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He often read the priest's old books and got him to explain and enlarge
upon them. His dreamings and readings worked certain changes in him,
by-and-by. His dream-people were so fine that he grew to lament his
shabby clothing and his dirt, and to wish to be clean and better clad. He
went on playing in the mud just the same, and enjoying it, too; but, instead
of splashing around in the Thames solely for the fun of it, he began to
find an added value in it because of the washings and cleansings it
afforded.
Tom could always find something going on around the Maypole in
Cheapside,
and at the fairs; and now and then he and the rest of London had a chance
to see a military parade when some famous unfortunate was carried
prisoner to the Tower, by land or boat. One summer's day he saw poor Anne
Askew and three men burned at the stake in Smithfield, and heard an
ex-Bishop preach a sermon to them which did not interest him. Yes, Tom's
life was varied and pleasant enough, on the whole.
By-and-by Tom's reading and dreaming about princely life wrought such a
strong effect upon him that he began to ACT the prince, unconsciously.
His speech and manners became curiously ceremonious and courtly, to the
vast admiration and amusement of his intimates. But Tom's influence
among these young people began to grow now, day by day; and in time he
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