Page:Comical and merry tricks of Tom Thumb, the wonderful (2).pdf/10

 10

waistcoat-pocket, where he slept till the rain was over. King Arhur one day interrogated Tom about his parents, wishing to know if they were as small as him, and what circum- stances they were in. Tom told the king that his father and mother were as tall as                any of the persons about court, but in                 rather poor circumstances. On hearing this, the king carried Tom to his treasur- y, the place where he kept all his money, and told him to take as much money as                he could carry home to his parents, which made the poor little fellow caper with joy. Tom went immediately to procure a                purse, which was made of a water bubble, and then returned to the treasury, where he received a silver threepenny-piece to                put into it. Our little hero had some difficulty in                lifting the burden upon his back; but he                 at last succeeded in getting it placed to                 his mind, and set forward on his journey. However, without meeting with any ac- cident, and after resting himself more than a hundred times by the way, in two days and two nights he reached his fa- ther's house in safety.