"Work!" said the goblin, "what work?"
"The grave, sir."
"Oh! the grave, eh? Who makes graves at a time when other men are merry, and takes a pleasure in it?"
Again the voices replied, "Gabriel Grubb! Gabriel Grubb!"
"I'm afraid my friends want you, Gabriel," said the goblin.
"Under favor, sir," replied the horror-stricken sexton, "I don't think they can; they don't know me, sir; I don't think the gentlemen have ever seen me."
"Oh! yes, they have. We know the man who struck the boy in the envious malice of his heart because the boy could be merry and he could not."
Here the goblin gave a loud, shrill laugh which the echoes returned twenty-fold.
"I—I am afraid I must leave you, sir," said the sexton, making an effort to move.