TOMMY THE STREET BUM

Everybody in William Street said that Tommy was mad, and so they left him alone. But I'm not so sure now that he was mad, and I can think of many people much madder than Tommy ever was. He didn't look mad. He was a man of medium height, thin; he wasn't bad looking either. He never stared at you the way I expected a mad man to do; and when you spoke to him …

…us stood, it sounded like a cry of agony. A bigger stone struck Tommy; the women flung sand and gravel at him. We heard Tommy's shout, clear and loud, "Cut this stupidness out. Cut it out, I tell you. I finish with this arseness, you hear." And then he began cursing so loudly and coarsely that the people stopped in surprise. The police took away Tommy. The authorities kept him for observation. Then for good.