CHAPTER XIII

"STOP"

The ice cream soda argument was not a good one at all, for no lump of
ice cream ever remained long intact where Pee-wee was. Whether it
melted or not, it disappeared. And why this freakish little island did
not rapidly dissolve was a mystery.

By all the laws it should have melted away, leaving the deserted tree
to topple over and form a new obstruction to boating. But there it was
floating more easily as the tide rose, with apparently no intention of
allowing itself to be absorbed by the surrounding waters. It is true
that a belt of muddy water bordered its wild and forbidding coast and
that its shore line was of a consistency suitable for the making of mud
pies, but its body seemed as solid and resistant as a rock.

Pee-wee always claimed that it was he and he alone who discovered the
mysterious secret of Merry-go-round Island; he and he alone who
penetrated its unknown depths. In this bold exploration a courageous
sardine sandwich played an important part and out of sheer gratitude
Pee-wee, from that time forward, was ever partial to sardine
sandwiches, regarding them with tender and grateful affection.

He was standing near the apple tree holding the traffic sign like a
pilgrim's banner beside him and, as has been told, eating a banana with
the other hand. That fact is well established. Little he thought that
when Roly Poly, delving into a paper bag that was in a grocery box,