Little Men

As Dan’s foot starts to heal, Uncle Teddy visits Plumfield with his golden-haired daughter Bess. Uncle Teddy takes Demi, Nat, and Dan on a carriage ride, and gives Dan an illustrated insect encyclopedia and a mummified beetle. Uncle Teddy also announces his plan to help the boys turn the old carriage house into a museum to display their collections of specimens and other treasures. The boys are enthusiastic about the transformation of the old building and help Uncle Teddy fill it with their things.

Jack suggests charging a fee for people to see it, but Uncle Teddy insists it should be free. He also suggests that the boys learn facts about the objects on display so that they better understand their significance. Mr. Bhaer likes this suggestion and adds that there should be a library with books about history and geology. Uncle Teddy offers to send more books over to fill the library shelves. Mr. Bhaer warns Uncle Teddy not to spoil the boys, as they will need to pay their own way in life. Uncle Teddy agrees to be prudent with his gift-giving.

Rob begs his mother to be included in the trip to the huckleberry fields for berry-picking, despite being younger and smaller than the other children. Mrs. Jo agrees that he can go because she wants to respect his wishes and not stifle his enthusiasm. She asks Silas to drive them to the fields in the hay cart so that Rob and Dan, whose foot is still recovering, can join the party.

Once at the pasture, Rob follows Nan over a fence and farther afield to find the biggest berries to collect for his mother. Nan invents a game of hide-and-seek, leading Rob to a cave where she wants them to hide until the other children find them. However, as night falls, they realize no one is coming and head back. They get lost in the dark and see a frightening shape they think is a bear, until they realize it is a cow. Nan tries milking the cow hoping to have milk and berries to eat, but the cow has already been milked that day. Hungry and tired, the two children fall asleep in the woods until Mrs. Jo discovers them after sending out a search party.

To teach Nan a lesson on “the difference between liberty and license” (183), Mrs. Jo ties Nan up to the sofa and instructs her to stay there all day and not untie herself. Then, she ties up Rob for a short time as well to remind him of his bad judgement in following Nan’s mischievous plan. Nan can see the other children playing outside, and smell the supper being cooked, and she grows more and more restless. She is sad to miss out on the events of the day, realizing how much she loves her life at Plumfield, and apologizes to Mrs. Jo for running away.

Uncle Teddy’s daughter Bess, whom they all call “Goldilocks” for her blonde hair, visits Plumfield. The boys are delighted by her sweet and sensitive nature, and work to earn her favor and not offend her with their rough manners and boisterous activities. Bess dislikes arguing, so they try to be quiet and peaceful around her. Even Nan, who usually runs wild around the school, is subdued by the little girl’s censure of Nan’s loud personality; Nan picks Bess an apple to create peace between them and even starts to practice her sewing to make Bess a bag to hold her apples, inspiring Mrs. Jo to motivate Nan by having her work on her domestic skills for charitable causes. Stuffy is inspired to share his treats with Goldilocks, and Jack agrees to have his warts treated to look more pleasant for her. Mr. Bhaer and Mrs. Jo are pleased and grateful for the change in the students’ behavior. When she returns home, they all reflect on the way her innocent nature inspired them to behave better and more gently. Her influence endears the boys to appreciate the value of women as tempering presences.

Tommy proudly shows off a dollar he earned from selling his hen’s eggs to Nat, his egg-hunting partner in “T. Bangs & Co.” Tommy hides it in a grain winnower machine in the barn, but when he returns to collect it, the dollar is not there. He accuses Nat, who denies being the thief. When Mr. Bhaer hears of the thievery, he also assumes Nat is the culprit because he was the only one who knew where the money was and has a history of lying. However, Mr. Bhaer waits until a boy confesses or until there is proof before punishing Nat. Despite this, Nat suffers under the boys’ suspicion of him as they all treat him coldly, and even Mrs. Jo seems disappointed. Only Daisy believes in his innocence.

Dan overhears Ned harassing Nat and accusing Dan of being in cahoots with Nat, which Nat vehemently denies. In defense of his friend, Dan tosses Ned into the river. As Dan and Nat talk the situation over, and Nat realizes that Dan knows who took the money but won’t say who it is. To protect Nat and the thief, Dan sells his insect encyclopedia to a neighbor for a dollar, wraps the money in a note with Tommy’s name on it, and places it back in the winnowing machine. The neighbor is concerned about the cheap price of the book and returns it to Mr. Bhaer, who confronts Dan. Dan confesses to returning the money, and everyone is shocked, assuming that Dan was the thief all along. Tommy is relieved that Nat is an honest business partner, and reinstates him in “T. Bangs & Co.”

Later, Jack is climbing a tree and gets stuck on a high branch, unable to hold on. Dan rushes in and saves Jack from a dangerous fall by using his weight to bend the branch closer to the ground. Jack is so grateful to Dan that it stirs his guilty conscience to confess that he was the one who stole Tommy’s money in the first place. He leaves Plumfield in the night to return home in shame, leaving a goodbye note behind that clears Dan’s name. Dan’s loyalty and self-sacrifice is admired by all.