When Nat went into school on Monday morning, he quakedinwardly, for now he thought he should have to display hisignorance before them all. But Mr. Bhaer gave him a seat in thedeep window, where he could turn his back on the others, andFranz heard him say his lessons there, so no one could hear hisblunders or see how he blotted his copybook. He was truly gratefulfor this, and toiled away so diligently that Mr. Bhaer said, smiling,when he saw his hot face and inky fingers:

"Don't work so hard, my boy; you will tire yourself out, and thereis time enough."

"But I must work hard, or I can't catch up with the others. Theyknow heaps, and I don't know anything," said Nat, who had beenreduced to a state of despair by hearing the boys recite theirgrammar, history, and geography with what he thought amazingease and accuracy.

"You know a good many things which they don't," said Mr. Bhaer,sitting down beside him, while Franz led a class of small studentsthrough the intricacies of the multiplication table.

"Do I?" and Nat looked utterly incredulous.

"Yes; for one thing, you can keep your temper, and Jack, who isquick at numbers, cannot; that is an excellent lesson, and I thinkyou have learned it well. Then, you can play the violin, and notone of the lads can, though they want to do it very much. But, bestof all, Nat, you really care to learn something, and that is half thebattle. It seems hard at first, and you will feel discouraged, butplod away, and things will get easier and easier as you go on."

Nat's face had brightened more and more as he listened, for, smallas the list of his learning was, it cheered him immensely to feelthat he had anything to fall back upon. "Yes, I can keep my temperfather's beating taught me that; and I can fiddle, though I don'tknow where the Bay of Biscay is," he thought, with a sense ofcomfort impossible to express. Then he said aloud, and soearnestly that Demi heard him:

"I do want to learn, and I will try. I never went to school, but Icouldn't help it; and if the fellows don't laugh at me, I guess I'll geton first rate you and the lady are so good to me."

"They shan't laugh at you; if they do, I'll I'll tell them not to," criedDemi, quite forgetting where he was.

The class stopped in the middle of 7 times 9, and everyone lookedup to see what was going on.

Thinking that a lesson in learning to help one another was betterthan arithmetic just then, Mr. Bhaer told them about Nat, makingsuch an interesting and touching little story out of it that thegood-hearted lads all promised to lend him a hand, and felt quitehonored to be called upon to impart their stores of wisdom to thechap who fiddled so capitally. This appeal established the rightfeeling among them, and Nat had few hindrances to struggleagainst, for every one was glad to give him a "boost" up the ladderof learning.

Till he was stronger, much study was not good for him, however,and Mrs. Jo found various amusements in the house for him whileothers were at their books. But his garden was his best medicine,and he worked away like a beaver, preparing his little farm,sowing his beans, watching eagerly to see them grow, andrejoicing over each green leaf and slender stock that shot up andflourished in the warm spring weather. Never was a garden morefaithfully hoed; Mr. Bhaer really feared that nothing would findtime to grow, Nat kept up such a stirring of the soil; so he gavehim easy jobs in the flower garden or among the strawberries,where he worked and hummed as busily as the bees booming allabout him.

"This is the crop I like best," Mrs. Bhaer used to say, as shepinched the once thin cheeks, now getting plump and ruddy, orstroked the bent shoulders that were slowly straightening up withhealthful work, good food, and the absence of that heavy burden,poverty.

Demi was his little friend, Tommy his patron, and Daisy thecomforter of all his woes; for, though the children were youngerthan he, his timid spirit found a pleasure in their innocent society,and rather shrunk from the rough sports of the elder lads. Mr.Laurence did not forget him, but sent clothes and books, music andkind messages, and now and then came out to see how his boy wasgetting on, or took him into town to a concert; on which occasionsNat felt himself translated into the seventh heaven of bliss, for hewent to Mr. Laurence's great house, saw his pretty wife and littlefairy of a daughter, had a good dinner, and was made socomfortable, that he talked and dreamed of it for days and nightsafterward.

It takes so little to make a child happy that it is a pity, in a world sofull of sunshine and pleasant things, that there should be anywistful faces, empty hands, or lonely little hearts. Feeling this, theBhaers gathered up all the crumbs they could find to feed theirflock of hungry sparrows, for they were not rich, except in charity.Many of Mrs. Jo's friends who had nurseries sent her they toys ofwhich their children so soon tired, and in mending these Nat foundan employment that just suited him. He was very neat and skillfulwith those slender fingers of his, and passed many a rainyafternoon with his gum-bottle, paint-box, and knife, repairingfurniture, animals, and games, while Daisy was dressmaker to thedilapidated dolls. As fast as the toys were mended, they were putcarefully away in a certain drawer which was to furnish forth aChristmas-tree for all the poor children of the neighborhood, thatbeing the way the Plumfield boys celebrated the birthday of Himwho loved the poor and blessed the little ones.

Demi was never tired of reading and explaining his favorite books,and many a pleasant hour did they spend in the old willow,revelling over "Robinson Crusoe," "Arabian Nights," "Edgeworth'sTales," and the other dear immortal stories that will delightchildren for centuries to come. This opened a new world to Nat,and his eagerness to see what came next in the story helped him ontill he could read as well as anybody, and felt so rich and proudwith his new accomplishment, that there was danger of his beingas much of a bookworm as Demi.

Another helpful thing happened in a most unexpected andagreeable manner. Several of the boys were "in business," as theycalled it, for most of them were poor, and knowing that they wouldhave their own way to make by and by, the Bhaers encouraged anyefforts at independence. Tommy sold his eggs; Jack speculated inlive stock; Franz helped in the teaching, and was paid for it; Nedhad a taste for carpentry, and a turning-lathe was set up for him inwhich he turned all sorts of useful or pretty things, and sold them;while Demi constructed water-mills, whirligigs, and unknownmachines of an intricate and useless nature, and disposed of themto the boys.

"Let him be a mechanic if he likes," said Mr. Bhaer. "Give a boy atrade, and he is independent. Work is wholesome, and whatevertalent these lads possess, be it for poetry or ploughing, it shall becultivated and made useful to them if possible."

So, when Nat came running to him one day to ask with an excitedface:

"Can I go and fiddle for some people who are to have a picnic inour woods? They will pay me, and I'd like to earn some money asthe other boys do, and fiddling is the only way I know how to do it"

Mr. Bhaer answered readily:

"Go, and welcome. It is an easy and a pleasant way to work, and Iam glad it is offered you."

Nat went, and did so well that when he came home he had twodollars in his pocket, which he displayed with intense satisfaction,as he told how much he had enjoyed the afternoon, how kind theyoung people were, and how they had praised his dance music, andpromised to have him again.

"It is so much nicer than fiddling in the street, for then I got noneof the money, and now I have it all, and a good time besides. I'm inbusiness now as well as Tommy and Jack, and I like it ever somuch," said Nat, proudly patting the old pocketbook, and feelinglike a millionaire already.

He was in business truly, for picnics were plenty as summeropened, and Nat's skill was in great demand. He was always atliberty to go if lessons were not neglected, and if the picnickerswere respectable young people. For Mr. Bhaer explained to himthat a good plain education is necessary for everyone, and that noamount of money should hire him to go where he might betempted to do wrong. Nat quite agreed to this, and it was apleasant sight to see the innocent-hearted lad go driving away inthe gay wagons that stopped at the gate for him, or to hear himcome fiddling home tired but happy, with his well-earned moneyin one pocket, and some "goodies" from the feast for Daisy or littleTed, whom he never forgot.

"I'm going to save up till I get enough to buy a violin for myself,and then I can earn my own living, can't I?" he used to say, as hebrought his dollars to Mr. Bhaer to keep.

"I hope so, Nat; but we must get you strong and hearty first, andput a little more knowledge into this musical head of yours. ThenMr. Laurie will find you a place somewhere, and in a few years wewill all come to hear you play in public."

With much congenial work, encouragement, and hope, Nat foundlife getting easier and happier every day, and made such progressin his music lessons that his teacher forgave his slowness in someother things, knowing very well that where the heart is the mindworks best. The only punishment the boy ever needed for neglectof more important lessons was to hang up the fiddle and the bowfor a day. The fear of losing his bosom friend entirely made him goat his books with a will; and having proved that he could masterthe lessons, what was the use of saying "I can't?"

Daisy had a great love of music, and a great reverence for any onewho could make it, and she was often found sitting on the stairsoutside Nat's door while he was practising. This pleased him verymuch, and he played his best for that one quiet little listener; forshe never would come in, but preferred to sit sewing her gaypatchwork, or tending one of her many dolls, with an expression ofdreamy pleasure on her face that made Aunt Jo say, with tears inher eyes: "So like my Beth," and go softly by, lest even her familiarpresence mar the child's sweet satisfaction.

Nat was very fond of Mrs. Bhaer, but found something even moreattractive in the good professor, who took fatherly care of the shyfeeble boy, who had barely escaped with his life from the roughsea on which his little boat had been tossing rudderless for twelveyears. Some good angel must have been watching over him, for,though his body had suffered, his soul seemed to have taken littleharm, and came ashore as innocent as a shipwrecked baby.Perhaps his love of music kept it sweet in spite of the discord allabout him; Mr. Laurie said so, and he ought to know. However thatmight be, Father Bhaer took pleasure in fostering poor Nat'svirtues, and in curing his faults, finding his new pupil as docile andaffectionate as a girl. He often called Nat his "daughter" whenspeaking of him to Mrs. Jo, and she used to laugh at his fancy, forMadame liked manly boys, and thought Nat amiable but weak,though you never would have guessed it, for she petted him as shedid Daisy, and he thought her a very delightful woman.

One fault of Nat's gave the Bhaers much anxiety, although theysaw how it had been strengthened by fear and ignorance. I regret tosay that Nat sometimes told lies. Not very black ones, seldomgetting deeper than gray, and often the mildest of white fibs; butthat did not matter, a lie is a lie, and though we all tell many politeuntruths in this queer world of ours, it is not right, and everybodyknows it.

"You cannot be too careful; watch your tongue, and eyes, andhands, for it is easy to tell, and look, and act untruth," said Mr.Bhaer, in one of the talks he had with Nat about his chieftemptation.

"I know it, and I don't mean to, but it's so much easier to get alongif you ain't very fussy about being exactly true. I used to tell 'embecause I was afraid of father and Nicolo, and now I do sometimesbecause the boys laugh at me. I know it's bad, but I forget," andNat looked much depressed by his sins.

"When I was a little lad I used to tell lies! Ach! what fibs theywere, and my old grandmother cured me of it how, do you think?My parents had talked, and cried, and punished, but still did Iforget as you. Then said the dear old grandmother, 'I shall help youto remember, and put a check on this unruly part,' with that shedrew out my tongue and snipped the end with her scissors till theblood ran. That was terrible, you may believe, but it did me muchgood, because it was sore for days, and every word I said came soslowly that I had time to think. After that I was more careful, andgot on better, for I feared the big scissors. Yet the deargrandmother was most kind to me in all things, and when she laydying far away in Nuremberg, she prayed that little Fritz mightlove God and tell the truth."

"I never had any grandmothers, but if you think it will cure me, I'lllet you snip my tongue," said Nat, heroically, for he dreaded pain,yet did wish to stop fibbing.

Mr. Bhaer smiled, but shook his head.

"I have a better way than that, I tried it once before and it workedwell. See now, when you tell a lie I will not punish you, but youshall punish me."

"How?" asked Nat, startled at the idea.

"You shall ferule me in the good old-fashioned way; I seldom do itmyself, but it may make you remember better to give me pain thanto feel it yourself."

"Strike you? Oh, I couldn't!" cried Nat.

"Then mind that tripping tongue of thine. I have no wish to be hurt,but I would gladly bear much pain to cure this fault."

This suggestion made such an impression on Nat, that for a longtime he set a watch upon his lips, and was desperately accurate, forMr. Bhaer judged rightly, that love of him would be more powerfulwith Nat that fear for himself. But alas! one sad day Nat was offhis guard, and when peppery Emil threatened to thrash him, if itwas he who had run over his garden and broken down his best hillsof corn, Nat declared he didn't, and then was ashamed to own upthat he did do it, when Jack was chasing him the night before.

He thought no one would find it out, but Tommy happened to seehim, and when Emil spoke of it a day or two later, Tommy gavehis evidence, and Mr. Bhaer heard it. School was over, and theywere all standing about in the hall, and Mr. Bhaer had just setdown on the straw settee to enjoy his frolic with Teddy; but whenhe heard Tommy and saw Nat turn scarlet, and look at him with afrightened face, he put the little boy down, saying, "Go to thymother, bbchen, I will come soon," and taking Nat by the handled him into the school and shut the door.

The boys looked at one another in silence for a minute, thenTommy slipped out and peeping in at the half-closed blinds,beheld a sight that quite bewildered him. Mr. Bhaer had just takendown the long rule that hung over his desk, so seldom used that itwas covered with dust.

"My eye! He's going to come down heavy on Nat this time. Wish Ihadn't told," thought good-natured Tommy, for to be feruled wasthe deepest disgrace at this school.

"You remember what I told you last time?" said Mr. Bhaer,sorrowfully, not angrily.

"Yes; but please don't make me, I can't bear it," cried Nat, backingup against the door with both hands behind him, and a face full ofdistress.

"Why don't he up and take it like a man? I would," thoughtTommy, though his heart beat fast at the sight.

"I shall keep my word, and you must remember to tell the truth.Obey me, Nat, take this and give me six good strokes."

Tommy was so staggered by this last speech that he nearly tumbleddown the bank, but saved himself, and hung onto the windowledge, staring in with eyes as round as the stuffed owl's on thechimney-piece.

Nat took the rule, for when Mr. Bhaer spoke in that tone everyoneobeyed him, and, looking as scared and guilty as if about to stabhis master, he gave two feeble blows on the broad hand held out tohim. Then he stopped and looked up half-blind with tears, but Mr.Bhaer said steadily:

"Go on, and strike harder."

As if seeing that it must be done, and eager to have the hard tasksoon over, Nat drew his sleeve across his eyes and gave two morequick hard strokes that reddened the hand, yet hurt the giver more.

"Isn't that enough?" he asked in a breathless sort of tone.

"Two more," was all the answer, and he gave them, hardly seeingwhere they fell, then threw the rule all across the room, andhugging the kind hand in both his own, laid his face down on itsobbing out in a passion of love, and shame, and penitence:

"I will remember! Oh! I will!"

Then Mr. Bhaer put an arm about him, and said in a tone ascompassionate as it had just now been firm:

"I think you will. Ask the dear God to help you, and try to spare usboth another scene like this."

Tommy saw no more, for he crept back to the hall, looking soexcited and sober that the boys crowded round him to ask whatwas being done to Nat.

In a most impressive whisper Tommy told them, and they lookedas if the sky was about to fall, for this reversing the order of thingsalmost took their breath away.

"He made me do the same thing once," said Emil, as if confessinga crime of the deepest dye.

"And you hit him? dear old Father Bhaer? By thunder, I'd just liketo see you do it now!" said Ned, collaring Emil in a fit of righteouswrath.

"It was ever so long ago. I'd rather have my head cut off than do itnow," and Emil mildly laid Ned on his back instead of cuffinghim, as he would have felt it his duty to do on any less solemnoccasion.

"How could you?" said Demi, appalled at the idea.

"I was hopping mad at the time, and thought I shouldn't mind a bit,rather like it perhaps. But when I'd hit uncle one good crack,everything he had ever done for me came into my head all at oncesomehow, and I couldn't go on. No sir! If he'd laid me down andwalked on me, I wouldn't have minded, I felt so mean," and Emilgave himself a good thump in the chest to express his sense ofremorse for the past.

"Nat's crying like anything, and feels no end sorry, so don't let's saya word about it; will we?" said tender-hearted Tommy.

"Of course we won't, but it's awful to tell lies," and Demi looked asif he found the awfulness much increased when the punishmentfell not upon the sinner, but his best Uncle Fritz.

"Suppose we all clear out, so Nat can cut upstairs if he wants to,"proposed Franz, and led the way to the barn, their refuge introublous times.

Nat did not come to dinner, but Mrs. Jo took some up to him, andsaid a tender word, which did him good, though he could not lookat her. By and by the lads playing outside heard the violin, and saidamong themselves: "He's all right now." He was all right, but feltshy about going down, till opening his door to slip away into thewoods, he found Daisy sitting on the stairs with neither work nordoll, only her little handkerchief in her hand, as if she had beenmourning for her captive friend.

"I'm going to walk; want to come?" asked Nat, trying to look as ifnothing was the matter, yet feeling very grateful for her silentsympathy, because he fancied everyone must look upon him as awretch.

"Oh yes!" and Daisy ran for her hat, proud to be chosen as acompanion by one of the big boys.

The others saw them go, but no one followed, for boys have a greatdeal more delicacy than they get credit for, and the ladsinstinctively felt that, when in disgrace, gentle little Daisy wastheir most congenial friend.

The walk did Nat good, and he came home quieter than usual, butlooking cheerful again, and hung all over with daisy-chains madeby his little playmate while he lay on the grass and told her stories.

No one said a word about the scene of the morning, but its effectwas all the more lasting for that reason, perhaps. Nat tried his verybest, and found much help, not only from the earnest little prayershe prayed to his Friend in heaven, but also in the patient care of theearthly friend whose kind hand he never touched withoutremembering that it had willingly borne pain for his sake.