Foma stared at him fixedly, with knitted brow, and came toward him slowly pacing the gang planks.
They jostled him in the back, they leaned on him, they squeezed him, and this provoked Foma still more.

Now he came face to face with the old man, and the latter greeted him with a polite bow, and asked: "Whither are you travelling, Foma Ignatyich ?" "About my affairs," replied Foma, firmly, without greeting his godfather.
"That's praiseworthy, my dear sir!" said Yakov Tarasovich, all beaming with a smile.

"The lady with the feathers--what is she to you, may I ask ?" "She's my mistress," said Foma, loud, without lowering his eyes at the keen look of his godfather.
Sasha stood behind him calmly examining over his shoulder the little old man, whose head hardly reached Foma's chin.

Attracted by Foma's loud words, the public looked at them, scenting a scandal.

And Mayakin, too, perceived immediately the possibility of a scandal and instantly estimated correctly the quarrelsome mood of his godson.