The Washington herald., 1920-12-25

business to be, that one could scarcely
help fancying 1t must have run there
when it was young house, playing at
hide and seek with other houses, and
have forgotten the way out again.
Now, 1t is a fact. that there was moth
ing at all particular about the knocker
on the door, except that is was very
large. It is also fact, that Scrooge had
seen it, night and morning, during his
whole residence IN that place. Let n also
be borne in mind that Scrooge had not
bestowed one thought on Marley, since
his last mention of his seven-years' dead
partner that afternoon: And then let any
man explain to me. if he can. how it hap
pened that Scrooge, having his key in the
lock of the door, saw in the knocker,
without it's undergoing any intermediate
process of change; not a knocker, but
Marley's face.
| Marleys face. 1t was not in inpene-
trable shadow as the other objectssin the
yard were, but had dismal light about
it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. 1t
was not angry or ferocious. but looked
at Scrooge as Marley used to look: with
| ghostly- spectacles turned up its
ghostly forehead.
| nomenon, it was a knocker again.
! To Say that he was not startled or that
his blood was not conscious of a terrible
| sensation to which il had been a stranger
from infancy, would be untrue. But he
put his hand upon the key he had relin-
| quished. turned II sturdily, walked in and
lighted his candle.
| He DID pause, with moments irreso-
luton, before he shut the door; and he
DID look cautiously behind it first. as if
| he half expected to be terrified with the
sight of MarIey's pigtail sticking out in
to the hall. But there was nothing on
the back of the door. except the screws
and nuts that held the knocker on; SO
he said Pooh, pooh!" and closed it with
a bang.
i Scrooge was not a man to be frighten-
ed by echoes. He fastened the door. and
walked across the hall and up the stairs
slowly too. trimming his candle as he
went. Half-a-dozen gas-lamps out of the
street wouldn't have lighted the entry
too well, so you may suppose that it was
pretty dark with Scrooge's dip.
Up Scrooge went, not caring a button
for that; darkness is cheap and Scrooge
liked it. But before he shut his heavy
4 door he walked through his rooms to see
that all was right. He had just enough
recollection of the face to desire to dc
that. .-. ..,.. "a.
Quite satisfied. he closed his door and
locked himself in; doubled locked himself
in, which was not his custom. Thus Sc.
cured against surprise, he took off his
cravat, put on his dressing gown and
slippers and his nightcap, and sat dowr
before the fire to take his Cruel
1t was a very low fire indeed; nothing
on such bitter night. He was Obliged
to sit close to it and brood over 1t before
he could extract the least sensation OF
warmth from such a handful of fuel. The
fireplace was an old one, built by. some
Dutch merchant long, ago, and paved al
around with quaint Dutch tiles designed
to illustrate the Scriptures. If each smooth
tile had been a blank at first, with pow.
er to shape some picture on its surface
} from the disjointed fragments of hi,
J thoughts. there would have been a copy
of old Marley's head ON every one
"Humbug!" said Scrooge, and walked
across the room. '--s
! After several turns he sat down again
} The cellar-deor flew open with booming
sound and then he heard>the noise much
louder. on the floors below; then coming
up the stairs straight towards his door
IT'S humbug still" said scrooge. 81
won't believe it, u
j His color changed though. when, with