After tea , the cheerful little group sang songs , and played musics .
Scrooge recognized the song that his litter sister used to sing , and remembered sadly what the ghost of Christmas Past had shown him .
Later the friends played guessing games , and Scrooge joined in the games with delight .
Nobody except the spirit could hear him , but he often guessed the right answer .
‘ It’s time to go now , ’
Said the ghost , smiling at the old man’s childish excitement .
‘ No , spirit , please , let me stay a little longer .
Look , they ‘ re playing a new game ! .’
It was a game called Yes and No , in which Scrooge’s nephew had to think of something , and the others had to ask questions to discover what it was .
The only possible answers were Yes or No .
Scrooge heard that Fred was thinking of a living animal , a wind animal , sometimes an angry animal , which lived in London and walked in the streets .
Every time he answered the question , Fred could not stop himself laughing .
At last , his wife’s dark , pretty sister started laughing too .
‘ I know what it is , Fred ! I know ! ‘
She cried out .
‘ It ‘s your uncle Scrooge!’
Every one laughed until they cried .
What a wonderful game !
What a clever idea of Fred’s !
But at last Fred dried his eyes , and said , ‘We’ve been very merry because of him , so I think we should drink to his health .
Here’s to Uncle Scrooge !
A merry Christmas and a happy new year to the old man !
Uncle Scrooge !
“ To Uncle Scrooge ! “ they all cried , cheerfully lifting their glasses .
Uncle Scrooge wanted to thank them , but the spirit hurried him away .
The ghost seemed much older now : his brown hair had become grey .
“ Are spirits lives so short ? ” asked Scrooge .
“ My life in this word ends at midnight to night . Listen ! It’s a quarter to midnight now ! “
The church clock was striking the three quarters .
“ Excuse me for asking , spirit ,” said Scrooge , “ but what are those strange thing near your foot ? ”
“ Oh man , look here ! ” said the spirit sadly , and brought out from under his robe two ghostly figures , a boy and a girl .
They were thin and poorly dressed , with cold , mean eyes and dry , yellow skin , and their faces showed only a frightening and murderous hate .
Scrooge had never seen any thing so terrible or so sad.
“ These miserable children are Man’s , ” said the spirit .
“ The boy is Crime . The girl is Need . They will destroy Man if nothing is done about them .”
“ Can anyone help them ?” cried Scrooge .
“ Are there no prisons ?” said the spirit , turning on Scrooge for the last time with his own words .
“ Are there no workhouses ?”
The clock struck twelve .
Scrooge looked , but could no longer see the ghost or the children .
He was alone again .