Concerning Cats 



trade in coal did not begin in Europe for some time 

 afterward. And there really seems nothing improb- 

 able in the story that at a time when a kitten big 

 enough to kill mice brought fourpence in England, 

 such an animal, taken to a rat-infested, catless coun- 

 try, might not be sold for a sum large enough to 

 start an enterprising youth in trade. Surely, the 

 beginnings of some of our own railroad kings and 

 financiers may as well look doubtful to future gen- 

 erations. 



It is a pretty story — that of Whittington ; how he 

 rose from being a mere scullion at fourteen, to being 

 "thrice Lord Mayor of London." According to 

 what are claimed to be authentic documents, the 

 story is something more than a nursery tale, and runs 

 thus : Poor Dick Whittington was bom at Shrop- 

 shire, of such very poor parents that the boy, being 

 of an ambitious nature, left home at fourteen, and 

 walked to London, where he was taken into the hos- 

 pital of St. John at Clerkenwell, in a menial capacity. 

 The prior, noticing his good behavior and diligent 

 conduct, took a fancy to him, and obtained him a 

 position in a Mr. Fitzwarren's household on Tower 

 Hill. For some time at this place his prospects did 

 not improve ; he was nothing but a scullion, ridiculed 

 and disliked by the cook and other servants. Add to 

 this the fact that an incredible swarm of mice and 

 rats infested the miserable room in which he slept, 

 and it would seem that he was indeed a " poor Rich- 



ii6 



