"Because it killed good Abel, you know."
"O, no," said mamma, with a laugh. "That Cain was a man, and not a stick."
The little fellow was once playing out near the barn, when he fell and cut his finger against a piece of glass. It bled very freely, so that mamma could not bind it up. She told Sally to bring a bowl of water, and held his poor finger in it. The water was soon red with the blood; and Frankie cried louder than ever. All at once he stopped, and said, "Mamma, it seems like the Red Sea. How could the Israelites get through so much blood?"
"That was not red with blood, my dear," said mamma. "It was only the name of the sea. There are the Red Sea, and the Black Sea, and the White Sea."
Frankie was very fond of cake, and would have liked to make his whole supper of it. But mamma knew it would make him sick. Sometimes, when he was in the kitchen, Jane gave him a piece; and one day his mother was very much pleased when he came running to her with a rich cake in his hand, fresh from the oven. "May I eat it, mamma?" he asked. "I didn't taste it without your leave."
Mamma broke off a small piece, and gave it to him, and then took him in her lap, and repeated a pretty little hymn she had learned when she was a child. I think you will like to hear it too.
"Mamma, do hear Eliza cry;
She wants a piece of cake I know;
She will not stir to school without;
Do give her some, and let her go."
"O, no, my dear; that will not do;
She has behaved extremely ill;
She pouts instead of minding me,
And tries to gain her stubborn will.
"This morning, when she had her milk,
She gave her spoon a sudden twirl,
And tipped it over on the floor;
O, she's a naughty, wicked girl!
"And now, forsooth, she cries for cake;
But that I surely shall refuse;
For children never should object
To eating what their parents choose.
"The pretty little girl who came
To sell the strawberries here to-day,
Would have been very glad to eat
What my Eliza threw away; —
"Because her parents are so poor
That they have neither milk nor meat;
But gruel and some Indian cake
Are all the children have to eat.
"They have four little girls and boys;
Mary's the oldest of the whole,
And hard enough she has to work,
To help her ma – poor little soul!
"As soon as strawberries are ripe,
She picks all day, and will not stop
To play or eat a single one,
Till she has filled her basket up.
"Then down she comes and sells them all,
And lays the money up at home,
To buy her stockings and her shoes,
To wear when freezing winter's come.
"For then she has to trudge away,
And gather wood through piles of snow,
To keep the little children warm,
When bites the frost, and cold winds blow.
"And then, when she comes home at night,
Hungry and tired, with cold benumbed,
How she would jump to find a bowl
Of bread and milk all nicely crumbed!
"But she, dear child, has no such thing;
Of gruel and the Indian cake,
Whether she chooses it or not,
Poor Mary must her supper make.
"Eliza, dear, will you behave
So ill again, another day?
Be cross and pert, and cry for cake,
And fling your breakfast all away?"
"Ah, never, never, dear mamma!
I'm sorry that I gave you pain;
Forgive me, and I never will
Be such a naughty girl again."
CHAPTER VI.
FRANKIE'S ROCKING HORSE
When Frankie was between three and four years old, there were a good many words he could not pronounce distinctly. He could not say kitchen, but called it chichen; and he called sugar chucher. He could not say sing, but said ting. His papa was afraid he never would be able to pronounce them; and he took a great deal of pains to have him try to say them over and over again. He used to take Frankie on his knee, and make him sound s-s-, and then say s-sing. But Frankie always said s-ting.
One day his mamma was passing through the back hall, and she saw her little boy kneeling in a chair by the table where Jane was making bread. He was talking very earnestly, and she stopped a moment to hear what he was saying.
He was giving Jane a lesson. "Now say knife," he began. So Jane said "knife."
"No, that not wight; you must say s- knife."
Jane laughed: "knife is right," she said.
"No, no!" he repeated; "papa say s- knife; so you must say it wight."
He thought it was as well to put s- on any other word as on sing.
He was very fond of playing school, and was quite happy when Willie and Margie would be his scholars. Dinah was always set up in her chair too, and another dolly whose name was Lily Gray. Frankie would set them all before him, and then ask, "Margie, who first man?"
"Adam."
"Now, you good girl, you may go wight to your seat. Willie, who first boy?"
"Cain."
"Yes, that's wight; now you be vely till, cause I shall peach." Then he would stand in his chair and preach very loud, spreading his arms, and always closing with a long amen.
Once, when he was kneeling with his father, he thought the prayer rather long, and putting up his face, he whispered, "Say amen, papa; – can't you say amen?"
Frankie was very happy one day when his mamma told him that his aunt and cousin were coming to make them a visit. He packed all his playthings in a trunk, to have them ready for the little baby, and then went round the house telling every body that Eddie was coming to see him.
The day before they were expected, a beautiful present came for Frankie from Mr. Wallace, the same kind gentleman who had given him the silver cup.
Can you guess what it was? It was not a cup and ball, nor a top, nor an iron hoop, but a rocking horse with a carriage fastened to it large enough for him to get in it. Then there was a place for the whip, and two pairs of reins for him to drive with.
At first, Frankie stood looking at it, his eyes growing larger and larger, until papa asked, "Well, Frankie, how do you like your new horse?"
"Is it for me, papa, for mine own telf?" exclaimed the little boy, clapping his hands and dancing up and down. "O, I'm to glad!" Then raising his eyes, he said, soberly, "Tank you, Dod. Tank you vely much indeed."
His mamma had taught him that all our blessings come from God; and the dear boy wished to thank him for this new favor.
I can hardly tell you how much pleased he was with his present. He could scarcely stop riding to eat his dinner; and then had to put up the horse in the corner of the room he called the stable, and tie him very tightly to a chair, for fear he would run away. Then, before his mother noticed what he was about, he slipped from his seat, and carried his silver cup of water to the pony, and held it to his mouth to drink.
"Pony hungry," he said, when she called him back. "Pony vely hungry indeed."
When Willie and Margie came from school, mamma watched her boy, to see whether he would be generous, and allow them to share in his rides.
"O, my!" called out Willie, "how pretty it is! Let me get in."
"Yet, you may," said Frankie, stepping out of the carriage. "Here, take Dinah too. Dinah wants to wide."
While Willie was whipping the horse to make him go as fast as he could, Frankie danced up and down, every now and then calling out, "Go long, pony, go long!"
In the mean time, Margie stood awaiting her turn, hardly daring to expect that Frankie would give up his new plaything to her. Mamma was looking on too, and was very happy when he said, "There, Willie, you must get out now, cause Margie wants to wide. Top a minute, Margie; I'll fix the reins for you," he cried; and he went to the pony's head, and patted him, and said, "Whoa, sir, whoa!" just like any gentleman.