Oldal 187 [187]
OLIVER
TWIST. 137
open fields in every direction for three or
four miles. "There was the village in the
hollow on the left; but, in order to gain
that, after pursuing the track Oliver had
pointed out, the men must have made a
circuit of open ground which it was im¬
possible they could have accomplished in
so short a time. A thick wood skirted
the meadowland in another direction ; but
they could not have gained that covert for
the same reason.
“Tt must have been a dream, Oliver?"
said Harry Maylie, taking him aside.
“Oh no, indeed, sir,” em Oliver,
shuddering at the very recollection of the
old wretch’s countenance; “{ saw him
too plainly for that. I saw them both as
plainly as Í see you now.”
s Who was the other?” inquired Harry
and Mr. Losberne together.
“The very same man that I told you
of, that came upon me so suddenly at the
inn,” said Oliver. “We had our eyes
fixed full upon each other, and [ could
swear to him.”
c They took this way?’ demanded Har¬
ry; “are you certain of that?"
“As I am that the men were at the
window,” replied Oliver, pointing down
as he spoke to the hedge which divided
the cottage-garden from the meadow.
“The tall man leaped over just there;
and the Jew, running a few paces to the
right, crept through that gap.”
The two gentlemen watched Oliver’s
earnest face as he spoke, and looking from
him to each other, seemed to feel satisfied
of the accuracy of what he said. Still, in
no direction were there any appearances
of the trampling of men in hurried flight.
The grass was long, but it was trodden
down nowhere save where their own feet
had crushed it. ‘The sides and brinks of
the ditches were of damp clay, but in no
one place could they discern the prints of
men’s shoes, or the slightest mark which
would indicate that any feet had pressed
the ground for hours before. S
“'This is strange!" said Harry.
c Strange ?” echoed the doctor. “ Blath¬
ers and Duff themselves could make no¬
thing of it.”
Notwithstanding the evidently ineffi¬
cacious nature of their search, however,
they did not desist until the coming on of
night rendered its further prosecution
hopeless, and even then they gave it up
with reluctance. Giles was despatched
to the different alehouses in the village,
furnished with the best description Oliver
could give of the appearance and dress of
the strangers; of whom the Jew was at
12* S
all events sufficiently remarkable to be
remembered, supposing he had been seen
drinking, or loitering about; but he re¬
turned without any intelligence calculated
to dispel or lessen the mystery.
On the next day further search was
made, and the inquiries renewed, but with
no better success. On the day following,
Oliver and Mr. Maylie repaired to the
market-town, in the hope of seeing or
hearing something of the men there; but
equally fruitless; and, after
a few days, the affair began to be forgot¬
ten, as most affairs are, when wonder,
having no fresh food to support it, dies
away of itself.
Meanwhile Rose was rapidly recover¬
ing. She had left her room, was able to
and, mixing once more with the
ily, carried joy into the hearts of all.
But although this happy change had a
visible effect on the little circle, and al¬
though cheerful voices and merry laugh¬
ter were once more heard in the cottage,
there was at times an unwonted restraint
upon some there—even upon Rose her¬
self— which Oliver could not fail to re¬
mark. Mrs. Maylie and her son were
often closeted together for a long time,
and more than once Rose appeared with
traces of tears upon her face. After Mr.
Losberne had fixed a day for his depar¬
ture to Chertsey, these symptoms increas¬
ed, and it became evident that something
was in progress which affected the peace
besides.
At length one morning, when Rose was
alone in the breakfast parlour, Harry
Maylie entered, and with some hesitation
begged permission to speak with her for
a few moments.
“A few—a very few— will suffice,
Rose,” said the young man, drawing his
chair towards her. “ What I shall have
to say has already presented itself to your
mind; the most cherished .hopes of my
heart are not unknown to you, though
from my lips you Have not yet heard them
stated.’
Rose had been very pale from the mo¬
ment of his entrance, although that might
have been the effect of her recent illness.
She merely bowed, and bending over
some plants that stood near, waited in
silence for him to proceed.
6 1—TI—ought to have left here before,”
said Harry.
“You should indeed,” replied Rose,
“Forgive me for saying so, but I wish
“] was brought here by the most dread