ing in, screaming that, outside the baker's, they had smelled the goose, and known it for their own; and basking in luxurious thoughts of sage and onion, these young Cratchits danced about the table, and exalted Master Peter Cratchit to the skies; while he, not proud, although his collar nearly choked him, blew the fire, until the slow potatoes, bubbling up, knocked loudly at the saucepan-lid to be let out and peeled.

2. "What has ever got your precious father, then," said Mrs. Cratchit, "and your brother, Tiny Tim! And Martha wasn't so late, last Christinas-day, by half an hour!"

4. "Here's Martha, mother!" said a girl, appearing, as she spoke.

5. "Here's Martha, mother!" cried the two young Cratchits. "Hurrah! There's such a goose, Martha! 6. "Why, bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are!" said Mrs. Cratchit, kissing her a dozen times, and taking off her shawl and bonnet for her.

7. "We had a deal of work to finish up last night," replied the girl, "and had to clear away this morning, mother!"

8. "Well! Never mind, so long as you are come,' said Mrs. Cratchit. "Sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm,- Lord bless ye!"

9. "No, no! There's father coming, " cried the two young Cratchits, who were everywhere at once. "Hide, Martha, hide!"

10. So Martha hid herself; and in came little Bob, the father, with at least three feet of comforter, exclusive of the fringe, hanging down before him; and his threadbare clothes, darned up and brushed, to look seasonable; and Tiny Tim upon his shoulder. Alas for Tiny Tim! he bore a little crutch, and had his limbs supported by an iron frame!

11. "Why, where's our Martha?" cried Bob Cratchit, looking round.

12. "Not coming," said Mrs. Cratchit.

13. "Not coming!" said Bob, with a sudden declension in his high spirits, for he had been Tim's bloodhorse all the way from church, and had come home, rampant," not coming upon Christmas-day!"

Martha didn't like to see him disappointed, if it were only in joke; so she came out, prematurely, from behind the closet door, and ran into his arms, while the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim, and bore him off into the wash-house, that he might hear the pudding singing in the copper.

14. "How did little Tim behave?" asked Mrs. Cratchit, when she had rallied Bob on his credulity, and Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart's content.

15. "As good as gold," said Bob," and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant for them to remember, upon Christmas-day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.

16. The active little crutch was heard upon the floor, and back came Tiny Tim before another word was spoken, escorted by his brother and sister, to his stool beside the fire; and while Bob, turning up his cuffs, as if, poor fellow, they were capable of being made more shabby, compounded some hot mixture in a jug, with lemons, and stirred it, round and round, and put it on the hob to simmer, Master Peter and the two ubiquitous young Cratchits went to fetch the goose, with which they soon returned, in high procession.

17. Mrs. Cratchit made the gravy hissing hot; Master Peter mashed the potatoes with incredible vigor; Miss

Belinda sweetened up the apple-sauce; Martha dusted the hot plates; Bob took Tiny Tim beside him in a tiny corner at the table; the two young Cratchits set chairs for everybody, not forgetting themselves, and, mounting guard upon their posts, crammed spoons into their mouths, lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came to be helped.

18. At last the dishes were set on, and grace was said. It was succeeded by a breathless pause, as Mrs. Cratchit, looking slowly all along the carving-knife, prepared to plunge it into the breast; but when she did, and when the long-expected gush of stuffing issued forth, one murmur of delight arose all round the board, and even Tiny Tim, excited by the two young Cratchits, beat on the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried, " Hurrah!”

19. There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn't believe there ever was such a goose cooked. Its tenderness and flavor, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. Eked out by apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole. family; indeed, as Mrs. Cratchit said, with great delight, (surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish) they hadn't eaten it all, at last! Yet, every one had had enough, and the youngest Cratchits, in particular, were steeped in sage and onion to the eyebrows! But now, the plates being changed by Miss Belinda, Mrs. Cratchit left the room to take the pudding up, and bring it in. 20. In half a minute, she entered flushed, but smiling proudly - with the pudding, decorated with Christmas holly, stuck into the top. A wonderful pudding! Bob Cratchit said, and calmly, too, that he regarded it as the greatest success achieved by Mrs. Cratchit since their marriage. At last, the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth swept, and the fire made. The compound in the jug being tasted, and considered

perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovelful of chestnuts was put on the fire.

21. Then, all the Cratchit family drew round the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit called a circle, and at Bob Cratchit's elbow stood the family display of glass, -two tumblers, and a custard-cup without a handle. These held the hot stuff from the jug, however, as well as golden goblets would have done; and Bob served it out with beaming looks, while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and crackled noisily.

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22. Then, Bob proposed, "A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!" which all the family re

echoed.

23. "God bless us every one!" said Tiny Tim, the last of all.

24. "Mr. Scrooge!" said Bob; "I'll give you Mr. Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast!"

25.The Founder of the Feast, indeed!" cried Mrs. Cratchit, reddening. "I wish I had him here. I'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and I hope he'd have a good appetite for it."

26. My dear," said Bob, "the children! Christmasday."

27. "It should be Christmas-day, I am sure," said she, "on which one drinks the health of such an odious, stingy, hard, unfeeling man as Mr. Scrooge. You know he is, Robert! Nobody knows it better than you do, poor fellow!"

28. " day."

My dear," was Bob's mild answer,

66

Christmas

29. "I'll drink his health for your sake and the day's," said Mrs. Cratchit," not for his. Long life to him! A merry Christmas and a happy New-Year! He'll be very merry and very happy, I have no doubt! 30. The children drank the toast after her. It was

the first of their proceedings which had no heartiness in it. Tiny Tim drank it last of all, but he didn't care two-pence for it. Scrooge was the ogre of the family. The mention of his name cast a dark shadow on the party, which was not dispelled for full five minutes. After it had passed away, they were ten times merrier than before. The chestnuts and the jug went round and round; and, by and by, they had a song, about a lost child traveling in the snow, from Tiny Tim, who had a plaintive little voice, and sung it very well indeed.

31. There was nothing of high mark in this. They were not a handsome family; they were not well dressed; their shoes were far from being water-proof; their clothes were scanty; and Peter might have known, and very likely did, the inside of a pawnbroker's. But they were happy, grateful, pleased with one another, and contented with the time. Charles Dickens (abridged).

XLIV. A VISIT FROM JAPANESE LADIES.

・ONE

NE day, when I was entirely alone, between four and five in the afternoon, the porter announced to me the arrival of a deputation of native ladies, and asked whether they should be received. I ordered him to admit them, and took upon myself the duty of receiving them with all due honor.

2. Soon, I heard the sound of wooden shoes on the gravel of the garden-alleys, and saw, at the foot of the steps leading to the veranda, a group of smiling faces; among whom were four married women, two marriageable girls, and children of various ages. The first could be distinguished by the plainness of their toilets, having