"'In my favour,' echoed the astonished Alderman.
"'Distinctly in your favour, and it will make the whole of England laugh.'
"'At me?' inquired the Alderman, with an apprehensive note in his voice of quite pardonable nervousness.
"'No,' said the Lion, 'the laugh will be rather upon your side, I think.'
"'Indeed,' said the Alderman; 'well, that sounds a bit better.'
"'Moreover,' continued the Lion, 'for my own part I regret to say I shall be taken in a triumphant procession through the streets of London, guarded upon all sides by the police, and the whole proceedings throughout will be sufficiently ridiculous to cause me the acutest discomfort, all of which will be most undeserved and brought upon me by the extravagant adulation of my would-be admirers. However, I shall have to comfort myself in that time to come by considering that I am not the only victim who has been sacrificed from the same cause.'
"'Apart from the deep mystery attached to your strange prophecies,' observed the Alderman, 'which I do not pretend at present to understand, but which nevertheless I know will all come true, I am truly concerned about one thing. Are you really serious, Lal, in your intention of never speaking to me again? I feel the loss will be irreparable, for you have always been my wisest councillor from my boyhood upwards, and I only wish I had profited by your wisdom before and listened more attentively to your counsels in the past, whatever alterations I make in my life for the future.'
"'I shall never actually speak with either of you again,' replied Lal, 'but you will be able to live all your youthful days over again in him;' here Lal pointed to me. 'You can help him to avoid all the mistakes you have made yourself; yet do not misunderstand me, I shall give both of you a sign, and an unmistakable sign, to show how pleased I am if you fulfil all the expectations I shall have cherished about you.'
"'What sort of sign?' asked the Alderman.
"'I shall not tell you now, and you will both have to do an awful lot before I show you the sign that I am satisfied with you eventually.'