d 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.

Mr. Fitzwarren ordered a chair to be set for him, and then the lad
began to think that they were making fun of him.

"I beg that you won't play tricks with a poor boy like me," he said.
"Please let me go back to my work."

"Mr. Whittington," said Mr. Fitzwarren, "this is no joke at all. The
captain has sold your cat, and has brought you, in return for her,
more riches than I have in the whole world."

Then he opened the box of jewels, and showed Dick his treasures.

The poor boy did not know what to do. He begged his master to take a
part of it; but Mr. Fitzwarren said, "No, it is all your own; a