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THE STRENUOUS MOLE 
WE read in the books of the astounding strength 
and energy of this creature that “swims in the 
earth,” as they say, just as a diving auk, guillemot, 
or puffin does in the water. The energy of a 
squirrel that runs up a very tall tree-trunk, darts 
along a far-reaching horizontal branch, flings him- 
self from the end of it to the branch of another 
tree, and is a hundred feet high and away before 
you can finish speaking a sentence of twenty words, 
is nothing to compare with the feats of the mole 
underground. But, being out of sight, he is out 
of mind, on which account his most remarkable 
qualities are not properly appreciated. He is also 
a small beast—no bigger than a lady’s gloved 
hand—consequently his strength, like that of the 
beetle, does not matter to us. It would matter a 
great deal if moles grew to the size of cows and 
bulls. In or under London they would excavate 
numberless tunnels which would serve as subways 
for the foot-passengers and for the tubular rail- 
ways. This would be an advantage, but as a set- 
off they would, in throwing up their hills, cause a 
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