the hopes that they would take him
with them when they paid their yearly visit to town.

All this, of course, was Thomas' Private History at this time. To the
family he was only known as "an excellent mouser," and "so good with
the children."

This troubled Thomas not a little.

It also troubled him that he was so exceedingly fond of mice.

He far preferred them to milk, which was a much more princely diet.
Once, even, the idea just crossed his mind, that, as he was so fond of
mice, perhaps he wasn't a prince after all, but only an ordinary tabby
cat. This thought he thrust from him with a flick of his tail.

"Just wait till I get to London," he said to himself. "When the Queen
sees me she will at once recognise me for what I am," and he twitched
his nose contemptuously at the stable cat who was just crossing the
yard.

The next day the family went up to London. Thomas, to his great
delight, was taken too. "He is such an excellent mouser," Papa had
said, and the children, "Oh we can't leave Thomas, he is such a
darling."

This had annoyed Thomas, and hurt his dignity. So, just before
starting, he went out to say good-bye to the stable cat.

"Good-bye," he said. "I don't suppose you will see me again, or if you
do, I don't suppose you will recognise me. I am going up to London to
marry the Queen."

The stable cat expressed no surprise at this remarkable statement. She
merely winked her yellow eyes and answered nothing.

"I suppose she thinks I am too fine to be spoken to by such as she!"
said Thomas to himself as he stalked away.

The journey up to London was certainly not a success as far as Thomas
was concerned.

He was put in a basket. This he considered undignified, as well as
uncomfortable, and he took no pains to conceal his feelings. He
scratched and spluttered at the side of the basket, and uttered his
opinion of the family with no uncertain voice. But nobody paid any
attention to him.

"Very well," he cried at last. "When I am King of England you won't
put me in a basket any more. The next time I go on a journey, it will
be in a coach and four."

Then he started thinking of how many mice he had caught last week, and
this thought comforted him so much that he curled round and went to
sleep for the rest of the journey.

The evening after they arrived, one of the young ladies of the family
was to go and see the Queen. Thomas privately decided to go with her.

He did not tell her