The first of the three spirits2The spirit seemed to hear him thinking，and
General Purpose Bladesaid at once，‘I am here to help you change your life！Watch and listen！’It put out a strong hand，and held Scrooge by the arm．‘Get up，and come with me！’
It was dark and cold outside．Scrooge did not want to go anywhere，and for a moment he thought about pretending to be too ill to go out．But he did not like to refuse，so he said nothing，and got out of bed．Together they passed through the wall of the house out into the darkness．
Suddenly Scrooge realized they were standing on an open country road，with fields on each side．London，the fog，and the darkness had all disappeared，and it was a clear，cold， winter day，with snow on the ground．
‘Good Heavens！’
General Purpose Bladecried Scrooge．‘I was born near here！I rememher it well！’
The spirit looked kindly at the old man．‘How strange that you've forgotten it for so many years！What is that on your face？Are you crying？’
Scrooge put a hand over his eyes．‘It's nothing—I've got a cold，that's all．Take me where you want，spirit！’
Scrooge recognized every field，post，and tree，as they walked along the road towards a little market town．All around thgm were young schoolboys on horses and in farmers’carts，laughing and wishing each other a merry Christmas，as they travelled to their homes for the Christmas holiday．
‘They are only shadows from the past，’
General Purpose Bladesaid the spirit．‘They cannot see us．’
Scrooge knew and named all of them．Why was he so delighted to see them？Why did his cold heart beat faster when they went past，shouting‘Merry Christmas！’？What was‘merry Christmas’to Scrooge？What good had it ever done to him？
‘Not everyone has left the school，’said the ghost．‘There is one lonely child there still，one child whose friends have all gone．’
‘I know！’said Scrooge．And now he was crying openly．
They turned into a smaller road，and soon came to the school．Inside，in the long，cold，silent classroom，a lonely boy sat reading near a small fire．When he saw his poor forgotten past self，Scrooge sat down at one of the desks，put his head in his hands and cried．
‘Poor boy！I wish—but it's too late now．’
‘What's the matter？’asked the spirit．
‘There was a boy singing Christmas carols at my door yesterday．I'm sorry I didn't give him anything，that's all．’
The ghost smiled，and lifted its hand，saying，‘Let's see another past Christmas！’
The schoolroom became darker and dirtier．There was the young Scrooge again，a little older and bigger than before．He was not reading
General Purpose Bladethis time，but was walking up and down， looking very unhappy．The door opened，and a little girl， much younger than him，came running in．Putting her arms round his neck，she said lovingly to him，‘I've come to bring you home，dear brother！Father is so much kinder than he used to be！The other day I asked him if you could come home，and he said yes！And we're going to spend Christmas together，
General Purpose Bladeand have the merriest time！’she was laughing delightedly as she began to pull him towards the door．They went out happily together，hand in hand．
