I, Frankie the Ugly

While a storm rages, a cat gives birth to seven kittens in a woodpile. Since the cat only has six teats, the youngest kitten cannot get food, so he begins to starve and nearly falls prey to a rat. One day, coal is brought over and dumped inside the woodshed. Two kittens die, but the youngest one manages to climb through a hole and run out of the woodshed with his mother. After nearly drowning in a puddle, he is saved by a young boy named Mato, who takes him into his hands and carries him into the house to feed him. He names him Frankie the Ugly. Mato takes good care of him and Frankie grows up to be a handsome tomcat. He also endears to Mato's father. But when he gets into a fight with the neighbor's cat Wormwood, chasing him out of their house after the latter tried to sneak in, Mato dubs him Frankie the Ugly the Proud.