On paper he could be effusive, ardent, eloquent, sentimental; but not a bit of that to meet the world in his own waistcoat.

He gave a swing to his stick, and walked across the opening as if he were looking at sea-gulls.
And on he would have walked without further notice, except a big gulp in his throat, if it had not been for a trifling accident.
Somehow or other the recitative gentleman's hat turned over to the wind, and that active body (which never neglects any sportive opportunity) got into the crown, with the speed of an upstart, and made off with it along the stones.

A costly hat it was, and comely with rich braid and satin loops, becoming also to a well-shaped head, unlike the chimney-pot of the present day, which any man must thank God for losing.

However, the owner was so wrapped up in poetry that his breeches might have gone without his being any wiser.
"Sir," said Frank Darling, after chasing the hat (which could not trundle as our pots do, combining every possible absurdity), "excuse me for interrupting you, but this appears to be your hat, and it was on its way to a pool of salt-water." "Hat!--my hat ?" replied the other gentleman.

"Oh, to be sure! I had quite forgotten.