By the swing of his stride any onlooker would have believed that Cutty was in a hurry to arrive somewhere.

Instead, one was only walking.

Suddenly he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk with the two currents of pedestrians flowing on each side of him, as a man might stop who saw some wonderful cloud effect.

But there was nothing ecstatical in his expression; on the contrary, there was a species of bewildered terror.

The psychology of all his recent actions had in a flash become vividly clear.
An unbelievable catastrophe had overtaken him.