burst out Jo , who was in an unusually up-lifted frame of mind just then . `` When I have one of my own , I hope it will be as happy as the three I know and love the best . If John and my Fritz were only here , it would be quite a little heaven on earth , '' she added more quietly . And that night when she went to her room after a blissful evening of family counsels , hopes , and plans , her heart was so full of happiness that she could only calm it by kneeling beside the empty bed always near her own , and thinking tender thoughts of Beth . It was a very astonishing year altogether , for things seemed to happen in an unusually rapid and delightful manner . Almost before she knew where she was , Jo found herself married and settled at Plumfield . Then a family of six or seven boys sprung up like mushrooms , and flourished surprisingly , poor boys as well as rich , for Mr. Laurence was continually finding some touching case of destitution , and begging the Bhaers to take pity on the child , and he would gladly pay a trifle for its support . In this way , the sly old gentleman got round proud Jo , and furnished her with the style of boy in which she most delighted . Of course it was uphill work at first , and Jo made queer mistakes , but the wise Professor steered her safely into calmer waters , and the most rampant ragamuffin was conquered in the end . How Jo did enjoy her ` wilderness of boys ' , and how poor , dear Aunt March would have lamented had she been there to see the sacred precincts of prim , well-ordered Plumfield overrun with Toms , Dicks , and Harrys ! There was a sort of poetic justice about it , after all , for the old lady had been the terror of the boys for miles around , and now the exiles feasted freely on forbidden plums , kicked up the gravel with profane boots unreproved , and played cricket in the big field where the irritable ` cow with a crumpled horn ' used to invite rash youths to come and be tossed . It became a sort of boys ' paradise , and Laurie suggested that it should be called the ` Bhaer-garten ' , as a compliment to its master and appropriate to its inhabitants . It never was a fashionable school , and the Professor did not lay up a fortune , but it was just what Jo intended it to be -- ' a happy , homelike place for boys , who needed teaching , care , and kindness ' . Every room in the big house was soon full . Every little plot in the garden soon had its owner . A regular menagerie appeared in barn and shed , for pet animals were allowed . And three times a day , Jo smiled at her Fritz from the head of a long table lined on either side with rows of happy young faces , which all turned to her with affectionate eyes , confiding words , and grateful hearts , full of love for ` Mother Bhaer ' . She had boys enough now , and did not tire of them , though they were not angels , by any means , and some of them caused both Professor and Professorin much trouble and anxiety . But her faith in the good spot which exists in the heart of the naughtiest , sauciest , most tantalizing little ragamuffin gave her patience , skill , and in time success , for no mortal boy could hold out long with Father Bhaer shining on him as benevolently as the sun , and Mother Bhaer forgiving him seventy times seven . Very precious to Jo was the friendship of the lads , their penitent sniffs and whispers after wrongdoing , their droll or touching little confidences , their pleasant enthusiasms , hopes , and plans , even their misfortunes , for they only endeared them to her all the more .
There were slow boys and bashful boys , feeble XXXXX and riotous boys , boys that lisped and boys that stuttered , one or two lame ones , and a merry little quadroon , who could not be taken in elsewhere , but who was welcome to the ` Bhaer-garten ' , though some people predicted that his admission would ruin the school .
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