A few steps brought them to the shed, which was merelya roof of boughs built over a square space, with somebranches of trees fastened to the sides to keep off thewind. The front was quite open and faced the sea, and asour friends came nearer they observed a little man, witha long pointed beard, sitting motionless on a stool andstaring thoughtfully out over the water.

"Get out of the way, please," he called in a fretfulvoice. "Can't you see you are obstructing my view?"

"Good morning," said Cap'n Bill, politely.

"It isn't a good morning!" snapped the little man."I've seen plenty of mornings better than this. Doyou call it a good morning when I'm pestered withsuch a crowd as you?"

Trot was astonished to hear such words from astranger whom they had greeted quite properly, andCap'n Bill grew red at the little man's rudeness. Butthe sailor said, in a quiet tone of voice:

"Are you the only one as lives on this 'ere island?"

"Your grammar's bad," was the reply. "But this is myown exclusive island, and I'll thank you to get off it assoon as possible."

"We'd like to do that," said Trot, and then she andCap'n Bill turned away and walked down to the shore, tosee if any other land was in sight.

The little man rose and followed them, although bothwere now too provoked to pay any attention to him.

Nothin' in sight, partner," reported Cap'n Bill,shading his eyes with his hand; "so we'll have tostay here for a time, anyhow. It isn't a bad place,Trot, by any means."

"That's all you know about it!" broke in the littleman. "The trees are altogether too green and the rocksare harder than they ought to be. I find the sand verygrainy and the water dreadfully wet. Every breeze makes adraught and the sun shines in the daytime, when there'sno need of it, and disappears just as soon as it beginsto get dark. If you remain here you'll find the islandvery unsatisfactory."

Trot turned to look at him, and her sweet face wasgrave and curious.

"I wonder who you are," she said.

"My name is Pessim," said he, with an air of pride."I'm called the Observer,"

"Oh. What do you observe?" asked the little girl.

"Everything I see," was the reply, in a more surlytone. Then Pessim drew back with a startled exclamationand looked at some footprints in the sand. "Why, goodgracious me!" he cried in distress.

"What's the matter now?" asked Cap'n Bill.

"Someone has pushed the earth in! Don't you see it?

"It isn't pushed in far enough to hurt anything," saidTrot, examining the footprints.

"Everything hurts that isn't right," insisted the man."If the earth were pushed in a mile, it would be a greatcalamity, wouldn't it?"

"I s'pose so," admitted the little girl.

"Well, here it is pushed in a full inch! That's atwelfth of a foot, or a little more than a millionth partof a mile. Therefore it is one-millionth part of acalamity -- Oh, dear! How dreadful!" said Pessim in awailing voice.

"Try to forget it, sir," advised Cap'n Bill,soothingly. "It's beginning to rain. Let's get under yourshed and keep dry."

"Raining! Is it really raining?" asked Pessim,beginning to weep.

"It is," answered Cap'n Bill, as the drops began todescend, "and I don't see any way to stop it -- althoughI'm some observer myself."

"No; we can't stop it, I fear," said the man. "Are youvery busy just now?"

"I won't be after I get to the shed," replied thesailor-man.

"Then do me a favor, please," begged Pessim, walkingbriskly along behind them, for they were hastening to theshed.

"Depends on what it is," said Cap'n Bill.

"I wish you would take my umbrella down to the shoreand hold it over the poor fishes till it stops raining.I'm afraid they'll get wet," said Pessim.

Trot laughed, but Cap'n Bill thought the little man waspoking fun at him and so he scowled upon Pessim in a waythat showed he was angry.

They reached the shed before getting very wet, althoughthe rain was now coming down in big drops. The roof ofthe shed protected them and while they stood watching therainstorm something buzzed in and circled around Pessim'shead. At once the Observer began beating it away withhis hands, crying out:

"A bumblebee! A bumblebee! The queerest bumblebee Iever saw!"

Cap'n Bill and Trot both looked at it and the littlegirl said in surprise:

"Dear me! It's a wee little Ork!"

"That's what it is, sure enough," exclaimed Cap'n Bill.

Really, it wasn't much bigger than a big bumblebee, andwhen it came toward Trot she allowed it to alight on hershoulder.

"It's me, all right," said a very small voice in herear; "but I'm in an awful pickle, just the same!"

"What, are you our Ork, then?" demanded the girl, muchamazed.

"No, I'm my own Ork. But I'm the only Ork you know,"replied the tiny creature.

"What's happened to you?" asked the sailor, putting hishead close to Trot's shoulder in order to hear the replybetter. Pessim also put his head close, and the Ork said:

"You will remember that when I left you I started tofly over the trees, and just as I got to this side of theforest I saw a bush that was loaded down with the mostluscious fruit you can imagine. The fruit was about thesize of a gooseberry and of a lovely lavender color. So Iswooped down and picked off one in my bill and ate it.At once I began to grow small. I could feel myselfshrinking, shrinking away, and it frightened me terribly,so that I lighted on the ground to think over what washappening. In a few seconds I had shrunk to the size younow see me; but there I remained, getting no smaller,indeed, but no larger. It is certainly a dreadfulaffliction! After I had recovered somewhat from the shockI began to search for you. It is not so easy to findone's way when a creature is so small, but fortunately Ispied you here in this shed and came to you at once."

Cap'n Bill and Trot were much astonished at this storyand felt grieved for the poor Ork, but the little manPessim seemed to think it a good joke. He began laughingwhen he heard the story and laughed until he choked,after which he lay down on the ground and rolled andlaughed again, while the tears of merriment coursed downhis wrinkled cheeks.

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" he finally gasped, sitting up andwiping his eyes. "This is too rich! It's almost toojoyful to be true."

"I don't see anything funny about it," remarked Trotindignantly.

"You would if you'd had my experience," said Pessim,getting upon his feet and gradually resuming his solemnand dissatisfied expression of countenance.

The same thing happened to me."

"Oh, did it? And how did you happen to come to thisisland?" asked the girl.

"I didn't come; the neighbors brought me," replied thelittle man, with a frown at the recollection. "They saidI was quarrelsome and fault-finding and blamed me becauseI told them all the things that went wrong, or never wereright, and because I told them how things ought to be. Sothey brought me here and left me all alone, saying thatif I quarreled with myself, no one else would be madeunhappy. Absurd, wasn't it?"

"Seems to me," said Cap'n Bill, "those neighbors didthe proper thing."

"Well," resumed Pessim, "when I found myself King ofthis island I was obliged to live upon fruits, and Ifound many fruits growing here that I had never seenbefore. I tasted several and found them good andwholesome. But one day I ate a lavender berry -- as theOrk did -- and immediately I grew so small that I wasscarcely two inches high. It was a very unpleasantcondition and like the Ork I became frightened. I couldnot walk very well nor very far, for every lump of earthin my way seemed a mountain, every blade of grass a treeand every grain of sand a rocky boulder. For several daysI stumbled around in an agony of fear. Once a tree toadnearly gobbled me up, and if I ran out from the shelterof the bushes the gulls and cormorants swooped down uponme. Finally I decided to eat another berry and becomenothing at all, since life, to one as small as I was, hadbecome a dreary nightmare.

"At last I found a small tree that I thought bore thesame fruit as that I had eaten. The berry was dark purpleinstead of light lavender, but otherwise it was quitesimilar. Being unable to climb the tree, I was obliged towait underneath it until a sharp breeze arose and shookthe limbs so that a berry fell. Instantly I seized it andtaking a last view of the world -- as I then thought -- Iate the berry in a twinkling. Then, to my surprise, Ibegan to grow big again, until I became of my formerstature, and so I have since remained. Needless to say, Ihave never eaten again of the lavender fruit, nor do anyof the beasts or birds that live upon this island eatit."

They had all three listened eagerly to this amazingtale, and when it was finished the Ork exclaimed:

"Do you think, then, that the deep purple berry is theantidote for the lavender one?"

"I'm sure of it," answered Pessim.

"Then lead me to the tree at once!" begged the Ork,"for this tiny form I now have terrifies me greatly."

Pessim examined the Ork closely

"You are ugly enough as you are," said he. "Were youany larger you might be dangerous."

"Oh, no," Trot assured him; "the Ork has been our goodfriend. Please take us to the tree."

Then Pessim consented, although rather reluctantly. Heled them to the right, which was the east side of theisland, and in a few minutes brought them near to theedge of the grove which faced the shore of the ocean.Here stood a small tree bearing berries of a deep purplecolor. The fruit looked very enticing and Cap'n Billreached up and selected one that seemed especially plumpand ripe.

The Ork had remained perched upon Trot's shoulder butnow it flew down to the ground. It was so difficult forCap'n Bill to kneel down, with his wooden leg, that thelittle girl took the berry from him and held it close tothe Ork's head.

"It's too big to go into my mouth," said the littlecreature, looking at the fruit sidewise.

"You'll have to make sev'ral mouthfuls of it, I guess,"said Trot; and that is what the Ork did. He pecked at thesoft, ripe fruit with his bill and ate it up veryquickly, because it was good.

Even before he had finished the berry they could seethe Ork begin to grow. In a few minutes he had regainedhis natural size and was strutting before them, quitedelighted with his transformation.

"Well, well! What do you think of me now?" he askedproudly.

"You are very skinny and remarkably ugly," declaredPessim.

"You are a poor judge of Orks," was the reply. "Anyonecan see that I'm much handsomer than those dreadfulthings called birds, which are all fluff and feathers."

"Their feathers make soft beds," asserted Pessim."And my skin would make excellent drumheads," retortedthe Ork. "Nevertheless, a plucked bird or a skinned Orkwould be of no value to himself, so we needn't brag ofour usefulness after we are dead. But for the sake ofargument, friend Pessim, I'd like to know what good youwould be, were you not alive?"

"Never mind that," said Cap'n Bill. "He isn't much goodas he is."

"I am King of this Island, allow me to say, and you'reintruding on my property," declared the little man,scowling upon them. "If you don't like me --and I'm sureyou don't, for no one else does -- why don't you go awayand leave me to myself?"

"Well, the Ork can fly, but we can't," explained Trot,in answer. "We don't want to stay here a bit, but I don'tsee how we can get away."

"You can go back into the hole you came from."

Cap'n Bill shook his head; Trot shuddered at thethought; the Ork laughed aloud.

"You may be King here," the creature said to Pessim,"but we intend to run this island to suit ourselves, forwe are three and you are one, and the balance of powerlies with us."

The little man made no reply to this, although as theywalked back to the shed his face wore its fiercest scowl.Cap'n Bill gathered a lot of leaves and, assisted byTrot, prepared two nice beds in opposite corners of theshed. Pessim slept in a hammock which he swung betweentwo trees.

They required no dishes, as all their food consisted offruits and nuts picked from the trees; they made no fire,for the weather was warm and there was nothing to cook;the shed had no furniture other than the rude stool whichthe little man was accustomed to sit upon. He called ithis "throne" and they let him keep it.

So they lived upon the island for three days, andrested and ate to their hearts' content. Still, they werenot at all happy in this life because of Pessim. Hecontinually found fault with them, and all that they did,and all their surroundings. He could see nothing good oradmirable in all the world and Trot soon came tounderstand why the little man's former neighbors hadbrought him to this island and left him there, all alone,so he could not annoy anyone. It was their misfortunethat they had been led to this place by their adventures,for often they would have preferred the company of a wildbeast to that of Pessim.

On the fourth day a happy thought came to the Ork. Theyhad all been racking their brains for a possible way toleave the island, and discussing this or that method,without finding a plan that was practical. Cap'n Bill hadsaid he could make a raft of the trees, big enough tofloat them all, but he had no tools except those twopocketknives and it was not possible to chop down treewith 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 usto get there?"

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

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

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

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

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

This quaint suggestion startled Trot and she lookedgravely at the speaker while she considered it, but Cap'nBill gave a scornful snort and asked:

"What would become of us afterward? We wouldn't be muchgood 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 berriesalong with you, to eat after we had reached ourdestination?" inquired the Ork. "Then you could grow bigagain 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 hethought it over carefully and the more he thought thebetter it seemed.

"How could you manage to carry us, if we were sosmall?" he asked.

"I could put you in a paper bag, and tie the bag aroundmy neck."

"But we haven't a paper bag," objected Trot.

The Ork looked at her.

"There's your sunbonnet," it said presently, "which ishollow in the middle and has two strings that you couldtie around my neck."

Trot took off her sunbonnet and regarded it critically.Yes, it might easily hold both her and Cap'n Bill, afterthey had eaten the lavender berries and been reduced insize. She tied the strings around the Ork's neck and thesunbonnet made a bag in which two tiny people might ridewithout danger of falling out. So she said:

"I b'lieve we'll do it that way, Cap'n."

Cap'n Bill groaned but could make no logicalobjection except that the plan seemed to him quitedangerous -- and dangerous in more ways than one.

"I think so, myself," said Trot soberly. "But nobodycan stay alive without getting into danger sometimes, anddanger doesn't mean getting hurt, Cap'n; it only means wemight get hurt. So I guess we'll have to take the risk."

"Let's go and find the berries," said the Ork.

They said nothing to Pessim, who was sitting on hisstool and scowling dismally as he stared at the ocean,but started at once to seek the trees that bore the magicfruits. The Ork remembered very well where the lavenderberries grew and led his companions quickly to the spot.

Cap'n Bill gathered two berries and placed themcarefully in his pocket. Then they went around to theeast side of the island and found the tree that bore thedark purple berries.

"I guess I'll take four of these," said the sailor-man,so in case one doesn't make us grow big we can eatanother."

"Better take six," advised the Ork. "It's well tobe on the safe side, and I'm sure these trees grownowhere else in all the world."

So Cap'n Bill gathered six of the purple berries andwith their precious fruit they returned to the shed tobig good-bye to Pessim. Perhaps they would not havegranted the surly little man this courtesy had they notwished to use him to tie the sunbonnet around the Ork'sneck.

When Pessim learned they were about to leave him he atfirst looked greatly pleased, but he suddenly recollectedthat nothing ought to please him and so began to grumbleabout being left alone.

"We knew it wouldn't suit you," remarked Cap'n Bill."It didn't suit you to have us here, and it won't suityou to have us go away."

"That is quite true," admitted Pessim. "I haven't beensuited since I can remember; so it doesn't matter to mein the least whether you go or stay."

He was interested in their experiment, however, andwillingly agreed to assist, although he prophesiedthey would fall out of the sunbonnet on their way andbe either drowned in the ocean or crushed upon somerocky shore. This uncheerful prospect did not dauntTrot, but it made Cap'n Bill quite nervous.

"I will eat my berry first," said Trot, as she placedher sunbonnet on the ground, in such manner that theycould get into it.

Then she ate the lavender berry and in a few secondsbecame so small that Cap'n Bill picked her up gently withhis thumb and one finger and placed her in the middle ofthe sunbonnet. Then he placed beside her the six purpleberries -- each one being about as big as the tiny Trot'shead -- and all preparations being now made the oldsailor ate his lavender berry and became very small --wooden leg and all!

Cap'n Bill stumbled sadly in trying to climb over theedge of the sunbonnet and pitched in beside Trotheadfirst, which caused the unhappy Pessim to laugh withglee. Then the King of the Island picked up the sunbonnet-- so rudely that he shook its occupants like peas in apod -- and tied it, by means of its strings, securelyaround the Ork's neck.

"I hope, Trot, you sewed those strings on tight," saidCap'n Bill anxiously.

"Why, we are not very heavy, you know," she replied,"so I think the stitches will hold. But be careful andnot crush the berries, Cap'n."

"One is jammed already," he said, looking at them.

"All ready?" asked the Ork.

"Yes!" they cried together, and Pessim came close tothe sunbonnet and called out to them: "You'll be smashedor drowned, I'm sure you will! But farewell, and goodriddance to you."

The Ork was provoked by this unkind speech, so heturned his tail toward the little man and made it revolveso fast that the rush of air tumbled Pessim over backwardand he rolled several times upon the ground before hecould stop himself and sit up. By that time the Ork washigh in the air and speeding swiftly over the ocean.