When he first came , he was very sensitive about his misfortune , but soon learned to forget it , for no one dared remind him of it , after Mr. Bhaer had punished one boy for laughing at him . `` God do n't care ; for my soul is straight if my back is n't , '' sobbed Dick to his tormentor on that occasion ; and , by cherishing this idea , the Bhaers soon led him to believe that people also loved his soul , and did not mind his body , except to pity and help him to bear it . Playing menagerie once with the others , some one said , `` What animal will you be , Dick ? '' `` Oh , I 'm the dromedary ; do n't you see the hump on my back ? '' was the laughing answer . `` So you are , my nice little one that do n't carry loads , but marches by the elephant first in the procession , '' said Demi , who was arranging the spectacle . `` I hope others will be as kind to the poor dear as my boys have learned to be , '' said Mrs. Jo , quite satisfied with the success of her teaching , as Dick ambled past her , looking like a very happy , but a very feeble little dromedary , beside stout Stuffy , who did the elephant with ponderous propriety . Jack Ford was a sharp , rather a sly lad , who was sent to this school , because it was cheap . Many men would have thought him a smart boy , but Mr. Bhaer did not like his way of illustrating that Yankee word , and thought his unboyish keenness and money-loving as much of an affliction as Dolly 's stutter , or Dick 's hump . Ned Barker was like a thousand other boys of fourteen , all legs , blunder , and bluster . Indeed the family called him the `` Blunderbuss , '' and always expected to see him tumble over the chairs , bump against the tables , and knock down any small articles near him . He bragged a good deal about what he could do , but seldom did any thing to prove it , was not brave , and a little given to tale-telling . He was apt to bully the small boys , and flatter the big ones , and without being at all bad , was just the sort of fellow who could very easily be led astray . George Cole had been spoilt by an over-indulgent mother , who stuffed him with sweetmeats till he was sick , and then thought him too delicate to study , so that at twelve years old , he was a pale , puffy boy , dull , fretful , and lazy . A friend persuaded her to send him to Plumfield , and there he soon got waked up , for sweet things were seldom allowed , much exercise required , and study made so pleasant , that Stuffy was gently lured along , till he quite amazed his anxious mamma by his improvement , and convinced her that there was really something remarkable in Plumfield air . Billy Ward was what the Scotch tenderly call an `` innocent , '' for though thirteen years old , he was like a child of six . He had been an unusually intelligent boy , and his father had hurried him on too fast , giving him all sorts of hard lessons , keeping at his books six hours a day , and expecting him to absorb knowledge as a Strasburg goose does the food crammed down its throat . He thought he was doing his duty , but he nearly killed the boy , for a fever gave the poor child a sad holiday , and when he recovered , the overtasked brain gave out , and Billy 's mind was like a slate over which a sponge has passed , leaving it blank . It was a terrible lesson to his ambitious father ; he could not bear the sight of his promising child , changed to a feeble idiot , and he sent him away to Plumfield , scarcely hoping that he could be helped , but sure that he would be kindly treated . Quite docile and harmless was Billy , and it was pitiful to see how hard he tried to learn , as if groping dimly after the lost knowledge which had cost him so much .
Day after day , he pored over the alphabet , proudly XXXXX A and B , and thought that he knew them , but on the morrow they were gone , and all the work was to be done over again .
ambled cherishing given giving like recovered said send sobbed study