1. UP TO LONDON.

1. In the reign of the famous king Edward the Third, there was a little boy named Dick Whitt-ing-ton, whose father and mother died when he was very young.

2. He knew nothing about them, and he was left, a poor little ragged, dirty fellow, to run about the streets of a small country village.

3. As poor Dick was not old enough to work, he was in a sad state; he got but little for his dinner, and often had nothing at all for his supper. For all the people in the village were very poor.

4. They could often spare him nothing more than an old crust of bread, or some scraps that even a dog would not have liked. One day a man who was driving a waggon came through the village.

5. He had eight fine large horses to pull it, and, as he walked by their side, he spoke kindly to them, and never whipped them. This made Dick think that he must be a good man.

6. “If he is kind to the horses,” said Dick to himself, “perhaps he will be kind to a poor lad like me.” So Dick went up to speak to the carter and asked him to let him walk along by the side of his waggon.

7. The two began to talk, and the man, hearing from poor Dick that he had no parents, and seeing how ragged his clothes were, took pity on him. He told Dick that he was going with the waggon to London town. “And,” added the man, “you may come with me if you like.

8. “I do not think that you can be much worse off there than you are here; and perhaps you may be better off in the great city. You may ride in the waggon if you please.”

9. Dick was glad enough to do this, and the good driver took care to share his food with him on the way. He took as much care of the horses and of Dick as he did of himself. Dick got safe to London.

10. Now before he had seen the streets of London, Dick had thought that they were made of gold, for an old man in the village at home had told him so. But the old man had only been in joke. He meant that folks often became rich there.

11. So Dick ran away from the waggon in a great hurry, to find the golden pavements. But he saw nothing except mud and dirt, and a crowd of people all looking very busy, who took no heed of him.

12. Instead of being able to pick up little bits of gold from the streets when he wanted money, Dick now found that he could not find even a penny to buy a loaf for himself, and no one gave him one either.

13. He stayed all night in the streets, and, next morning, he got up and walked about, asking those whom he met to give him something to keep him from starving.

14. Hardly any man or boy whom he asked gave him a copper. But at last, a woman, seeing his pale face, drew out two pence and put them into Dick’s thin hand.

15. Being almost too tired and weak to buy food, Dick laid himself down on the doorstep of a big house. He almost wished to die, for he felt so lonely and forlorn in that great town, where no one had time to think about a poor little ragged boy.

Write: Dick went to London with a man. When he was there, he could get no food. A kind woman gave him two pence.

Questions: 1. In what king’s reign did Dick Whittington live? 2. In what kind of place was he born? 3. Whom did he meet going through the village? 4. How did Dick know that the driver was a good man? 5. What did he do when he first reached London? 6. What did the kind woman give to Dick?

2. THE STRAY CAT.

1. As Dick was hiding his face in his hands and thinking these sad things, he felt something very soft rubbing gently against his neck, which was close to the hard cold stone step, and he heard a pleasant sound at his ear.

2. It was the purring of a poor little stray cat, which was trying to make friends with him. Dick sat up, and stroked puss. “Why, you are just like me!” said Dick. “I believe that you have no home and no friends either, you poor little thing.”

3. When the cat heard Dick speak so kindly to her, she crept into his lap, looking into his face as if to say, “Are you going to let me come, or will you drive me away, as all the rest of the world does?”

4. Finding that Dick put one arm round her she curled herself up, purring loudly, and seemed to think that she had found a home with him on the doorstep.

5. “Poor pussy!” said Dick, “how thin you are, and how rough your coat is! Come, I will go and get something for us both to eat.” Dick ran along the street with the cat in his arms.

6. She could not do enough to thank him for taking care of her. For she had been hunted through the streets for many days. The people with whom she had lived were gone away and left poor puss behind to starve in an empty house.

7. They went to a shop and bought milk and bread. It was a fine feast for them both, and I do not know which of them liked it best.

8. The rude boys in the street laughed at Dick for running along with a cat in his arms. But he was too brave a boy to care for that. He only hugged his cat the tighter, and laughed at them in return. So they soon left off.

9. That night, Dick had again no place to sleep in but the doorway of a big house. He made himself and his cat as snug as he could, and had just fallen asleep when he heard a cross voice say, “What are you doing here, you lazy scamp?”

10. This was a cook, who was just coming out. And at the same moment her master came out behind her. He, too, saw Dick, and said: “Why do you lie there, my lad? You seem big enough to work. I fear that you must be idle.”

11. “No, indeed, sir,” said Dick. “I would work with all my heart, but I know no one to give me work, and I think that I am ill from want of food and a dry, warm bed.”

12. “Poor fellow!” said the rich merchant, who was master of the house. “Come here to me. Let us see what is the matter with you.”

Write: A poor little stray cat came to Dick. He spoke kindly to her and went to buy bread and milk for both. They liked the food very much.

Questions: 1. What did Dick feel as he lay on the doorstep? 2. What did he say to the stray cat? 3. What did he buy for them both? 4. Who came out of the door as Dick was sleeping on the step? 5. Who came out after the maid? 6. What did the master of the house say to Dick?

3. THE CROSS CROOK.

1. As Dick came up to the merchant, his knees trembled under him, and he looked very ill and weak. He had put the little cat under his jacket, so that the merchant did not notice her.

2. “You seem half starved,” said the merchant. And he told the cook to give Dick a good meal at once, make him up a bed in the garret, and let him stay with them.

3. He might do what dirty work in the kitchen he could for the cook. Little Dick would have been very happy now, but for the cross cook, who was finding fault and scolding all the day long.

4. She would rush at poor Dick with her broom, and hit him hard on the head. And what was worse, she chased his poor little cat right out of the house, and said she would have no cats there.

5. Dick found his pussy again, and took her up into his own bare and empty garret, where she was safe, for the cook never went there. And pussy was his only friend at that time.

6. Dick was careful to carry food to his cat, of which there was always plenty to be had in that house. But things became worse and worse in the kitchen.

7. The temper of the cross cook was tried more and more by the little mice, which ran over all her nice pies and puddings, and spoilt them as fast as she made them.

8. She flew into a passion with Dick twenty times a day, but it was of no use to do this. She set traps for the mice, but they soon found out the trick, and would not go near them.

9. The cunning little things laughed at cook and her clumsy traps, and made merry all night long over the floor of her room, running races, and keeping her awake.

10. So she grew crosser and crosser, till at last Dick felt as if he could not stand it much longer. But his master was always kind, and he thought that he would never leave him if he could help it.

11. He thought that things might mend and he tried to be patient. And his cat was always ready with a loving greeting for Dick when he came to his room.

12. At last one day Dick’s master called all his servants upstairs into his room. He said that a ship of his was going to sail for a foreign land in a few days.

13. He asked them if any of them would like to send some things out in the ship to be sold. In those days much money was to be made by selling English goods in other lands.

14. All said that they would like to send something. But poor little Dick said not a word. He had nothing in the world but the clothes he had on, and his cat.

Write: Dick was told that he might do work for the cook. But she was very cross to him and to his cat. He kept puss in his own room and took care to feed her.

Questions: 1. What did the merchant say about Dick? 2. What did the cook say about the cat? 3. Where did Dick keep her? 4. What was he careful to carry up for his cat? 5. What did the merchant ask his servants? 6. Why did Dick say nothing when all the rest spoke?

4. WHAT THE BELLS SAID

1. Now the merchant had a little daughter, called Alice. And she was a kind little girl. She looked at the sad face of poor Dick, and she said in a whisper to her father, “Why does not that little boy speak like the rest?”

2. “You had better ask him,” said the father, giving his little girl a kiss before he went out of the room.

3. So Alice went up to Dick and asked him why he had not sent some small thing that could be sold for much money in the foreign land, though it cost only a little here.

4. “All the rest are going to send,” said little Alice, “and when the ship comes back they will get the money. Why do you not send something in the ship too?”

5. “I have nothing to send,” said poor Dick, looking very sad. “I am a poor boy. The cook is unkind to me, and I have nothing of my own but a cat.”

6. “I have got some money in my purse, I will give it to you,” said little Alice. But Dick said that he should not like to take money from the little girl.

7. Just then the merchant came back into the room. He had heard what Dick said about having nothing but a cat.

8. “Fetch your cat, boy, and let her go,” said he. “I heard the captain of the ship say that he wanted a cat to clear the ship of mice. He will give you money for her.”

9. “Oh no, sir,” cried Dick, “I could not give up my poor cat. She loves me, and I love her. She has grown such a beauty, sir, and she can almost talk. I could not get on without her, please, sir.”

10. “Well, if you cannot be parted, why not go too?” “So I could, sir,” said Dick. “Well, you are a smart boy, and we will see. The captain lives near. You had better run and ask him what he thinks.”

11. Dick was not long in fetching his cap. He almost flew along the streets, and as he did so he heard Bow bells begin to ring.

12. He felt so full of high spirits at the thought of ending his hard life in the kitchen, with the cross cook, that the bells seemed to be singing a merry tune to him.

13. Dick stopped for a moment to listen, and as he did so, their chime came to his ears like the sound of his own name. They seemed to say:

“Turn again, Whittington,
Lord Mayor of London.”

14. “This must be my fancy,” said Dick, as he ran on to the house of the captain. “But it is very pleasant to be spoken to kindly, even by the bells. And I wonder whether good fortune is in store for me at last?”

Write: Dick could not part with his cat. So his master said that he might go with her in the ship. He went to ask the captain.

Questions: 1. What did Alice ask Dick? 2. What did Dick answer? 3. What did his master say when he came into the room? 4. What was Dick’s reply? 5. Where did he run? 6. What did he hear the bells say?

5. THE KING'S DINNER.

1. The ship, with Dick and his cat on board, was soon at sea. But Dick began to think that worse luck than ever was going to befall him.

2. For there was a heavy storm, and the ship was nearly wrecked on the coast of a land then unknown to the English. This land was filled with black people called Moors.

3. When the captain and his men, with Dick and the cat, landed on this shore, the natives came in great numbers to gaze at them. They had never seen people with white faces before.

4. As they came to know the captain and his sailors better, these black men would go on board the ship. The English sailors showed them all the goods which they had brought from England.

5. The black men wished to buy them. As they had gold in great lumps and heaps, they were willing to give a high price for what the servants had sent out from the merchant’s house.

6. The captain, seeing how much pleasure the things gave, sent some of the goods to the king of the country. He was so much pleased with them that he sent for the captain and his friends to the palace.

7. As Dick and his cat had been very useful on the voyage, the captain took them with him, and they soon reached the palace.

8. Here they sat on cushions and carpets made of rich silk and worked in gold and silver. And the king and queen being seated at the upper end of the table, the dinner was brought in.

9. But no sooner were the dishes set in front of them, in plates of gold and silver, than a rushing sound was heard. In an instant a whole army of mice and rats came running in.

10. They were so bold that they leaped on the table and began to devour the food from the king’s own plate. In a few minutes nothing would have been left.

11. The guests had to drive them away, and snatch a few hasty morsels before they came back again. But the creatures seemed to care for nothing, for they ran back as fast as they were made to go.

12. The captain was full of surprise. “Are not these mice and rats a great trouble to you?” he asked the king. “Oh yes, they are indeed!” said he.

13. “They not only eat up almost all we have, but they disturb us even in our own bedrooms. We are sadly afraid that there will be a famine next year, for they are eating up all the seed and corn in the land.”

14. The captain was ready to jump for joy when he heard this, for he called to mind the cat, which Dick had left in the ship.

15. As it was not far off, he bade Dick run and fetch her at once. “I think we can help you,” he said to the king; but he only shook his head, for he had tried all ways to get rid of the rats and mice, without success.

Write: The captain sold the goods for a good price. He went to see the king of that land. He found that there were many rats and mice at the palace.

Questions: 1. What misfortune happened to the ship? 2. What sort of people did the captain find on the coast where he landed? 3. What did they give instead of the goods? 4. Where did the captain go with his friends next? 5. What went on at the king’s dinner-table? 6. What did the captain tell Dick to fetch?

6. THE QUEEN AND THE KITTENS.

1. Taking puss in his arms, Dick was surprised to find that she tried to get away from him again, and to run down to the cabin below. This was the first time that she had done so, and he could not make it out.

2. She struggled to get away each time that Dick tried to carry her out of the ship, making an odd sort of “miew,” and trying to coax him to come where she led him.

3. At last he ran after puss, down the cabin steps, and at the bottom, in a dark corner, he found that puss had hidden five pretty little kittens!

4. She was purring with all her might over them, and she tried to say, “Did you ever see five such sweet little things? How could you ask me to leave them? They would die if I did. Though I love you dearly I cannot go away.”

5. So Dick found a warm piece of flannel, and wrapping the baby pussies up in it, he took the whole lot with him. Puss was ready enough to come when she saw this.

6. He made as much haste as he could. Soon he came into the palace with the kittens under one arm and their proud mother purring under the other.

7. No sooner did Dick enter than the cat began to sniff the air. Then she caught a glimpse of the rats and mice, which were still feasting on the table. The cloth was black with them.

8. In one instant she sprang from his arms. She laid a dozen rats and mice dead at the king’s feet in half a minute, and all the rest were scared out of their wits, and ran away.

9. They had never seen a cat before, for there were none in that land. The king had never seen one either; and his queen did not know what sort of beast puss was at all. But she thought her very pretty.

10. “What is this strange, useful creature; what is it called?” said the king, “and where did you get it? I will give all I have to buy it from you, rather than be left without one.”

11. But though the king sent for a great sack of gold, so heavy that it took three men to bring it into the room, Dick would not hear of selling his friend.

12. “What is that bundle under your arm?” said the captain to Dick. And then the boy showed him the kittens.

13. “Why these are even more pretty than the beast itself,” said the queen, and she wished to have all the kittens in her lap. Poor woman! she had never before nursed a kitten in her life!

14. “You had better sell these to the king,” the captain said in a whisper to Dick. “Tell him that some day they will grow up to be cats like yours, and in due time will have little ones of their own.”

15. “But it would be cruel to take them all away from their mother,” said Dick, for he had seen how quickly his cat had run to the queen to beg for her little ones.

16. The cat was not afraid to stare even into the face of a king, and ask him bravely to put down the little kit which he had taken into his royal hands.

17. Puss had at last taken all her treasures to a mat near the door, where she was busy washing their faces. She did not care to have so many folks pulling them about.

18. “You must leave one for the mother, and sell the rest,” said the captain. “She will not fret long if you leave her one child. And we cannot take them all five back on the ship. There would be too many.”

Write: Dick found that his cat had five little kits. He took them with him to the house of the king. The queen was pleased; she had never seen a kitten before.

Questions: 1. What was Dick surprised to find when he took up his cat? 2. Where did she try to lead him? 3. What had puss got in a corner? 4. How did Dick manage to bring the kittens to the palace? 5. What did his cat do when she got there? 6. What did the queen wish?

7. THE END OF PUSSY.

1. “But I should like them to stay little always,” said the queen, after she had been told that the kittens would soon grow big enough to catch mice.

2. “That is a foolish remark, my love,” said the king. “They are here to kill mice, and the sooner they get big, the better.

3. “And you forget that they will have kittens by-and-by,” added the king. “In time we shall have, what is their name? oh, cats.

4. “Well, we shall have cats enough to keep the whole land free from mice and rats.” And he was ready to dance and clap his hands. Only that would not have been proper for a king.

5. The end of it was that Dick and the captain set sail for England with a shipload of gold, and puss went with them, with her one baby. She did not miss the rest much after a time.

6. When Dick reached London again, he was very rich indeed. But as he grew older he learned that money cannot make people happy, unless they do good to others with it.

7. He gave his friend the captain a handsome present of gold, and he did not forget one of his old friends at home. To each one he gave what they most needed.

8. Even the cross cook was not passed over, for Dick thought that her bad temper might be made better by a gift, and so it was.

9. But there was one above all to whom he showed the greatest care. This was his cat. Of course she did not live so long as Dick did, for the lives of cats do not often last more than about sixteen years.

10. By the time that Dick was the father of some dear little children, his faithful old puss was very very old and weak. Alice was now his wife.

11. Pussy spent all her time by the warm fire, and she had all she wanted. No one was ever unkind to her, and though she was not able to catch mice any more, she was treated with great honour.

12. One day, as Dick, now a fine rich man in good clothes and in a grand house, was sitting in his arm-chair, his old puss dragged herself slowly up to his feet.

13. She begged to get on his lap once more. Dick, who knew well what she meant, though she could not speak, stooped and lifted her up.

14. Pussy purred, as she lifted her dim eyes to his face, gave one sigh, and lay quite still. She was dead, and Dick buried her himself, under a laurel tree in his garden.

15. “If it had not been for her I might have died in the streets myself,” said he. “It was puss who made my fortune, and I am certain of this one thing: those who show mercy and love, will have the same shown to them.”

Write: Dick sold his kittens for gold. But he let the mother-cat keep one. At last his cat died of old age. Dick was kind to her to the end of her life.

Questions: 1. What did the Queen want the kittens to do? 2. What did Dick find out about money as he grew older? 3. To whom did he show the greatest care? 4. What about the cross cook? 5. What did the old cat do one day? 6. What did Dick say that he was quite certain of?