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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 WHEELING THE CRIPPLE.]
LITTLE
FRANKIE AT SCHOOL.
BY
MRS. MADELINE LESLIE,
AUTHOR OF "THE HOME LIFE SERIES;" "MRS. LESLIE'S
JUVENILE SERIES," ETC.
[Illustration: divider]
BOSTON:
CROSBY AND AINSWORTH,
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 AT SCHOOL.
CHAPTER I.
FRANKIE'S NEW TEACHER.
WHEN little Frankie Gray was nearly seven years old, a lady came to
reside in the town where he lived, hoping to collect a small school.
Frankie's mother called upon her, and was so much pleased with her
frank, cheerful manners, her sunny smile, and her Christian
conversation, that she promised, with her husband's consent, to send
Frankie and Nelly to be her pupils.
The young teacher's name was Fanny Grant. Nelly laughed merrily when she
heard it, and said she should always think of her great doll, Fanny,
when she saw her.
Papa had for a long time feared it was an injury to his wife to be
confined so many hours as she thought it necessary to be in order to
attend to the children's studies, and he was very glad to find a good
teacher for them.
Miss Grant hired a pleasant room in a house only a short distance from
Mr. Gray's. Then she commenced furnishing it to suit her own fancy.
First she fastened white shades to the windows, and then hung the walls
with bright colored maps, and large pictures of animals and birds. On
one side there was a nice blackboard, and next it a card containing the
alphabet in large letters.
When all this was arranged, Miss Grant engaged a carpenter to work for
her a day in making a gallery of four steps, and in drawing a large
circle on the floor, which he marked by driving in large brass headed
nails.
Nelly and her cousin, who had watched these arrangements with great
interest, were very curious to know their use. The teacher, smiling,
bade them wait and see.
"Is all ready now?" asked Frankie.
"Not quite," said the teacher. "I must have some small chairs for my
little scholars; also some more apparatus."
"What is apparatus?" inquired Nelly.
"It is any thing by which we can illustrate or explain our ideas. This
blackboard, and these cards, are apparatus. You will see, when school
begins, how I shall explain to you many things by their help. Then I
have a large globe, a numeral frame, and an orrery."
"I had an orrery once," shouted Frankie. "It was made of wire, with
potatoes and turnips. Is yours like that?"
"O, no," said the teacher, with a hearty laugh. "The planets are made of
wood, or plaster, and painted very prettily."
"I shall like to see it," said Frankie.
"So shall I," said Nelly.
The children then took their leave, after bidding the lady good by; but
presently Frankie returned, all out of breath, to say, "Miss Grant, I
have a whole box of beautiful great cards. They were my birthday present
from papa and mamma. You may take them, if you want to, and hang them
around the room."
"Thank you, my little friend," said the teacher, giving him a kiss. "I
am going now to my boarding place, and you may walk with me, if you can
stop until I put on my bonnet."
"I should like that," said Frankie. "I'll run out and tell Nelly to
wait."
Miss Grant locked the door, and taking a small vase in her hand, joined
the children who were waiting near the gate.
"What is that flower pot for?" asked Nelly.
"When school begins, I shall beg some flowers from the lady where I
live," answered the teacher. "I like to have the room look cheerful and
bright, so that the little scholars will like to be there."
"I wish Monday would come quick," exclaimed the boy. "I want to begin to
go to school. I mean to carry a great big bouquet, out of my own garden.
Did you know I had a garden, Miss Grant?"
"No, I did not; but I am very glad to hear it. I love flowers almost as
well as I do good little boys and girls."
"I should think you would love your mother better than either. I do."
Miss Grant's lip quivered, and tears gushed to her eyes. "I do love my
mother," she said, softly, "but she is in heaven."
"I'm real sorry," said the sympathizing child, affectionately kissing
the hand he held. "If you were little, like Nelly and me, mother would
let you be her daughter, I guess."
When the children reached home, Mrs. Gray was most happy to see what an
influence the young teacher had already established over them. She
encouraged their love for her, and appealed to their sympathies by
saying, "She is an orphan, without father or mother; we must all try to
make her forget her sorrows by showing her that she has still many warm
friends."