Pee-wee stood stark still in the middle of the field and rubbed his
eyes to make sure that he was awake. There was not the slightest doubt
that what he saw was very real. The river at that point was quite wide
and its opposite shore was bordered with sparse woodland.

Pee-wee had bathed and fished and canoed in this neighborhood almost as
long as he could remember and he was perfectly certain that there had
never been an island there. He knew an island when he saw one and
nothing was more certain than that this one was a stranger in the
neighborhood.

Yet it seemed to be perfectly at home out there in the middle of the
stream, just as if it had been born there and had grown up there.
There was nothing fugitive looking about it at all. In the true spirit
of the twentieth century, which is all for time saving and convenience,
it had voyaged to Pee-wee, thereby saving him the time and perils of an
extended cruise. It had, as one might say, been delivered at his door.

This was certainly an improvement over the old, out-of-date method of
desert island exploration. Such patent, adjustable islands would bring
the joys of adventurous pioneering "within the reach of all" as
advertisement writers are so fond of declaring, just as the phonograph,
has brought music into every home.

"That's funny," said Pee-wee, pausing in amazement. "That wasn't here
yesterday, because I was down here yesterday. Anyway as long as no
one's here I'm going to be the one to go and discover it. Findings is
keepings; it's just the same with islands as it is with everything
else."