“But why you?” asked Mrs. Marriott interestedly.
“Because you see my father died when I was a baby and my mother when I was four years old, so I have lived with my grandparents most of my life. I’m rather delicate and have to go south in the winter or to California or somewhere like that. This year we went to Bermuda first, then off to other places in the West Indies and to some queer little ports. Now that Grad has retired from the navy he can go along, too, which is rather fortunate for Gradda and me, for we have had to go wandering off alone. We usually don’t, however, for there are always some navy people going along at the same time.”
“Don’t you go to school?”
“Yes, at least I’ve had a governess. I had a French nursery governess first, then an English governess, but now I have none at all. I should like to go to school. Maybe I shall if we are to live in Washington. I don’t know; that is one of the makings up of his mind that Grad is bothered about. There he comes now. I must go and find out what he has to say about Pablo.”
This was the first of many talks which Joanne had with these two. She had never known boys very well, and Bob was a revelation to her. He was a Boy Scout, in the first place, he played the violin in the second and in the third he had a number of girl cousins of whose doings he told Joanne, making her sigh enviously as she wished she could do some of the things they did.
She expressed this wish to Bob one day when the two were leaning on the rail watching the churning of the water in the wake of the steamer. “How I’d love to play outdoor games and go camping and do all those things your cousins do,” she said.
“Well, what’s the matter with your getting out and doing them?”
“How could I?”
“That’s an easy one. Join the Girl Scouts.”
“Oh, tell me about them.”