He was lifted to his feet--off his feet, so that he dangled in the air like a pendulum.

He was suspended by the shoulders, Lawler's fingers gripping him like iron hooks; he was shaken until his feet, powerless to retard the movement, were flopping back and forth wildly, and his teeth rattled despite his efforts to clench them.

It seemed to him that Lawler would snap his head from his shoulders, so viciously did Lawler shake him.

Then suddenly the terrible fingers relaxed, and Hamlin reeled and swayed, dizzy and weak from the violence of movement.

He was trying to keep his feet solidly on the floor when he felt Lawler's fingers at his throat.
To his astonishment, the fingers did not sink into the flesh.