CHAPTER IX 



THE EARTH-STOPPER 



"Six crafty Earth-stoppers in hunters' green drest, 

 Supported poor Tom to 'an earth' made for rest.'' 



Tom Moody. 



ERTAIX things there are 

 •>ve never wished to be 

 — we never wished to be 

 a sailor ; we never wished 

 to be an " old Charley ; " 

 we never wished to be 

 a great spangled cock 

 ballet dancer at the 

 Opera ; we never wished 

 to be Lord Mayor of 

 York ; we never wished 

 to be Mr. Green, the 

 aeronaut ; we never wished to be a dentist ; we 

 never wished to be King of the Cannibal Islands ; 

 we never wished to be a surgeon-accoucheur ; we 

 never wished to be postmaster of Heligoland ; we 

 never wished to be Stunning Joe Banks ; and, 

 most certainly, we never wished to be an Earth- 

 stopper. An Earth-stopper ! oh, no ! Of all cold, 

 candle-light, frigid, cheerless, teeth-chattering, arm- 

 flopping occupations, that of an Earth - stopper 

 assuredly is the most so. When all the world is 

 " snoring," fast asleep, our unfortunate woodland 



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