is face and head.

"That poor fellow has got a touch of prickly heat and is thirsty,"
I thought, nor was I mistaken, for, on arriving at the edge of the
fountain, the tramp knelt down and drank copiously, making a moaning
sound as he gulped the water, which was very peculiar and unpleasant to
hear. When he had satisfied his thirst, he sat himself upon the marble
edge of the basin and suddenly plunged his legs, boots and all, into the
water. Its touch seemed to please him, for with a single swift movement
he slipped in altogether, sitting himself down on the bottom of the
basin in such fashion that only his face and fiery red beard, from which
the hat had fallen, remained above the surface, whereon they seemed to
float like some monstrous and unnatural growth.

This unusual proceeding on the part of the tramping stranger at once
excited the most intense interest in the mind of every child on the
playground, with the result that in another minute forty or fifty
of them had gathered round the fountain, laughing and jeering at its
occupant. Again the sight brought to my mind a strained and disagreeable
simile, for I bethought me of the dreadful tale of Elisha and of the
fate which overtook the children who mocked him. Decidedly the heat had
upset my nerves that night, nor were they soothed when suddenly from the
red head floating upon the water came a flute-like and educated voice,
saying--

"Cease deriding the unfortunate, children, or I will come out of this
marble bath and tickle you."

Thereat they laughed all the more, and began to pelt the bather with
little stones and bits of stick.

At first I thought of interfering, but as it occurred to me that the man
would probably be violent or abusive if I spoke to him, and as, above
all things, I disliked scenes, I made up my mind to fetch a policeman,
whom I knew I should find round the corner about a hundred yards away. I
walked to the corner, but did not find the policeman, whereon I started
across the square to look for him at another point. My road led me
past the fountain, and, as I approached it, I saw that the water-loving
wanderer had been as good as his word. He had emerged from the fountain,
and, rushing to and fro raining moisture from his wide coat, despite
their shrieks half of fear and half of laughter, he grabbed child after
child and, drawing it to him, tickled and kissed it, laughing dementedly
all the while, in a fashion which showed me that he was suf