He ca n't look uglier than he did in that one . '' Scrooge listened to this dialogue in horror . As they sat grouped about their spoil , in the scanty light afforded by the old man 's lamp , he viewed them with a detestation and disgust which could hardly have been greater , though they had been obscene demons , marketing the corpse itself . `` Ha , ha ! '' laughed the same woman when old Joe , producing a flannel bag with money in it , told out their several gains upon the ground . `` This is the end of it , you see ! He frightened every one away from him when he was alive , to profit us when he was dead ! Ha , ha , ha ! '' `` Spirit ! '' said Scrooge , shuddering from head to foot . `` I see , I see . The case of this unhappy man might be my own . My life tends that way now . Merciful Heaven , what is this ? '' He recoiled in terror , for the scene had changed , and now he almost touched a bed : a bare , uncurtained bed : on which , beneath a ragged sheet , there lay a something covered up , which , though it was dumb , announced itself in awful language . The room was very dark , too dark to be observed with any accuracy , though Scrooge glanced round it in obedience to a secret impulse , anxious to know what kind of room it was . A pale light , rising in the outer air , fell straight upon the bed : and on it , plundered and bereft , unwatched , unwept , uncared for , was the body of this man . Scrooge glanced towards the Phantom . Its steady hand was pointed to the head . The cover was so carelessly adjusted that the slightest raising of it , the motion of a finger upon Scrooge 's part , would have disclosed the face .
He thought XXXXX it , felt how easy it would be to do , and longed to do it ; but had no more power to withdraw the veil than to dismiss the spectre at his side .
As about beneath from in of on than to with