30 THE FIRESIDE SPHINX 



of export and import pervade the tale. There is no 

 graceful sentiment to hallow it ; and the utmost we 

 can claim for young Richard is that he was not 

 a weakling like the miller's son, who had to be 

 dragged by his cat to affluence and a throne. Once 

 started on the way, Dick built up his own fortunes 

 with a steady hand. Indeed, a boy who could so 

 lightly part with the only living thing he might 

 have held by his side, was in no danger of being 

 outstripped in the hard race for wealth. 



Commonplace as is the story of Whittington's 

 cat, it is nevertheless a legacy which we have no 

 mind to lose ; and all conscientious chroniclers 

 should protest against the grovelling preciseness 

 which would banish it from England's annals. 

 There are records to show that " Richard Whityng- 

 don " was thrice Lord Mayor of London, serving in 

 1397, 1406, and 1409 ; that he was born in Glouces- 

 tershire, was a mercer by trade, that he married 

 Alice Fitzwarren, and that he lent one thousand 

 pounds — doubtless at goodly interest — to King 

 Henry the Fourth. There is also the evidence of 

 that venerable stone which was found in the garden 

 of a house in Westgate Street, Gloucester, where the 

 grand-nephew of the Lord Mayor is known to have 

 lived in 1460. This stone represents in bas-relief 

 a boy holding in his arms a cat, the ever-famous cat 

 that lifted her young master from penury ;■ and it is 



