Do n't borrow trouble , Jo , but hear how well Nat is getting on . I 'd no idea the boy would care for anything but music . My good friend Baumgarten has launched him well , and it will do him good if he lose not his head . A good lad , but new to the world , and Leipzig is full of snares for the unwary . Gott be with him ! ' The Professor read Nat 's enthusiastic account of certain literary and musical parties he had been to , the splendours of the opera , the kindness of his new friends , the delight of studying under such a master as Bergmann , his hopes of rapid gain , and his great gratitude to those who had opened this enchanted world to him . ` That , now , is satisfactory and comfortable . I felt that Nat had unsuspected power in him before he went away ; he was so manly and full of excellent plans , ' said Mrs Jo , in a satisfied tone . ` We shall see . He will doubtless get his lesson and be the better for it . That comes to us all in our young days . I hope it will not be too hard for our good Jungling , ' answered the Professor , with a wise smile , remembering his own student life in Germany . He was right ; and Nat was already getting his lesson in life with a rapidity which would have astonished his friends at home . The manliness over which Mrs Jo rejoiced was developing in unexpected ways , and quiet Nat had plunged into the more harmless dissipations of the gay city with all the ardour of an inexperienced youth taking his first sip of pleasure . The entire freedom and sense of independence was delicious , for many benefits began to burden him , and he longed to stand on his own legs and make his own way . No one knew his past here ; and with a well-stocked wardrobe , a handsome sum at his banker 's , and the best teacher in Leipzig , he made his debut as a musical young gentleman , presented by the much-respected Professor Bhaer and the wealthy Mr Laurence , who had many friends glad to throw open their houses to his protege . Thanks to these introductions , his fluent German , modest manners , and undeniable talent , the stranger was cordially welcomed , and launched at once into a circle which many an ambitious young man strove in vain to enter . All this rather turned Nat 's head ; and as he sat in the brilliant opera-house , chatted among the ladies at some select coffee-party , or whisked an eminent professor 's amiable daughter down the room , trying to imagine she was Daisy , he often asked himself if this gay fellow could be the poor homeless little Street musician who once stood waiting in the rain at the gates of Plumfield . His heart was true , his impulses good , and his ambitions high ; but the weak side of his nature came uppermost here ; vanity led him astray , pleasure intoxicated him , and for a time he forgot everything but the delights of this new and charming life . Without meaning to deceive , he allowed people to imagine him a youth of good family and prospects ; he boasted a little of Mr Laurie 's wealth and influence , of Professor Bhaer 's eminence , and the flourishing college at which he himself had been educated .
Mrs XXXXX was introduced to the sentimental Frauleins who read her books , and the charms and virtues of his own dear Madchen confided to sympathetic mammas .
Baumgarten Bhaer Gott Jo Laurence Leipzig Nat coffee-party dissipations first