CHAPTER VIII.
FRANKIE'S DOLLY.
When Willie was a little boy about two years old, a good lady came to see his mother. Her name was Bryant, but Willie could not speak such a very hard word; so, after trying a long time, he called her Bear. Papa and mamma laughed heartily, and said that was a funny name; but in a few days they began to call her Bear too; and after a while they thought it was a very pretty name. Do you know why they liked it so much? Because good Bear was fond of Willie, and very kind to him, and because Willie said it in such a cunning way. One day mamma folded up a little blanket for Willie to carry to bed for a baby, and Bear said, "I will make him a pretty dolly, and dress it all up, so that he can have it to play with."
That very day she began to work upon it. Mamma gave her nice pieces of cloth, and she made a black face, and curly hair, and red lips, and a very flat nose, and white eyes. Papa laughed when they showed it to him, and said, "he hoped Willie wouldn't be afraid of it."
Then Bear made arms, and hands, and legs, with red shoes, on the feet. Then she made a skirt, and a dress, and a sack for Dinah to put on when she was cold, and a bonnet for her to wear when she went to walk. She did not let Willie see it until it was all ready for him to play with, and then she, and mamma, and nurse stood looking to see what he would do with it.
"Pretty Dinah," said mamma, kissing the dolly, and then putting it into Willie's arms.
At first the little fellow looked and looked, but did not touch his new baby or smile at all; but presently, when mamma said, "Willie got two babies," and putting the one made of a blanket by the side of it, he began to understand what it was for. When Willie was four years old, Bear made some new clothes for Dinah, a jacket and pantaloons, and changed her name to John. This, Willie did not like; and one day hung dolly by a string to the nob of the shutter, because he was not good, he said.
When Frankie was old enough to play with a baby, dear kind Bear had gone away where they could never see her pleasant smile again; but mamma made a new dress, and put it on over the pantaloons, and called dolly Dinah again. While she was sewing on it, the tears ran out of her eyes and dropped on her work. Willie ran to ask her what was the matter, and she said, softly, "I am thinking of Bear, my dear, and how she would have loved our little Frankie if she had lived."
"I am going to heaven some day," said Willie; "and I'll ask her to come back. I know she will, when I tell her you cry so."
"If we are good, my dear boy," said mamma, wiping her eyes, "and try to please the Saviour, and to obey all his holy commands, we shall go to live with her in heaven; but she can never come back to us."
"I'm trying to grow good every day, mamma," said Willie.
This was a long time before. Now Frankie loved Dinah dearly; and when he went to ride, she had to go too. He used to hug her and kiss her just as mamma did him; and in all his plays with Margie, Dinah was set up in a chair, and had to play too.
Transcriber's Note: All punctuation errors repaired.