It acks to me as if it was goin' to ketch hold.

Yes, it's stuck one claw in 'em--OW!" Sam uttered a blood-curdling shriek and jerked convulsively.

The next instant, streaming and inconceivably gaunt, the ravening Gipsy appeared with a final bound upon Sam's shoulder.

It was not in Gipsy's character to be drawn up peaceably; he had ascended the trousers and Sam's arm without assistance and in his own way.

Simultaneously--for this was a notable case of everything happening at once--there was a muffled, soggy splash, and the unfortunate Herman, smit with prophecy in his seclusion, uttered a dismal yell.