"Hello, what are you doing down there?"

Pee-wee looked up and beheld a boy seated comfortably in the branches
of the tree. He was looking down through the profusion of blossoms
with an exceedingly merry face, and had apparently been witnessing the
arrival of the discoverer with silent amusement.

"Some desert island, hey?" he laughed.

"Are you a native?" Pee-wee shouted.

"Sure, I'm part of the wild life of the island, I'm a scout," the boy
called down. "Come on up, there's room for two on this branch. If the
island should lurch you might get your feet wet."

"What is this island anyway?" Pee-wee asked, somewhat taken aback by
the discovery that he was not the discoverer. "Where does it belong?
Anyway I'm the boss of it because I discovered it. I just put my sign
up and you can come down and see it if you want to and swear
allegiance."

"What are you talking about?" the boy called down. "I was on it before
it was born."

"Do you mean to tell me I didn't discover you?" Pee-wee shouted up.

"No, _I_ discovered _you_," said the other boy.

"What do you mean, _you knew it before it was born_?" Pee-wee demanded
skeptically. "How could it have been before it was? If a thing isn't,