"Gee whiz, this is a funny thing," Pee-wee said; "I was kind of making believe that I was an explorer, but anyway I'm glad you're here."
"I'm here because I'm here," said the other boy.
"It doesn't make any difference to me," said the boy; "I'd just as soon be in one place as another."
"As long as it's not school," said Pee-wee.
"Oh, that's understood," said the other boy; "let's talk of something pleasant."
"I bet there'll be a lot of apples here later," said Pee-wee; "when it's vacation, hey?"
"I don't know whether they'll be here," said the other boy, "because you can't trust this blamed island over night, but they'll be on the tree, wherever it is, and the way to find them will be to look for the tree."
"_You said it_," said Pee-wee. "What's your name?"
"Roland Poland," said the boy; "Roly Poly for short."
"Mine's Walter Harris, but they call me Pee-wee. How did this island get here anyway?"
"It started being an island under my very feet," said Roly Poly. "There are five scouts in my patrol besides myself; we're just getting started----"
"I'm the only one in my patrol," Pee-wee interrupted. "Where do you come from?"
"From North Bridgeboro," said Roly Poly, swinging his legs. "The six of us went to camp for the day just above old Trimmer's land up the river."
"I know him," Pee-wee said; "he's a grouch."
"Very muchly," said Roly; "he's worse than algebra."
"He's worse than algebra and civil government put together," said Pee-wee.
"Did you say _civil_?" said Roly Poly; "don't mention civil in the same sentence with him; he's the man that put the crab in crab-apple."
"He's got a dandy orchard, though," said Pee-wee.
"Sure, this is a part of it," said Roly Poly.
"_Good night_," said Pee-wee; "I don't blame it for going away from him. Can he take it back? It's an island now and it's part of Bridgeboro. He can't take it on account of international law; that's what _I_ think. How did it happen?"
"It's a very short story," said his new friend; "it's only about a mile and a half long--from North Bridgeboro down to here. We were camping in Wallace's grove and a little way down the river we saw a kind of a little spot of land with a tree on it. There were lots of apple trees all around there near the shore. We didn't know that orchard belonged to old Trimmer."