bright-colored gloves. It was not a very cold day but he had so
many clothes on he looked like a pillow inside a roll of
blankets. I asked him if he would please tell me the time.

He stopped, grunted and glared down at me--his red face growing
redder still; and when he spoke it sounded like the cork coming
out of a gingerbeer-bottle.

"Do you imagine for one moment," he spluttered, "that I am going
to get myself all unbuttoned just to tell a little boy like you
THE TIME!" And he went stumping down the street, grunting harder
than ever.

I stood still a moment looking after him and wondering how old I
would have to be, to have him go to the trouble of getting his
watch out. And then, all of a sudden, the rain came down in
torrents.

I have never seen it rain so hard. It got dark, almost like
night. The wind began to blow; the thunder rolled; the lightning
flashed, and in a moment the gutters of the road were flowing
like a river. There was no place handy to take shelter, so I put
my head down against the driving wind and started to run towards
home.

I hadn't gone very far when my head bumped into something soft
and I sat down suddenly on the pavement. I looked up to see whom
I had run into. And there in front of me, sitting on the wet
pavement like myself, was a little round man with a very kind
face. He wore a shabby high hat and in his hand he had a small