I shall work you a book-mark right away , and you must keep it always , '' said Nan , with a warm embrace . But of all the farewells , poor Billy 's was the most pathetic , for the thought that she was really going became so unbearable that he cast himself down before her , hugging her little blue boots and blubbering despairingly , `` Do n't go away ! oh , do n't ! '' Goldilocks was so touched by this burst of feeling , that she leaned over and lifting the poor lad 's head , said , in her soft , little voice , `` Do n't cry , poor Billy ! I will tiss you and tum adain soon . '' This promise consoled Billy , and he fell back beaming with pride at the unusual honor conferred upon him . `` Me too ! me too ! '' clamored Dick and Dolly , feeling that their devotion deserved some return . The others looked as if they would like to join in the cry ; and something in the kind , merry faces about her moved the Princess to stretch out her arms and say , with reckless condescension , `` I will tiss evvybody ! '' Like a swarm of bees about a very sweet flower , the affectionate lads surrounded their pretty playmate , and kissed her till she looked like a little rose , not roughly , but so enthusiastically that nothing but the crown of her hat was visible for a moment . Then her father rescued her , and she drove away still smiling and waving her hands , while the boys sat on the fence screaming like a flock of guinea-fowls , `` Come back ! come back ! '' till she was out of sight . They all missed her , and each dimly felt that he was better for having known a creature so lovely , delicate , and sweet ; for little Bess appealed to the chivalrous instinct in them as something to love , admire , and protect with a tender sort of reverence . Many a man remembers some pretty child who has made a place in his heart and kept her memory alive by the simple magic of her innocence ; these little men were just learning to feel this power , and to love it for its gentle influence , not ashamed to let the small hand lead them , nor to own their loyalty to womankind , even in the bud . CHAPTER XIV . DAMON AND PYTHIAS Mrs. Bhaer was right ; peace was only a temporary lull , a storm was brewing , and two days after Bess left , a moral earthquake shook Plumfield to its centre . Tommy 's hens were at the bottom of the trouble , for if they had not persisted in laying so many eggs , he could not have sold them and made such sums . Money is the root of all evil , and yet it is such a useful root that we can not get on without it any more than we can without potatoes .
XXXXX certainly could not , for he spent his income so recklessly , that Mr. Bhaer was obliged to insist on a savings-bank , and presented him with a private one an imposing tin edifice , with the name over the door , and a tall chimney , down which the pennies were to go , there to rattle temptingly till leave was given to open a sort of trap-door in the floor .
Bhaer Billy DAMON Nan Princess Tommy centre farewells left storm