- Matt is half-happy, half-annoyed when Attean shows up the next day. No matter, though, because he's thought of a better way to teach Attean.
- He grabs Robinson Crusoe and tells Attean it's a story, not a treaty; then he starts to read the exciting parts to him, starting with the storm at sea.
- Reading to Attean is like reading to a rock, and Matt almost gives up—but then Attean asks a question. It seems he's paying attention after all.
- Attean leaves, but he wants to hear more the next day.
- Matt reads about how Robinson Crusoe found items from his wrecked ship to survive. At first Attean sits like a statue, but then he makes fun of Crusoe—if Crusoe had been an Indian, he says, he wouldn't need all that junk to survive.
- Matt feels angry, but then he gets to thinking about it: Robinson Crusoe had gobs more survival tools than even Matt and his dad did when they built their cabin. One point for Attean: "Robinson Crusoe had lived like a king on that desert island!" (8.23).