When the barge was almost opposite, he stepped out a little from the line and lifted his hat.
She saw him!
In a moment, as if she had been looking for him, she caught the crown of flowers from her head and tossed them toward him, crying:
"For the hero!"
He caught them skillfully with his right hand, his hat still in his left. And the hot blood mounted to his face as he saw her tossing kisses toward him with both hands.
"What's it mean?" asked a spectator.
"Don't know," answered another.
But a third cried:
"I'll tell you what it means! That young fellow is the one who saved the Queen of Flowers from the mad steer! I know him, for I saw him do it, and I observed his face."
"That explains why she flung her crown to him and called him the hero."