"Just cast your eye on them, just look at them," said the Good Wolf.
"You have been too much excited to notice them before. Do they _look_
as if I could shake things out of them?"
Barty _did_ look at them and he _did_ gasp then. His voice was almost
a whisper. "No," he answered.
The tall pink ear and the tall blue ear had dwindled until they were
only ordinary Bad Wolf ear size. "There is something in the air of
desert islands that makes them dwindle away," the Good Wolf
explained. "I could not shake a pin out of them now."
Barty drew a long breath, stood up straight and dug his strong little
hands into his pockets. "Well," he said cheerfully, "all right. I
asked for a desert island and I've got one. We shall have to look for
everything and make everything exactly like Robinson Crusoe did. I
believe it will be more fun. Don't you?"
"Sure of it," chuckled the Good Wolf. "Quite sure of it. If we could
shake everything out of our ears when we wanted it, it would be
scarcely any fun at all. It doesn't make _me_ feel mournful."
"It doesn't make me feel mournful either," said Barty. "Think what a
lot of things we shall have to do."
"Yes," the Good Wolf answered. "We shall have to find a place to sleep
in and things to eat and a fire to cook them with."
"I wonder where we shall find the fire?" said Barty.
"I don't know yet," the Good Wolf answered, "but on Robinson Crusoe's
Desert Island you _did_ find things somehow."
"It will be great fun looking for them--like playing hide-and-seek,"
Barty said.
There seemed so many new things to do that he did not know where to
begin first. But the little curling edges of the waves which came
spreading out on the white sand seemed just for that minute to be
nicer than anything else. So he sat down and began to take off his
shoes and stockings.
"I am going to wade," he said. "I never waded in my life. I forgot
desert islands were the seaside."
It was so cool and lovely and splashy and it was such fun to pretend
he was going to let a wave catch him and then turn and run, shouting
and laughing away from it, that for a few moments he almost forgot
about the Good Wolf. But at last as he was running away from a big
wave, he saw him come galloping along the beach as if he had been
somewhere and was returning.
"Where did you go?" called Barty.
"Come along with me," said the Good Wolf, "and I will show you."
They turned and went back to where the rocks were. There was a large
circle of them and inside the circle was a pool of quiet, clear
water. "Here is something better than wading," said the Good Wolf. "I
felt sure this was here. It is just the kind of a place you find on a
desert island when you want to learn to swim. Take off your clothes
and I will take you in and teach you."
Barty took off his clothes in one minute and a half.
"Come on," said the Good Wolf. "Catch hold of my hair and hold tight,
just at first." And in he jumped and Barty with him.
The water had been warmed by the sun and was as clear as crystal. It
wasn't too deep, either.
"Do exactly as I do," the Good Wolf said when they were splashing
about together. He could swim splendidly, and Barty imitated him. At
first he held on to his friend's thick, shaggy coat with one hand and
paddled with the other, and kicked his legs. When he had learned what
to do with his hands and feet the Good Wolf made him splash about in
the shallower places until he began to feel quite brave, and actually
swam a few strokes alone.
"I never, never thought I should learn to swim," he kept shouting
joyfully. "See, I'm keeping up all by myself."
"Of course you will learn to swim," said the Good Wolf. "It is one of
the first things you have to do when you are wrecked on a desert
island." By the time they decided to come out of the water Barty knew
that it would not be long before he could swim as if he were a little
fish. He felt so proud and happy that he sang out loud as he run up
and down in the sun to dry himself before he put on his clothes again.
There are no towels on desert islands.
"What shall we do next?" asked Barty when he had finished dressing.
"Well," said the Good Wolf, "supposing now that I could shake things
out of my ears what do you think you should ask me to shake out
first?"
Barty did not think many minutes.
"My belt," said Barty, "is rather loose by this time. If you could
shake things out I think I should ask you to shake out some dinner."
"It's what I should have chosen myself," said the Good Wolf. "What
Robinson Crusoe did on his desert island when he wanted his dinner,
was to go and look for it until he found it."
"Yes," said Barty, "I suppose we shall have to go and look too."
"All right, it's part of the game," said the Good Wolf. Then he looked
at Barty a little anxiously. "Are you very hungry?" he inquired.
"Yes," said Barty, quite like a soldier. "So was Robinson Crusoe.
That's part of the game, too."
"Come on," said the Good Wolf. "You are a good companion to be
shipwrecked with. There are boys of your age who might have cried and
said they wanted to go home."
"Oh, but I said a desert island," answered Barty. "And I meant a
desert island. And it will be splendid finding something good to eat
when your belt is as loose as mine."
The Good Wolf smiled a smile which reach to his ears, and off they
went towards the place where the trees were.
[Illustration]