The Ork looked at her.
'There's your sunbonnet,' it said presently, 'which is hollow in the middle and has two strings that you could tie around my neck.'
Trot took off her sunbonnet and regarded it critically. Yes, it might easily hold both her and Cap'n Bill, after they had eaten the lavender berries and been reduced in size. She tied the strings around the Ork's neck and the sunbonnet made a bag in which two tiny people might ride without 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 logical objection except that the plan seemed to him quite dangerous—and dangerous in more ways than one.
'I think so, myself,' said Trot soberly. 'But nobody can stay alive without getting into danger sometimes, and danger doesn't mean getting hurt, Cap'n; it only means we might 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 his stool and scowling dismally as he stared at the ocean, but started at once to seek the trees that bore the magic fruits. The Ork remembered very well where the lavender berries grew and led his companions quickly to the spot.
Cap'n Bill gathered two berries and placed them carefully in his pocket. Then they went around to the east side of the island and found the tree that bore the dark 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 eat another.'
'Better take six,' advised the Ork. 'It's well to be on the safe side, and I'm sure these trees grow nowhere else in all the world.'
So Cap'n Bill gathered six of the purple berries and with their precious fruit they returned to the shed to big good-bye to Pessim. Perhaps they would not have granted the surly little man this courtesy had they not wished to use him to tie the sunbonnet around the Ork's neck.
When Pessim learned they were about to leave him he at first looked greatly pleased, but he suddenly recollected that nothing ought to please him and so began to grumble about 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 suit you to have us go away.'
'That is quite true,' admitted Pessim. 'I haven't been suited since I can remember; so it doesn't matter to me in the least whether you go or stay.'
He was interested in their experiment, however, and willingly agreed to assist, although he prophesied they would fall out of the sunbonnet on their way and be either drowned in the ocean or crushed upon some rocky shore. This uncheerful prospect did not daunt Trot, but it made Cap'n Bill quite nervous.
'I will eat my berry first,' said Trot, as she placed her sunbonnet on the ground, in such manner that they could get into it.
Then she ate the lavender berry and in a few seconds became so small that Cap'n Bill picked her up gently with his thumb and one finger and placed her in the middle of the sunbonnet. Then he placed beside her the six purple berries—each one being about as big as the tiny Trot's head—and all preparations being now made the old sailor ate his lavender berry and became very small—wooden leg and all!
Cap'n Bill stumbled sadly in trying to climb over the edge of the sunbonnet and pitched in beside Trot headfirst, which caused the unhappy Pessim to laugh with glee. Then the King of the Island picked up the sunbonnet—so rudely that he shook its occupants like peas in a pod—and tied it, by means of its strings, securely around the Ork's neck.
'I hope, Trot, you sewed those strings on tight,' said Cap'n Bill anxiously.
'Why, we are not very heavy, you know,' she replied, 'so I think the stitches will hold. But be careful and not 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 to the sunbonnet and called out to them: 'You'll be smashed or drowned, I'm sure you will! But farewell, and good riddance to you.'
The Ork was provoked by this unkind speech, so he turned his tail toward the little man and made it revolve so fast that the rush of air tumbled Pessim over backward and he rolled several times upon the ground before he could stop himself and sit up. By that time the Ork was high in the air and speeding swiftly over the ocean.
Chapter Six
The Flight of the Midgets
Cap'n Bill and Trot rode very comfortably in the sunbonnet. The motion was quite steady, for they weighed so little that the Ork flew without effort. Yet they were both somewhat nervous about their future fate and could not help wishing they were safe on land and their natural size again.
'You're terr'ble small, Trot,' remarked Cap'n Bill, looking at his companion.
'Same to you, Cap'n,' she said with a laugh; 'but as long as we have the purple berries we needn't worry about our size.'
'In a circus,' mused the old man, 'we'd be curiosities. But in a sunbonnet—high up in the air—sailin' over a big, unknown ocean—they ain't no word in any booktionary to describe us.'
'Why, we're midgets, that's all,' said the little girl. The Ork flew silently for a long time. The slight swaying of the sunbonnet made Cap'n Bill drowsy, and he began to doze. Trot, however, was wide awake, and after enduring the monotonous journey as long as she was able she called out:
'Don't you see land anywhere, Mr. Ork?'
'Not yet,' he answered. 'This is a big ocean and I've no idea in which direction the nearest land to that island lies; but if I keep flying in a straight line I'm sure to reach some place some time.'
That seemed reasonable, so the little people in the sunbonnet remained as patient as possible; that is, Cap'n Bill dozed and Trot tried to remember her geography lessons so she could figure out what land they were likely to arrive at.
For hours and hours the Ork flew steadily, keeping to the straight line and searching with his eyes the horizon of the ocean for land. Cap'n Bill was fast asleep and snoring and Trot had laid her head on his shoulder to rest it when suddenly the Ork exclaimed:
'There! I've caught a glimpse of land, at last.'
At this announcement they roused themselves. Cap'n Bill stood up and tried to peek over the edge of the sunbonnet.
'What does it look like?' he inquired.
'Looks like another island,' said the Ork; 'but I can judge it better in a minute or two.'
'I don't care much for islands, since we visited that other one,' declared Trot.
Soon the Ork made another announcement.
'It is surely an island, and a little one, too,' said he. 'But I won't stop, because I see a much bigger land straight ahead of it.'
'That's right,' approved Cap'n Bill. 'The bigger the land, the better it will suit us.'
'It's almost a continent,' continued the Ork after a brief silence, during which he did not decrease the speed of his flight. 'I wonder if it can be Orkland, the place I have been seeking so long?'
'I hope not,' whispered Trot to Cap'n Bill—so softly that the Ork could not hear her—'for I shouldn't like to be in a country where only Orks live. This one Ork isn't a bad companion, but a lot of him wouldn't be much fun.'
After a few more minutes of flying the Ork called out in a sad voice:
'No! this is not my country. It's a place I have never seen before, although I have wandered far and wide. It seems to be all mountains and deserts and green valleys and queer cities and lakes and rivers—mixed up in a very puzzling way.'
