There were seven or eight other people who had their heads together whispering about me. They were afraid I'd see them too! All up and down the the street people acted the same way. The meanest looking one of all spread his lips out wide and actually smiled at me! A shiver ran from the top of my head clear down to the tips of my toes, for I realized that meant they already had their henchmen well de-ployed, and were ready to strike.
When I first read this book I was confused but after reading this line it was clear that this man was obviously paraniod and told himself things that were not true. He thought everyone was going to eat him. Every time someone looked in his direction or smiled at him he thought they were going to attack him. It makes me think did he witness something or maybe something tragic happened in his life to make him think someone is going to eat him alive?