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 , ca n'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 ca n'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 presence mar the child 's sweet satisfaction .
Nat was very fond of Mrs. Bhaer , but found something even more attractive in the good professor , who took fatherly care of the shy feeble boy , who had barely escaped with his life from the rough sea on which his little boat had been tossing rudderless for twelve XXXXX .
Beth Bhaer Daisy Jack Jo Nat Tommy dollars first years