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 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 XXXXX like an eating-house and a pastrycook 's next door to each other , with a laundress 's next door to that !
Tiny copper crutch dishes onion pause saucepan smell tenderness themes