The Ocala evening star., 1910-12-17

~ Scrooge had no oc-
casiOn TO be told
that the bell was again upon the
stroke Of !.
He felt that he was restored to CON
sciousnesS in the right nick of time for
the especial purpose of holding Il CON
ference with the second messenger dis
patched to him through Jacob Marley
Intervention. But, finding that he turn
ed uncOmfOrtably cold when he began
to wonder which of his curtains this
new specter would draw back. he put
them every one aside with his own
hands and, lying down again, eStaO-
lished a sharp lookout all round the
spirit on the moment Of its appearance
and did not wish TO be taken by sur
prise and made nervous.
Gentlemen of the free and easy sort
who plume themselves on being ac-
Quainted with a move or two and be-
ing usually equal to the time Of day ex-
press the wide range of their capacity
for adventure by observing that they
are good for anything from pitch and
toss to manSlaughter, between which
opposite extremes no doubt there lies
a tolerably wide and comprehensive
range of subjects. Without venturing
for ScrOoGe quite as hardly as this I
don't mind calling on you to believe
that he was ready for a good broad
field of strange appearances and that
nothing between baby and Il rhinOc-
eros would have astonished him very
much.
Now. being prepared for almost any
thing. he was not by any means pre-
pared for nothing, and consequently
when the bell struck l and no shape
appeared he was taken with violent
dt Of trembling. Five minutes, ten
minutes, u quarter Of an hour, went
| by, yet nothing came. All this time he
lay upon his bed. the very core and
center of blaze of ruddy light which
streamed upon it when the clock pro-
claimed the hour and which, being
only light, was more alarming than a
dozen ghosts, as he was pOWerleSS to
make out what it meant or would be
at, and was sometimes apprehenSive
that he might be at that very moment
| combustion without having the con-
ISOLATION Of knowing it. At last, how
ever. he began to think, as you or 1
would have thought at first, for it is
| always the person not in the predica-
| ment who knows what ought to have
| been done in it and would unQues-
| tionably have done it too. At last, l
| say. he began to think that the source
and secret Of this ghostly light might
be in the adjoining room, from whence,
on further tracing it, it seemed
shine. This idea taking full posses
sion Of his mind. he got up softly and
shuff1ed i'll his slippers to the door.
The moment Scrooge's hand was on
the lock a strange voice called him by
his name and bade him enter. He
obeyed
It was his own room-there was
no doubt about that-but it had un-
dergone a surprising transformation
| The walls and ceiling were so hung
with living green that it looked a per.
feet grove. from every part Of which
bright cleaning berries glistened. The
crisp leaves of holly. mistletoe and ivy
| reflected back the light as if SO man.
little mirrors had been scattered there
and such a mighty blaze went roaring
up the chimney as that duh petrifac
ton of a hearth had never known il
Scrooge's time or Marley's or for man!
and many winter season gone. Heap
ed up upon the floor to form a kind O
throne were turkeys. geese. game
poultry Drawn, great joints of meat
sucking pigs. long wreathS of SauSages
mince pies, plum puddingS. barrels o
oysters, redhot chestnutS, cherry cheek
ed apples, juicy oranges, luscious
pears, immense Twelfth cakes au,
seething bowls of punch that made tn,