tave fur (第4/17页)
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He knew these men，also，perfectly. They were men of business，very wealthy，and of great importance. He had made a point of always standing well in their esteem—in a business point of view，that is；strictly in a business point of view.
“ How are you ？ ” said one.
“ How are you ？ ” returned the other.
“Well！” said the first. “Old Scratch has got his own at last，hey ？”
“So I am told，” returned the second. “Cold，isn’t it ？ ”
“ Seasonable for Christmas time. You’re not a skater，I suppose ？ ”
“ No. No. Something else to think of. Good-morning！”
Not another word. That was their meeting，their conversation，and their parting.
Scrooge was at first inclined to be surprised that the spirit should attach importance to conversations apparently so trivial；but feeling assured that they must have some hidden purpose，he set himself to consider what it was likely to be. They could scarcely be supposed to have any bearing on the death of Jacob，his old partner，for that was past，and this ghost’s province was the future. Nor could he think of any one immediately connected with himself to whom he could apply them. But nothing doubting that to whomsoever they applied they had some latent moral for his own improvement，he resolved to treasure up every word he heard，and everything he saw；and especially to observe the shadow of himself when it appeared. For he had an expectation that the conduct of his future self would give him the clue he missed，and would render the solution of these riddles easy.
He looked about in that very place for his own image；but another man stood in his accustomed corner，and though the clock pointed to his usual time of day for being there，he saw no likeness of himself among the multitudes that poured in through the porch. It gave him little surprise，however；for he had been revolving in his mind a change of life，and thought and hoped he saw his new-born resolutions carried out in this.
