There never was such a goose . Bob said he did n't believe there ever was such a goose cooked . Its tenderness and flavour , 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 -LRB- surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish -RRB- , they had n't ate 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 alone -- too nervous to bear witnesses -- to take the pudding up , and bring it in . Suppose it should not be done enough ! Suppose it should break in turning out ! Suppose somebody should have got over the wall of the back-yard and stolen it , while they were merry with the goose -- a supposition at which the two young Cratchits became livid ! All sorts of horrors were supposed . Hallo ! A great deal of steam ! The pudding was out of the copper . A smell like a washing-day ! That was the cloth . A smell like an eating-house and a pastrycook 's next door to each other , with a laundress 's next door to that ! That was the pudding ! In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered -- flushed , but smiling proudly -- with the pudding , like a speckled cannon-ball , so hard and firm , blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy , and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top . Oh , a wonderful pudding ! Bob Cratchit said , and calmly too , that he regarded it as the greatest success achieved by Mrs. Cratchit since their marriage .
Mrs. Cratchit said that , now the weight was off her mind , she would confess she had her doubts about the quantity XXXXX flour .
In as at by for of that to while with