And
as they went on, the doctor could not but note, as before, how the
object of his curiosity lingered wherever there was a press of people,
whether on the pavement or on a refuge at a crossing, and hurried on
wherever the pavement was sparsely peopled or whenever the persons
encountered were at all advanced in years. Indeed, the farther he
followed the more was his attention compelled to remark that Hernando
sharply avoided contact with the weakly, the old, and the decrepit, and
wonder why the young people of either sex whom he brushed against should
turn as if the touch of him waked suspicion and a something hostile.
Thus they traversed the Haymarket, the Criterion pavement, and, flitting
across to the Quadrant, the more popular side of Regent Street, among
pushing groups, weary stragglers, and steady pedestrians. Lefevre had a
mind to turn aside and go home when he was opposite Vigo Street, but he
was drawn on by the hope of observing something that might give him a
clue to the Courtney mystery. When Oxford Circus was reached, however,
Hernando jumped into a cab and drove rapidly off, and Lefevre returned
to his own fireside.
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