ed when about the age of Dick; so he could not help feeling pity for
the poor boy, and sometimes gave him a halfpenny to buy gingerbread or
a top. The footman was fond of reading, and used often in the evening to
entertain the other servants with some amusing book. Little Dick took
pleasure in hearing this good man, which made him wish very much to
learn to read too; so the next time the footman gave him a halfpenny,
he bought a little book with it; and with the footman's help, Dick soon
learnt his letters, and afterwards to read.

[Illustration]

About this time, Miss Alice, Mr. Fitzwarren's daughter, was going out
one morning for a walk, and Dick was told to put on a suit of good
clothes that Mr. Fitzwarren gave him, and walk behind her. As they went,
Miss Alice saw a poor woman with one child in her arms and another on
her back. She pulled out her purse and gave the woman some money; but as
she was putting it into her pocket again, she dropped it on the ground
and walked on. It was lucky that Dick was behind, and saw what she had
done, for he picked up the purse and gave it to her again. Another time,
when Miss Alice was sitting with the window open and amusing herself
with a favorite parrot, it suddenly flew away to the branch of a high
tree, where all the servants were afraid to venture after it. As soon as
Dick heard of this, he pulled off his coat, and climbed up the tree as
nimbly as a squirrel; and, after a great deal of trouble, caught her and
brought her down safely to his mistress. Miss Alice thanked him, and
liked him ever after for this.

The ill-humored cook was now a little kinder; but, besides this, Dick
had another hardship to get over. His bed stood in a garret, where there
were so many holes in the floor and the walls, that every night he was
waked in his sleep by the rats and mice, which ran over his face, and
made such a noise that he sometimes thought the walls were tumbling down
about him. One day, a gentleman who came to see Mr. Fitzwarren wanted
his shoes polished; Dick took great pains to make them shine, and the
gentleman gave him a penny. With this he thought he would buy a cat; so
the next day, seeing a little girl with a cat under her arm, he went up
to her, and asked if she would let him have it for a penny. The girl
said she would, and that it was a very good mouser. Dick hid the cat in
the garret, and always took care to carry a part of his dinner to her;
and in a short time he had no