`` Not coming ! '' said Bob with a sudden declension in his high spirits ; for he had been Tim 's blood horse all the way from church , and had come home rampant . `` Not coming upon Christmas-day ! '' Martha did n't like to see him disappointed , if it were only in joke ; so she came out prematurely from behind the closet door , and ran into his arms , while the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim , and bore him off into the wash-house , that he might hear the pudding singing in the copper . `` And how did little Tim behave ? '' asked Mrs. Cratchit when she had rallied Bob on his credulity , and Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart 's content . `` As good as gold , '' said Bob , `` and better . Somehow , he gets thoughtful , sitting by himself so much , and thinks the strangest things you ever heard . He told me , coming home , that he hoped the people saw him in the church , because he was a cripple , and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas-day who made lame beggars walk and blind men see . '' Bob 's voice was tremulous when he told them this , and trembled more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty . His active little crutch was heard upon the floor , and back came Tiny Tim before another word was spoken , escorted by his brother and sister to his stool beside the fire ; and while Bob , turning up his cuffs -- as if , poor fellow , they were capable of being made more shabby -- compounded some hot mixture in a jug with gin and lemons , and stirred it round and round , and put it on the hob to simmer , Master Peter and the two ubiquitous young Cratchits went to fetch the goose , with which they soon returned in high procession . Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds ; a feathered phenomenon , to which a black swan was a matter of course -- and , in truth , it was something very like it in that house . Mrs. Cratchit made the gravy -LRB- ready beforehand in a little saucepan -RRB- hissing hot ; Master Peter mashed the potatoes with incredible vigour ; Miss Belinda sweetened up the apple sauce ; Martha dusted the hot plates ; Bob took Tiny Tim beside him in a tiny corner at the table ; the two young Cratchits set chairs for everybody , not forgetting themselves , and , mounting guard upon their posts , crammed spoons into their mouths , lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came to be helped . At last the dishes were set on , and grace was said . It was succeeded by a breathless pause , as Mrs. Cratchit , looking slowly all along the carving-knife , prepared to plunge it in the breast ; but when she did , and when the long-expected gush of stuffing issued forth , one murmur of delight arose all round the board , and even Tiny Tim , excited by the two young Cratchits , beat on the table with the handle of his knife , and feebly cried Hurrah ! 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 XXXXX bear witnesses -- to take the pudding up , and bring it in .
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