The Lost Idea 21

Now this action of his requires explana-
tion. He had heard from the schoolmaster
the week before that the world is in the habit
of turning round once in every twenty-four
hours ; and it had occurred to him that if he
could detach himself from the world and let
it go round without him he could just wait
until the place he wanted to reach came
round to him and then drop quietly down
and land there without any exertion on his
part. It is not the right thing to escape
one’s duties in this way, and I am not prais-
ing him for doing it; I am only saying that
he did it.

Well, round went the earth (just as usual),
and the pound reached him in such a short
time that he overshot the mark by three miles,
and had to wheel his barrow back all that
way; but he soon got into the way of drop-
ping at the right spot with a little practice,
and (very improperly) saved himself a lot of
trouble.

“That's a really excellent idea—I admit
it,” said Timothy ; “ but it is zof mine. Mine
was worth five hundred of even that.” You