"Indeed," said I, "it is difficult for me to think of it."

And I sat watching how his eyes glittered, and how the fresh life
seemed to glow in his face, and I wondered how at his age he should
think of the happiness of the world, or indeed anything but his
coming dinner.

"Tell me in detail," said I, "what lies east of Bloomsbury now?"

Said he: "There are but few houses between this and the outer part
of the old city; but in the city we have a thickly-dwelling
population. Our forefathers, in the first clearing of the slums,
were not in a hurry to pull down the houses in what was called at the
end of the nineteenth century the business quarter of the town, and
what later got to be known as the Swindling Kens. You see, these
houses, though they stood hideously thick on the ground, were roomy
and fairly solid in building, and clean, because they were not used
for living in, but as mere gambling booths; so the poor people from
the cleared slums took them for lodgings and dwelt there, till the
folk of those days had time to think of something better for them; so
the buildings were pulled down so gradually that people got used to
living thicker on the ground there than in most places; therefore it
remains the most populous part of London, or perhaps of all these
islands. But it is very pleasant there, partly because of the
splendour of the architecture, which goes further than what you will
see elsewhere. However, this crowding, if it may be called so, does
not go further than a street called Aldgate, a name which perhaps you
may have heard of. Beyond that the houses are scattered wide about
the meadows there, which are very beautiful, especially when you get