Good-bye, wishing you
a good time, and don't forget that man Rodden." They shook the Baby
warmly by the hand, and reciprocated his good wishes, Coristine
promising to keep his eyes and ears open for news of the Grinstun man.
"Did you overhear our talk, Wilks, my boy?" he asked his friend.
"No; I thought it was private, and kept in the background. I do not
consider it honourable to listen to a conversation to which one is not
invited, and doubtless it was of no interest to me."
"But it is, Wilks; listen to this now," and volubly the lawyer poured
forth the information and his suspicions concerning Mr. Rawdon. That
gentleman's ears would have tingled could he have heard the pleasant and
complimentary things that Coristine said about him.
The first clearing the pedestrians reached, after an hour's walk since
parting with Rufus, was a desolate looking spot. Some fallow fields were
covered with thistles, docks, fire-weed and stately mulleins, with, here
and there, an evening primrose, one or two of which the lawyer inserted
in his flower-press. There was hardly any ground under cultivation, and
the orchard bore signs of neglect.
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