which he turned all sorts of useful or pretty things, and sold them;
while Demi constructed water-mills, whirligigs, and unknown
machines of an intricate and useless nature, and disposed of them
to the boys.
“Let him be a mechanic if he likes,” said Mr. Bhaer. “Give a boy a
trade, and he is independent. Work is wholesome, and whatever
talent these lads possess, be it for poetry or ploughing, it shall be
cultivated 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
our woods? They will pay me, and I’d like to earn some money as
the 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 I
am glad it is offered you.”
Nat went, and did so well that when he came home he had two
dollars in his pocket, which he displayed with intense satisfaction,
as he told how much he had enjoyed the afternoon, how kind the
young people were, and how 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 none
of the money, and now I have it all, and a good time besides. I’m in
business now as well as Tommy and Jack, and I like it ever so
much,” said Nat, proudly patting the old pocketbook, and feeling
like a millionaire 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 if lessons were not neglected, and if the picnickers
were respectable young people. For Mr. Bhaer explained to him
that a good plain education is necessary for everyone, and that no
amount of money should hire him to go where he might be
tempted to do wrong. Nat quite agreed to this, and it was a
pleasant sight to see the innocent-hearted lad go driving away in
the gay wagons that stopped at the gate for him, or to hear him
come fiddling 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 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 he
brought his dollars to Mr. Bhaer to keep.
“I hope so, Nat; but we must get you strong and hearty first, and
put a little more knowledge into this musical head of yours. Then
Mr. Laurie will find you a place somewhere, and in a few years we
will all come to hear you play in public.”
With much congenial work, encouragement, and hope, Nat found
life getting easier and happier every day, and made such progress
in his music lessons that his teacher forgave his slowness in some
other things, knowing very well that where the heart is the mind
works best. The only punishment the boy ever needed for neglect
of more important lessons was to hang up the fiddle and the bow
for a day. The fear of losing 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 of saying “I can’t?”
Daisy had a great love of music, and a great reverence for any one
who could make it, and she was often found sitting on the stairs
outside Nat’s door while he was practising. This pleased him very
much, and he played his best for that one quiet little listener; for
she never would come in, but preferred to sit sewing her gay
patchwork, or tending one of her many dolls, with an expression of
dreamy pleasure on her face that made Aunt Jo say, with tears in
her eyes: “So like my Beth,” and go softly by, lest even her familiar