"'Oh, a lot of things,' answered Lal, 'a very great many of them you would not understand now, even if I explained them to you, which I shall not think of doing. For instance, I see a very happy, cheerful and prosperous elderly gentleman--ahem!--whose acquaintance you will one day make, and whose amiable personality you in common with others will thoroughly appreciate. I see a future charming Lady Mayoress whose--ahem!--friendship you will be most glad of. I see two old friends falling out about a certain matter of business in all likelihood, and the _younger_ of the two will be absolutely in the right. I see an estrangement that doesn't last more than a few years, then a joyful reconciliation, perhaps all the more joyful on account of the former separation. Then,' said the Lion, 'I see something--ahem!--a series of most painful incidents, most unbecoming to myself as well as yourself.' "'Good gracious,' said the Alderman, 'I wonder whatever that can be?' "'Like most other things about which there is a great fuss and commotion, it will rise from a simple cause. There will be a great meeting held in a public building, and the result of that meeting will be in your favour.' "'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.'