They could not arrive before the afternoon, and it was
considered hardly worth while to walk from Great Oakhurst to
Letherhead merely for the sake of an hour or two. In the morning Mrs
Caffyn was so busy with her old friends that she rather tired
herself, and in the evening Clara went for a stroll. She did not
know the country, but she wandered on until she came to a lane which
led down to the river. At the bottom of the lane she found herself
at a narrow, steep, stone bridge. She had not been there more than
three or four minutes before she descried two persons coming down the
lane from Letherhead. When they were about a couple of hundred yards
from her they turned into the meadow over the stile, and struck the
river-bank some distance below the point where she was. It was
impossible to mistake them; they were Madge and Baruch. They
sauntered leisurely; presently Baruch knelt down over the water,
apparently to gather something which he gave to Madge. They then
crossed another stile and were lost behind the tall hedge which
stopped further view of the footpath in that direction.
'The message then was authentic,' she said to herself. 'I thought I
could not have misunderstood it.'
On Sunday morning Clara wished to stay at home. She pleaded that she
preferred rest, but Mrs Caffyn vowed there should be no Norbury Park
if Clara did not go, and the kind creature managed to persuade a pig-
dealer to drive them over to Letherhead for a small sum,
notwithstanding it was Sunday.
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