There were a great many people in the street, and it was about eleven o'clock in the morning when I found we were drawing near the shop which I had planned to enter by one door and to leave by another.
'Couldn't we buy something there?' I asked.
'Where, my lad?'
'There,' I said, pointing to the chief entrance.
'That is too dear for the likes of us, Jacky.'
'Oh,' I cried, 'but I know what I could buy.'
'What?' he demanded, and I began to wonder whether I had betrayed too much eagerness.
'An evening necktie,' I replied. 'They only cost about fourpence.'
'Jacky,' said Mr. Parsons, and I felt his grasp on my arm tighten, 'Jacky, that is the sort of shop a lad like you might easily get lost in. He might even make a mistake in the door, Jacky. No, we won't go in there, but I will tell you where we will go.'
'Where?' I asked, quaking with fear.