"Where am I going now?" he thought. "Yes, yes, that's the Goblin's
fault. Ah! if the little lady only sat here with me in the boat, it
might be twice as dark for what I should care."
Suddenly there came a great Water Rat, which lived under the drain.
"Have you a passport?" said the Rat. "Give me your passport."
But the Tin Soldier kept silence, and held his musket tighter than
ever. The boat went on, but the Rat came after it. Hu! how he gnashed
his teeth, and called out to the bits of straw and wood.
"Hold him! hold him! He hasn't paid toll--he hasn't shown his
passport!"
But the stream became stronger and stronger. The Tin Soldier could
see the bright daylight where the arch ended; but he heard a roaring
noise, which might well frighten a bolder man. Only think--just where
the tunnel ended, the drain ran into a great canal; and for him that
would have been as dangerous as for us to be carried down a great
waterfall.
Now he was already so near it that he could not stop. The boat was
carried out, the poor Tin Soldier stiffening himself as much as he
could, and no one could say that he moved an eyelid. The boat whirled
round three or four times, and was full of water to the very edge--it
must sink.
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