I am late

I am late‘Fred！’said Scrooge．‘It's your uncle Scrooge．Diamond Polishing padsI've come to dinner．Will you let me stay， Fred？’

Let him stay！Fred almost shook his uncle's arm off．Scrooge felt at home in five minutes．Nothing could be merrier．And what a wonderful dinner they had！Wonderful party，wonderful games，wonderful happiness！I am lateBut he was early at the office next morning．Oh，he was there early．He wanted to catch Bob Cratchit arriving late．And he did！The clock struck nine．No Bob．A quarter past．No Bob．He was eighteen and a half minutes late when he finally hurried in．Scrooge was sitting with his office door open．

‘Hallo！’said Scrooge in his old，hard voice．‘What do you mean by coming here so late？’I am lateI'm very sorry，sir， said Bob．‘I am late．It's only once a year．We were rather merry yesterday，sir．’

‘Now I'll tell you what，my friend，said Scrooge，‘I'm not going to have this any longer．And so’，he continued， jumping off his chair and shaking Bob's hand，‘I'm going to pay you twice as much！’I am lateBob's face went white．Diamond Polishing padsFor a second or two he thought that Scrooge had gone crazy．