“Go, and get your cat, my lad. We shall send her out on the ship. She may bring you some profit,—who knows?”
With tears in his eyes poor Dick carried puss down to the ship and gave her to the captain. Everybody laughed at the boy for sending off a cat to be sold. But little Alice felt sorry for him and gave him some money to buy another cat.
After this the old cook used him more cruelly than ever. She was always either scolding him, or making fun of him for sending his cat to sea. At last Dick could not bear her abuse any longer, and made up his mind to go back to his old home. So he packed up his few possessions and very early one morning started off. After walking some distance he sat down on a stone which to this day is called “Whittington’s Stone.” While he sat there, wondering what it was best for him to do, the church bells began to ring. As he listened they seemed to say to him:—
“Turn again, Whittington,
Thrice Lord Mayor of London.”
“Lord Mayor of London!” said Dick to himself. “Well, well, I would put up with almost anything to be Lord Mayor of London. I shall return and let the old cook scold and cuff me as much as she pleases.” He hurried back to the merchant’s house and was lucky to get into the kitchen before the old cook came downstairs. In fact, she never knew that he had been away.
The ship with the cat on board was a long time at sea. It was at last driven by the winds to a strange land where the people had never seen any white men before. They came in crowds to visit the ship, and to buy the fine things with which it was loaded.
It was not long before the king of the country invited the captain to visit him. When the captain reached the king’s palace he was shown into a beautiful room, and given a seat on rich carpets embroidered with gold and silver thread. The king and queen were seated not far away, and soon many fine dishes filled with good things to eat were set before them. They had hardly begun to eat when a great many rats and mice rushed into the room and ate everything that was in the dishes. The captain wondered greatly at this, and asked the king, “Why do you let the rats come into the palace in this way?”
“I cannot keep them out,” the king replied. “I would give half of my treasure if I could get rid of them.”
The captain jumped for joy, for he remembered Dick Whittington’s cat. “I have a wonderful animal on board the ship which will kill all your rats and mice,” he said.