His unassailable composure only served to encourage his neighbors to
take further liberties with him. One rickety little man, with a
spirituous nose and watery eyes, urged on by some women near him,
advanced to the stranger's bench, and, expressing his admiration of a
skull-cap as a becoming ornamental addition to a hat, announced, with a
bow of mock politeness, his anxiety to feel the quality of the velvet.
He stretched out his hand as he spoke, not a word of warning or
expostulation being uttered by the victim of the intended insult; but
the moment his fingers touched the skull-cap, the strange man, still
without speaking, without even removing his cigar from his mouth, very
deliberately threw all that remained of the glass of hot brandy and
water before him in the rickety gentleman's face.
With a scream of pain as the hot liquor flew into his eyes, the
miserable little man struck out helplessly with both his fists, and
fell down between the benches. A friend who was with him, advanced to
avenge his injuries, and was thrown sprawling on the floor. Yells of
"Turn him out!" and "Police!" followed; people at the other end of the
room jumped up excitably on their seats; the women screamed, the men
shouted and swore, glasses were broken, sticks were waved, benches were
cracked, and, in one instant, the stranger was assailed by every one of
his neighbors who could get near him, on pretense of turning him out.
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