“You’re too lenient with your tenants, Jimmy,” remonstrated Norma. “If any applicant asks me what form of rent my co-operative plan demands, I’ll say the tenant has to pay me in helping me keep my plants clear of insects.”
“You two have so much to say I can’t get in a word. Now keep quiet, and let us have a word to say,” begged Frances.
“What do you want to talk about?” laughed Belle.
“Here’s my bird house. Six flats made out of a soap box. Where shall I secure it to a tree?” asked Frances.
“Did you intend the flats for bluebirds or martins? The openings are too large for the wrens,” said the Captain.
“Every one else seemed anxious to house a wren so I thought I would try for another kind of bird. It’s all the same to me, who rents the place, as long as they behave and pay their rent in advance,” explained Frances.
“What are your prices? You haven’t any insects to keep from the plants,” laughed Miss Mason.
“A song to wake me, a song when I have the blues, and a song at eventide,” said Frances.
“You’ll get it, all right. Never fear that your house will be vacant on those terms,” remarked Janet.
“I would like one of those soap box houses to be placed near the end of the farm yard, girls, just where the little brook runs past the old barn. I have a reason for this, which I will tell you of another day. If we had two or three houses in that vicinity it would be better than one,” said Mrs. James.