The 10-year-old son of a grocer works at his father's shop during the spring when a strange man that his father claims is a poet, enters his store. The poet is tall and gaunt and the son believes him to be hungry. The father explains that poets are men who scribble and starve to death. Each day, the poet enters the store and buys a quart of milk and crackers and eats them in front of the grocer and his son before leaving. The father tells his son that the people in their town are very poor. One day, the son decides to follow the poet home and notices the poet goes into their neighbor, Mrs. Foley's home. The father explains that the poet probably lives in Mrs. Foley's attic, which has been available for rent many times because of its poor living conditions. For a week, many of the townspeople become curious about the poet and his lifestyle so they ask the father to ask Mrs. Foley next time she comes to trade in his shop. The father does what they say, but ends up not getting any information because Mrs. Foley does not tell him anything. In the summer, it becomes very hot and the townspeople's children begin to throw rocks at the poet walking along the street. However, the poet does not do anything about it and the children stop. The father explains to his son that poets are very strange people who don't mind starving, though he feels worried because this poet seems to be very young. The son's mother asks her husband to invite the poet to eat dinner with them and the father explains he's asked before and been rejected. The son listens in on the conversation and decides to follow the poet wherever he goes. Sneakily, the son follows the poet to a train yard of Elevated cars and on the walking path that the poet takes each day. The son finds the poet's mundane routine to be strange. As the summer continues, the father and son become worried that the poet is overheating as the poet wears heavy clothing amidst the summer heat. One day, the father asks about his clothing and the poet says that he does not mind the heat. One day, the son reads the newspaper and finds an article by a writer named Count Leo Torantto who talks about the sufficiency of cracker and milk-only diets. The son believes that the poet in their town is Count Leo Torantto and considers asking the poet about it, but decides against it. While drinking his daily milk, the poet messily drinks and makes a mess. The father invites the poet to stay and talk, to which the poet stays until he finishes eating and leaves. The day after, the mother asks the poet to stay and eat with them that night and that she will send out her sons to fetch the poet if he doesn't come. However, the poet does end up going to the family's home and eats with them. The son's older brother, Milt, finds the poet very odd and fails to make conversation with him. Milt ends up leaving to go on a walk, frustrated that he is unable to make conversation with the poet. The mother asks the poet about his clothing and if he is feeling hot under the many layers. The poet does not respond, but continues to sweat. The son watches the poet and listens to his flat voice and lack of personality. The son's younger brother begins to shoot rubber bands at the poet, who endures it for a little until he finds it painful and leaves. The mother tells the poet that he is welcome to return anytime, but the poet does not return to their home. For another month, the son watches the poet's routine of drinking milk and eating crackers. One day, Mrs. Foley explains she is going to be out of town to visit family and that she will pay for whatever the poet needs while she is gone. The son continues to follow the poet around on his daily walks until one day, the poet does not go on his walk. When Mrs. Foley arrives home, she tells the townspeople that the poet has died and the doctors explain that the poet died from starvation. The son, struck by this sudden morbidity, watches the stretcher of the poet get rolled away. The father repeats that poets just stay in their rooms to scribble and starve before the father and son return to their store as it begins to rain.