a new sort of blackbird who
cheered her patient watch with his song. The brown brook babbled and
sparkled below him, the bees haunted the clover fields on either side,
friendly faces peeped at him as they passed, the old house stretched its
wide wings hospitably toward him, and with a blessed sense of rest and
love and happiness, Nat dreamed for hours in this nook, unconscious what
healthful miracles were being wrought upon him.

One listener he had who never tired, and to whom he was more than a
mere schoolmate. Poor Billy's chief delight was to lie beside the brook,
watching leaves and bits of foam dance by, listening dreamily to the
music in the willow-tree. He seemed to think Nat a sort of angel who sat
aloft and sang, for a few baby memories still lingered in his mind and
seemed to grow brighter at these times. Seeing the interest he took in
Nat, Mr. Bhaer begged him to help them lift the cloud from the feeble
brain by this gentle spell. Glad to do any thing to show his gratitude,
Nat always smiled on Billy when he followed him about, and let him
listen undisturbed to the music which seemed to speak a language he
could understand. "Help one another," was a favorite Plumfield motto,
and Nat learned how much sweetness is added to life by trying to live up
to it.

Jack Ford's peculiar pastime was buying and selling; and he bid fair
to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, a country merchant, who sold
a little of every thing and made money fast. Jack had seen the sugar
sanded, the molasses watered, the butter mixed with lard, and things of
that kind, and labored under the delusion that it was all a proper part
of the business. His stock in trade was of a different sort, but he made
as much as he could out of every worm he sold, and always got the
best of the bargain when he traded with the boys for string, knives,
fish-hooks, or whatever the article might be. The boys who all had
nicknames, called him "Skinflint," but Jack did not care as long as the
old tobacco-pouch in which he kept his money grew heavier and heavier.

He established a sort of auction-room, and now and then sold off all the
odds and ends he had collected, or helped the lads exchange things with
one another. He got bats, balls, hockey-sticks, etc., cheap, from one
set of mates, furbished them up, and let them for a few cents a time to
another set, often extending his business beyond the gates of Plumfield
in spite of the rules. Mr. Bhaer put a stop