That was the only habit he had.

He was a slave to it.
Once I saw R.H.D.greet his old mother after an absence.

They threw their arms about each other and rocked to and fro for a long time.

And it hadn't been a long absence at that.

No ocean had been between them; her heart had not been in her mouth with the thought that he was under fire, or about to become a victim of jungle fever.