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"Who is that boy next the girl down at the other end?" whispered Nat tohis young neighbor under cover of a general laugh
"That's Demi Brooke Mr Bhaer is his uncle"
"What a queer name!"
"His real name is John, but they call him Demi-John, because hisfather is John too That's a joke, don't you see?" said To Nat did not see, but politely smiled, and asked, withinterest:
"Isn't he a very nice boy?"
"I bet you he is; knows lots and reads like any thing"
"Who is the fat one next him?"
"Oh, that's Stuffy Cole His nae, but we call him Stuffy'cause he eats so much The little fellow next Father Bhaer is his boyRob, and then there's big Franz his nephew; he teaches some, and kind ofsees to us"
"He plays the flute, doesn't he?" asked Nat as To a whole baked apple into his mouth at one blow
Toined possibleunder the circuh? And we dance soymnastics to music I like a drum myself, and mean to learn assoon as ever I can"
"I like a fiddle best; I can play one too," said Nat, gettingconfidential on this attractive subject
"Can you?" and To with round eyes,full of interest "Mr Bhaer's got an old fiddle, and he'll let you playon it if you want to"
"Could I? Oh, I would like it ever sowith my father, and another man, till he died"
"Wasn't that fun?" cried Tommy, much impressed
"No, it was horrid; so cold in winter, and hot in suottired; and they were cross soh to eat"Nat paused to take a generous bite of gingerbread, as if to assurehiretfully:"But I did love my little fiddle, and I miss it Nicolo took it ahen father died, and wouldn't have er, 'cause I was sick"
"You'll belong to the band if you play good See if you don't"
"Do you have a band here?" Nat's eyes sparkled
"Guess we do; a jolly band, all boys; and they have concerts and thingsYou just see what happens to-ht"
After this pleasantly exciting remark, Tommy returned to his supper, andNat sank into a blissful reverie over his full plate
Mrs Bhaer had heard all they said, while apparently absorbed in filling little Ted, as so sleepy that he put his spoonin his eye, nodded like a rosy poppy, and finally fell fast asleep, withhis cheek pillowed on a soft bun Mrs Bhaer had put Nat next to Tommy,because that roly-poly boy had a frank and social ith him, veryattractive to shy persons Nat felt this, and had ave Mrs Bhaer the key to the newboy's character, better than if she had talked to him herself
In the letter which Mr Laurence had sent with Nat, he had said:
"DEAR JO: Here is a case after your own heart This poor lad is anorphan now, sick and friendless He has been a street- for his de
ad father, and his lostviolin I think there is soive this little lected enius or only a boy with a talent which may earn his bread for himGive him a trial, for the sake of your own boy,
"TEDDY"
"Of course ill!" cried Mrs Bhaer, as she read the letter; and whenshe saw Nat she felt at once that, whether he was a genius or not, herewas a lonely, sick boy who needed just what she loved to give, a homeand motherly care Both she and Mr Bhaer observed hied clothes, aard manners, and a dirty face, they sawmuch about Nat that pleased theood forehead under the rough, neglected hair; ananxious, scared face, at times, as if he expected hard words, or blows;and a sensitive entle speech called up a look of gratitude, very sweet to see"Bless the poor dear, he shall fiddle all day long if he likes," saidMrs Bhaer to herself, as she saw the eager, happy expression on hisface when Tommy talked of the band
So, after supper, when the lads flocked into the schoolrooh jinks," Mrs Jo appeared with a violin in her hand, and after aith her husband, went to Nat, who sat in a corner watching thescene with intense interest
"Now, ive us a little tune We want a violin in our band, and Ithink you will do it nicely"
She expected that he would hesitate; but he seized the old fiddle atonce, and handled it with such loving care, it was plain to see thatmusic was his passion
"I'll do the best I can, ma'as, as if eager to hear the dear notes again
There was a great clatter in the room, but as if deaf to any sounds butthose heinhis delight It was only a siht the ears of the boys at once, and silenced the with surprise and pleasure Gradually they gotnearer and nearer, and Mr Bhaer came up to watch the boy; for, as if hewas in his element now, Nat played away and never minded any one, whilehis eyes shone, his cheeks reddened, and his thin fingers flew, as hehugged the old fiddle and ethat he loved
A hearty round of applause rewarded hilanced about him, as if to say:
"I've done my best; please like it"
"I say, you do that first rate," cried Toe
"You shall be the first fiddle insmile
Mrs Bhaer whispered to her husband:
"Teddy is right: there's so in the child" And Mr Bhaer noddedhis head e,heartily:
"You play well, "
It was the proudest, happiest minute of the poor boy's life when he wasled to the place of honor by the piano, and the lads gathered round,never heeding his poor clothes, but eying hiain
They chose a song he knew; and after one or two false starts they gotgoing, and violin, flute, and piano led a chorus of boyish voices thatain It was too much for Nat, more feeble thanhe knew; and as the final shout died away, his face began to work, hedropped the fiddle, and turning to the wall sobbed like a little child
"My dear, what is it?" asked Mrs Bhaer, who had been singing with allhertime with hisboots
"You are all so kind and it's so beautiful I can't help it," sobbed Nat,coughing till he was breathless
"Coo to bed and rest; you are worn out, andthis is too noisy a place for you," whispered Mrs Bhaer; and took himaway to her own parlor, where she let him cry himself quiet
Then she won him to tell her all his troubles, and listened to thelittle story with tears in her own eyes, though it was not a new one toher
"My child, you have got a father and a mother now, and this is hoet well and happy; and besure you shall never suffer again, if we can help it This place is ood time in, and to learn how to helpthemselves and be useful men, I hope You shall have asfirst Now coo to bed, and to-ether"
Nat held her hand fast in his, but had not a word to say, and let hisgrateful eyes speak for hi room,where they found a stout German woman with a face so round and cheerythat it looked like a sort of sun, with the wide frill of her cap forrays
"This is Nursey Huive you a nice bath, and cut yourhair, and make you all 'comfy,' as Rob says That's the bath-roohts we scrub all the little lads first, andpack the Now then,Rob, in with you"
As she talked, Mrs Bhaer had whipped off Rob's clothes and popped hi into the nursery
There were two tubs, besides foot-baths, basins, douche-pipes, and allmanner of contrivances for cleanliness Nat was soon luxuriating in theother bath; and while si there, he watched the perforowned, and bundled into bedfour or five s the operation, and kept every one in a gale of uished in their beds
By the time Nat ashed and done up in a blanket by the fire, whileNursey cut his hair, a new detachment of boys arrived and were shut intothe bath-roo and noise as a schoolof young whales at play
"Nat had better sleep here, so that if his cough troubles hiht of flax-seed tea," saidMrs Bhaer, as flying about like a distracted hen with a largebrood of lively ducklings
Nursey approved the plan, finished Nat off with a flannel night-gown, adrink of so warm and sweet, and then tucked hi in the roo that nothing more in the way of luxurycould be offered hihtfulsensation; flannel goere unknown coh as pleasantly as kind words did hislonely heart; and the feeling that somebody cared for him made thatplain room seem a sort of heaven to the homeless child It was like acosy dream; and he often shut his eyes to see if it would not vanishwhen he opened theain It was too pleasant to let him sleep, and hecould not have done so if he had tried, for in a few minutes one of thepeculiar institutions of Plumfield was revealed to his astonished butappreciative eyes
A momentary lull in the aquatic exercises was followed by the suddenappearance of pillows flying in all directions, hurled by white goblins,who caed in several rooed at intervals into the nursery,when soe there No one seemed tomind this explosion in the least; no one forbade it, or even lookedsurprised Nursey went on hanging up towels, and Mrs Bhaer laid outclean clothes, as calned Nay,she even chased one daring boy out of the room, and fired after him thepillow he had slyly thrown at her
"Won't they hurt 'eht
"Oh dear, no! We always allow one pillow-fight Saturday night The casesare changed to-low after the boys' baths; soI rather like ither dozenpairs of socks
"What a very nice school this is!" observed Nat, in a burst ofadmiration
"It's an odd one," la
ughed Mrs Bhaer, "but you see we don't believeinchildren ht-gown parties at first; but, bless you, it was of no useI could no more keep those boys in their beds than so reeht every Saturday night; and they proht I tried it, and it worked well If they don'tkeep their word, no frolic; if they do, I just turn the glasses round,put the lae as much as theylike"
"It's a beautiful plan," said Nat, feeling that he should like to joinin the fray, but not venturing to propose it the first night So he layenjoying the spectacle, which certainly was a lively one
To party, and Dee fine to see, collecting pillows behind hiers were out of ae upon hihtaccidents occurred, but nobody ood hu snowflakes,till Mrs Bhaer looked at her watch, and called out:
"Time is up, boys Into bed, every man jack, or pay the forfeit!"
"What is the forfeit?" asked Nat, sitting up in his eagerness to knohat happened to those wretches who disobeyed this most peculiar, butpublic-spirited school-ma'am
"Lose their fun next tiive thehts, and expect order Theyare honorable lads, and they keep their word"
That was evident, for the battle ended as abruptly as it began, a partingshot or two, a final cheer, as Dees for next tile or a suppressed whisper broke the quietwhich followed the Saturday-night frolic, as Mother Bhaer kissed her newboy and left him to happy dreams of life at Plumfield