It is said that when the king rode out on horseback, he often took Tom
along with him, and if a shower came on, he used to creep into his
majesty's waistcoat-pocket, where he slept till the rain was over.

King Arthur one day asked Tom about his parents, wishing to know if
they were as small as he was, and whether they were well off. Tom told
the king that his father and mother were as tall as anybody about the
court, but in rather poor circumstances. On hearing this, the king
carried Tom to his treasury, 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 be 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
accident, and after resting himself more than a hundred times by the
way, in two days and two nights he reached his father's house in
safety.

Tom had travelled forty-eight hours with a huge silver-piece on his
back, and was almost tired to death, when his mother ran out to meet
him, and carried him into the house. But he soon returned to Court.

As Tom's clothes had suffered much in the batter-pudding, and the
inside of the fish, his majesty ordered him a new suit of clothes, and
to be mounted as a knight on a mouse.