"No, it does not," Mr. Gooch agreed, "but it served very effectively on a certain occasion. That was the meeting of the scientific society on the Stanislow. If I can quote correctly, the incident is described as follows:
"'Then Peleg Jones of Angels raised a point of order, when
A chunk of old red sandstone took him in the abdomen—
And he smiled a kind of sickly smile, and curled up on the floor,
And the subsequent proceedings interested him no more.'
"I remember now," said I, "it was the beginning of a serious battle."
"Yes; events followed fast and furious—
"'In less time than it takes to tell it, every member did engage
In a battle with those remnants of a paleozoic age,