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 cannot get on without it any more than we can without
potatoes. Tommy 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.

The house increased in weight so rapidly, that Tommy soon became
satisfied with his investment, and planned to buy unheard-of treasures
with his capital. He kept account of the sums deposited, and was
promised that he might break the bank as soon as he had five dollars,
on condition that he spent the money wisely. Only one dollar was needed,
and the day Mrs. Jo paid him for four dozen eggs, he was so delighted,
that he raced off to the barn to display the bright quarters to Nat, who
was also laying by money for the long-desired violin.

"I wish I had 'em to put with my three dollars, then I'd soon get enough
to buy my fiddle," he said, looking wistfully at the money.

"P'raps I'll lend you some. I haven't decided yet what I'll do with
mine," said Tommy, tossing up his quarters and catching them as they
fell.

"Hi! boys! come down to the brook and see what a jolly great snake Dan's
got!" called a voice from behind the barn.

"Come on," said Tommy; and, laying his money inside the old winnowing
machine, away he ran, followed by Nat.

The snake was very interesting, and then a long chase after a lame
crow, and its capture, so absorbed Tommy's mind and time, that he never
thought of his money till he was safely in bed that night.

"Never mi