Thing. Next instant, a squashing thud, and a loud outcry, told me that
it had fallen to the ground. With a savage hope that it had been killed,
I went to the window. The moon had gone behind a cloud, so that I could
see nothing; though a steady hum of jabbering, just beneath where I
stood, indicated that there were several more of the brutes close
at hand.

As I stood there, looking down, I marveled how it had been possible for
the creatures to climb so far; for the wall is comparatively smooth,
while the distance to the ground must be, at least, eighty feet.

All at once, as I bent, peering, I saw something, indistinctly, that
cut the grey shadow of the house-side, with a black line. It passed the
window, to the left, at a distance of about two feet. Then, I remembered
that it was a gutter-pipe, that had been put there some years ago, to
carry off the rainwater. I had forgotten about it. I could see, now, how
the creatures had managed to reach the window. Even as the solution came
to me, I heard a faint slithering, scratching noise, and knew that
another of the brutes was coming. I waited some odd moments; then leant
out of the window and felt the pipe. To my delight, I found that it was
quite loose, and I managed, using the rifle-barrel as a crowbar, to
lever it out from the wall. I worked quickly. Then, taking hold with
both bands, I wrenched the whole concern away, and hurled it down--with
the Thing still clinging to it--into the garden.

For a few minutes longer, I waited there, listening; but, after the
first general outcry, I heard nothing. I knew, now, that there was no
more reason to fear an attack from this quarter. I had removed the only
means of reaching the window, and, as none of the other windows had any
adjacent water pipes, to tempt the climbing powers of the monsters, I