Betty stared at her. “Not Dick Whittington?”
“Yes—that’s Dick Whittington grown up, and this is the third time he’s been Lord Mayor of London.”
“Why, I’ve been to a pantomime about him!” exclaimed Betty. “I never knew he was a real person.”
“He’s a very real person, as you see.”
“Then it’s true, about his cat, and Bow Bells ringing ‘Turn again, Whittington,’ and Alice, the beautiful girl he married, who was his master’s daughter?” asked Betty, all in one breath.
“I’m afraid it’s not all true, though a great deal of it is. In the story, he’s a poor boy who leaves London with a bundle on his back, to seek his fortune. Stopping to rest on Highgate Hill he hears the bells of Bow calling him to return, for he shall be Lord Mayor of London. Well, I’m afraid he wasn’t a poor boy. He was the son of a country gentleman, and he was sent to live with a relation of his, a great London merchant called Sir John Fitzwarren. Dick was an industrious boy while he was learning his trade, and now he has grown very rich. His wife is Alice Fitzwarren, his master’s daughter, and he is Lord Mayor. So a good deal of the story is true after all.”
“But the cat?” said Betty. “Isn’t it true about his lovely cat?”
“Something must be true about the cat, because later on, the image of a cat was put on all the houses that were built with the money Dick Whittington left for that purpose. So a cat must have had something to do with his success. I only wish we knew exactly what it was! Dick Whittington is now so wealthy that he sometimes gives banquets to the King, and he has a splendid house not far from the Chepe.”
“He looks nice and kind,” said Betty.
“He is very generous, and has done much for London. Already he is building a monastery and some almshouses for poor people.”