Little Frankie on a Journey

CHAPTER II.
FRANKIE'S PARTY

Perhaps you will wonder whether papa and mamma gave Frankie a present. Yes, they did; but he did not see it until the evening when his little friends came to his party. Jane, too, and even little Margie, remembered it was his birthday, and had a present ready for him.

Jane, with the consent of her mistress, had made a large frosted cake for his company; and Margie gave him a beautiful white kitten, with not one black hair on it.

As it was a holiday, there were no lessons to be learned. Mamma took a walk to the store; and she allowed Nelly and Frankie to go with her and carry the basket in which she intended to bring back the nuts for the party.

But first she showed them a small basket full of notes which she had written, inviting the little boys and girls to come and pass the evening with Frankie, and help him to keep his birthday. Willie and Margie were to carry them, as there was no school.

Ponto was very lively that morning. He seemed to understand that his young master was unusually happy; and he kept jumping up on him, wagging his tail, and trying to lick his hands and face. Willie had taught him to carry a basket in his teeth; and as soon as they started on their walk he began to whine, and put his nose into the basket until they gave it to him. Then he trotted along quite contentedly after them.

It was a very hot day, and after dinner mamma tried to persuade the little folks to lie down and get a nap, so as to be bright and fresh for the evening. Nelly at last lay down on the lounge in her aunt's bed room; and then Frankie brought his pillow, and lay on the floor by her. They were so happy, they wanted to talk about the party.

Mamma was lying on the lounge, too. She was very tired after her long walk in the morning, and wanted to go to sleep. But the children's tongues ran so fast, that she could not. She laughed, at last, at the very idea of sleeping there, and took her pillow into Nelly's room, where it was dark and cool; and presently had forgotten all her fatigue.

About seven o'clock the little folks began to arrive. In August, you know, the days are very long, so that it was still light, and as the sun was down, it was the pleasantest part of the day.

Mr. and Mrs. Gray sat on the large iron chairs belonging to the portico, and shook hands with the little girls and boys coming up the avenue; then joining the company on the lawn, where Willie and two of the larger girls were planning some games for them.

After they had enjoyed themselves in this way for an hour, Mrs. Gray called Margie from the lawn, and told her to invite the children to come in. Then she introduced them into the parlor, where on the table they saw a large pile of cards, nearly half a yard in length, with beautiful pictures on them, representing animals and birds; some of them as large as life.

These, which came in a long box, with a brass handle on the top, were Frankie's birthday present from papa and mamma.

At first the little fellow was so surprised, that he could not speak a word; but then he ran, first to his mother and then to his father, put his arms around their necks, and thanked them over and over again.

His father went to the table and distributed the cards round among the excited, happy group, and for half an hour there was one continued shout of delight in examining them.

"O, see this great elephant!" said one little boy; "he is winding his nose around that baby, and is going to kill him."

"No, indeed!" said mamma, "that baby is the child of his keeper, the man who takes care of him, and feeds him. See, the soldiers are coming up, and the good elephant is afraid they will hurt his little charge; so he takes it very gently in his trunk, or proboscis and puts it over behind him into a safer place."

"I like that elephant," said Frankie; "but I shouldn't think the baby's mamma would leave him to take care of it. I should think she herself would keep it in her arms."

"What is this lion doing?" asked a pretty, blue-eyed girl, named Rosa. "See, it is holding out its paw."

"It is learning to shake hands, I should think," said Willie, laughing aloud.

"There is a very pretty story connected with that," said his father. "There was once a slave who ran away from his master, and hid in a cave. After he had been there a short time he heard a noise, and looking around he saw he was in a lion's den. His heart began to beat faster than ever, for he thought, 'I have run away only to be killed by this lion.' He fixed his eyes upon the beast, expecting every minute that he would jump upon him and tear him to pieces.

"Presently the great lion came slowly up to him, and held out his paw, as you see in the picture. The slave then saw that there was a large thorn sticking in his foot. He pitied the poor creature, though he expected every minute to be killed by him. He took the paw gently in his hands, got firm hold of the thorn, and pulled it out.

"The lion was very much obliged to him, though he could not say so in words. He lay down at the slave's feet, to show him that he would not injure him.

"A few days after, some men were hunting in the forest; and they caught the great lion, and carried him away with them; and they also caught the poor slave, and took him back to his master, who was the king. The king was very angry with him for running away, and ordered that he should be thrown into a den with a hungry lion, who would eat him up.

"This was a dreadfully cruel punishment; but as the king had ordered it, a great many people gathered together to see it inflicted. The den was opened, and a great, fierce lion came bounding in, leaping and roaring for his food. Presently another door was opened, and the poor slave was seen crouching back against the wall to escape from his terrible enemy.

"As soon as the lion saw him, he gave one tremendous roar, and sprang several yards toward the slave.

"Then all the people gave a great shout, for they thought that, almost before they could look again, the slave would be dead. But to their great surprise, the fierce, hungry lion, that had had no food for two days, was on his knees before the slave, who had his arms around the animal's neck, embracing him as if he were his dearest friend.

"The king was so astonished at this sight, that he cried out, 'Pardon! pardon!' So they took the slave from the den, and threw in another criminal, who was instantly torn to pieces."

I have spent so much time telling you about these beautiful pictures, that I can only say the children were invited into the dining hall, where they were feasted on nuts, cake, fruit, and lemonade; and went home, after thanking Mrs. Gray for inviting them to so pleasant a party. Frankie, when he kissed his mamma good night, said, "I wish I could have a birthday every week, I like them so much."