"I wonder why it changed back," mused Trot, who was not worried because she had enough fruit to satisfy her hunger.
"Well, you only wished it would bear fruit 'for a while,'" said the sailor, "and it did. P'raps if you'd said 'forever,' Trot, it would have always been fruit."
"But why should MY wish be obeyed?" asked the girl. "I'm not a fairy or a wizard or any kind of a magic-maker."
"I guess," replied Cap'n Bill, "that this little island is a magic island, and any folks on it can tell the bush what to produce, an' it'll produce it."
"Do you think I could wish for anything else, Cap'n and get it?" she inquired anxiously.
"What are you thinkin' of, Trot?"
"I'm thinking of wishing that these roots on our feet would disappear, and let us free."
"Try it, Trot."
So she tried it, and the wish had no effect whatever.
"Try it yourself, Cap'n," she suggested.