So one wild March morning our Sintram rode away , with horse and hound , to face again the enemies who would have conquered him , but for Heaven 's help and human pity . ` Ah , me ! it does seem as if life was made of partings , and they get harder as we go on , ' sighed Mrs Jo , a week later , as she sat in the long parlour at Parnassus one evening , whither the family had gone to welcome the travellers back . ` And meetings too , dear ; for here we are , and Nat is on his way at last . Look for the silver lining , as Marmee used to say , and be comforted , ' answered Mrs Amy , glad to be at home and find no wolves prowling near her sheepfold . ` I 've been so worried lately , I ca n't help croaking . I wonder what Dan thought at not seeing you again ? It was wise ; but he would have enjoyed another look at home faces before he went into the wilderness , ' said Mrs Jo regretfully . ` Much better so . We left notes and all we could think of that he might need , and slipped away before he came . Bess really seemed relieved ; I 'm sure I was ' ; and Mrs Amy smoothed an anxious line out of her white forehead , as she smiled at her daughter , laughing happily among her cousins . Mrs Jo shook her head as if the silver lining of that cloud was hard to find ; but she had no time to croak again , for just then Mr Laurie came in looking well pleased at something . ' A new picture has arrived ; face towards the music-room , good people , and tell me how you like it . I call it `` Only a fiddler '' , after Andersen 's story . What name will you give it ? ' As he spoke he threw open the wide doors , and just beyond they saw a young man standing , with a beaming face , and a violin in his hand . There was no doubt about the name to this picture , and with the cry ` Nat ! Nat ! ' there was a general uprising . But Daisy reached him first , and seemed to have lost her usual composure somewhere on the way , for she clung to him , sobbing with the shock of a surprise and joy too great for her to bear quietly .
Everything was settled by that tearful and tender embrace , for , though Mrs Meg speedily detached her daughter , it was only to take her place ; while Demi shook Nat 's hand with brotherly warmth , and Josie danced round them like Macbeth 's three witches in one , chanting in her most tragic tones : ` Chirper thou wast ; second violin thou art ; XXXXX thou shalt be .
Amy Daisy Dan Marmee Nat Sintram first left morning music-room