It was a seductive glimpse of a stern face softened.

The dog scented her and barked; the man turning sprang to his feet.
Colina experienced a sudden and extraordinary confusion of her
faculties.

He was taller than she expected--that was not it; in the glance of his
eager dark eyes there was a quality that took her completely by
surprise--that took her breath away. This in one of the sex she
condescended to!

The young man was completely dumfounded by the sight of her. He hung
in suspended motion; his wide eyes leaped to hers--and clung there.
They silently gazed at each other--each with much the same pained and
breathless look.

Colina struggled hard against the spell. She was badly flustered.
"Please catch my horse for me," she said with, under the circumstances,
intolerable hauteur.

He did not move. She saw a dull, red tide creep up from his neck, over
his face and into his hair. She had never seen such a painful blush.
He kept his head up, and though his eyes became agonized with
embarrassment, they clung doggedly to hers.

She knew intuitively that he blushed because he fancied that she, from
his rough clothes, had judged him to be a common tramp.

She was glad of it--his blush gave her a little security.