The gerund in this sentence must be "talking" as gerunds end with -ing, and this is the only dog in the sentence that ends with -ing.
It's an object of a verb (the verb is stop)- it's what the verb directs the action to - so it's the direct object (answer D).
What is sharecropper and windswept ?
B. Possession
Hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions, have a great day!
This quote means that whoever wrote this quote thinks that people who are dead (which is what he means by inhabitants of the deep) are a lot more happy than him/her.