Little Frankie and His Cousin — Key Ideas to Explore

FRANKIE'S COUSIN NELLY.

IN another little book I have given you an account of Frankie when he was a baby, and have spoken of some things which he said and did when he began to talk and to walk.

In this book I shall tell you more about him, and also about his cousin Nelly, who came to pass some months in his father's house, while her parents visited Europe.

Nelly was six years old, while Frankie was but just past his fourth birthday. Nelly was a pale, delicate child, with light flaxen hair, which curled in ringlets about her face. Her features were very small; but her eyes were bright and sparkling, and her motions quick and graceful.

Sally, the nurse, used often to say that Nelly looked like the great wax dolls which were put up in the shop windows; but her cousin Willie laughed, and said, "Nelly flies about so, I can't tell what she does look like."

When Nelly was a baby, she had learned to suck her finger; and since that time she had never been taught to give up the habit. Before her mother went to Europe, Mrs. Gray showed her that the poor little finger was wasting away, and would never grow like the others, unless Nelly would stop sucking it. But the lady only laughed, and said, "I have not the heart to forbid her, she takes such a world of comfort with it."

Mrs. Gray said no more, but she determined to break up the habit before Nelly left her.

The little girl was to have a small room, opening out of her aunt's chamber. There her trunks were carried for Sally to unpack, and put the clothes into the wardrobe and drawers.

"Come in here!" said Nelly to her little cousin, "and we will take out the playthings. This trunk is full of them."

Frankie's eyes grew very round and large as Sally selected the right key, and displayed a great variety of toys packed as closely as possible into the large trunk.

"Goodness me!" exclaimed nurse, holding up both hands. "Why, you'll be able to set up a toy shop, miss."

"I have more at home," said Nelly. "Maria couldn't get them all in."

Maria was the name of the colored woman who had taken care of Nelly ever since she was a tiny baby. She had wished to come with her to Mrs. Gray's, and cried bitterly when she knew that she could not. But her aunt was sure that if Maria was there, Nelly would be too much indulged, that is, she would have her own way, and would be spoiled. She loved her little niece, and was sorry that her brother's wife did not take more pains to teach her little girl to be good and kind. She hoped Nelly would learn, while her mother was away, to wait upon herself, and to be generous and truthful.

When Sally had unlocked the trunk of playthings for the little miss, she went on unpacking the other one. She took out the dresses, and laid them on the bed. There was a pink muslin, and a blue tarleton, and a white one with the skirt tucked up to the waist. Then there were two silks, and one or two delaines, and ever so many French calicoes.

Mrs. Gray came in at this moment, and Sally exclaimed, "Where I am to put all these dresses, ma'am, is more than I can tell. The wardrobe won't hold half of them."

The lady glanced toward the bed, and said, "You may hang the best ones in the parlor-chamber closet."

By this time Frankie had helped his cousin to take out the toys; and they were spread all over the floor, so that neither his mamma nor nurse could walk at all without stepping on them.

"Why, Nelly," said her aunt, "what a quantity of playthings you have there!"

"May we play with them here?" asked Frankie.

"I am afraid you will be in Sally's way," replied mamma.

"She can wait, then, till we are done," said Nelly, taking up a large dolly.

"No," said her aunt; "nurse has a great deal to do; and first of all she wants to clear up this room. See how untidy it looks, with the clothes all lying about."

"Can't we go up in Willie's play room, then?" asked the little boy.

"Yes, my dear; there is a large case up there, which will make a nice play house for Nelly. You can have one shelf for the parlor, and put these little sofas and chairs in it. Then have another for the closet, and set out the cups and saucers. You and your cousin may carry them up stairs; and when Margie comes home, she will love to help you arrange them."

"O mamma, see this pretty carriage!" cried Frankie.

"That's a pedler's wagon," said Nelly. "There is the front seat for him to sit on, and the top comes way over to keep off the rain. The horses can take out too. When I first had it, I used to play 'get to the tavern, and put them up in the barn.'"

"O Nelly!" exclaimed the little fellow, "let us play that as soon as we get up stairs."

"I'm tired," said Nelly, sitting down on the floor, and putting her finger in her mouth.

"I'll carry the things up then," said Frankie, running into the next room for a basket. "See, I'm real strong."

"If you are tired, you had better go and lie down on the lounge," said her aunt.

"No," said Nelly; "I want to stay here, and see Sally put away my clothes."

Nurse did not take a fancy to the little girl; that was very plain. She kept muttering to herself all the time she was arranging the drawers, and was quite vexed that her darling, as she called Frankie, should be doing the work while Nelly sat idly looking on.

At last, when her mistress had left the room, she asked, "Do you never work any, miss?"

Nelly shook her head.

"Well, I expect your aunt will teach you to wait upon yourself," said Sally; "you'd be a great deal happier if you had something to do."

"Maria does every thing for me," said Nelly, still holding her finger in her mouth. "If I don't like to stay without her, I shall send for her to come. Mamma said I might."

"Indeed!" said nurse, laughing. "We'll see what your aunt says to that. Here, darling," she called out to Frankie, "let Sally help you carry that heavy basket. I'm afraid you can't get it through the door alone."

"Yet I can," said Frankie, "cause I belong to the Try Company."

"I guess your cousin had better join it too," said nurse to herself.

MOSES AND THE ORANGE.

"MAMMA," said Frankie one day, "you promised to tell me a toly."

"So I did," said mamma; "and what shall it be about?"

"Moses in the bulrushes?" asked mamma.

"No; bout Moses and the olange."

The lady thought a minute before she could remember what he meant. Then she smiled, and said, "O, yes, I'll tell that. Do you like to hear stories, Nelly?" she asked.

"I don't know," answered Nelly. "Maria sometimes tells me pretty ones."

"Well, you may bring the cricket, and sit down by Frankie. I think you will like to hear about Moses," said aunty. "He was just as old as you are, Nelly; and like you, he was an only child. His father and mother were very fond of him, and loved to do every thing to make him happy. I don't mean that they always let him have his own way, or allowed him to do what was wrong, for that would have made him grow very selfish and wicked.

"The day before he was six years old, his mother thought she would let him have a party. So she asked his father to bring from the city some oranges, and figs, and nuts, that the little folks might have a feast.

"When papa had gone to town, which he did every day, because his store was there, she went to the kitchen, and helped the cook make some light sponge cake for Moses to have for his party.

"The little fellow knelt in a chair close by the table, and watched her sift the sugar and beat the eggs; then, when she put in the lemon, and took a clean spoon to taste a little to know whether it was seasoned right, Moses said, 'I should like to taste too.'

"By and by the cake was done, and smelled so good that Moses asked for a piece; but his mother told him to wait until his cousins were there to eat it with him.

"Then the carriage came up to the door, and James, the hostler, rung the bell to let his mistress know he was ready to drive her out. She dressed her little boy in his new suit, and told him he might go with her.

"They drove first to aunt Mary's, and mamma invited George and Walter, and little Katy. Then they went a mile farther, to uncle John's, where Susy, William, and Grace gladly promised to come. On their way home, they called upon three of their neighbors, where the number was increased to eleven.

"When his father came home from the city, he brought a basket in one hand, and two large bundles under his other arm.

"Moses ran to meet him, and said, 'Let me carry the basket, papa. It isn't too heavy for me.'

"Before he put it on the table, he peeped in, and said, 'O, what nice oranges, papa!' The little boy was very fond of oranges.

"That night Moses went to bed very happy. He longed for the time when his young companions would come, and lay awake nearly an hour, thinking what a very pleasant party his would be.

"The next morning he was up long before his mother, and ran down stairs to see if breakfast was ready. The table was not yet laid; and he went into the large store closet to see where his mother had put the oranges and cake. There was the basket upon the first shelf, and on lifting the lid he saw that the oranges were still in it. How fresh and good they smelt! He put in his hand and took one out. 'O, what a large one!'

"The basket was so full, he thought there must be more than twelve; so he stood up on a box, and began to count them. 'Yes, there are,' he said to himself; 'there are twelve, and one more.'

"Then he took the largest, and laid it on the next shelf, while he put the others back again into the basket, wishing all the time that he could have it for his own. He knew that he should have one at the party, but he couldn't wait. 'I want one now,' he said.

"He sat down on the box, and began to smell the large orange which he had left out. Then he made a small hole in the peel, and began to suck the juice through it. It tasted so sweet, he could not get his mouth away. So he squeezed and sucked, and sucked and squeezed, until the juice was all gone, and nothing remained but the skin and the pulp.

"'O, dear! I'm sorry I've eaten it,' he whispered; 'I didn't mean to. I only thought I would suck it a little. How quick it all came out!'

"Just then he heard cook come into the room to set the table for breakfast, and he knew his mother would soon be down. He began to be very unhappy, and to wish he were back again in his little bed. Then he remembered it was his birthday; but some how the thought of his party gave him no pleasure."

"I guess Satan was whispering to him," said Frankie. "If I had been there, I would open the door, and say, 'Satan, go wight out.'"

"Who is Satan?" asked Nelly, who had been listening with great interest.

"Satan's naughty man," said Frankie. "He don't love good boys."

"He is the evil spirit," replied aunty, "who tries to make boys and girls, and men and women too, behave naughty and sin against God."

"Does he live in Moses' house?" asked the little girl.

"He is every where, my dear," said the lady, "trying to make people do mischief. He was there in the closet with Moses, and when the little boy's naughty heart said, 'I would steal one of my mother's oranges and eat it,' he said, 'Yes; no one will know it, and if your mother asks you about it, you can tell her a lie, and say you didn't touch it.'"

"I wouldn't take your olange, mamma," said Frankie, putting his arms round his mother's neck and kissing her. "I would ask you, 'May I?'"

At this moment a lady called to see mamma, and she said, "You may go and play now, and I will finish the story about Moses some other time."

THAT night Frankie was quite sick, and his mother, after being up with him several times, lay down by him in his trundle-bed. He was very much pleased at this, and put up his little hot hand on her face. The fever made him quite wakeful, and he wanted to talk. She began to repeat the little rhyme,--

"Once there was a little man, Where a little river ran,"

when he said, "Mamma, please tell me 'bout heaven."

"Do you want to go to heaven?" she asked.

"Yes, mamma, when I die; but I can't go 'lone. I want you to go with me. Won't you please to ask God to let us take hold of hands and go wight up to heaven together. That would be a pretty way; wouldn't it?"

Mrs. Gray bent over her darling boy and kissed his cheek. She whispered a prayer to God to preserve her dear child from death for a long time to come.

Pretty soon he spoke again: "How can you get up to heaven, mamma?"

"God will send his angels, my dear, and take me there."

"I 'fraid they can't lift you, mamma, you so heavy. But you can go up on the barn, and then they can get you up there; can't they?" In a minute, he asked, "Does God have horses in heaven, mamma?"

Toward morning, he sank into a quiet sleep, and did not awake until Willie and Margie had gone to school. When he opened his eyes, his mamma was standing over him with a cup of milk and water in her hand.

"Frankie feel better," he said, starting up to receive her kiss.

As he still felt weak, his mamma held him in her lap, where he could look at Ponto, who was washing his paws on the rug. Presently Nelly came in, carrying a wax doll nearly as large as herself. She was a little afraid of Ponto, and when he went and put his nose on her arm, and tried to lick her hand, she cried, "Get away, you ugly dog! I hate you, I do!" and she struck him with the doll.

Ponto growled, and turned away to Frankie. The little fellow slipped down from his mother's lap, and clasped his arms around Ponto's neck. "O, you good dog," he said, "I love you, I do."

Ponto knew very well what this meant, and he rapped with his tail as hard as he could on the rug. Then Frankie made the dog lie down, and he laid his head upon him.

Ponto was delighted to have his little master use him for a pillow; so he lay very still indeed. I suppose he thought Frankie wished to go to sleep.

Then Mrs. Gray told Nelly how the good dog had pulled Frankie out of the water, and how much they all loved him. But Nelly only said, "I hate dogs, I do, they're so ugly and cross;" and then she put her finger in her mouth again.

"Mamma," said Frankie, "I want to hear 'bout Moses 'gen. Pease, mamma, tell me toly 'bout Moses."

"Well," said mamma, "I'll get my sewing and tell you the rest of the story." So Frankie lay with his head on Ponto, and listened to mamma. Nelly sat in her little chair, and sucked her finger and tended her doll. "I told you," said the lady, "that Moses began to wish he had not touched the orange; but it was of no use to wish that now, for there it was all squeezed and sucked, and what should he do with it?

"When the cook had set the table, she rang the bell, and presently his father and mother came down to breakfast.

"'Where's Moses?' asked his mamma; 'I expected to find him at the table.'

"'He came down early,' said the cook; 'but I have not seen him for a good while.'

"'Won't you see if he is out doors?' said the lady.

"Moses knew it was of no use for him to wait any longer; so he came out laughing.

"'Why, what were you doing, my dear?' asked the lady.

"'I was hiding,' said the boy."

"O, that was a naughty lie!" exclaimed Frankie.

"Yes, dear, when children do one naughty thing, they almost always do another. Moses had stolen his mother's orange, and now he told a lie to hide it. His mother did not think he would act so wickedly. She asked, 'Do you remember, Moses, this is your birthday.'

"'You have a very pleasant day for your party,' said his father; and then Moses began to talk about what he should play when his company came. 'Shall you have the supper first?' he asked.

"'No, my dear. I shall wait until you have played a while.'

"After breakfast the lady swept and dusted the parlors, to have them ready for the party. Then she sat down to her sewing, while she heard Moses read and spell. After this he went out doors to play with his hoop.

"In the middle of the afternoon she began to arrange for her little feast. First, she took the nut-cracker and cracked the large walnuts, the almonds, and the filberts, and put them in the glass dishes ready to set them on the table. Then she cut the cake into square pieces, and grated sugar over them. After that, she put the figs into plates, and then brought out the basket of oranges.

"All this time, Moses had been kneeling in his chair by the table, watching her as she worked. He looked very sober. He was thinking about the orange, and wished he had not taken it.

"When his mother began to take the oranges from the basket, he felt as if he should cry, he was so afraid she would find out what he had done.

"'Why,' said the lady to herself, 'here are only twelve. I asked him to get thirteen.' She counted them over again. All at once she looked at Moses, and said, 'I hope you have not eaten one of mother's oranges, my dear.'

"'No,' said the little boy, 'I haven't touched one.'"

"O, dear!" said Frankie. "I'm afraid God won't love Moses any more, he is so naughty, and tells so many lies."

Frankie jumped up when he said this, and Ponto took the opportunity to turn himself over. He had lain very still before, for fear of disturbing his little master.

"'What did you want thirteen for?' asked Moses. 'You said there would be twelve at the party.'

"'Because I meant to send one to Sarah Christie. Joseph and Belle are coming, but Sarah is sick, you know; so I meant to send her one. I suppose your father forgot it; but I'm very sorry.'"

Mrs. Gray was going on to tell the rest of the story, but she saw that Frankie looked very pale, and she stopped.

"I want to womit," said he, and she ran quickly to get the bowl. Then she gave him some medicine, and put him into bed, while she sent Nelly to play out doors until he awoke.

IN a few days Frankie was quite well again, and able to play merrily with Nelly, who had sadly missed him in her out-door exercise.