The second of the three spirits2

The second of the three spirits2Here's Martha，mother！’cried the two young Cratchits happily．‘We're having a really big chickenConcave Bladefor dinner， Martha！’In fact it was only a small chicken，General Purpose Bladebut it seemed large to the excited children．

‘My dear，how late you are！’said Mrs Cratchit，kissing her daughter several times．

‘We were so busy yesterday，mother！’replied the girl．‘That's why we didn't finish until this morning！’

‘Well！Never mind，now that you're here．God bless you！ Sit down by the fire，my dear！’

‘No，no！Father's coming！’ried the two young Cratchits．‘Hide，Martha，hide！’

So Martha hid herself，and in came Bob in his thin coat and long white scarf，with his son Tiny Tim in his arms．Poor Tiny Tim！He had not walkedConcave Bladesince he was born，and although he could pull himself and his thin little legs along with the help of a wooden crutch，he was not strong enough to travel far alone．

‘Why，where's Martha？’cried Bob，looking round．

‘Not coming，’said Mrs Cratchit．

‘Not coming！’repeated Bob，his cheerful smile disappearing．‘Not coming on Christmas Day！’

But Martha didn't like to worry her father for a minute，so she ran out from behind the door and kissed him， while the two young Cratchits showed Tiny Tim the chicken，now ready to eat．

Scrooge and the spirit watched as the family sat down to eat．It was a poor enough meal，but to them it seemed wonderful，and they ate every bit of it．

‘It's the best chicken I've ever tasted，’said Bob， smiling round at his family， who， with their mouths full，all agreed．

And then，the most exciting moment of the day！Belinda put a clean plate in front of each person， and they all turned to look at Mrs Cratchit as she came in from the kitchen．Her face was hot from her morning's workConcave Blade， but she was smiling happily as she carried in-the Christmas pudding， in its little circle of blue fire！

Oh，it was a wonderful pudding！They were all delighted with it．

‘It's your greatest success in all the years that we've been married，my dear！’said Bob．

‘Well，I did wonder how much fruit to put in it，’said his wife，‘but， yes， it's a good one！’And she laughed just like a young girl．

Nobody said that it was a very small pudding for a large family．Nobody even thought it．No Cratchit ever said or thought things like that．

At last，when they had finished their meal，the children cleared the table and washed the plates．Then they all sat round the fire， eating apples and oranges．There was a large bowl of fruit and sugar and hot water and something a little stronger，but only three people could drinkGeneral Purpose Bladeat the same time， because the family only owned two glasses and a cup．But this did not worry the Cratchits at all．Now Bob lifted his glass and said，‘A merry Christmas to us all， my dears！ God bless us！’

The family repeated his wish，and Tiny Tim said，last of all，‘God bless us every one！’He sat very close to his father， on a small chair．Bob held his son's thin little hand in this own．The boy had a special place in his father's heart．

‘Spirit，’said Scrooge，with an interest that he had never felt before，‘ tell me if Tiny Tim will live．’

‘In the future I see an empty chair by the fire， with a crutch beside it．If these shadows do not change， the child will die．’

‘No，no！’said Scrooge．‘Oh no，kind spirit！Say that he will live！’