1. In the reign of the famous king Edward the Third, there was a little
boy named Dick Whitt-ing-ton, whose father and mother died when he was
very young.
2. He knew nothing about them, and he was left, a poor little ragged,
dirty fellow, to run about the streets of a small country village.
3. As poor Dick was not old enough to work, he was in a sad state; he
got but little for his dinner, and often had nothing at all for his
supper. For all the people in the village were very poor.
4. They could often spare him nothing more than an old crust of bread,
or some scraps that even a dog would not have liked. One day a man who
was driving a waggon came through the village.
5. He had eight fine large horses to pull it, and, as he walked by
their side, he spoke kindly to them, and never whipped them. This made
Dick think that he must be a good man.
6. "If he is kind to the horses," said Dick to himself, "perhaps he
will be kind to a poor lad like me." So Dick went up to speak to the
carter and asked him to let him walk along by the side of his waggon.
7. The two began to talk, and the man, hearing from poor Dick that he
had no parents, and seeing how ragged his clothes were, took pity on
him. He told Dick that he was going with the waggon to London town.
"And," added the man, "you may come with me if you like.
8. "I do not think that you can be much worse off there than you are
here; and perhaps you may be better off in the great city. You may ride
in the waggon if you please."
9. Dick was glad enough to do this, and the good driver took care to
share his food with him on the way. He took as much care of the horses
and of Dick as he did of himself. Dick got safe to London.
[Illustration: SETTING OFF.]
10. Now before he had seen the streets of London, Dick had thought that
they were made of gold, for an old man in the village at home had told
him so. But the old man had only been in joke. He meant that folks
often became rich there.
11. So Dick ran away from the waggon in a great hurry, to find the
golden pavements. But he saw nothing except mud and dirt, and a crowd
of people all looking very busy, who took no heed of 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?