He received a sound beating, and then the policeman let him go.

You would think that he had had enough trouble now--far from it!

The chastisement which he had received had only embittered him,
and he went on the warpath, like a red Indian, to see on whom he
might avenge his wrongs.

Accident, or some other power, guided his footsteps to a locality
mainly frequented by peasants and labourers. He entered a brewery
and found a number of millers and farmer's labourers sitting round
a table, drinking the health of the explorers. When they saw the
fool they took him for the leadsman, and were highly delighted when
he condescended to take a glass in their company.

Now the demon of pride entered into the soul of the fool. He boasted
of his great achievements; he told them that it was he who had led
the expedition, for would they not have foundered if he had not
sounded the depth of the sea? Would they ever have returned home
if he had not read the stars?

Smack! an egg hit him between the eyebrows.

"Leadsman, you're a braggart!" said the miller. "We've known that
for a long time; we knew it when you wrote to the paper saying the
Great Man was another Humboldt!"

Now another of the leadsman's weaknesses gained the upper hand.

"The Great Man is a humbug!" he exclaimed, which was not true.