But for this, which served as a helmet, the beak of the bird would have been into his skull, for at the first dab it struck right at his crown.
At the second onslaught, which followed quick after, Henry, being warned, was enabled to ward off the blow, parrying with one hand, while with the other supporting himself on his perch.

For all this the danger was not at an end; as the bird, instead of being scared away, or showing any signs of an intention to retreat, only seemed to become more infuriated by the resistance, and continued its swooping and screaming more vigorously and determinedly than ever.

The boy was well aware of the peril that impended; and so, too, were those below; who, of course, at the first screech of the hornbill, had looked up and seen what was passing above them.
They would have called upon him to come down, and he would have done so without being summoned, if there had been a chance.

But there was none: for he could not descend a single step without using both hands on the ladder; and to do this would leave his face and head without protection.
Either left unguarded for a single instant, and the beak of the bird, playing about like a pickaxe, would be struck into his skull, or buried deep in the sockets of his eyes.

He knew this, and so also they who looked from below.