| People laugh at them, and hustle them about, try to keep them out of sight, and expect them to turn all at once from pretty children into fine young menThey don't complain much--
plucky little souls--but they feel itI've been through some- thing of it, and I know all about itI've a special interest in such young bears, and like to show them that I see the warm, honest, well-meaning boys' hearts, in spite of the clumsy arms and legs and the topsy-turvy headsI've had experience, too, for haven't I brought up one boy to be a pride and honor to his family?"
"I'll testify that you tried to do it," said Laurie with a grateful look
"And I've succeeded beyond my hopes, for here you are, a steady, sensible businessman, doing heaps of good with your
money, and laying up the blessings of the poor, instead of dollars
But you are not merely a businessman, you love good and beautiful things, enjoy them yourself, and let others go halves, as you always did in the old timesI am proud of you, Teddy, for you get better every year, and everyone feels it, though you won't let them say soYes, and when I have my flock, I'll just point to you, and say `There's your model, my lads'
Poor Laurie didn't know where to look, for, man though he was, something of the old bashfulness came over him as this burst of praise made all faces turn approvingly upon him
"I say, Jo, that's rather too much," he began, just in his old boyish omega usa way"You have all done more for me than I can ever thank you for, except by doing my best not to disapoint youYou have rather cast me off lately, Jo, but I've had the best of help, neverthelessSo, if I've got on at all, you may thank these two for it And he laid one hand gently on his grandfather's head, and the other on Amy's golden one, for the three were never far apart
"I do think that families are the most beautiful things in all the world!" burst out Jo, who was in an unusually up-lifted frame of mind just then"When I have one of my own, I hope it will be as happy as the three I know and love the bestIf John and my Fritz were only here, it would be quite a little heaven on earth," she added more quietlyAnd that night when she went to her room after a blissful evening of family counsels, hopes, and plans, her heart was so full of happiness that she could only calm it by kneeling beside the empty bed always near her own, and thinking tender thoughts of Beth
It was a very astonishing year altogether, for things seemed to happen in an unusually rapid and delightful mannerAlmost before she knew where she was, Jo found herself married and settled at PlumfieldThen a family of six or seven boys sprung up like mushrooms, and flourished surprisingly, poor boys as well as rich, for MrLaurence was continually finding some touching case of destitution, and begging the Bhaers to take pity on the child, and he would gladly discount chanel quilted handbags pay a trifle for its supportIn this way, the sly old gentleman got round proud Jo, and furnished her with the style of boy in which she most delighted
Of course it was uphill work at first, and Jo made queer mistakes, but the wise Professor steered her safely into calmer waters, and the most rampant ragamuffin was conquered in the endHow Jo did enjoy her `wilderness of boys', and how poor, dear Aunt March would have lamented had she been there to see the sacred precincts of prim, well-ordered Plumfield overrun with Toms, Dicks, and Harrys! There was a sort of poetic justice about it, after all, for the old lady had been the terror of the boys for miles around, and now the exiles feasted freely on forbidden plums, kicked up the gravel with profane boots unreproved, and played cricket in the big field where the irritable `cow with a crumpled horn' used to invite rash youths to come and be tossedIt became a sort of boys' paradise, and Laurie suggested that it should be called the `Bhaer-garten', as a compliment to its master and appropriate to its inhabitants
It never was a fashionable school, and the Professor did not lay up a fortune, but it was just what Jo intended it to be-- `a happy, homelike place for boys, who needed teaching, care, and kindness'Every room in the big house was soon fullEvery little plot in the garden soon had its ownerA regular menagerie appeared in barn and shed, for pet animals were replica hermes bag allowedAnd three times a day, Jo smiled at her Fritz from the head of a long table lined on either side with rows of happy young faces, which all turned to her with affectionate eyes, confiding words, and grateful hearts, full of love for `Mother Bhaer'She had boys enough now, and did not tire of them, though they were not angels, by any means, and some of them caused both Professor and Professorin much trouble and anxietyBut her faith in the good spot which exists in the heart of the naughtiest, sauciest, most tantalizing little ragamuffin gave her patience, skill, and in time success, for no mortal boy could hold out long with Father Bhaer shining on him as benevolently as the sun, and Mother Bhaer forgiving him seventy times sevenVery precious to Jo was the friendship of the lads, their penitent sniffs and whispers after wrongdoing, their droll or touching little confidences, their pleasant enthusiasms, hopes, and plans, even their misfortunes, for they only endeared them to her all the moreThere were slow boys and bashful boys, feeble boys and riotous boys, boys that lisped and boys that stuttered, one or two lame ones, and a merry little quadroon, who could not be taken in elsewhere, but who was welcome to the `Bhaer-garten', though some people predicted that his admission would ruin the school
Yes, Jo was a very happy woman there, in spite of hard work, much anxiety, and a perpetual racketShe enjoyed it heartily and replica louis vuitton wallet found the applause of her boys more satisfying than any praise of the world, for now she told no stories except to her flock of enthusiastic believers and admirersAs the years went on, two little lads of her own came to increase her happiness--Rob, named for Grandpa, and Teddy, a happy-go-lucky baby, who seemed to have inherited his papa's sunshiny temper as well as his mother's lively spiritHow they ever grew up alive in that whirlpool of boys was a mystery to their grandma and aunts, but they flourished like dandelions in spring, and their rough nurses loved and served them well
There were a great many holidays at Plumfield, and one of the most delightful was the yearly apple-pickingFor then the Marches, Laurences, BrookesAnd Bhaers turned out in full force and made a day of itFive years after Jo's wedding, one of these fruitful festivals occurred, a mellow October day, when the air was full of an exhilarating freshness which made the spirits rise and the blood dance healthily in the veinsThe old orchard wore its holiday attireGoldenrod and asters fringed the mossy wallsGrasshoppers skipped briskly in the sere grass, and crickets chirped like fairy pipers at a feastSquirrels were busy with their small harvestingBirds twittered their adieux from the alders in the lane, and every tree stood ready to send down its shower of red or yellow apples at the first shake
Everybody laughed and sang, climbed up and tumbled rolex fakes down |
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