Concerning Cats 



pected to turn her into money ; but the opportunity 

 soon came. 



At a state banquet, given by the Dey, the captain 

 and his officers were astonished to notice that rats and 

 mice ran freely in and out, stealing half the choice 

 food, which was spread on the carpet ; and this was 

 a common, every-day occurrence. The captain saw 

 his, or Whittington's, opportunity, and stated that he 

 knew a certain remedy for this state of affairs ; 

 whereupon he was invited to dinner next day, to which 

 he carried the cat, and the natural consequence en- 

 sued. This sudden and swift extermination of the 

 pests drove the Dey and his court half frantic with 

 delight ; and the captain, who must have been the 

 original progenitor of the Yankee race, drove a sharp 

 bargain by assuming to be unwilling to part with the 

 cat, so that the Dey finally " sent on board his ship 

 the choicest commodities, consisting of gold, jewels, 

 and silks." 



Meanwhile, things had gone from bad to worse 

 with the youth, destined to become not only Lord 

 Mayor of London, but the envy and admiration of 

 future generations of youths; and he made up his 

 mind to run away from his place. This he did, but 

 while he was on his way to more rural scenes, he sat 

 down on a stone at the foot of Highgate Hill (a stone 

 that still remains marked as "Whittington's Stone") 

 and paused to reflect on his prospects. His thoughts 

 turned back to the home he had left, where he had 



ii8 



