“Bring the creature to me,” he said.  “If she will do what you say, I will load your ship with gold.”

The captain made believe that he would be very sorry to part with the cat; but at last he went down to the ship to get her, while the king and queen made haste to have another dinner made ready.

The captain, with puss under his arm, reached the palace just in time to see the table crowded with rats.  The cat leaped out upon them, and oh! what havoc she did make among the trou-ble-some creatures!  Most of them were soon stretched dead upon the floor, while the rest scam-pered away to their holes, and did not dare to come out again.

The king had never been so glad in his life; and the queen asked that the creature which had done such wonders should be brought to her.  The captain called, “Pussy, pussy, pussy!” and the cat came up and rubbed against his legs.  He picked her up, and offered her to the queen; but at first the queen was afraid to touch her.

However, the captain stroked the cat, and called, “Pussy, pussy, pussy!” and then the queen ventured to touch her.  She could only say, “Putty, putty, putty!” for she had not learned to talk English.  The captain then put the cat down on the queen’s lap, where she purred and purred until she went to sleep.

The king would not have missed getting the cat now for the world.  He at once made a bargain with the captain for all the goods on board the ship; and then he gave him ten times as much for the cat as all the rest came to.

The captain was very glad.  He bade the king and queen good-by, and the very next day set sail for England.

V. The fortune.

One morning Mr. Fitzwarren was sitting at his desk in his office.  He heard some one tap softly at his door, and he said,—­

“Who’s there?”

“A friend,” was the answer.  “I have come to bring you news of your ship ‘U-ni-corn.’”

Mr. Fitzwarren jumped up quickly, and opened the door.  Whom should he see waiting there but the captain, with a bill of lading in one hand and a box of jewels in the other?  He was so full of joy that he lifted up his eyes, and thanked Heaven for sending him such good fortune.

The captain soon told the story of the cat; and then he showed the rich present which the king and queen had sent to poor Dick in payment for her.  As soon as the good gentleman heard this, he called out to his servants,—­

     “Go send him in, and tell him of his fame; Pray call him Mr.
     Whittington by name.”

Some of the men who stood by said that so great a present ought not to be given to a mere boy; but Mr. Fitzwarren frowned upon them.

“It is his own,” he said, “and I will not hold back one penny from him.”

Dick was scouring the pots when word was brought to him that he should go to the office.

“Oh, I am so dirty!” he said, “and my shoes are full of hob-nails.”  But he was told to make haste.