It was raining over the park; pouring in fact. The few people who went out anyway walked quickly with their heads down. It was not the right sort of weather for playing a bit of music with your hat out. Which was a pity, because Bert had been playing around with a new song, and when a song got inside of him, there was nothing to do for it but sing it out.

He could have sung it to the empty park anyway. The birds might have appreciated the show. In fact, birds were the main stars. But Bert was no more fond of a soaking than the next guy, especially when it was not quite warm enough out to enjoy being wet.

Luckily, Bert knew just the place to have a large and rapt audience who would give him an honest critique on a dreary Saturday morning. He headed to the orphanage.

Miss Minchin seemed glad enough to see him. Having some fifty young children under your care on a rainy day was no easy feat, and though she'd wisely given them all chores to keep them out of boredom and mischief, she was a rare one who knew children needed fun to balance the work.

The children were thrilled as well. They gathered in the cafeteria, because it was the largest room. Bert looked around at the children, picking out the ones he knew best while smiling for all of them. Angus, he noticed with some surprise, wasn't with his usual friends. He was sitting with some of the younger boys, Freddie thankfully well enough to be among them. Jack, he noted, wasn't there at all.

"Alright, alright, settle down," he said, and the boys liked him enough to actually listen and they did go quiet. "Now, I've a new one to try out on you." There were some cheers at this, until he raised a hand to remind them to be quiet.

Oh, the robin's breast is red as can be

And the blue jay is a true sight

A peacock has a proper fan

But the penguin wears black and white

Oh, you should see a hawk dive through the air

And how graceful is the swan

The ostrich can run like you've never seen

But the penguin just waddles along

Oh the parrot speaks like a human being

And the skylark warbles aloud

The night owl hoots and the great eagle screams

But the penguin hardly makes a sound

But I tell you my friend the best of birds

Is the true and noble penguin

For he dances like no other bird you'll see

And you should see him swim!

Bert would like to think that the laughter and applause was a testament to his performance, but he knew at least half of it was down to the boys' fondness of him and their readiness to be amused. Still, it was not a bad way to spend a rainy morning, and he followed the song with another, and then a story, until Miss Minchin came back to say the cook wanted them all at table for their meal.

"And you're welcome to join us, of course," Miss Minchin told Bert. Never too proud to pass up a free meal, they dined on simple but wholesome food, all nice and hot while the rain beat down outside.

It was after, when Miss Minchin had the children working on their schoolwork, that Bert thought to ask after Jack.

"I noticed he wasn't with the group," he said.

"What?!" cried Miss Minchin. "Oh, not again! That boy! I've had more trouble keeping him where he's supposed to be."

"Likes to run off, does he?" asked Bert. That would certainly explain his unaccompanied trips to the park.

"I send him to school, and as often as not, I get a call saying he was sent into the hall for punishment and has vanished. I send him to peel potatoes, and later I find he's gotten half a dozen little ones hard at work on those potatoes while he reads a book!"

"He makes the little ones do his chores?" asked Bert, frowning.

"Makes? They cried when I took the potatoes away! He's a bad influence, that one. Oh, I really don't think I can keep him. I've half a mind to send him away to Australia, and just see what he makes of a kangaroo, so there!"

"Now really…" said Bert, when he tripped over some unexpected obstacle. The obstacle went clattering down the hall, and Bert hopped about, for he'd hit his toe quite hard against it. "What was that?"

"I think it's one of the bricks from the little one's play room," said Miss Minchin, only giving it a quick glance. "They're always turning up in the funniest places. Oh, those boys, I've half a mind to take them away, and then they'll learn to clean up."

"Oh, no need to take away their toys," Bert said, which was decent of him because his toe was quite sore. "Boys need…" But then there was a second interruption, this time a noise. It was a strange noise, almost like a sob or a laugh.

"And who is hiding there?" Miss Minchin said, all too familiar with those sorts of giggles from hiding children, and she swung open the door to what proved to be a closet. Inside were mops and brooms and buckets and a small boy, dusty and dirty, who tumbled right out at Bert's feet.

"Jack!" exclaimed Miss Minchin, for it was the missing boy indeed. "I should have Known." And she had the little miscreant by the ear, muttering about baths and hard labor. Then she turned to Bert, who, it had to be admitted, was trying not to rub his own ear in sympathy, much as the boy deserved it. "Thank you for visiting us," she said. "I'll have to ask you to see yourself out while I give this one what he has coming to him."

Feeling slightly unsettled, though he didn't know why because Miss Minchin was strict but fair and the boy did need straightening out, Bert went on his way. It continued to pour and he thought about trying his hand at selling matches. In the end he just went home. He supposed it was the rain; too much rain made anyone feel melancholy.

It had been a nice morning, anyway.