The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-08-17
PUNCH IN THE EYE
A Short Short Story
By EDWARD NEWHoUsE,

NEWS ITEM:-"Henry Clayton.
81, was given Is months at hard
labor for violently assaulting Miss
Marian Nordell, AZ, local Iibrar-
ian"
I HAD been transferred to a branch
1 library where the bookbinder had
been fired for coming in drunk and
when I returned it was all over but
the shouting. Miss Nordell sat at
her desk sorting the overdue list. She
smiled wanly and blinked with the
discolored eye. 1t was not really
black. The center ring was lavender
The periphery was orange and
yellow.
Hello, Miss Nordell," I said.
Hello there. Freezing isn't it?"
"Yes, pretty cold. Down to zero
in Chicago"
"Thats where it comes FROM" she
said, cts northwesterly wind. No
mountains in between to stop it. At
that, we're only in the tail of the
blizzard. Must be awful in Chicago.
Goodness knows it's bad enough
here"
mot so bad"
I was wondering how she got it.
She didn't have to look at me to
know was wondering how she got
it.
"You missed lot of big doings
here"
big doings at the other branch
too' I said, Someone broke the
binding on the Funk and Wagnalls
unabridged"
And what?"
"And I had to fix it,"
"That's not exciting, wait1I you
hear what happened to me-
"You were assaulted by four
Hawaiians."
mo"
Joe Cook, them"
mo, who's hep"
Just a man."
Miss Gordon will tell you a lot
Of gossip about it, the way she's tell
ing everybody but it won't be true
so probably you'd like to know the
truth, wouldn't you?"
Like to?" I said, I'D love to-"
WIUELL, last Thursday a man came
" and settled down in the refer
ence room this side Of the Britain
nicas and put his arms on the table
and fell asleep. Miss Tordik tapped
him on the shoulder but he didn't
bulge so she started giggling, the
little fool, and she comes to me, the
way she always does when there's
anything disagreeable to be done. I
said alright. tapped him. He
didn't move. I tapped him again.
He stood up and yawned and hit me
in the eye. That's what happened
and you can ask Miss Tordik. He
was a tall, dirty looking man.
Gust like that?"
Just like that"
"The meanie," I said.
1CCOFF all you like Miss Nordell
y said, 'but the thing didn't rest
there, you can bet. I heard Miss
Tordik scream and I became un-
conscious and when I came to, there
were policemen here and they had
him. Miss Gordon said he didn't
resist or try to run away at all. She
spoke to the officer and sent me
home. Then in the afternoon they
rang and told me the case was COM
ing up Friday. I didn't want to CO.
They made me. think the whole
affair is shameful. The man was a
maniac"
mo Kidding" said, "Nuts?"
II think SO. Outright demented.
When the Judge asked him If he'd
been intoxicated he said no, he'd
never had saner moment in his
life. He told a tall story, said the
previous night he couldn't get bed
in the Municipal Lodging House and
they threw him off a bench in Wash
ington Square. Imagine anyone be-
ing thrown out of Washington
Square. He said that was at four
o'clock in the morning and he had
to walk around in the cold until the
library opened.
"He said when the janitor hustled
him out of the hallway of an apart
nient house he promised himself that
the next person who awakened him
he'd poke in the eye, that was his