1. Now the merchant had a little daughter, called Alice. And she was a kind little girl. She looked at the sad face of poor Dick, and she said in a whisper¹ to her father, "Why does not that little boy speak like the rest?"  
2. "You had better ask him," said the father, giving his little girl a kiss before he went out of the room.
 
3. So Alice went up to Dick and asked him why he had not sent some small thing that could be sold for much money in the foreign land, though it cost only a little here.
 
4. "All the rest are going to send," said little Alice, "and when the ship comes back they will get the money. Why do you not send something in the ship too?"
 
5. "I have nothing to send," said poor Dick, looking very sad. "I am a poor boy. The cook is unkind² to me, and I have nothing of my own but a cat."[Pg 13]
 
6. "I have got some money in my purse, I will give it to you," said little Alice. But Dick said that he should not like to take money from the little girl.
 
7. Just then the merchant came back into the room. He had heard what Dick said about having nothing but a cat.
 
8. "Fetch your cat, boy, and let her[Pg 14] go," said he. "I heard the captain of the ship say that he wanted a cat to clear the ship of mice. He will give you money for her."
 
9. "Oh no, sir," cried Dick, "I could not give up my poor cat. She loves me, and I love her. She has grown such a beauty, sir, and she can almost talk. I could not get on without her, please, sir."
 
10. "Well, if you cannot be parted, why not go too?" "So I could, sir," said Dick. "Well, you are a smart boy, and we will see. The captain lives near. You had better run and ask him what he thinks."
 
11. Dick was not long in fetching his cap. He almost flew along the streets, and as he did so he heard Bow bells begin to ring.
 
12. He felt so full of high spirits at the thought of ending his hard life in the kitchen, with the cross cook, that the bells seemed to be singing a merry tune³ to him.
 
13. Dick stopped for a moment to listen, and as he did so, their chime came to his[Pg 15] ears like the sound of his own name. They seemed to say:
 
"Turn again, Whittington,
Lord⁴ Mayor⁵ of London."
14. "This must be my fancy," said Dick, as he ran on to the house of the captain. "But it is very pleasant to be spoken to kindly⁶, even by the bells. And I wonder whether good fortune is in store for me at last?"
 
Write: Dick could not part with his cat. So his master said that he might go with her in the ship. He went to ask the captain.
 
Questions: 1. What did Alice ask Dick? 2. What did Dick answer? 3. What did his master say when he came into the room? 4. What was Dick's reply? 5. Where did he run? 6. What did he hear the bells say?