He had made up his mind about the river-front property.
Loud acclaim hailed Polly and Johnny, for where they went there was zest of life; and the boys, knowing well that Johnny never wore flowers, made instant way for him at the violet booth.
"I'll take some blue ones, lady," announced Johnny gamely, intending to wear them with defiance.
"I'll give you the nearest we have, mister," laughed Constance, and promptly decorated him.
Since this was the closest her face and eyes had ever been to him, he forgot to pay her and had to be reminded of that important duty by Polly and all the boys in unison.

There was a faint evasive trace of perfume about her, more like the freshness of morning or the delicacy of starlight than an actual essence, he vaguely thought with a groping return to his poetic inclination.

He felt the warmth of her velvet cheek, even at its distance of a foot away, and there seemed to be a pulsing thrill in the very air which intervened.

For a startled instant he found himself gazing deep down into her brown eyes.

In that instant her red lips curved in a fleeting smile--a smile of the type which needs moist eyes to carry its tenderness.