He looked twice to make sure she had spoken; then, with a bit of his heart in his throat and the rest in his eyes, he went up the steps and awkwardly held out his hand.
The world made several convulsive circuits in its orbit and the bass drum performed a solo inside his head during the moment that followed.

When the tumult subsided he found a pair of bright brown eyes smiling up at him and a small hand clasped in his.
This idyllic condition was interrupted by a disturbance on the promenade, which caused them both to look in that direction.

Some one was pushing roughly through the crowd.
"Hi, there, Kilday! Sandy Kilday!" A heavy-set fellow was making his way noisily toward them.

His suit of broad checks, his tan shoes, and his large diamond stud were strangers, but his little close-set eyes, protruding teeth, and bushy hair were hatefully familiar.
Sandy started forward, and those nearest laughed when the stranger looked at him and said: "My guns! Git on to his togs! Ain't he a duke!" Sandy got Ricks out of the firing-line, around the corner of the courting-box.

His face was crimson with mortification, but it never occurred to him to be angry.
"What brought you back ?" he asked huskily.
"Hosses." "Are you going to drive this afternoon ?" "Yep.