Thurston, Ernest Temple: The Antagonists. v1. 14 May 2016
 

Ernest Temple Thurston (September 23, 1879 – March 19, 1933) was an Anglo-Irish poet, playwright and author.

Extract
“Please God,” he said to himself, “let him catch it!”
Possibly that prayer had more to do with the matter than Wilfrid ever suspected, for, with a swift stroke, the prong descended, the snake was fastened to the ground beneath it and, at the cry of victory that followed, Pilgrim was rushing around them barking wildly.