Little Men: Life at Plumfield With Jo's Boys
and gratitude began the work which time and effort were to finish; and
with an earnest wish to keep his first promise, Dan folded his hands
together in the Darkness, and softly whispered Teddy's little prayer,
“Please God bless every one, and help me to be good.”
CHAPTER XI. UNCLE TEDDY
For a week Dan only moved from bed to sofa; a long week and a hard one,
for the hurt foot was very painful at times, the quiet days were very
wearisome to the active lad, longing to be out enjoying the summer
weather, and especially difficult was it to be patient. But Dan did
his best, and every one helped him in their various ways; so the time
passed, and he was rewarded at last by hearing the doctor say, on
Saturday morning,
“This foot is doing better than I expected. Give the lad the crutch this
afternoon, and let him stump about the house a little.”
“Hooray!” shouted Nat, and raced away to tell the other boys the good
news.
Everybody was very glad, and after dinner the whole flock assembled to
behold Dan crutch himself up and down the hall a few times before he
settled in the porch to hold a sort of levee. He was much pleased at the
interest and good-will shown him, and brightened up more and more every
minute; for the boys came to pay their respects, the little girls fussed
about him with stools and cushions, and Teddy watched over him as if he
was a frail creature unable to do anything for himself. They were still
sitting and standing about the steps, when a carriage stopped at the
gate, a hat was waved from it, and with a shout of “Uncle Teddy! Uncle
Teddy!” Rob scampered down the avenue as fast as his short legs would
carry him. All the boys but Dan ran after him to see who should be
first to open the gate, and in a moment the carriage drove up with boys
swarming all over it, while Uncle Teddy sat laughing in the midst, with
his little daughter on his knee.
“Stop the triumphal car and let Jupiter descend,” he said, and jumping
out ran up the steps to meet Mrs. Bhaer, who stood smiling and clapping
her hands like a girl.
“How goes it, Teddy?”
“All right, Jo.”
Then they shook hands, and Mr. Laurie put Bess into her aunt's arms,
saying, as the child hugged her tight, “Goldilocks wanted to see you so
much that I ran away with her, for I was quite pining for a sight of you
myself. We want to play with your boys for an hour or so, and to see how
'the old woman who lived in a shoe, and had so many children she did not
know what to do,' is getting on.”
“I'm so glad! Play away, and don't get into mischief,” answered Mrs.
Jo, as the lads crowded round the pretty child, admiring her long golden
hair, dainty dress, and lofty ways, for the little “Princess,” as they
called her, allowed no one to kiss her, but sat smiling down upon them,
and graciously patting their heads with her little, white hands. They
all adored her, especially Rob, who considered her a sort of doll,
and dared not touch her lest she should break, but worshipped her at a
respectful distance, made happy by an occasional mark of favor from her
little highness. As she immediately demanded to see Daisy's kitchen,
she was borne off by Mrs. Jo, with a train of small boys following. The
others, all but Nat and Demi, ran away to the menagerie and gardens
to have all in order; for Mr. Laurie always took a general survey, and
looked disappointed if things were not flourishing.
Standing on the steps, he turned to Dan, saying like an old
acquaintance, though he had only seen him once or twice before,
“How is the foot?”
“Better, sir.”
“Rather tired of the house, aren't you?”
“Guess I am!” and Dan's eyes roved away to the green hills and woods
where he longed to be.
“Suppose we take a little turn before the others come back? That big,
easy carriage will be quite safe and comfortable, and a breath of fresh
air will do you good. Get a cushion and a shawl, Demi, and let's carry
Dan off.”
The boys thought it a capital joke, and Dan looked delighted, but asked,
with an unexpected burst of virtue,
“Will Mrs. Bhaer like it?”
“Oh, yes; we settled all that a minute ago.”
“You didn't say any thing about it, so I don't see how you could,” said
Demi, inquisitively.
“We have a way of sending messages to one another, without any words. It
is a great improvement on the telegraph.”
“I know it's eyes; I saw you lift your eyebrows, and nod toward the
carriage, and Mrs. Bhaer laughed and nodded back again,” cried Nat, who
was quite at his ease with kind Mr. Laurie by this time.
“Right. Now them, come on,” and in a minute Dan found himself settled in
the carriage, his foot on a cushion on the seat opposite, nicely
covered with a shawl, which fell down from the upper regions in a most
mysterious manner, just when they wanted it. Demi climbed up to the
box beside Peter, the black coachman. Nat sat next Dan in the place of
honor, while Uncle Teddy would sit opposite, to take care of the foot,
he said, but really that he might study the faces before him both so
happy, yet so different, for Dan's was square, and brown, and strong,
while Nat's was long, and fair, and rather weak, but very amiable with
its mild eyes and good forehead.
“By the way, I've got a book somewhere here that you may like to see,”
said the oldest boy of the party, diving under the seat and producing a
book which make Dan exclaim,
“Oh! by George, isn't that a stunner?” as he turned the leaves, and saw
fine plates of butterflies, and birds, and every sort of interesting
insect, colored like life. He was so charmed that he forgot his thanks,
but Mr. Laurie did not mind, and was quite satisfied to see the boy's
eager delight, and to hear his exclamations over certain old friends as
he came to them. Nat leaned on his shoulder to look, and Demi turned his
back to the horses, and let his feet dangle inside the carriage, so that
he might join in the conversation.
When they got among the beetles, Mr. Laurie took a curious little object
out of his vest-pocket, and laying it in the palm of his hand, said,
“There's a beetle that is thousands of years old;” and then, while the
lads examined the queer stone-bug, that looked so old and gray, he told
them how it came out of the wrappings of a mummy, after lying for ages
in a famous tomb. Finding them interested, he went on to tell about the
Egyptians, and the strange and splendid ruins they have left behind them
the Nile, and how he sailed up the mighty river, with the handsome dark
men to work his boat; how he shot alligators, saw wonderful beasts and
birds; and afterwards crossed the desert on a camel, who pitched him
about like a ship in a storm.
“Uncle Teddy tells stories 'most as well as Grandpa,” said Demi,
approvingly, when the tale was done, and the boys' eyes asked for more.
“Thank you,” said Mr. Laurie, quite soberly, for he considered Demi's
praise worth having, for children are good critics in such cases, and to
suit them is an accomplishment that any one may be proud of.
“Here's another trifle or two that I tucked into my pocket as I was
turning over my traps to see if I had any thing that would amuse Dan,”
and Uncle Teddy produced a fine arrow-head and a string of wampum.
“Oh! tell about the Indians,” cried Demi, who was fond of playing
wigwam.
“Dan knows lots about them,” added Nat.
“More than I do, I dare say. Tell us something,” and Mr. Laurie looked
as interested as the other two.
“Mr. Hyde told me; he's been among 'em, and can talk their talk,
and likes 'em,” began Dan, flattered by their attention, but rather
embarrassed by having a grown-up listener.
“What is wampum for?” asked curious Demi, from his perch.
The others asked questions likewise, and, before he knew it, Dan was
reeling off all Mr. Hyde had told him, as they sailed down the river
a few weeks before. Mr. Laurie listened well, but found the boy more
interesting than the Indians, for Mrs. Jo had told him about Dan, and
he rather took a fancy to the wild lad, who ran away as he himself
had often longed to do, and who was slowly getting tamed by pain and
patience.
“I've been thinking that it would be a good plan for you fellows to have
a museum of your own; a place in which to collect all the curious and
interesting things that you find, and make, and have given you. Mrs. Jo
is too kind to complain, but it is rather hard for her to have the house
littered up with all sorts of rattletraps, half-a-pint of dor-bugs in
one of her best vases, for instance, a couple of dead bats nailed up in
the back entry, wasps nests tumbling down on people's heads, and stones
lying round everywhere, enough to pave the avenue. There are not many
women who would stand that sort of thing, are there, now?”
As Mr. Laurie spoke with a merry look in his eyes, the boys laughed and
nudged one another, for it was evident that some one told tales out of
school, else how could he know of the existence of these inconvenient
treasures.
“Where can we put them, then?” said Demi, crossing his legs and leaning
down to argue the question.
“In the old carriage-house.”
“But it leaks, and there isn't any window, nor any place to put things,
and it's all dust and cobwebs,” began Nat.
“Wait till Gibbs and I have touched it up a bit, and then see how
you like it. He is to come over on Monday to get it ready; then
next Saturday I shall come out, and we will fix it up, and make the
beginning, at least, of a fine little museum. Every one can bring
his things, and have a place for them; and Dan is to be the head man,
because he knows most about such matters, and it will be quiet, pleasant
work for him now that he can't knock about much.”
“Won't that be jolly?” cried Nat, while Dan smiled all over his face and
had not a word to say, but hugged his book, and looked at Mr. Laurie
as if he thought him one of the greatest public benefactors that ever
blessed the world.
“Shall I go round again, sir?” asked Peter, as they came to the gate,
after two slow turns about the half-mile triangle.
“No, we must be prudent, else we can't come again. I must go over the
premises, take a look at the carriage-house, and have a little talk with
Mrs. Jo before I go;” and, having deposited Dan on his sofa to rest and
enjoy his book, Uncle Teddy went off to have a frolic with the lads who
were raging about the place in search of him. Leaving the little girls
to mess up-stairs, Mrs. Bhaer sat down by Dan, and listened to his eager
account of the drive till the flock returned, dusty, warm, and much
excited about the new museum, which every one considered the most
brilliant idea of the age.
“I always wanted to endow some sort of an institution, and I am going to
begin with this,” said Mr. Laurie, sitting down on a stool at Mrs. Jo's
feet.
“You have endowed one already. What do you call this?” and Mrs. Jo
pointed to the happy-faced lads, who had camped upon the floor about
him.
“I call it a very promising Bhaer-garden, and I'm proud to be a member
of it. Did you know I was the head boy in this school?” he asked,
turning to Dan, and changing the subject skilfully, for he hated to be
thanked for the generous things he did.
“I thought Franz was!” answered Dan, wondering what the man meant.
“Oh, dear no! I'm the first boy Mrs. Jo ever had to take care of, and I
was such a bad one that she isn't done with me yet, though she has been
working at me for years and years.”
“How old she must be!” said Nat, innocently.
“She began early, you see. Poor thing! she was only fifteen when she
took me, and I led her such a life, it's a wonder she isn't wrinkled and
gray, and quite worn out,” and Mr. Laurie looked up at her laughing.
“Don't Teddy; I won't have you abuse yourself so;” and Mrs. Jo stroked
the curly black head at her knee as affectionately as ever, for, in