Little Men

by Louisa May Alcott

  CHAPTER IV. STEPPING-STONES

  When Nat went into school on Monday morning, he quaked inwardly, for nowhe thought he should have to display his ignorance before them all. ButMr. Bhaer gave him a seat in the deep window, where he could turn hisback on the others, and Franz heard him say his lessons there, so no onecould hear his blunders or see how he blotted his copybook. He was trulygrateful for 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 there istime enough."

  "But I must work hard, or I can't catch up with the others. They knowheaps, and I don't know anything," said Nat, who had been reduced to astate of despair by hearing the boys recite their grammar, history, andgeography with what he thought amazing ease and accuracy.

  "You know a good many things which they don't," said Mr. Bhaer, sittingdown beside him, while Franz led a class of small students through theintricacies of the multiplication table.

  "Do I?" and Nat looked utterly incredulous.

  "Yes; for one thing, you can keep your temper, and Jack, who is quickat numbers, cannot; that is an excellent lesson, and I think you havelearned it well. Then, you can play the violin, and not one of the ladscan, though they want to do it very much. But, best of all, Nat, youreally care to learn something, and that is half the battle. It seemshard at first, and you will feel discouraged, but plod away, and thingswill get easier and easier as you go on."

  Nat's face had brightened more and more as he listened, for, small asthe list of his learning was, it cheered him immensely to feel thathe had anything to fall back upon. "Yes, I can keep my temper father'sbeating taught me that; and I can fiddle, though I don't know where theBay of Biscay is," he thought, with a sense of comfort impossible toexpress. Then he said aloud, and so earnestly 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,"cried Demi, quite forgetting where he was.

  The class stopped in the middle of 7 times 9, and everyone looked up tosee what was going on.

  Thinking that a lesson in learning to help one another was better thanarithmetic just then, Mr. Bhaer told them about Nat, making such aninteresting and touching little story out of it that the good-heartedlads all promised to lend him a hand, and felt quite honored to becalled upon to impart their stores of wisdom to the chap who fiddled socapitally. This appeal established the right feeling among them, and Nathad few hindrances to struggle against, for every one was glad to givehim a "boost" up the ladder of learning.

  Till he was stronger, much study was not good for him, however, and Mrs.Jo found various amusements in the house for him while others were attheir books. But his garden was his best medicine, and he worked awaylike a beaver, preparing his little farm, sowing his beans, watchingeagerly to see them grow, and rejoicing over each green leaf and slenderstock that shot up and flourished in the warm spring weather. Neverwas a garden more faithfully hoed; Mr. Bhaer really feared that nothingwould find time to grow, Nat kept up such a stirring of the soil; so hegave him easy jobs in the flower garden or among the strawberries, wherehe worked and hummed as busily as the bees booming all about him.

  "This is the crop I like best," Mrs. Bhaer used to say, as she pinchedthe once thin cheeks, now getting plump and ruddy, or stroked the bentshoulders that were slowly straightening up with healthful work, goodfood, and the absence of that heavy burden, poverty.

  Demi was his little friend, Tommy his patron, and Daisy the comforter ofall his woes; for, though the children were younger than he, his timidspirit found a pleasure in their innocent society, and rather shrunkfrom the rough sports of the elder lads. Mr. Laurence did not forgethim, but sent clothes and books, music and kind messages, and now andthen came out to see how his boy was getting on, or took him into townto a concert; on which occasions Nat felt himself translated into theseventh heaven of bliss, for he went to Mr. Laurence's great house, sawhis pretty wife and little fairy of a daughter, had a good dinner, andwas made so comfortable, that he talked and dreamed of it for days andnights afterward.

  It takes so little to make a child happy that it is a pity, in a worldso full 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 their flock ofhungry sparrows, for they were not rich, except in charity. Many ofMrs. Jo's friends who had nurseries sent her they toys of which theirchildren so soon tired, and in mending these Nat found an employmentthat just suited him. He was very neat and skillful with those slenderfingers of his, and passed many a rainy afternoon with his gum-bottle,paint-box, and knife, repairing furniture, animals, and games, whileDaisy was dressmaker to the dilapidated dolls. As fast as the toys weremended, they were put carefully away in a certain drawer which wasto furnish forth a Christmas-tree for all the poor children of theneighborhood, that being the way the Plumfield boys celebrated thebirthday of Him who loved the poor and blessed the little ones.

  Demi was never tired of reading and explaining his favorite books, andmany a pleasant hour did they spend in the old willow, revelling over"Robinson Crusoe," "Arabian Nights," "Edgeworth's Tales," and the otherdear immortal stories that will delight children for centuries to come.This opened a new world to Nat, and his eagerness to see what came nextin the story helped him on till he could read as well as anybody, andfelt so rich and proud with his new accomplishment, that there wasdanger of his being as much of a bookworm as Demi.

  Another helpful thing happened in a most unexpected and agreeablemanner. Several of the boys were "in business," as they called it, formost of them were poor, and knowing that they would have their own wayto make by and by, the Bhaers encouraged any efforts at independence.Tommy sold his eggs; Jack speculated in live stock; Franz helped inthe teaching, and was paid for it; Ned had a taste for carpentry, and aturning-lathe was set up for him in which he turned all sorts of usefulor pretty things, and sold them; while Demi constructed water-mills,whirligigs, and unknown machines of an intricate and useless nature, anddisposed of them to 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 whatever talentthese 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 excited face:

  "Can I go and fiddle for some people who are to have a picnic in ourwoods? They will pay me, and I'd like to earn some money as the otherboys 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 I amglad it is offered you."

  Nat went, and did so well that when he came home he had two dollars inhis pocket, which he displayed with intense satisfaction, as he told howmuch he had enjoyed the afternoon, how kind the young people were, andhow they had praised his dance music, and promised 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 so much,"said Nat, proudly patting the old pocketbook, and feeling like amillionaire already.

  He was in business truly, for picnics were plenty as summer opened,and Nat's skill was in great demand. He was always at liberty to go iflessons were not neglected, and if the picnickers were respectable youngpeople. For Mr. Bhaer explained to him that a good plain education isnecessary for everyone, and that no amount of money should hire him togo where he might be tempted to do wrong. Nat quite agreed to this, andit was a pleasant sight to see the innocent-hearted lad go driving awayin the gay wagons that stopped at the gate for him,
or to hear him comefiddling home tired but happy, with his well-earned money in one pocket,and some "goodies" from the feast for Daisy or little Ted, whom he neverforgot.

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

  "I hope so, Nat; but we must get you strong and hearty first, and put alittle more knowledge into this musical head of yours. Then Mr. Lauriewill find you a place somewhere, and in a few years we will all come tohear you play in public."

  With much congenial work, encouragement, and hope, Nat found lifegetting easier and happier every day, and made such progress in hismusic lessons that his teacher forgave his slowness in some otherthings, knowing very well that where the heart is the mind works best.The only punishment the boy ever needed for neglect of more importantlessons was to hang up the fiddle and the bow for a day. The fear oflosing his bosom friend entirely made him go at his books with a will;and having proved that he could master the lessons, what was the use ofsaying "I can't?"

  Daisy had a great love of music, and a great reverence for any one whocould make it, and she was often found sitting on the stairs outsideNat's door while he was practising. This pleased him very much, and heplayed his best for that one quiet little listener; for she never wouldcome in, but preferred to sit sewing her gay patchwork, or tending oneof her many dolls, with an expression of dreamy pleasure on her facethat made Aunt Jo say, with tears in her eyes: "So like my Beth," andgo softly by, lest even her familiar presence mar the child's sweetsatisfaction.

  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 rough sea onwhich his little boat had been tossing rudderless for twelve years. Somegood angel must have been watching over him, for, though his body hadsuffered, his soul seemed to have taken little harm, and came ashore asinnocent as a shipwrecked baby. Perhaps his love of music kept it sweetin spite of the discord all about him; Mr. Laurie said so, and he oughtto know. However that might be, Father Bhaer took pleasure in fosteringpoor Nat's virtues, and in curing his faults, finding his new pupil asdocile and affectionate as a girl. He often called Nat his "daughter"when speaking of him to Mrs. Jo, and she used to laugh at his fancy, forMadame liked manly boys, and thought Nat amiable but weak, though younever would have guessed it, for she petted him as she did Daisy, and hethought her a very delightful woman.

  One fault of Nat's gave the Bhaers much anxiety, although they saw howit had been strengthened by fear and ignorance. I regret to say thatNat sometimes told lies. Not very black ones, seldom getting deeper thangray, and often the mildest of white fibs; but that did not matter, alie is a lie, and though we all tell many polite untruths in this queerworld of ours, it is not right, and everybody knows it.

  "You cannot be too careful; watch your tongue, and eyes, and hands, forit is easy to tell, and look, and act untruth," said Mr. Bhaer, in oneof the talks he had with Nat about his chief temptation.

  "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," and Natlooked much depressed by his sins.

  "When I was a little lad I used to tell lies! Ach! what fibs they were,and my old grandmother cured me of it how, do you think? My parents hadtalked, and cried, and punished, but still did I forget as you. Thensaid the dear old grandmother, 'I shall help you to remember, and put acheck on this unruly part,' with that she drew out my tongue and snippedthe end with her scissors till the blood ran. That was terrible, youmay believe, but it did me much good, because it was sore for days, andevery word I said came so slowly that I had time to think. After that Iwas more careful, and got on better, for I feared the big scissors. Yetthe dear grandmother was most kind to me in all things, and when she laydying far away in Nuremberg, she prayed that little Fritz might love Godand 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, yetdid 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 you shallpunish 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 than to feelit yourself."

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

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

  This suggestion made such an impression on Nat, that for a long time heset a watch upon his lips, and was desperately accurate, for Mr. Bhaerjudged rightly, that love of him would be more powerful with Nat thatfear for himself. But alas! one sad day Nat was off his guard, and whenpeppery Emil threatened to thrash him, if it was he who had run over hisgarden and broken down his best hills of corn, Nat declared he didn't,and then was ashamed to own up that he did do it, when Jack was chasinghim the night before.

  He thought no one would find it out, but Tommy happened to see him, andwhen Emil spoke of it a day or two later, Tommy gave his evidence, andMr. Bhaer heard it. School was over, and they were all standing about inthe hall, and Mr. Bhaer had just set down on the straw settee to enjoyhis frolic with Teddy; but when he heard Tommy and saw Nat turn scarlet,and look at him with a frightened face, he put the little boy down,saying, "Go to thy mother, bubchen, I will come soon," and taking Nat bythe hand led him into the school and shut the door.

  The boys looked at one another in silence for a minute, then Tommyslipped out and peeping in at the half-closed blinds, beheld a sightthat quite bewildered him. Mr. Bhaer had just taken down the long rulethat hung over his desk, so seldom used that it was covered with dust.

  "My eye! He's going to come down heavy on Nat this time. Wish I hadn'ttold," thought good-natured Tommy, for to be feruled was the deepestdisgrace 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," thought Tommy, thoughhis 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 tumbled downthe bank, but saved himself, and hung onto the window ledge, staring inwith eyes as round as the stuffed owl's on the chimney-piece.

  Nat took the rule, for when Mr. Bhaer spoke in that tone everyone obeyedhim, and, looking as scared and guilty as if about to stab his master,he gave two feeble blows on the broad hand held out to him. Thenhe stopped and looked up half-blind with tears, but Mr. Bhaer saidsteadily:

  "Go on, and strike harder."

  As if seeing that it must be done, and eager to have the hard task soonover, Nat drew his sleeve across his eyes and gave two more quick hardstrokes 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 seeing wherethey fell, then threw the rule all across the room, and hugging the kindhand in both his own, laid his face down on it sobbing out in a passionof love, and shame, and penitence:

  "I will remember! Oh! I will!"

  Then Mr. Bhaer put an arm about him, and said in a tone as compassionateas 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 so excited andsober that the boys crowded round him to ask what was being done to Nat.

  In a most impressive whisper Tommy told them, and they looked as if thesky was about to fall, for this reversing the order of things almosttook their breath away.

  "He made me do the same thing once," said Emil, as if confessing a crimeof 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 cuffing him, as hewould have felt it his duty to do on any less solemn occasion.

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

  "I was hopping mad at the time, and thought I shouldn't mind abit, 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 and walkedon me, I wouldn't have minded, I felt so mean," and Emil gave himself agood thump in the chest to express his sense of remorse 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 as ifhe found the awfulness much increased when the punishment fell not uponthe 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 in troubloustimes.

  Nat did not come to dinner, but Mrs. Jo took some up to him, and said atender word, which did him good, though he could not look at her. By andby the lads playing outside heard the violin, and said among themselves:"He's all right now." He was all right, but felt shy about going down,till opening his door to slip away into the woods, he found Daisysitting on the stairs with neither work nor doll, only her littlehandkerchief in her hand, as if she had been mourning for her captivefriend.

  "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 a wretch.

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

  The others saw them go, but no one followed, for boys have a great dealmore delicacy than they get credit for, and the lads instinctively feltthat, when in disgrace, gentle little Daisy was their most congenialfriend.

  The walk did Nat good, and he came home quieter than usual, but lookingcheerful again, and hung all over with daisy-chains made by his littleplaymate while he lay on the grass and told her stories.

  No one said a word about the scene of the morning, but its effect wasall the more lasting for that reason, perhaps. Nat tried his very best,and found much help, not only from the earnest little prayers he prayedto his Friend in heaven, but also in the patient care of the earthlyfriend whose kind hand he never touched without remembering that it hadwillingly borne pain for his sake.