thought of London and its golden streets. And then, suddenly, when he heard
this, curious Mr. Zanti grew very grave indeed, and his eyes were very
large, and he put a finger mysteriously to his nose. Then he leant right
over Peter and almost whispered in his ear.

"And you shall--of course you shall. You shall come to London and 'ave
adventures--'eaps and 'eaps and 'eaps. Oh, yes, bless my soul, shan't he,
Mr. Tan? Dear me, yes--London, my young friend, is the most wonderful
place. In one week, if you are clever, you 'ave made thousands of
pounds--thousands and thousands. Is it not so, Mr. Tan? When you are just
a little bit older, a few years--then you shall come. And you ask for your
friend, Mr. Emilio Zanti--because I like you. We will be friends, is not
that so?"

And he held out his large fat hand and grasped Peter's small and rather
damp one. Then he bent even closer, still holding Peter's hand: "Do you
know one thing?" he whispered.

"No," replied Peter, husky with awe.

"It is this, that when you think of Mr. Zanti and of London and of
adventures, you will look in a looking-glass--any looking-glass, and you
will see--what you will see," and he nodded all over his fat face.

Peter was entirely overcome by this last astonishing statement, and was
very relieved to hear numbers of clocks in the curiosity shop strike five
o'clock. He got off his chair, said good-bye very politely indeed, and
hurried up the dark street.

For the moment even his beloved Stephen was forgotten, and looking-glasses,