‘No, sir, quite right—­they are twopence each,’ he replied, to my great relief; for I had begun to suspect they might be two guineas.  ‘Will you do me the favour to step this way?’ While following at his side, I asked myself whether, at the end of my travels, I should ever be able to find my way back again; so bewildering were the ramifications through which we passed.  Presently he handed me over to another nobleman, who, having learned my pleasure (which by this time had developed rather painful tendencies), graciously escorted me to the further end of a long counter, and begged me to take a chair.  A stylishly-dressed young lady sailed towards us behind the counter.  ’I shall feel extremely obliged,’ said the nobleman to her, ’If you will be so good as to request Miss Doubleyou to step down, and serve this gentleman.  ’Yes, sir,’ answered the young lady, as she vanished somewhere behind me; for my eyes were now following the retreating figure of the nobleman.  After a little while I heard a pattering of feet, and, looking round, beheld some tokens of a young lady descending a spiral staircase.  She was behind the counter the next moment and then I made a discovery.  It was the same young lady who had served me with the farthing’s worth of pins years before!  I recognised her at once, and I suspect the recognition was mutual.  But, of course, she never betrayed the least emotion.’And what article may I have the pleasure to serve you with?’ she asked, m the still small voice of a duchess.  There was a gulping sensation in my throat as I answered, ’You have, I believe, in one corner of one of your windows a number of little Japanese baskets, marked, if my eyes did not deceive me, twopence each. (The graceful nod of her head was reassuring.) I should be very glad to become the possessor of one of those articles.’  ’Certainly, sir, I’ll bring it to you,’ she answered.  ‘Oh, thank you!’ I returned, delighted at the prospect; and so she departed on her errand of mercy.

“Whether, by the rules of the establishment, it was necessary for her to obtain a written permission from each of those three noblemen to pass over their territory and invade the shop window, or whether she lost herself in the numerous windings and turnings through which I had been conducted in perfect safety, I cannot say; I only know that she was gone a very long time.  But when at last she made her reappearance with one of those little Japanese baskets in her hand, and beaming with smiles, I felt I owed her an everlasting debt of gratitude.  She did not ask me if there was any other article she could have the pleasure of showing me; she had asked me that before and she remembered that I was proof against her persuasiveness!  The fair creature simply made a movement towards the spiral staircase, as I thought, to fetch down a witness to the important transaction, until my eyes rested on some tissue paper.  ’Pray don’t stay to wrap it up,’ I exclaimed, ‘my pockets are ample,’ and my thanks were profuse.