the german fires a burst up into the tree ; startled by the noise and the ripping of leaves near his head , he loses his grip and falls , hips , legs , ribs banging painfully against the lower branches as he tumbles , catching himself miraculously only on the final horizontal limb , about 10 feet up , where he hangs for a few seconds like a chimpanzee before dropping finally to the dry soil in a puff of dust .