because of Pessim. He continually found fault with them, and all that
they did, and all their surroundings. He could see nothing good or
admirable in all the world and Trot soon came to understand why the
little man's former neighbors had brought him to this island and left
him there, all alone, so he could not annoy anyone. It was their
misfortune that they had been led to this place by their adventures,
for often they would have preferred the company of a wild beast to that
of Pessim.

On the fourth day a happy thought came to the Ork. They had all been
racking their brains for a possible way to leave the island, and
discussing this or that method, without finding a plan that was
practical. Cap'n Bill had said he could make a raft of the trees, big
enough to float them all, but he had no tools except those two
pocketknives and it was not possible to chop down tree with such small
blades.

"And s'pose we got afloat on the ocean," said Trot, "where would we
drift to, and how long would it take us to get there?"

Cap'n Bill was forced to admit he didn't know. The Ork could fly away
from the island any time it wished to, but the queer creature was loyal
to his new friends and refused to leave them in such a lonely, forsaken
place.

It was when Trot urged him to go, on this fourth morning, that the Ork
had his happy thought.

"I will go," said he, "if you two will agree to ride upon my back."

"We are too heavy; you might drop us," objected Cap'n Bill.

"Yes, you are rather heavy for a long journey," acknowledged the Ork,
"but you might eat of those lavender berries and become so small that I
could carry you with ease."

This quaint suggestion startled Trot and she looked gravely at the
speaker while she considered it, but Cap'n Bill gave a scornful snort
and asked:

"What would become of us afterward? We wouldn't be much good if we were
some two or three inches high. No, Mr. Ork, I'd rather stay here, as I
am, than be a hop-o'-my-thumb somewhere else."

"Why couldn't you take some of the dark purple berries along with you,
to eat after we had reached our destination?" inquired the Ork. "Then
you could grow big again whenever you pleased."

Trot clapped her hands with delight.

"That's it!" she exclaimed. "Let's do it, Cap'n Bill."

The old sailor did not like the idea at first, but he thought it over
carefully and the more he thought the better it seemed.

"How could you manage to carry us, if we were s