It wore a lace cap,
such as old ladies wear, and a little apron of lace,
but no other clothing. Its eyes were bright and looked
as if coals were burning in them. The ape moved as
naturally as an ordinary person might, and on Ervic's
entrance stopped knitting and raised its head to look
at him.
"Get out!" cried a sharp voice, seeming to come from
the ape's mouth.
Ervic saw another bench, empty, just beyond him, so
he stepped over the crocodile, sat down upon the bench
and carefully placed the kettle beside him.
"Get out!" again cried the voice.
Ervic shook his head.
"No," said he, "I'm going to stay."
The spiders left their four corners, dropped to the
floor and made a rush toward the young Skeezer,
circling around his legs with their pinchers extended.
Ervic paid no attention to them. An enormous black rat
ran up Ervic's body, passed around his shoulders and
uttered piercing squeals in his ears, but he did not
wince. The green-and-red lizard, coming from the
window-sill, approached Ervic and began spitting a
flaming fluid at him, but Ervic merely stared at the
creature and its flame did not touch him.
The crocodile raised its tail and, swinging around,
swept Ervic off the bench with a powerful blow.
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