Page:Sologub Sweet Scented Name.djvu/101

 man, very much overdressed, wearing a top hat and horrible yellow gloves. He looked down upon Grishka with his fierce protrud- ing reddish eyes, and everything about him looked red and angry.

"Good-for-nothing little hooligan," he hissed through his teeth.

With a careless movement he knocked off the child's cap from his head, gave him a box on the ear, and turning again to the lady, said:

"Come along, mamma. It's not worth having anything more to do with such a creature."

"But what a rude and daring boy he is," said the lady, turning away. "Dirty little ragamuffin, where were you pushing yourself? You've quite upset me. Fancy not being able to walk quietly along the streets. What can the policemen be doing?"

The lady and her companion, talking angrily to one another, walked away. Grishka picked up his cap and collected as many as he could of the scattered cakes and biscuits, putting them into the torn paper bag, and ran off home. He felt ashamed and he wanted to weep, but no tears came. He could no longer dream about Turandina, and he thought: