ted, I hopped up into my old place and Sam after me.

"'Hullo!' said Lal, 'you two have turned up again, have you?'

"'Yuss,' I replied; 'it's the only 'ome we've got, yer know, Lal.'

"'I must see what I can do for you,' mused the Lion. 'There is a man I
know who could give you work and help you at once, only his heart is
very hard at the present time; unfortunately success hasn't softened
him--he is a miser.'

"'Ain't a miser a bloke 'oo grabs all wot 'ee gits?' I suggested; 'if
so 'ee wouldn't do nothink 'ansome for Sam and me; the only copper as
we would git art of 'im would be the ones 'eed call up ter give us in
charge. A miser don't seem no good to us, as they wants change out o'
nothing.'

"'My dear little boy,' said Lal, 'your language may be pithy, but it is
so incorrect; your metaphors, moreover, are so mixed. I think,' said
the Lion, 'it is high time I took the Miser in hand; he is capable of
better things, and if success cannot give him the milk of human
kindness, I must try what sterner measures can effect. Get down now,'
continued the Lion, 'and both of you slip round the other side of the
pedestal and hide yourselves. I expect the Miser to pass this way
shortly, and you are not to interrupt on any account, or come back
until he has gone away, you understand.'

"'Yuss, Lal, anyfink to oblige. Come on, Sam, and may 'is 'eart
soften,' I said.

"Well, about a quarter of an hour afterwards, sure enough, a tall,
thin, elderly gentleman, with grey hair, in a top hat and frock coat,
came along, and he paused when he got to Lal, and looking round first
to see that he was not observed, he stopped beside Lal, and greeted him
with, 'Well, my old friend, and how are you this evening? do you feel
inclined to converse with me, or will you remain immovable, silent and
cold as you sometimes choose to be? Indeed I hope you feel disposed to
talk kindly to me, for I am far from happy, in fact it never entered
into my calculations that a highly successful man could ever be quite
so miserable.' After saying so much as this the elderly gentleman
paused, and observing that Lal had not taken any notice of his remarks
whatever, added in a lower tone, as if speaking to himself, 'Ah, not
communicable to-night, only bronze and stone, eh?'

"Then the Lion spoke. 'I am not the only thing of bronze and stone.
Have you ever thought how the definition might perhaps apply to
yourself, for instance, Alderman Simon Gold?'