Little Women Chapter 33

Jo writes home when she gets to Mrs. Kirke's boarding house. She has been given a little sky parlor for a room, with a table, a good view, and a lot of stairs. Mrs. Kirke has two little girls, Kittie and Minnie. There is a man named Professor Bhaer who is from Germany, and a very kind man. Jo sees him carry coal upstairs for the servant and finds him intriguing. He is poor and from Berlin and gives lessons to support himself and two orphaned nephews he is educating in the States, according to the wishes of his sister, who married an American.

Jo tells her parents that Mr. Bhaer stays in the room next door, which is separated by paned glass windows. She peeps through the door because she is curious. She sees a little girl come in carrying a book, then sit down and pretend to study. Jo stops when two students of Professor Bhaer come in.

She is finally introduced to Professor Bhaer by Mrs. Kirke's two children. Mr. Bhaer is a bachelor, and unkempt, so she begins secretly to mend his socks and clothes. Bhaer figures this out and offers to teach her German in return. For Christmas, Bhaer gives presents to everybody in the boarding house including Jo, who receives a book of Shakespeare.