Mrs. Cyatchjt
entered; flushed, but smiling proudly;
with tie pudding like spcch'sd cannon
ball, 20 hari and firm. blazing in half Of g
halra quqrtorn Of ienitod byandr, and he
dighL with Christmas holly stuck into the
top.
Oh wonderful pudding! Bob Crit
chit said, and calmly to, that he regarded !!
as the greatest success achieved by Mrs.
Critchit since their marriage. Ms. Crit
chit said that now the weight was OF her
mind, she would confess shc had had her
doubts about the quantity Of -four. Eve
rybody had something to say about it,
but nobody said or thought it was a small
pudding for 80 large family. 1t would
have been fat hercsy to do 81. Aud
Critchit would have blushel to think Of
such a thing.
At last the dinner was all done, tho
cloth was cleared, tho hearth swept and
the fire made mp. Tho compound in the
jug being tasted and considered perfect,
apples and oranges were put upon the ta-
bic, and shoyclful OF chestnuts on the
fire. Then all tho Critchit family drew
round the hearth, in what Bob Crtchit
called circle, meaning half one, and at
Bob Critchits elbow, stood the family dis.
play Of glass; two tumblcrS and cusiard-
cup without handle.
These held the hot stuff from the jug,
however, as well as golden goblcts would
have done; and Bob served it out with
bcaming looks, while tho chcstnuts on the
fire sputtered and cracked noislv. Then
Bob proposed:
a merry Christmas to us all, my dears,
God bless US"
Which all the family re.cchoed.
God bless Us every one ! said Tiny Tim