human
He didn't seem to see them; his back was toward them. And then, all at once, he leaped backward at them where they sat on a mangrove, and he got one of them by the neck--
gpt
Climbing about among the mangroves above the water.
human
What!
gpt
By the neck, she repeated,
human
I can't imagine,
gpt
Well, Grue went under, still clutching the squirming, flapping bird; and he _stayed_ under.
human
Stayed under the _water_?
gpt
Yes, longer than any sponge diver I ever heard of. And I was becoming frightened when the bloody bubbles and feathers began to come up--
human
He must have been tearing the bird to pieces. Oh, it was quite unpleasant, I assure you, Mr. Smith. And when he came up and looked at me out of those very vitreous eyes he resembled something horridly amphibious.... And I felt rather sick and dizzy.
gpt
He's got to stop that sort of thing! I said angrily.
human
Snake-birds are harmless and I won't have him killing them in that barbarous fashion. I've warned him already to let birds alone. I don't know how he catches them or why he kills them. But he seems to have a mania for doing it--