And sure enough, the island was moving off to sea, making tiny ripples like those that follow in the wake of a boat. The children didn’t know what to do; they had never heard of a swimming island, and they had just about decided to become very, very frightened indeed, when a big, long, ugly head lifted itself up over the western shore of the island, turned, and looked back at them. It was exactly like the head of a turtle they had once seen, only a great many times larger, and although it was quite hideously ugly, it had a kindly humorous expression around its mouth and a merry twinkle in its eye. “I’m Old Flipperoo, the sea-turtle,” it said by way of polite introduction, “and I’m perfectly harmless, so you mustn’t be afraid. You can stay on my back and I’ll carry you across the ocean to a place I know, and show you all the queer and wonderful things that grow there. Then I’ll bring you back safe and sound in time for supper. How does that sound?” Now of course, Whoops and Putty-Nose said it was the one thing they wanted to do most of all, so Old Flipperoo tucked his head away out of sight again and set himself to paddling away at a great rate. The mariners were soon so far out to sea that they could no longer see land, and when they passed close by the great sea-going vessels and trans-oceanic liners, all the people on their decks ran to the rail to look at the queer flat boat and its very youthful passengers. Everybody waved and called greetings to the children, and the children waved back, and shouted “Ship ahoy!” which they knew was the polite thing to do. After a long, long voyage they sighted a land almost completely covered with the queerest looking trees. Flipperoo swam into a quiet bay and waddled right up on the sand, so that Whoops and Putty-Nose were able to step ashore without even wetting their feet. “I’ll lie here in the sun and take a nap,” said the turtle, “and you children start off on a journey of discovery. Nothing in this strange country will hurt you, although you will be surprised at many of the things you will see. Only be sure to come back here to me when you hear the Tick-Tock bird calling, ‘Five o’clock!’, or we’ll all be late for supper.” So Whoops and Putty-Nose left their wonderful new friend dozing in the hot sand and set off, hand in hand, along the path which led up among the trees. Now they understood why the island had looked so funny when they were approaching it on the turtle’s back, for all the trees grew upside-down, their roots in the air, and the figs, cocoanuts, and bananas on the ground, where they could easily be picked. They decided to gather some of the fruit on the way back to take home to their father and mother, and went on up the winding path. The air was full of Jujube and Lollypop birds, which flew ahead of them calling, “Whoops and Putty-Nose have come to visit us!”