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.