idea of wealth had occurred to him for the first time
on looking at the golden clouds that evening--and images were often
presented to his thoughts by outward objects quite as remote and
distant; or whether their poor and humble way of life had suggested it,
by contrast, long ago; or whether the accident (as he would deem it) of
the blind man's pursuing the current of his own remarks, had done so at
the moment; or he had been impressed by the mere circumstance of the
man being blind, and, therefore, unlike any one with whom he had talked
before; it was impossible to tell. She tried every means to discover,
but in vain; and the probability is that Barnaby himself was equally in
the dark.

It filled her with uneasiness to find him harping on this string, but
all that she could do, was to lead him quickly to some other subject,
and to dismiss it from his brain. To caution him against their visitor,
to show any fear or suspicion in reference to him, would only be, she
feared, to increase that interest with which Barnaby regarded him, and
to strengthen his desire to meet him once again. She hoped, by plunging
into the crowd, to rid herself of her terrible pursuer, and then, by
journeying to a distance and observing increased caution, if that were
possible, to live again unknown, in secrecy and peace.

They reached, in course of time, their halting-place within ten miles of
London, and lay there for the night, after bargaining to be carried on
for a trifle next day, in a light van which was returning empty, and was
to start at five o'clock in the morning. The driver was punctual, the
road good--save for the dust, the weather being very hot and dry--and at
seven in the forenoon of Friday the second of June, one thousand seven
hundred and eighty, they alighted at the foot of Westminster Bridge,
bade their conductor farewell, and stood alone, together, on the
scorching pavement. For the freshness which night sheds upon such
busy thoroughfares had already departed, and the sun was shining with
uncommon lustre.

Chapter 48

Uncertain where to go next, and bewildered by the crowd of people who
were already astir, they sat down in one of the recesses on the bridge,
to rest. They soon became aware that the stream of life was all pouring
one way, and that a vast throng of persons were crossing the river
from the Middlesex to the Surrey shore, in unusual haste and evident
excitement. They were, for the most part, in knots of