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MRS. LESLIE'S BOOKS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN.

THE LITTLE FRANKIE SERIES.




BOOKS WRITTEN OR EDITED

By A. R. BAKER,

AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS.

QUESTION BOOKS on the Topics of Christ's Sermon on the Mount.

          VOL. I. FOR CHILDREN.
          VOL. II. FOR YOUTH.
          VOL. III. FOR ADULTS.

          LECTURES ON THESE TOPICS, _in press_.


MRS. LESLIE'S SABBATH SCHOOL BOOKS.

          TIM, THE SCISSORS GRINDER.
          SEQUEL TO "TIM, THE SCISSORS GRINDER."
          PRAIRIE FLOWER.
          THE BOUND BOY.
          THE BOUND GIRL.
          VIRGINIA.
          THE TWO HOMES; OR, EARNING AND SPENDING.
          THE ORGAN-GRINDER, _in press_.


QUESTION BOOKS. The Catechism tested by the Bible.

          VOL. I. FOR CHILDREN.
          VOL. II. FOR ADULTS.


THE DERMOTT FAMILY; or, Stories Illustrating the Catechism.

          VOL. I. DOCTRINES RESPECTING GOD AND MANKIND.
           "  II. DOCTRINES OF GRACE.
           " III. COMMANDMENTS OF THE FIRST TABLE.
           "  IV. COMMANDMENTS OF THE SECOND TABLE.
           "   V. CONDITIONS OF ETERNAL LIFE.


MRS. LESLIE'S HOME LIFE.

          VOL. I. CORA AND THE DOCTOR.
           "  II. COURTESIES OF WEDDED LIFE.
           " III. THE HOUSEHOLD ANGEL.


MRS. LESLIE'S JUVENILE SERIES.

          VOL. I. THE MOTHERLESS CHILDREN.
           "  II. PLAY AND STUDY.
           " III. HOWARD AND HIS TEACHER.
           "  IV. TRYING TO BE USEFUL.
           "   V. JACK, THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER.
           "  VI. THE YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER.
           " VII. LITTLE AGNES.


THE ROBIN REDBREAST SERIES.

          THE ROBINS' NEST.
          LITTLE ROBINS IN THE NEST.
          LITTLE ROBINS LEARNING TO FLY.
          LITTLE ROBINS IN TROUBLE.
          LITTLE ROBINS' FRIENDS.
          LITTLE ROBINS' LOVE ONE TO ANOTHER.


THE LITTLE FRANKIE SERIES.

          LITTLE FRANKIE AND HIS MOTHER.
          LITTLE FRANKIE AT HIS PLAYS.
          LITTLE FRANKIE AND HIS COUSIN.
          LITTLE FRANKIE AND HIS FATHER.
          LITTLE FRANKIE ON A JOURNEY.
          LITTLE FRANKIE AT SCHOOL.

[Illustration: FRANKIE IN HIS JUMPER.]





LITTLE FRANKIE AND HIS MOTHER.

          BY
          MRS. MADELINE LESLIE,

          AUTHOR OF "THE HOME LIFE SERIES;" "MRS. LESLIE'S
          JUVENILE SERIES," ETC.

          BOSTON:
          CROSBY AND NICHOLS.
          117 WASHINGTON STREET.




  Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by
  A. R. BAKER,
  In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District
  of Massachusetts.

  ELECTROTYPED AT THE
  BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.




LITTLE FRANKIE AND HIS MOTHER.




CHAPTER I.

FRANKIE'S SILVER CUP.


DO you wish to know who little Frankie was, and where he lived? Come and
sit down in your pretty chair by my side, and I will tell you. Frankie
was not the real name of this little boy. When he was a tiny baby, not
much larger than black Dinah, his father came home one night from his
store, and asked, "Have you named the baby yet, mamma?"

"No," she answered, "I have not; but I have been thinking that if you
are pleased, I should like to call him Frank."

"Frank, Frank, Frankie," said his father, repeating it over and over
again, to hear how it would sound. "Yes, I like the name; and then my
friend, Mr. Wallace, is called Frank. Yes, Frank it shall be."

"While he is a baby, we will call him Frankie," said his mamma. So that
was the way he obtained so pretty a name.

About a week after this, there came one day a man on horseback riding up
to the front door. He jumped briskly down upon the wide stone step, and
rang the bell with a loud, quick jerk, which seemed to say, I am in a
hurry. Margie, the errand girl, ran to the door, when the man gave her a
box wrapped nicely in a piece of yellow paper, and tied with a small red
cord. Then he sprang upon the saddle, and galloped away down the avenue
into the road.

Margie carried the box into the parlor, and gave it to her mistress.
Mamma looked at the name on the paper, and her bright, loving eyes grew
still brighter. She took her scissors and cut the cord which held the
paper around the box, then pulled off the cover, and what do you think
was there? Why, a large piece of pink cotton nicely folded about a
beautiful silver cup, on one side of which was marked the name _Little
Frankie_.

Mamma laughed as she read it, and felt sure the pretty present came from
Mr. Wallace. She ran gayly up stairs into the nursery, where the baby
was sitting in the lap of his nurse, shaking his coral bells. "Here, my
darling," she said; "see what a nice cup has come for you; look! it is
so bright I can peep at your rosy face in it."

Baby crowed and stretched out his tiny hands, but he could not quite
reach it; and if he could he would have tried to crowd it into his
mouth. So mamma took him in her arms, and squeezed him very tight, and
kissed him ever so many times, until the little fellow was quite
astonished. Then she held him off a little to look at him; and her eyes
were so brimful of love that Frankie was never tired of gazing into
them.

By and by, mamma carried the baby and the new cup down to the parlor;
for papa had just come in, and was already calling for them.

Papa admired the present very much, and said that his friend, Mr.
Wallace, was a noble fellow, and he should be glad if their little
Frankie made as good a man. Then papa danced around the room, "to give
his boy a little exercise," he said, "and make him grow." But mamma
screamed, and was afraid so much shaking would take away her baby's
breath.

"Come, then," said papa, "we will sit down and trot a little." He
seated the little fellow on his knee, and began, "This is the way the
lady rides, trot, trot, trot, trot. This is the way the gentleman rides,
de canter, de canter, de canter, de canter. This is the way the huntsman
rides, de gallop, de gallop, de gallop."

Frankie laughed and cooed, and as soon as his papa stopped, kicked his
little feet to have it go again.




CHAPTER II.

FRANKIE'S LITTLE NURSE.


FRANKIE lived in a quiet, pleasant village about twenty miles from the
city. His home was a pretty cottage with a steep roof rising above the
windows of the second story. In front there was a smooth, green lawn,
and at the side a lovely flower garden, with nicely gravelled walks
leading through it. Then back of the house there were beds of peas, and
beans, and turnips, and beets, and all kinds of good things for the
table.

Frankie had a brother whose name was Willie, and who was five years
older than he. There had been a dear sister, too, but when she was only
one year old, the Saviour called her home to heaven; and she went with a
sweet smile upon her lip.

Beside his father, and mother, and Willie, there were in Frankie's
home, Jane, the cook, Sally, the nurse, and Margie, a little girl seven
years of age, who loved dearly to dance about and amuse the baby boy.
She was the daughter of Jane, and her father had been dead many years.
She had begun to go to school; but as soon as the teacher rang the bell
for the scholars to go home, Margie caught her bonnet from the hook, and
ran away as fast as she could go, she was so impatient to see little
Frankie.

Early in the morning, long before his mamma was ready to awake, the
little fellow would open his eyes and crow, and sing his morning song.
Then he would try to get his tiny toes into his mouth. As soon as Margie
heard him, she would knock softly at the door, and ask, "May I come in
and play with Frankie?"

If you were to see her, you would think she was quite an old lady; she
went around so steadily, and not at all like a school girl. First, she
took all the pillows from the cradle, and shook them up. Then she laid
them back so that the baby could sit up and see her play to him. When
all was ready, she would go to the side of the bed, and Frankie's papa
would put him carefully into her arms, and then turn over to take
another nap.

It was very strange that with all Margie's singing and laughing, and
crying "catchee, catchee, now catch baby;" and with Frankie's happy
shouts of delight, papa and mamma could sleep quite soundly. But the
instant the little fellow cried, as he sometimes did when he hurt his
gums against his coral ring, and Margie said, "O dear! has he hurt him?
Margie's sorry," mamma would spring from bed and be wide awake in a
minute.

There was one other member of the family whom I have not yet mentioned.
It was not a brother, nor a sister, but a large black dog, whose name
was Ponto. He was a very handsome fellow, with his shining black hair,
and his white ring about his neck; and he held his head up and looked
you right in the face, as if he knew that he was above common dogs.
Ponto liked to run in the garden with Willie, and catch the sticks his
young master threw to him between his teeth. But best of all he liked to
follow him to the nursery, and watch the motions of the new comer.
Frankie's eyes grew very large the first time he felt Ponto's cold nose
on his arm; and he cried, when the great, black creature began to lick
his hands and face. Mamma tried to push Ponto