last item. "Yes, I know many people think boys are a nuisance, but
that is because they don't understand them. I do; and I never saw
the boy yet whom I could not get on capitally with after I had once
found the soft spot in his heart. Bless me, I couldn't get on at all
without my flock of dear, noisy, naughty, harum-scarum little lads,
could I, my Teddy?" and Mrs. Bhaer hugged the young rogue, just
in time to save the big inkstand from going into his pocket.

Nat, who had never heard anything like this before, really did not
know whether Mother Bhaer was a trifle crazy, or the most
delightful woman he had ever met. He rather inclined to the latter
opinion, in spite of her peculiar tastes, for she had a way of filling
up a fellow's plate before he asked, of laughing at his jokes, gently
tweaking him by the ear, or clapping him on the shoulder, that Nat
found very engaging.

"Now, I think you would like to go into the school-room and
practise some of the hymns we are to sing to-night," she said,
rightly guessing the thing of all others that he wanted to do.

Alone with the beloved violin and the music-book propped up
before him in the sunny window, while Spring beauty filled the
world outside, and Sabbath silence reigned within, Nat enjoyed an
hour or two of genuine happiness, learning the sweet old tunes,
and forgetting the hard past in the cheerful present.

When the church-goers came back and dinner was over, every one
read, wrote letters home, said their Sunday lessons, or talked
quietly to one another, sitting here and there about the house. At
three o'clock the entire family turned out to walk, for all the active