David thought this rather an odd way of doing things, since you usually had your shampoo first, and your brushing afterwards, but the hairdresser didn’t seem to mind. The old gentleman bent over the basin, with his eggs and bacon on his knee, and continued breakfasting.
‘Boiling or freezing, sir?’ asked the hairdresser.
‘Boiling first and then freezing,’ said the old gentleman, with his mouth full. ‘No, freezing first and boiling afterwards. And where did you come from?’ he asked David.
‘From the house next the Bank, I think,’ said David. ‘I came by the 11.29.’
‘A fine train,’ said he, ‘a very fine train. There’s nothing slower anywhere.’
The hairdresser wrapped a towel round his head, and began drying it.
‘And what will you have on, sir?’ he asked.
The old gentleman considered a little.
‘I think a map of south-west London would be best,’ he said. ‘I’m going up there next week, and I don’t know my way about. It would be very tiresome to get lost. But if you give me a nice map of south-west London, with 25 Brompton Square marked in red, why, all I shall have to do, if I get lost, is to ring the nearest bell of the nearest house, and ask for a couple of looking-glasses.’
‘What for?’ asked David.