as he reached the hose , some trick of the light made the nozzle seem to move , to revolve as if to strike , and he leaped high in the air above it ; in his panicky state it seemed that his legs pushed him nearly all the way to the ceiling , that he could feel the stiff back hairs that formed his cowlick brushing the hallway 's plaster ceiling , although later he knew that could n't have been so .