CHAPTER IX 



THE EARTH-STOPPER 



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

 Supported ])oor Tom to ' an earth ' made for rest.'' 



Tom Moodv. 



7 



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LRTAIN things there are 

 we 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 span- 

 gled cock ballet dancer at 

 the Opera ; we never wished 

 to be Lord Maj'or 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 ne\-er wished to be a surgeon- 

 accoucheur ; we never wished to be postmaster of Heligoland ; 

 we never wished to be Stunning Joe Banks ; and, most cer- 

 tainly, 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 watchman 



