72 THE RETURN OF ALFRED
make a bolt of it; but, somehow or other, that was the last thing he desired to do.
It was all very ridiculous, he decided as, plucking a long blade of grass, he hoisted himself upon a gate giving access to a meadow, and proceeded to clean his pipe with the leisurely deliberation of an inveterate smoker. After all, the situation might develop quite naturally and pleasantly, although at the moment he had to admit the portents were not favourable.
He was roused from his thoughts and the enjoyment of his pipe by the sound of approaching footsteps. Coming towards him from the direction of Little Bilstead were two quaint little figures engaged apparently in an animated discussion. They looked as if they might have stepped straight out of a Jane Austen novel. They appeared to be discussing some topic of absorbing interest upon which they were not in entire agreement.
When within a few yards of the gate on which he sat, the one nearer to him glanced in his direction. She started, paused, then stopped dead. The other, following the direction of her companion's gaze, paused in turn, then, seizing the arm of the first, hurried her along.
As she who had first seen Smith passed, she bowed slightly, with a nervous, apprehensive side-glance at her companion. Smith lifted his cap and, a minute later, they passed out of sight round the bend in the road. He watched them disappear from view. Obviously the one who had bowed was getting it in the neck.
For some minutes he sat speculating as to the identity of the two quaint little ladies. Who could they be? Why had one hesitatingly acknowledged him, whilst the other ignored him altogether? Were they involved
