In a short time Master Bertie became so satisfied with his entertainer that his mother absorbed herself in a book, but finally put back her head against the chair and closed her eyes.
“Poor dear,” said Joanne to herself, “I don’t suppose she ever has a chance to take a nap, for the baby has his in the morning, and who but a baby wants to sleep at ten o’clock?” A sudden thought struck her. “Good!” she cried, “I’ll see if I can’t make a bargain!”
She played with Bertie till sounds from the various rooms overhead showed the naps were over and that the ladies were arraying themselves for evening. Then Mrs. Hooper came over to where the two were.
“I really believe I have had forty winks,” she said, “and it has done me a lot of good. Bertie wakes me up pretty early and I don’t often get a chance to nap. Has he been a good boy?”
“Good as gold,” replied Joanne. “He is a darling, and we have had a real good time, haven’t we, Bertie?”
Bertie looked up solemnly at his mother. “S’e was a g’eat big bear,” he said, “but s’e couldn’t get me ’cause I lived under a s’air.”
“You certainly have the faculty of amusing a child,” said Mrs. Hooper, “and you don’t know how I thank you.”
“I liked it,” said Joanne simply, “and I wish you would let me strike a bargain with you. Won’t you please let me take care of Bertie two hours a day? Then you could have a nap and I could win my badge for Child Nursing. You see I am a Girl Scout and that is one of the tests I want to take. I’m just bent and determined to be a Golden Eaglet, and I’m working awfully hard to get all the badges I shall have to have. This would give me a fine chance, so it would be a fair exchange.”
“Why, my dear child, it seems to me that I shall be getting the best of the bargain.”
“Oh, no, you won’t. It will be fine for me, for I don’t see how I could ever take two hours for a whole month, except in vacation time when there is no school. I should be too busy after I go back to the city.”