`` They sha n'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 to see what was going on . Thinking that a lesson in learning to help one another was better than arithmetic just then , Mr. Bhaer told them about Nat , making such an interesting and touching little story out of it that the good-hearted lads all promised to lend him a hand , and felt quite honored to be called upon to impart their stores of wisdom to the chap who fiddled so capitally . This appeal established the right feeling among them , and Nat had few hindrances to struggle against , for every one was glad to give him 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 at their books . But his garden was his best medicine , and he worked away like a beaver , preparing his little farm , sowing his beans , watching eagerly to see them grow , and rejoicing over each green leaf and slender stock that shot up and flourished in the warm spring weather . Never was a garden more faithfully hoed ; Mr. Bhaer really feared that nothing would find time to grow , Nat kept up such a stirring of the soil ; so he gave him easy jobs in the flower garden or among the strawberries , where he 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 pinched the once thin cheeks , now getting plump and ruddy , or stroked the bent shoulders that were slowly straightening up with healthful work , good food , and the absence of that heavy burden , poverty . Demi was his little friend , Tommy his patron , and Daisy the comforter of all his woes ; for , though the children were younger than he , his timid spirit found a pleasure in their innocent society , and rather shrunk from the rough sports of the elder lads . Mr. Laurence did not forget him , but sent clothes and books , music and kind messages , and now and then came out to see how his boy was getting on , or took him into town to a concert ; on which occasions Nat felt himself translated into the seventh heaven of bliss , for he went to Mr. Laurence 's great house , saw his pretty wife and little fairy of a daughter , had a good dinner , and was made so comfortable , that he talked and dreamed of it for days and nights afterward . It takes so little to make a child happy that it is a pity , in a world so full of sunshine and pleasant things , that there should be any wistful faces , empty hands , or lonely little hearts . Feeling this , the Bhaers gathered up all the crumbs they could find to feed their flock of hungry sparrows , for they were not rich , except in charity . Many of Mrs. Jo 's friends who had nurseries sent her they toys of which their children so soon tired , and in mending these Nat found an employment that just suited him . He was very neat and skillful with those slender fingers of his , and passed many a rainy afternoon with his gum-bottle , paint-box , and knife , repairing furniture , animals , and games , while Daisy was dressmaker to the dilapidated dolls . As fast as the toys were mended , they were put carefully away in a certain drawer which was to furnish forth a Christmas-tree for all the poor children of the neighborhood , that being the way the Plumfield boys celebrated the birthday of Him who loved the poor and blessed the little ones . Demi was never tired of reading and explaining his favorite books , and many a pleasant hour did they spend in the old willow , revelling over `` Robinson Crusoe , '' `` Arabian Nights , '' `` Edgeworth 's Tales , '' and the other dear immortal stories that will delight children for centuries to come . This opened a new world to Nat , and his eagerness to see what came next in the story helped him on till he could read as well as anybody , and felt so rich and proud with his new accomplishment , that there was danger of his being as much of a bookworm as Demi . Another helpful thing happened in a most unexpected and agreeable manner . Several of the boys were `` in business , '' as they called it , for most of them were poor , and knowing that they would have their own way to make by and by , the Bhaers encouraged any efforts at independence . Tommy sold his eggs ; Jack speculated in live stock ; Franz helped in the teaching , and was paid for it ; Ned had a taste for carpentry , and a turning-lathe was set up for him in 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. XXXXX .
Bhaer Ned Tommy centuries gum-bottle nights nurseries sparrows whirligigs woes