f him.

12. Instead of being able to pick up little bits of gold from the
streets when he wanted money, Dick now found that he could not find
even a penny to buy a loaf for himself, and no one gave him one either.

13. He stayed all night in the streets, and, next morning, he got up
and walked about, asking those whom he met to give him something to
keep him from starving.

14. Hardly any man or boy whom he asked gave him a copper. But at last,
a woman, seeing his pale face, drew out two pence and put them into
Dick's thin hand.

15. Being almost too tired and weak to buy food, Dick laid himself down
on the doorstep of a big house. He almost wished to die, for he felt so
lonely and forlorn in that great town, where no one had time to think
about a poor little ragged boy.

* * * * *

_Write:_ Dick went to London with a man. When he was there, he could
get no food. A kind woman gave him two pence.

Questions: 1. In what king's reign did Dick Whittington
live? 2. In what kind of place was he born? 3. Whom did he
meet going through the village? 4. How did Dick know that
the driver was a good man? 5. What did he do when he first
reached London? 6. What did the kind woman give to Dick?

2. THE STRAY CAT.

1. As Dick was hiding his face in his hands and thinking these sad
things, he felt something very soft rubbing gently against his neck,
which was close to the hard cold stone step, and he heard a pleasant
sound at his ear.

2. It was the purring of a poor little stray cat, which was trying to
make friends with him. Dick sat up, and stroked puss. "Why, you are
just like me!" said Dick. "I believe that you have no home and no
friends either, you poor little thing."

3. When the cat heard Dick speak so kindly to her, she crept into his
lap, looking into his face as if to say, "Are you going to let me
come, or will you drive me away, as all the rest of the world does?"

4. Finding that Dick put one arm round her she curled herself up,
purring loudly, and seemed to think that she had found a home with him
on the doorstep.

5. "Poor pussy!" said Dick, "how thin you are, and how rough your coat
is! Come, I will go and get something for us both to eat." Dick ran
along the street with the cat in his arms.

6. She could not do enough to thank him for taking care of her. For she
had been hunted through the streets for many days. The people with whom
she had li