A neat little swallow, I term it!"

The very next day, he returned to the place

Where his failure had thrown him into disgrace;

And there, with a ghastly grin on his face,

Began his submarine boring.

He worked for a week, for the shell was tough,

But reached the interior soon enough

For the oyster, who found such surgery rough,—

Such grating, and scraping, and scoring!

The shell-fish started, the water flew,