The cook was very cross to Dick and whipped him almost every day.
His bed in the attic was only a pile of old rags.
He soon found that there were many rats and mice in the attic.
They ran over his bed and made so much noise every night that he could not sleep.
"I wish I had a cat," thought Dick, "for she could eat up these rats and mice."
One day Dick earned a penny by blacking a man's shoes.
"I will try to buy a cat with this penny," thought Dick.
So he started out and soon met a woman with a large cat.