Joan nodded. “I understand that, Mam,” she said. “I think we can keep Miss Berta safe, don’t you?”

“Yes,” said Aunt Fanny. “But her father has now put up some further ideas that he wants us to follow. He says it would be best to disguise her as a boy…”

“Jolly good idea,” interrupted Dick.

“And to give her another name — a boy’s name,” said Aunt Fanny. “He wants her to have her hair cut short and…”

“Oh please not that!” begged Berta, shaking back her fair, wavy hair. “I’d hate it. Girls with short hair like boys look so silly, they…”

Anne nudged her and frowned. Berta stopped hurriedly, remembering that George had curly hair cut as short as any boy.

“I think we’ll have to do what your father says,” said Aunt Fanny. “This is very important, Berta. You see, if anyone should come here looking for you, thinking of kidnapping, they would never recognise you if you were looking exactly like a boy.”

“But my hair,” said Berta, almost in tears. “How could Pops say I’m to have my hair off? He always said it was wunnerful!”

Nobody liked to point out that there was a D in wonderful just then! Berta was really so very upset about her hair.

“Your hair will grow quickly enough,” said Aunt Fanny.

“Her head’s a good shape,” said Julian, looking at it consideringly. “She should look quite nice with short hair.”

Berta cheered up. If Julian thought that, then it wouldn’t be so bad.

“But what about clothes?” she said, remembering this point with a look of horror. “Girls look frightful in boys’ clothes. Pops always said so till now.”

“You won’t look any worse than George does,” said Dick. “She’s got on a boy’s jersey, boy’s shorts and boy’s shoes this very minute!”

“I think she looks awful,” said Berta, obstinately, and George scowled.

“Well, I think you’d look horrible,” she said. “You wouldn’t even look like a boy, you’d look little-girlish, a silly little sissy-boy. I think it’s a fat-headed idea to put you into boys’ clothes!”

“Aha! Our George wants to be the only one!” said Dick, slyly, and quickly got out of the way of a punch from the furious George.

“Well,” said Julian, “I’ll go out and buy some things for Berta this morning, so that’s settled. What about her hair? Shall I cut it short?”

Aunt Fanny was amused at Julian’s high-handed way of dealing with Berta and her troubles, and even more amused to see that Berta did not even argue with Julian.

“You can certainly go shopping for Berta if you like,” she said. “But I’d rather you didn’t cut her hair. You’d make her look a scarecrow!”

“I don’t mind if Julian cuts it,” said Berta, surprisingly meek all at once.

“I shall cut it for you myself,” said Aunt Fanny. “Now — what about a boy’s name? We can’t you Berta any more, that’s certain.”

“I’d rather not have a boy’s name,” said Berta. “It’s silly for a girl to be called by a boy’s name, like George.”