London was an old and great town. It had a hundred thousand inhabitants—some think double as many. The streets were very narrow and dirty, especially in the part where Tom Canty lived, which was not far from London Bridge. The houses were of wood, with the second storey projecting over the first, and the third projecting over the second. The higher the houses grew, the broader they were. The windows were small, and they opened outward, like doors.
The house in which Tom’s father lived was in a dirty little place called Offal Court[2], near Pudding Lane. It was packed full of poor families. Canty’s family had a room on the third floor. The mother and father had a bed in the corner; but Tom, his grandmother, and his two sisters, Bet and Nan, slept on the floor on bags of dirty straw.
Bet and Nan were fifteen-year-old twins. They were kind girls, dirty, dressed in rags, and ignorant. Their mother was like them. But the father and the grandmother got drunk whenever they could; then they fought each other or anybody who came their way; they cursed and swore always. John Canty was a thief, and his mother a beggar. They made beggars of the children, but could not make thieves of them. Among those who lived in the house, was a good old priest, and he taught the children secretly. Father Andrew also taught Tom a little Latin, and how to read and write; and would have done the same with the girls, but they were afraid of their friends laughing at them.
All Offal Court was just like the Canties. Drinking and fighting were there every night. Broken heads were as common as hunger in that place. Yet little Tom was not unhappy. All the Offal Court boys lived like that and thought it was correct. When he came home empty-handed at night, he knew his father and grandmother would curse and beat him. In the night his mother would slip to him and give him something to eat.
So Tom’s life went along quite well. By day he begged, and by night he listened to Father Andrew’s tales and legends about giants and fairies, and kings and princes. His head was full of these wonderful things, and he dreamed of seeing a real prince, with his own eyes.
He often read the priest’s old books, and his dreams and reading worked some changes in him by-and-by. His dream-people were so fine that he wished to be clean and better dressed. He began to wash himself sometimes in the Thames.
By-and-by Tom’s reading and dreaming about princes’ life had such a strong effect on him that he began to ACT the prince, unconsciously. His speech and manners became ceremonious and courtly to everybody’s admiration and amusement. Tom’s influence among young people began to grow. He seemed to know so much! and he could do and say such marvellous things! and he was so wise! Now grown people brought their problems to Tom, and were often astonished at the wisdom of his decisions. In fact he was a hero to all who knew him except his own family who saw nothing in him.
Privately, after a while, Tom organised a royal court! He was the prince; his friends were his guards, lords and ladies, and the royal family. Daily the mock prince was greeted with elaborate ceremonies, which Tom read about in his books. After that, he would go beg for money, eat whatever he could find, and then go home and lay on foul straw, dreaming.
Presently his wish to see a real prince became the only passion of his life. One January day, he was walking around Mincing Lane and Little East Cheap, hour after hour, bare-footed and cold, looking in at shop windows. It was raining. At night Tom reached home so wet and tired and hungry that even his father and grandmother didn’t bother him.
For a long time his hunger kept him awake; but at last he fell asleep, and dreamt of romantic lands, of jewelled princes who live in palaces, and had servants flying to execute their orders.
All night long he dreamt that he moved among great lords and ladies, in a blaze of light, breathing perfumes, listening to music, and talking to the rich and the famous.
And when he awoke in the morning and looked upon what was around him, bitterness came, and with it, tears.
2
One day Tom got up hungry, and left home hungry. He walked here and there in the city, hardly noticing where he was going, or what was happening around him. Some time later he found himself near a majestic palace—Westminster—the farthest from home he had ever walked. He stared in wonder at the vast pile of masonry, the wide-spreading wings, the frowning bastions and turrets, the huge stone gateway, with its gilded bars and colossal granite lions, and other the signs and symbols of English royalty. Here was a king’s palace. And Tom hoped he would see a prince now.
At each side of the gate stood a soldier. There was a crowd of people waiting for a chance to see a royalty. Poor little Tom, in his rags, approached, and saw a boy, shining with jewels. He was tanned and brown with outdoor sports and exercises, his clothing was all of lovely silks and satins; at his hip there was a little jewelled sword and dagger; on his feet there were dainty buskins, with red heels; and on his head a crimson cap, with feathers fastened with a big sparkling gem. Several fine gentlemen stood near—his servants, no doubt. Oh! he was a prince—a living prince, a real prince!
Tom’s eyes grew big with wonder and delight. Before he knew what he was doing, he went up to the gate. The next moment one of the soldiers snatched him rudely, and threw him into the crowd. They laughed; but the young prince ran to the gate, and cried out, “How dare you treat a poor boy like that? Open the gates, and let him in!”
The crowd shouted, “Long live the Prince of Wales!”
The soldiers opened the gates, and Tom came in.
Edward Tudor said—
“You look tired and hungry. Come with me.”
Half a dozen attendants sprang forward to interfere, but they were waved aside with a right royal gesture, and they stopped where they were, like statues. Edward took Tom to the palace, to the room which he called his cabinet. Food was brought in. The prince sent away the servants, sat nearby, and asked questions while Tom ate.
“What is your name, boy?”
“Tom Canty, sir.”
“Where do you live?”
“In the city, sir. Offal Court, near Pudding Lane.”
“Offal Court! An odd name. Do you have parents?”
“I have parents, sir, and a grandmother, also twin sisters, Nan and Bet.”
“How old are they?”
“Fifteen, sir.”
“Lady Elizabeth, my sister, is fourteen, and Lady Jane Grey, my cousin, is of my own age; but my sister Lady Mary—Are your sisters kind to their servants?”
“Do you think, sir, that they have servants?”
“And who helps them undress at night? Who dresses them when they get up?”
“Nobody, sir. Why should they take off their dress[3], and sleep like the animals?”
“Their dress! Do they have only one?”
“Ah, what would they do with more? They do not have two bodies each.”
“It is a marvellous thought! You speak well. Are you learned?”
“I do not know, sir. The good priest that is called Father Andrew taught me from his books.”
“Do you know Latin?”
“A little, sir.”
“Tell me of your Offal Court. Do you have a pleasant life there?”
“Yes, sir, except when one is hungry. There are Punch-and-Judy shows[4], and monkeys, and plays, and it is so fine to see them.”
“Tell me more.”
“We