Frank and Fanny Part 5

[Ill.u.s.tration: f.a.n.n.y'S LINNET.]

He carried the bird in a cage to f.a.n.n.y, and she was so delighted, she could scarcely speak.

Mr. Herbert told her, that she need not fear that the bird would be unhappy, for it had been born in a cage, and had never been accustomed to any other kind of life. Then he told her where to put the seed, and the water, and the sugar, and how to clean the cage; and f.a.n.n.y listened attentively, and thanked him so earnestly, while her dark, blue eyes sparkled with delight, that Mr. Herbert felt more than repaid for the trouble he had taken in getting the bird.

The next morning Mary Day stopped, in her way to school. When she saw the cage hanging amid the vines, and heard the clear, sweet notes of the linnet, her heart was stirred with envy. She was a very selfish little girl, or it would have pleased her to see f.a.n.n.y so happy with her bird; but she looked very cross and sour, as she said,

"So you have got a bird, just because mine is dead."

"Oh, no," answered f.a.n.n.y, "I never thought of having a bird; but dear, good Mr. Herbert, brought it to me yesterday. I am so sorry that yours is dead."

"You needn't be sorry for me," said the petulant Mary, "I've got plenty of things that you haven't got, and I'd be ashamed to wear such mean clothes as you do."

Poor f.a.n.n.y looked down at her clean calico dress, and she saw that it was faded and patched. A bright rose color flitted over her cheeks, and when she looked up, tears stood in her eyes. Mary did not say any more; but she watched f.a.n.n.y all the forenoon, and saw that she had made her feel very unhappy. When they went out to play, she went up to f.a.n.n.y, and said,

"I will give you one of my fine dresses for your little linnet, and then you needn't wear that old patched calico any more."

"No, no," answered f.a.n.n.y, "I would not sell my bird for all the dresses in the world."

This made the selfish, naughty Mary more angry than ever; and she went around whispering to all the girls to look at the patches in f.a.n.n.y Lee's dress. Some of them laughed with Mary, and poor f.a.n.n.y felt very much hurt and grieved.

After school, that noon, Frank found her crying alone in her room, and for the first time in her life, she refused to tell him what was the matter.

In the afternoon, after school was out, f.a.n.n.y did not stay, as she sometimes did, to play on the green with the children; but she took her book, and turned down into the meadow path alone. Frank felt very sad when he saw that his sister avoided him; but he followed her into the woods, and found her sitting in her favorite spot.

It was autumn, and the weather was cooler. f.a.n.n.y had spread her shawl down upon a log, and she was now sitting upon it, with her open book in her lap; but her eyes were bent upon the ground, thoughtfully. A merry little wren was flitting around and above her, but her cheerful notes were now unheeded.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE WREN.]

Frank sat down beside her, and putting one arm about her neck, he clasped her hand tenderly. Resting his head upon his other hand, he looked into her face, and said,

[Ill.u.s.tration: FRANK CONSOLING f.a.n.n.y.]

"Why won't my dear sister tell me what has made her feel so badly."

She did not want to converse, but when Frank told her that he should be very unhappy if he did not know the cause, she told him all about it. Frank felt very sorry for his sister, and at first bad feelings rose in his heart; but he had learned how to conquer them; so he talked to her, and told her how much happier they were than Mary Day, and how disagreeable she made herself, with her selfishness and her vanity; and then he told her that he had read in a book somewhere, that it was better to live in a mud hovel, with a kind heart, and a cheerful temper like hers, than to live in a palace without it.

When they went home, f.a.n.n.y was as happy as ever again, for she found that her heart was very much lightened by sharing her troubles with her brother.

The next day when they went to school, Mary Day was not there, and during the forenoon, Miss Norton received a note from Mary's mother, saying, that she had been thrown from a carriage, and one of her limbs broken. f.a.n.n.y felt so sorry for her, that she forgot all the unkind things which she had said the day before, and as soon as school was out, she hurried home, and taking down her cage, she started for Mr. Herbert's, without saying any thing to her grand-parents, or to Frank. She was almost breathless when she reached the parsonage.

Mr. Herbert was gathering some grapes in the garden, and as soon as f.a.n.n.y saw him, she said,

"Please, Mr. Herbert, let me give my linnet to Mary Day, her Canary is dead, and she has broken her leg, and she wants this very badly, and I can spare it, for I can go in the woods and hear the birds sing, while poor Mary has to lie in bed, and if I should get very home sick often, dear Linny, I can go and listen at her windows, and hear him sing."

Little f.a.n.n.y chatted so fast, that Mr. Herbert could not help smiling, although he was very sorry to hear of poor Mary's misfortune. He told her that she might give it to Mary to keep while she was sick, if she thought it would cheer her any; but he said, that he should wish f.a.n.n.y to have it again, after Mary should recover; for he felt more confidence in her, that she would take good care of the little bird. Then he put his hat on, and went to Mr. Day's house, and told them how she had wished to give the bird to Mary, but that he had only consented to her lending it. They all thought that she was a very good girl; and Mary told f.a.n.n.y that she might take home any of her play things. But f.a.n.n.y did not wish for them, and Mary thought it very strange that she should be willing to give her the bird, when she was so fond of it. It was great company to Mary, during her confinement to the house, and when she was able to go to school again, the bird was returned to f.a.n.n.y willingly, for Mary had learned to love her very much, and she often felt sorry that she should ever have hurt the feelings of so good a girl.

Mr. Herbert always spoke of Frank and f.a.n.n.y with a great deal of love, for he thought them the most affectionate and dutiful children that he had ever known.

He foretold that they would become useful and respectable when they should grow up; and in this respect he was perfectly right. Frank owns a very large farm, purchased with the wages of his own industry; and f.a.n.n.y is the happy, busy, and industrious little wife of worthy Farmer Baldwin's only son.

Good children are always beloved, for they make every one happy around them, and they are happy themselves.

I hope those who read this little tale, will try to be kind and forgiving, like Frank and f.a.n.n.y Lee. A kind, friendly disposition, and a willingness to forgive rather than resent injuries, is one which cannot fail to make us happy and beloved by our friends in this world; and without it we can not be happy in the world which is to come.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FRANK and f.a.n.n.y.]