When it began to splutter and steam, he regarded it as a challenge, and would want to fight it, only, at that precise moment, some one would always dash up and bear off his prey before he could get at it.
Quando il recipiente cominciava a schizzare e a fumare, Montmorency riteneva quei segni come una sfida, e voleva assaltarlo. Soltanto che in quel momento stesso qualcuno si slanciava a portargli via la preda prima ch’esso potesse raggiungerla.