The Project Gutenberg Etext of Sky Island
by L. Frank Baum
(#18 in our series by L. Frank Baum)
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Title: Sky Island
Author: L. Frank Baum
Release Date: August, 2003 [Etext #4356]
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[This file was first posted on January 14, 2002]
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The Project Gutenberg Etext of Sky Island
by L. Frank Baum
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Edited by Charles Aldarondo (aldarondo@yahoo.com)
SKY ISLAND
BEING THE FURTHER EXCITING ADVENTURES
OF TROT AND CAP'N BILL AFTER THEIR
VISIT TO THE SEA FAIRIES
BY L. FRANK BAUM
TO
MY SISTER
MARY LOUISE BREWSTER
A LITTLE TALK TO MY READERS
WITH "The Sea Fairies," my book for 1911, I ventured into a new
field of fairy literature and to my delight the book was received
with much approval by my former readers, many of whom have written
me that they like Trot "almost as well as Dorothy." As Dorothy was
an old, old friend and Trot a new one, I think this is very high
praise for Cap'n Bill's little companion. Cap'n Bill is also a new
character who seems to have won approval, and so both Trot and the
old sailor are again introduced in the present story, which may be
called the second of the series of adventures of Trot and Cap'n
Bill.
But you will recognize some other acquaintances in "Sky Island."
Here, for instance, is Button-Bright, who once had an adventure with
Dorothy in Oz, and without Button-Bright and his Magic Umbrella you
will see that the story of "Sky Island" could never have been
written. As Polychrome, the Rainbow's Daughter, lives in the sky, it
is natural that Trot and Button-Bright meet her during their
adventures there.
This story of Sky Island has stonished me considerably, and I think
it will also astonish you. The sky country is certainly a remarkable
fairland, but after reading about it I am sure you will agree with
me that our old Mother Earth is a very good place to live upon and
that Trot and Button-Bright and Cap'n Bill were fortunate to get
back to it again.
By the way, one of my little correspondents has suggested that I
print my address in this book, so that the children may know where
letters will reach me. I am doing this, as you see, and hope that
many will write to me and tell me how they like "Sky Island." My
greatest treasures are these letters from my readers and I am always
delighted to receive them.
L. FRANK BAUM.
"OZCOT" at HOLLYWOOD in CALIFORNIA
A MYSTERIOUS ARRIVAL
CHAPTER 1
"Hello," said the boy.
"Hello," answered Trot, looking up surprised. "Where did you come
from?"
"Philadelphia," said he.
"Dear me," said Trot, "you're a long way from home, then."
"'Bout as far as I can get, in this country," the boy replied, gazing
out over the water. "Isn't this the Pacific Ocean?"
"Of course."
"Why of course?" he asked.
"Because it's the biggest lot of water in all the world."
"How do you know?"
"Cap'n Bill told me," she said.
"Who's Cap'n Bill?"
"An old sailorman who's a friend of mine. He lives at my house, too--
the white house you see over there on the bluff."
"Oh; is that your home?"
"Yes," said Trot proudly. "Isn't it pretty?"
"It's pretty small, seems to me," answered the boy.
"But it's big enough for mother and me, an' for Cap'n Bill," said
Trot.
"Haven't you any father?"
"Yes, 'ndeed. Cap'n Griffith is my father, but he's gone most of the
time, sailin' on his ship. You mus' be a stranger in these parts,
little boy, not to know 'bout Cap'n Griffith," she added, looking at
her new acquaintance intently.
Trot wasn't very big herself, but the boy was not quite as big as
Trot. He was thin, with a rather pale complexion, and his blue eyes
were round and earnest. He wore a blouse waist, a short jacket, and
knickerbockers. Under his arm he held an old umbrella that was as
tall as he was. Its covering had once been of thick, brown cloth,
but the color had faded to a dull drab except in the creases, and
Trot thought it looked very old-fashioned and common. The handle,
though, was really curious. It was of wood and carved to resemble an
elephant's head. The long trunk of the elephant was curved to make a
crook for the handle. The eyes of the beast were small red stones,
and it had two tiny tusks of ivory.
The boy's dress was rich and expensive, even to his fine silk
stockings and tan shoes, but the umbrella looked old and
disreputable.
"It isn't the rainy season now," remarked Tot with a smile.
The boy glanced at his umbrella and hugged it tighter. "No," he
said, "but umbrellas are good for other things 'sides rain."
"'Fraid of gett'n sun-struck?" asked Trot.
He shook his head, still gazing far out over the water. "I don't
b'lieve this is bigger than any other ocean," said he. "I can't see
any more of it than I can of the Atlantic."
"You'd find out if you had to sail across it," she declared.
"When I was in Chicago I saw Lake Michigan," he went on dreamily,
"and it looked just as big as this water does."
"Looks don't count, with oceans," she asserted. "Your eyes can only
see jus' so far, whether you're lookin' at a pond or a great sea."
"Then it doesn't make any difference how big an ocean is," he
replied. "What are those buildings over there?" pointing to the
right, along the shore of the bay.
"That's the town," said Trot. "Most of the people earn their living
by fishing. The town is half a mile from here, an' my house is
almost a half-mile the other way, so it's 'bout a mile from my house
to the town."
The boy sat down beside her on the flat rock.
"Do you like girls?" asked Trot, making room for him.
"Not very well," the boy replied. "Some of 'em are pretty good
fellows, but not many. The girls with brothers are bossy, an' the
girls without brothers haven't any 'go' to 'em. But the world's full
o' both kinds, and so I try to take 'em as they come. They can't
help being girls, of course. Do you like boys?"
"When they don't put on airs or get roughhouse," replied Trot. "My
'sperience with boys is that they don't know much, but think they
do."
"That's true," he answered. "I don't like boys much better than I do
girls, but some are all right, and--you seem to be one of 'em."
"Much obliged," laughed Trot. "You aren't so bad, either, an' if we
don't both turn out worse than we seem, we ought to be friends."
He nodded rather absently and tossed a pebble into the water. "Been
to town?" he asked.
"Yes. Mother wanted some yarn from the store. She's knittin' Cap'n
Bill a stocking."
"Doesn't he wear but one?"
"That's all. Cap'n Bill has one wooden leg," she explained. "That's
why he don't sailor any more. I'm glad of it, 'cause Cap'n Bill
knows ev'rything. I s'pose he knows more than anyone else in all the
world."
"Whew!" said the boy. "That's taking a good deal for granted. A
one-legged sailor can't know much."
"Why not?" asked Trot a little indignantly. "Folks don't learn
things with their legs, do they?"
"No, but they can't get around without legs to find out things."
"Cap'n Bill got 'round lively 'nough once, when he had two meat
legs," she said. "He's sailed to most ev'ry country on the earth,
an' found out all that the people in 'em knew and a lot besides. He
was shipwrecked on a desert island once, and another time a cannibal
king tried to boil him for dinner, an' one day a shark chased him
seven leagues through the water, an'--"
"What's a league?" asked the boy.
"It's a--a distance, like a mile is. But a league isn't a mile, you
know."
"What is it, then?"
"You'll have to ask Cap'n Bill. He knows ever'thing."
"Not ever'thing," objected the boy. "I know some things Cap'n Bill
don't know."
"If you do, you're pretty smart," said Trot.
"No, I'm not smart. Some folks think I'm stupid. I guess I am. But I
know a few things that were wonderful. Cap'n Bill may know more'n I
do--a good deal more--but I'm sure he can't know the same things.
Say, what's your name?"
"I'm Mayre Griffith, but ever'body calls me 'Trot.' I's a nickname I
got when I was a baby, 'cause I trotted so fast when I walked, an'
it seems to stick. What's YOUR name?"
"Button-Bright."
"How did it happen?"
"How did what happen?"
"Such a funny name."
The boy scowled a little. "Just like your own nickname happened," he
answered gloomily. "My father once said I was bright as a button,
an' it made ever'body laugh. So they always call me Button-Bright."
"What's your real name?" she inquired.
"Saladin Paracelsus de Lambertine Evagne von Smith."
"Guess I'll call you Button-Bright," said Trot, sighing. "The only
other thing would be 'Salad,' an' I don't like salads. Don't you
find it hard work to 'member all of your name?"
"I don't try to," he said. "There's a lot more of it, but I've
forgotten the rest."
"Thank you," said Trot. "Oh, here comes Cap'n Bill!" as she glanced
over her shoulder.
Button-Bright turned also and looked solemnly at the old sailor who
came stumping along the path toward them. Cap'n Bill wasn't a very
handsome man. He was old, not very tall, somewhat stout and chubby,
with a round face, a bald head, and a scraggly fringe of reddish
whisker underneath his chin. But his blue eyes were frank and merry,
and his smile like a ray of sunshine. He wore a sailor shirt with a
broad collar, a short peajacket and wide-bottomed sailor trousers,
one leg of which covered his wooden limb but did not hide it. As he
came "pegging" along the path--as he himself described his hobbling
walk--his hands were pushed into his coat pockets, a pipe was in his
mouth, and his black neckscarf was fluttering behind him in the
breeze like a sable banner.
Button-Bright liked the sailor's looks. There was something very
winning--something jolly and carefree and honest and sociable--about
the ancient seaman that made him everybody's friend, so the strange
boy was glad to meet him.
"Well, well, Trot," he said, coming up, "is this the way you hurry
to town?"
"No, for I'm on my way back," said she. "I did hurry when I was
going, Cap'n Bill, but on my way home I sat down here to rest an'
watch the gulls--the gulls seem awful busy today, Cap'n Bill--an'
then I found this boy."
Cap'n Bill looked at the boy curiously. "Don't think as ever I sawr
him at the village," he remarked. "Guess as you're a stranger, my
lad."
Button-Bright nodded.
"Hain't walked the nine mile from the railroad station, have ye?"
asked Cap'n Bill.
"No," said Button-Bright.
The sailor glanced around him. "Don't see no waggin er no
autymob'l," he added.
"No," said Button-Bright.
"Catch a ride wi' some one?"
Button-Bright shook his head.
"A boat can't land here; the rocks is too thick an' too sharp,"
continued Cap'n Bill, peering down toward the foot of the bluff on
which they sat and against which the waves broke in foam.
"No," said Button-Bright, "I didn't come by water."
Trot laughed. "He must 'a' dropped from the sky, Cap'n Bill!" she
exclaimed.
Button-Bright nodded very seriously. "That's it," he said.
"Oh, a airship, eh?" cried Cap'n Bill in surprise. "I've hearn tell
o' them sky keeridges; someth'n' like flyin' autymob'ls, ain't
they?"
"I don't know," said Button-Bright. "I've never seen one."
Both Trot and Cap'n Bill now looked at the boy in astonishment. "Now
then, lemme think a minute," said the sailor reflectively. "Here's a
riddle for us to guess, Trot. He dropped from the sky, he says, an'
yet he didn't come in a airship!"
"'Riddlecum, riddlecum ree;
What can the answer be?'"
Trot looked the boy over carefully. She didn't see any wings on him.
The only queer thing about him was his big umbrella. "Oh!" she said
suddenly, clapping her hands together. "I know now."
"Do you?" asked Cap'n Bill doubtfully. "Then you're some smarter ner
I am, mate."
"He sailed down with the umbrel!" she cried. "He used his umbrel as
a para--para--"
"Shoot," said Cap'n Bill. "They're called parashoots, mate; but why,
I can't say. Did you drop down in that way, my lad?" he asked the
boy.
"Yes," said Button-Bright. "That was the way."
"But how did you get up there?" asked Trot. "You had to get up in
the air before you could drop down, an'--oh, Cap'n Bill! He says
he's from Phillydelfy, which is a big city way at the other end of
America."
"Are you?" asked the sailor, surprised.
Button-Bright nodded again. "I ought to tell you my story," he said,
"and then you'd understand. But I'm afraid you won't believe me,
and--" he suddenly broke off and looked toward the white house in
the distance "--Didn't you say you lived over there?" he inquired.
"Yes," said Trot. "Won't you come home with us?"
"I'd like to," replied Button-Bright.
"All right, let's go then," said the girl, jumping up.
The three walked silently along the path. The old sailorman had
refilled his pipe and lighted it again, and he smoked thoughtfully
as he pegged along beside the children. "Know anyone around here?"
he asked Button-Bright.
"No one but you two," said the boy, following after Trot, with his
umbrella tucked carefully underneath his arm.
"And you don't know us very well," remarked Cap'n Bill. "Seems to me
you're pretty young to be travelin' so far from home an' among
strangers. But I won't say anything more till we've heard your
story. Then, if you need my advice, or Trot's advice--she's a wise
little girl, fer her size, Trot is--we'll freely give it an' be glad
to help you."
"Thank you," replied Button-Bright. "I need a lot of things, I'm
sure, and p'raps advice is one of 'em."
THE MAGIC UMBRELLA
CHAPTER 2
When they reached the neat frame cottage which stood on a high bluff
a little back from the sea and was covered with pretty green vines,
a woman came to the door to meet them. She seemed motherly and good,
and when she saw Button-Bright, she exclaimed, "Goodness me! Who's
this you've got, Trot?"
"It's a boy I've just found," explained the girl. "He lives way off
in Phillydelphy."
"Mercy sakes alive!" cried Mrs. Griffith, looking into his upturned
face. "I don't believe he's had a bite to eat since he started.
Ain't you hungry, child?"
"Yes," said Button-Bright.
"Run, Trot, an' get two slices o' bread-an'-butter," commanded Mrs.
Griffith. "Cut 'em thick, dear, an' use plenty of butter."
"Sugar on 'em?" asked Trot, turning to obey.
"No," said Button-Bright. "Just bread-an'-butter's good enough when
you're hungry, and it takes time to spread sugar on."
"We'll have supper in an hour," observed Trot's mother briskly, "but
a hungry child can't wait a whole hour, I'm sure. What are you
grinning at, Cap'n Bill? How dare you laugh when I'm talking? Stop
it this minute, you old pirate, or I'll know the reason why!"
"I didn't, mum," said Cap'n Bill meekly. "I on'y--"
"Stop right there, sir! How dare you speak when I'm talking?" She
turned to Button-Bright, and her tone changed to one of much
gentleness as she said, "Come in the house, my poor boy, an' rest
yourself. You seem tired out. Here, give me that clumsy umbrella."
"No, please," said Button-Bright, holding the umbrella tighter.
"Then put it in the rack behind the door," she urged.
The boy seemed a little frightened. "I--I'd rather keep it with me,
if you please," he pleaded.
"Never mind," Cap'n Bill ventured to say, "it won't worry him so
much to hold the umbrella, mum, as to let it go. Guess he's afraid
he'll lose it, but it ain't any great shakes, to my notion. Why, see
here, Button-Bright, we've got half-a-dozen umbrellas in the closet
that's better ner yours."
"Perhaps," said the boy. "Yours may look a heap better, sir,
but--I'll keep this one, if you please."
"Where did you get it?" asked Trot, appearing just then with a plate
of bread-and-butter.
"It--it belongs in our family," said Button-Bright, beginning to eat
and speaking between bites. "This umbrella has been in our family
years, an' years, an' years. But it was tucked away up in our attic
an' no one ever used it 'cause it wasn't pretty."
"Don't blame 'em much," remarked Cap'n Bill, gazing at it curiously.
"It's a pretty old-lookin' bumbershoot." They were all seated in the
vine-shaded porch of the cottage--all but Mrs. Griffith, who had
gone into the kitchen to look after the supper--and Trot was on one
side of the boy, holding the plate for him, while Cap'n Bill sat on
the other side.
"It is old," said Button-Bright. "One of my great-great-grandfathers
was a Knight--an Arabian Knight--and it was he who first found this
umbrella."
"An Arabian Night!" exclaimed Trot. "Why, that was a magic night,
wasn't it?"
"There's diff'rent sorts o' nights, mate," said the sailor, "an' the
knight Button-Bright means ain't the same night you mean. Soldiers
used to be called knights, but that were in the dark ages, I guess,
an' likely 'nough Butt'n-Bright's great-gran'ther were that sort of
a knight."
"But he said an Arabian Knight," persisted Trot.
"Well, if he went to Araby, or was born there, he'd be an Arabian
Knight, wouldn't he? The lad's gran'ther were prob'ly a furriner,
an' yours an' mine were, too, Trot, if you go back far enough; for
Ameriky wasn't diskivered in them days."
"There!" said Trot triumphantly. "Didn't I tell you, Button-Bright,
that Cap'n Bill knows ever'thing?"
"He knows a lot, I expect," soberly answered the boy, finishing the
last slice of bread-and-butter and then looking at the empty plate
with a sigh. "But if he really knows ever'thing, he knows about the
Magic Umbrella, so I won't have to tell you anything about it."
"Magic!" cried Trot with big, eager eyes. "Did you say MAGIC Umbrel,
Button-Bright?"
"I said 'Magic.' But none of our family knew it was a Magic Umbrella
till I found it out for myself. You're the first people I've told
the secret to," he added, glancing into their faces rather uneasily.
"Glory me!" exclaimed the girl, clapping her hands in ecstacy. "It
must be jus' ELEGANT to have a Magic Umbrel!"
Cap'n Bill coughed. He had a way of coughing when he was suspicious.
"Magic," he observed gravely, "was once lyin' 'round loose in the
world. That was in the Dark Ages, I guess, when the magic Arabian
Nights was. But the light o' Civilization has skeered it away long
ago, an' magic's been a lost art since long afore you an' I was
born, Trot."
"I know that fairies still live," said Trot reflectively. She didn't
like to contradict Cap'n Bill, who knew "ever'thing."
"So do I," added Button-Bright. "And I know there's magic still in
the world--or in my umbrella, anyhow."
"Tell us about it!" begged the girl excitedly.
"Well," said the boy, "I found it all out by accident. It rained in
Philadelphia for three whole days, and all the umbrellas in our
house were carried out by the family and lost or mislaid or
something, so that when I wanted to go to Uncle Bob's house, which
is at Germantown, there wasn't an umbrella to be found. My governess
wouldn't let me go without one, and--"
"Oh," said Trot. "Do you have a governess?"
"Yes, but I don't like her. She's cross. She said I couldn't go to
Uncle Bob's because I had no umbrella. Instead she told me to go up
in the attic and play. I was sorry 'bout that, but I went up in the
attic, and pretty soon I found in a corner this old umbrella. I
didn't care how it looked. It was whole and strong and big, and
would keep me from getting wet on the way to Uncle Bob's. So off I
started for the car, but I found the streets awful muddy, and once I
stepped in a mud-hole way up to my ankle. 'Gee!,' I said, 'I wish I
could fly through the air to Uncle Bob's.'
"I was holding up the open umbrella when I said that, and as soon as
I spoke, the umbrella began lifting me up into the air. I was awful
scared at first, but I held on tight to the handle, and it didn't
pull very much, either. I was going pretty fast, for when I looked
down all the big buildings were sliding past me so swift that it
made me dizzy, and before I really knew what had happened the
umbrella settled down and stood me on my feet at Uncle Bob's front
gate.
"I didn't tell anybody about the wonderful thing that had happened,
'cause I thought no one would believe me. Uncle Bob looked sharp at
the thing an' said, 'Button-Bright, how did your father happen to
let you take that umbrella?' 'He didn't,' I said. 'Father was away
at the office, so I found it in the attic an' I jus' took it.' Then
Uncle Bob shook his head an' said I ought to leave it alone. He said
it was a fam'ly relic that had been handed down from father to son
for many generations. But I told him my father had never handed it
to me, though I'm his son. Uncle Bob said our fam'ly always believed
that it brought 'em good luck to own this umbrella. He couldn't say
why, not knowing its early history, but he was afraid that if I lost
the umbrella, bad luck would happen to us. So he made me go right
home to put the umbrella back where I got it. I was sorry Uncle Bob
was so cross, and I didn't want to go home yet, where the governess
was crosser 'n he was. I wonder why folks get cross when it rains?
But by that time it had stopped raining--for awhile, anyhow--and
Uncle Bob told me to go straight home and put the umbrella in the
attic an' never touch it again.
"When I was around the corner, I thought I'd see if I could fly as I
had before. I'd heard of Buffalo, but I didn't know just where it
was, so I said to the umbrella, 'Take me to Buffalo.' Up in the air
I went, just as soon as I said it, and the umbrella sailed so fast
that I felt as if I was in a gale of wind. It was a long, long trip,
and I got awful tired holding onto the handle, but just as I thought
I'd have to let go, I began to drop down slowly, and then I found
myself in the streets of a big city. I put down the umbrella and
asked a man what the name of the city was, and he said 'Buffalo'."
"How wonderful!" gasped Trot. Cap'n Bill kept on smoking and said
nothing.
"It was magic, I'm sure," said Button-Bright. "It surely couldn't
have been anything else."
"P'raps," suggested Trot, "the umbrella can do other magic things."
"No," said the boy. "I've tried it. When I landed in Buffalo I was
hot and thirsty. I had ten cents car fare, but I was afraid to spend
it. So I held up the umbrella and wished I had an ice-cream soda,
but I didn't get it. Then I wished for a nickel to buy an ice-cream
soda with, but I didn't get that, either. I got frightened and was
afraid the umbrella didn't have any magic left, so to try it I said
'Take me to Chicago.' I didn't want to go to Chicago, but that was
the first place I thought of, and I soon saw this was going to be
another long journey, so I called out to the umbrella, 'Never mind.
Stop! I guess I won't go to Chicago. I've changed my mind, so take
me home again.' But the umbrella wouldn't. It kept right on flying,
and I shut my eyes and held on. At last I landed in Chicago, and
then I was in a pretty fix. It was nearly dark, and I was too tired
and hungry to make the trip home again. I knew I'd get an awful
scolding, too, for running away and taking the family luck with me,
so I thought that as long as I was in for it, I'd better see a good
deal of the country while I had the chance. I wouldn't be allowed to
come away again, you know."
"No, of course not," said Trot.
"I bought some buns and milk with my ten cents, and then I walked
around the streets of Chicago for a time and afterward slept on a
bench in one of the parks. In the morning I tried to get the
umbrella to give me a magic breakfast, but it won't do anything but
fly. I went to a house and asked a woman for something to eat, and
she gave me all I wanted and advised me to go straight home before
my mother worried about me. She didn't know I lived in Philadelphia.
That was this morning."
"This mornin'!" exclaimed Cap'n Bill. "Why, lad, it takes three or
four days for the railroad trains to get to this coast from
Chicago."
"I know," replied Button-Bright. "But I didn't come on a railroad
train. This umbrella goes faster than any train ever did. This
morning I flew from Chicago to Denver, but no one there would give
me any lunch. A policeman said he'd put me in jail if he caught me
begging, so I got away and told the umbrella to take me to the
Pacific Ocean. When I stopped I landed over there by the big rock. I
shut up the umbrella and saw a girl sitting on the rock, so I went
up and spoke to her. That's all."
"Goodness me!" said Trot. "If that isn't a fairy story, I never
heard one."
"It IS a fairy story," agreed Button-Bright. "Anyhow, it's a magic
story, and the funny part of it is, it's true. I hope you believe
me, but I don't know as I'd believe it myself if it hadn't been me
that it happened to."
"I believe ev'ry word of it!" declared Trot earnestly.
"As fer me," said Cap'n Bill slowly, "I'm goin' to believe it, too,
by'm'by, when I've seen the umbrel fly once."
"You'll see me fly away with it," asserted the boy. "But at present
it's pretty late in the day, and Philadelphia is a good way off. Do
you s'pose, Trot, your mother would let me stay here all night?"
"Course she would!" answered Trot. "We've got an extra room with a
nice bed in it, and we'd love to have you stay just as long as you
want to, wouldn't we, Cap'n Bill?"
"Right you are, mate," replied the old man, nodding his bald head.
"Whether the umbrel is magic or not, Butt'n-Bright is welcome."
Mrs. Griffith came out soon after and seconded the invitation, so
the boy felt quite at home in the little cottage. It was not long
before supper was on the table and in spite of all the
bread-and-butter he had eaten Button-Bright had a fine appetite for
the good things Trot's mother had cooked. Mrs. Griffith was very
kind to the children, but not quite so agreeable toward poor Cap'n
Bill. When the old sailorman at one time spilled some tea on the
tablecloth, Trot's mother flew angry and gave the culprit such a
tongue-lashing that Button-Bright was sorry for him. But Cap'n Bill
was meek and made no reply. "He's used to it, you know," whispered
Trot to her new friend, and indeed, Cap'n Bill took it all
cheerfully and never minded a bit.
Then it came Trot's turn to get a scolding. When she opened the
parcel she had bought at the village, it was found she had selected
the wrong color of yarn, and Mrs. Griffith was so provoked that
Trot's scolding was almost as severe as that of Cap'n Bil l. Tears
came to the little girl's eyes, and to comfort her the boy promised
to take her to the village next morning with his magic umbrella, so
she could exchange the yarn for the right color.
Trot quickly brightened at this promise, although Cap'n Bill looked
grave and shook his head solemnly. When supper was over and Trot had
helped with the dishes, she joined Button-Bright and the sailorman
on the little porch again. Dusk had fallen, and the moon was just
rising. They all sat in silence for a time and watched the silver
trail that topped the crests of the waves far out to sea.
"Oh, Button-Bright!" cried the little girl presently. "I'm so glad
you're going to let me fly with you way to town and back tomorrow.
Won't it be fine, Cap'n Bill?"
"Dunno, Trot," said he. "I can't figger how both of you can hold on
to the handle o' that umbrel."
Trot's face fell. "I'll hold on to the handle," said Button-Bright,
"and she can hold on to me. It doesn't pull hard at all. You've no
idea how easy it is to fly that way after you get used to it."
"But Trot ain't used to it," objected the sailor. "If she happened
to lose her hold and let go, it's goodbye Trot. I don't like to risk
it, for Trot's my chum, an' I can't afford to lose her."
"Can't you tie us together, then?" asked the boy.
"We'll see, we'll see," replied Cap'n Bill, and began to think very
deeply. He forgot that he didn't believe the umbrella could fly, and
after Button-Bright and Trot had both gone to bed, the old sailor
went out into the shed and worked a while before he, too, turned
into his "bunk." The sandman wasn't around, and Cap'n Bill lay awake
for hours thinking of the strange tale of the Magic Umbrella before
he finally sank into slumber. Then he dreamed about it, and waking
or dreaming he found the tale hard to believe.
A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE
CHAPTER 3
They had early breakfasts at Trot's house, because they all went to
bed early, and it is possible to sleep only a certain number of
hours if one is healthy in body and mind. And right after breakfast
Trot claimed Button-Bright's promise to take her to town with the
Magic Umbrella.
"Any time suits me," said the boy. He had taken his precious
umbrella to bed with him and even carried it to the breakfast table,
where he stood it between his knees as he ate; so now he held it
close to him and said he was ready to fly at a moment's notice. This
confidence impressed Cap'n Bill, who said with a sigh:
"Well, if you MUST go, Trot, I've pervided a machine that'll carry
you both comf'table. I'm summat of an inventor myself, though there
ain't any magic about me."
Then he brought from the shed the contrivance he had made the night
before. It was merely a swing seat. He had taken a wide board that
was just long enough for both the boy and girl to sit upon, and had
bored six holes in it, two holes at each end and two in the middle.
Through these holes he had run stout ropes in such a way that the
seat could not turn and the occupants could hold on to the ropes on
either side of them. The ropes were all knotted together at the top,
where there was a loop that could be hooked upon the crooked handle
of the umbrella.
Button-Bright and Trot both thought Cap'n Bill's invention very
clever. The sailor placed the board upon the ground while they sat
in their places, Button-Bright at the right of Trot, and then the
boy hooked the rope loop to the handle of the umbrella, which he
spread wide open. "I want to go to the town over yonder," he said,
pointing with his finger to the roofs of the houses that showed
around the bend in the cliff.
At once the umbrella rose into the air, slowly at first, but quickly
gathering speed. Trot and Button-Bright held fast to the ropes and
were carried along very easily and comfortably. It seemed scarcely a
minute before they were in the town, and when the umbrella set them
down just in front of the store--for it seemed to know just where
they wanted to go--a wondering crowd gathered around them. Trot ran
in and changed the yarn, while Button-Bright stayed outside and
stared at the people who stared at him. They asked questions, too,
wanting to know what sort of an aeroplane this was and where his
power was stored and lots of other things, but the boy answered not
a sound. When the little girl came back and took her seat,
Button-Bright said, "I want to go to Trot's house."
The simple villagers could not understand how the umbrella suddenly
lifted the two children into the air and carried them away. They had
read of airships, but here was something wholly beyond their
comprehension.
Cap'n Bill had stood in front of the house, watching with a feeling
akin to bewilderment the flight of the Magic Umbrella. He could
follow its course until it descended in the village, and he was so
amazed and absorbed that his pipe went out. He had not moved from
his position when the umbrella started back. The sailor's big blue
eyes watched it draw near and settle down with its passengers upon
just the spot it had started from.
Trot was joyous and greatly excited. "Oh, Cap'n, it's gal-lor-ious!"
she cried in ecstasy. "It beats ridin' in a boat or--or--in anything
else. You feel so light an' free an'--an'--glad! I'm sorry the trip
didn't last longer, though. Only trouble is, you go too fast."
Button-Bright was smiling contentedly. He had proved to both Trot
and Cap'n Bill that he had told the truth about the Magic Umbrella,
however marvelous his tale had seemed to them. "I'll take you on
another trip, if you like," said he. "I'm in no hurry to go home,
and if you will let me stay with you another day, we can make two or
three little trips with the family luck."
"You mus' stay a whole week," said Trot decidedly. "An' you mus'
take Cap'n Bill for an air-ride, too."
"Oh, Trot! I dunno as I'd like it," protested Cap'n Bill nervously.
"Yes you would. You're sure to like it."
"I guess I'm too heavy."
"I'm sure the umbrella could carry twenty people if they could be
fastened to the handle," said Button-Bright.
"Solid land's pretty good to hold on to," decided Cap'n Bill. "A
rope might break, you know."
"Oh, Cap'n Bill! You're scared stiff," said Trot.
"I ain't, mate. It ain't that at all. But I don't see that human
critters has any call to fly in the air, anyhow. The air were made
for the birds, an'--an' muskeeters, an'--"
"An' flyin'-fishes," added Trot. "I know all that, Cap'n, but why
wasn't it made for humans, too, if they can manage to fly in it? We
breathe the air, an' we can breathe it high up, just as well as down
on the earth."
"Seein' as you like it so much, Trot, it would be cruel for me to go
with Butt'n-Bright an' leave you at home," said the sailor. "When I
were younger--which is ancient history--an' afore I had a wooden
leg, I could climb a ship's ropes with the best of 'em, an' walk out
on a boom or stand atop a mast. So you know very well I ain't
skeered about the highupness."
"Why can't we all go together?" asked the boy. "Make another seat,
Cap'n, and swing it right under ours. Then we can all three ride
anywhere we want to go."
"Yes, do!" exclaimed Trot. "And see here, Cap'n, let's take a day
off and have a picnic. Mother is a little cross today, and she wants
to finish knitting your new stockin', so I guess she'll be glad to
get rid of us."
"Where'll we go?" he asked, shifting on his wooden leg uneasily.
"Anywhere. I don't care. There'll be the air-ride there an' the
air-ride back, an' that's the main thing with ME. If you say we'll
go, Cap'n, I'll run in an' pack a basket of lunch."
"How'll we carry it?"
"Swing it to the bottom of your seat."
The old sailor stood silent a moment. He really longed to take the
air-ride but was fearful of danger. However, Trot had gone safely to
town and back and had greatly enjoyed the experience. "All right,"
he said. "I'll risk it, mate, although I guess I'm an old fool for
temptin' fate by tryin' to make a bird o' myself. Get the lunch,
Trot, if your mother'll let you have it, and I'll rig up the seat."
He went into the shed and Trot went to her mother. Mrs. Griffith,
busy with her work, knew nothing of what was going on in regard to
the flight of the Magic Umbrella. She never objected when Trot
wanted to go away with Cap'n Bill for a day's picnicking. She knew
the child was perfectly safe with the old sailor, who cared for Trot
even better than her mother would have done. If she had asked any
questions today and had found out they intended to fly in the air,
she might have seriously objected, but Mrs. Griffith had her mind on
other things and merely told the girl to take what she wanted from
the cupboard and not bother her. So Trot, remembering that
Button-Bright would be with them and had proved himself to be a
hearty eater, loaded the basket with all the good things she could
find.
By the time she came out, lugging the basket with both hands, Cap'n
Bill appeared with the new seat he had made for his own use, which
he attached by means of ropes to the double seat of the boy and
girl. "Now then, where'll we go?" asked Trot.
"Anywhere suits me," replied Cap'n Bill. They had walked to the high
bluff overlooking the sea, where a gigantic acacia tree stood on the
very edge. A seat had been built around the trunk of the tree, for
this was a favorite spot for Trot and Cap'n Bill to sit and talk and
watch the fleet of fishing boats sail to and from the village. When
they came to this tree, Trot was still trying to think of the most
pleasant place to picnic. She and Cap'n Bill had been every place
that was desirable and nearby, but today they didn't want a nearby
spot. They must decide upon one far enough away to afford them a
fine trip through the air. Looking far out over the Pacific, the
girl's eyes fell upon a dim island lying on the horizon line just
where the sky and water seemed to meet, and the sight gave her an
idea.
"Oh, Cap'n Bill!" she exclaimed. "Let's go to that island for our
picnic. We've never been there yet, you know."
The sailor shook his head. "It's a good many miles away, Trot," he
said, "further than it looks to be from here."
"That won't matter," remarked Button-Bright. "The umbrella will
carry us there in no time."
"Let's go!" repeated Trot. "We'll never have another such chance,
Cap'n. It's too far to sail or row, and I've always wanted to visit
that island."
"What's the name of it?" inquired Button-Bright while the sailor
hesitated to decide.
"Oh, it's got an awful hard name to pernounce," replied the girl,
"so Cap'n Bill and I jus' call it 'Sky Island' 'cause it looks as if
it was half in the sky. We've been told it's a very pretty island,
and a few people live there and keep cows and goats and fish for a
living. There are woods and pastures and springs of clear water, and
I'm sure we would find it a fine place for a picnic."
"If anything happened on the way," observed Cap'n Bill, "we'd drop
in the water."
"Of course," said Trot, "and if anything happened while we were
flyin' over the land, we'd drop there. But nothing's goin' to
happen, Cap'n. Didn't Button-Bright come safe all the way from
Philydelfy?"
"I think I'd like to go to Sky Island," said the boy. "I've always
flown above the land so far, and it will be something new to fly
over the ocean."
"All right, I'm agree'ble," decided Cap'n Bill. "But afore we starts
on such a long journey, s'pose we make a little trial trip along the
coast. I want to see if the new seat fits me an' make certain the
umbrel will carry all three of us."
"Very well," said Button-Bright. "Where shall we go?"
"Let's go as far as Smuggler's Cove an' then turn 'round an' come
back. If all's right an' shipshape, then we can start for the
island."
They put the broad double seat on the ground, and then the boy and
girl sat in their places and Button-Bright spread open the Magic
Umbrella. Cap'n Bill sat in his seat just in front of them, all
being upon the ground.
"Don't we look funny?" said Trot with a chuckle of glee. "But hold
fast the ropes, Cap'n, an' take care of your wooden leg."
Button-Bright addressed the umbrella, speaking to it very
respectfully, for it was a thing to inspire awe. "I want to go as
far as Smuggler's Cove and then turn around in the air and come back
here," he said. At once the umbrella rose into the air, lifting
after it first the seat in which the children sat, and then Cap'n
Bill's seat.
"Don't kick your heels, Trot!" cried the sailor in a voice that
proved he was excited by his novel experience. "You might bump me in
the nose."
"All right," she called back. "I'll be careful."
It was really a wonderful, exhilarating ride, and Cap'n Bill wasn't
long making up his mind he liked the sensation. When about fifty
feet above the ground the umbrella began moving along the coast
toward Smuggler's Cove, which it soon reached. Looking downward,
Cap'n Bill suddenly exclaimed, "Why, there' a boat cast loose, an'
it's goin' to smash on the rocks. Hold on a minute, Butt'n-Bright,
till we can land an' drag it ashore."
"Hold on a minute, Umbrella!" cried the boy. But the Magic Umbrella
kept steadily upon its way. It made a circle over the Cove and then
started straight back the way it had come. "It's no use, sir," said
Button-Bright to the sailor. "If I once tell it to go to a certain
place, the umbrella will go there, and nowhere else. I've found that
out before this. You simply CAN'T stop it."
"Won't let you change your mind, eh?" replied Cap'n Bill. "Well,
that has its advantidges, an' its disadvantiges. If your ol' umbrel
hadn't been so obstinate, we could have saved that boat."
"Never mind," said Trot briskly, "here we are safe back again.
Wasn't it jus' the--the fascinatingest ride you ever took, Cap'n?"
"It's pretty good fun," admitted Cap'n Bill. "Beats them aeroplanes
an' things all holler, 'cause it don't need any regulatin.'"
"If we're going to that island, we may as well start right away,"
said Button-Bright when they had safely landed.
"All right. I'll tie on the lunch-basket," answered the sailor. He
fastened it so it would swing underneath his own seat, and they all
took their places again.
"Ready?" asked the boy.
"Let 'er go, my lad."
"I want to go to Sky Island," said Button-Bright to the umbrella,
using the name Trot had given him. The umbrella started promptly. It
rose higher than before, carrying the three voyagers with it, and
then started straight away over the ocean.
THE ISLAND IN THE SKY
CHAPTER 4
They clung tightly to the ropes, but the breeze was with them, so
after a few moments, when they became accustomed to the motion, they
began to enjoy the ride immensely.
Larger and larger grew the island, and although they were headed
directly toward it, the umbrella seemed to rise higher and higher
into the air the farther it traveled. They had not journeyed ten
minutes before they came directly over the island, and looking down
they could see the forests and meadows far below them. But the
umbrella kept up its rapid flight.
"Hold on, there!" cried Cap'n Bill. "If it ain't keerful, the ol'
thing will pass by the island."
"I--I'm sure it has passed it already," exclaimed Trot. "What's
wrong, Button-Bright? Why don't we stop?"
Button-Bright seemed astonished, too.
"Perhaps I didn't say it right," he replied after a moment's
thought. Then, looking up at the umbrella, he repeated distinctly,
"I said I wanted to go to Sky Island! Sky Island, don't you
understand?"
The umbrella swept steadily along, getting farther and farther out
to sea and rising higher and higher toward the clouds.
"Mack'rel an' herrings!" roared Cap'n Bill, now really frightened.
"Ain't there any blamed way at all to stop her?"
"None that I know of," said Button-Bright anxiously.
"P'raps," said Trot after a pause during which she tried hard to
think. "P'raps 'Sky Island' isn't the name of that island at all."
"Why, we know very well it ain't the name of it," yelled Cap'n Bill
from below. "We jus' called it that 'cause its right name is too
hard to say."
"That's the whole trouble, then," returned Button-Bright. "Somewhere
in the world there's a real Sky Island, and having told the Magic
Umbrella to take us there, it's going to do so."
"Well, I declare!" gasped the sailorman. "Can't we land anywhere
else?"
"Not unless you care to tumble off," said the boy. "I've told the
umbrella to take us to Sky Island, so that's the exact place we're
bound for. I'm sorry. It was your fault for giving me the wrong
name."
They glided along in silence for a while. The island was now far
behind them, growing small in the distance. "Where do you s'pose the
real Sky Island can be?" asked Trot presently.
"We can't tell anything about it until we get there," Button-Bright
answered. "Seems to me I've heard of the Isle of Skye, but that's
over in Great Britain, somewhere the other side of the world, and it
isn't Sky Island, anyhow."
"This miser'ble ol' umbrel is too pertic'ler," growled Cap'n Bill.
"It won't let you change your mind an' it goes ezzac'ly where you
say."
"If it didn't," said Trot, "we'd never know where we were going."
"We don't know now," said the sailor. "One thing's certain, folks:
we're gett'n' a long way from home."
"And see how the clouds are rolling just above us," remarked the
boy, who was almost as uneasy as Cap'n Bill.
"We're in the sky, all right," said the girl. "If there could be an
island up here among the clouds, I'd think it was there we're
going."
"Couldn't there be one?" asked Button-Bright. "Why couldn't there be
an island in the sky that would be named Sky Island?"
"Of course not!" declared Cap'n Bill. "There wouldn't be anything to
hold it up, you know."
"What's holding US up?" asked Trot.
"Magic, I guess."
"Then magic might hold an island in the sky. Whee-e-e! What a black
cloud!"
It grew suddenly dark, for they were rushing through a thick cloud
that rolled around them in billows. Trot felt little drops of
moisture striking her face and knew her clothing was getting damp
and soggy. "It's a rain cloud," she said to Button-Bright, "and it
seems like an awful big one, 'cause it takes so long for us to pass
through it."
The umbrella never hesitated a moment. It made a path through the
length of the heavy, black cloud at last and carried its passengers
into a misty, billowy bank of white, which seemed as soft and fleecy
as a lady's veil. When this broke away, they caught sight of a
majestic rainbow spanning the heavens, its gorgeous colors glinting
brightly in the sun, its arch perfect and unbroken from end to end.
But it was only a glimpse they had, for quickly they dove into
another bank of clouds and the rainbow disappeared.
Here the clouds were not black, nor heavy, but they assumed queer
shapes. Some were like huge ships, some like forest trees, and
others piled themselves into semblances of turreted castles and
wonderful palaces. The shapes shifted here and there continually,
and the voyagers began to be bewildered by the phantoms.
"Seems to me we're goin' down," called Trot.
"Down where?" asked Cap'n Bill.
"Who knows?" said Button-Bright. "But we're dropping, all right."
It was a gradual descent. The Magic Umbrella maintained a uniform
speed, swift and unfaltering, but its path through the heavens was
now in the shape of an arch, as a flying arrow falls. The queer
shapes of the clouds continued for some time, and once or twice Trot
was a little frightened when a monstrous airy dragon passed beside
them or a huge giant stood upon a peak of cloud and stared savagely
at the intruders into his domain. But none of these fanciful, vapory
creatures seemed inclined to molest them or to interfere with their
flight, and after a while the umbrella dipped below this queer
cloudland and entered a clear space where the sky was of an
exquisite blue color.
"Oh, look!" called Cap'n Bill. "There's land below us." The boy and
girl leaned over and tried to see this land, but Cap'n Bill was also
leaning over, and his big body hid all that was just underneath
them.
"Is it an island?" asked Trot solemnly.
"Seems so," the old sailor replied. "The blue is around all one side
of it an' a pink sunshine around the other side. There's a big cloud
just over the middle, but I guess it's surely an island, Trot, an'
bein' as it's in the sky, it's likely to be Sky Island."
"Then we shall land there," said the boy confidently. "I knew the
umbrella wouldn't make a mistake."
Presently Cap'n Bill spoke again. "We're goin' down on the blue part
o' the island," he said. "I can see trees an' ponds an' houses. Hold
tight, Trot! Hold tight, Butt'n-Bright! I'm afeared we're a'goin' to
bump somethin'!"
They were certainly dropping very quickly now, and the rush of air
made their eyes fill with water so that they could not see much
below them. Suddenly, the basket that was dangling below Cap'n Bill
struck something with a loud thud, and this was followed by a yell
of anger. Cap'n Bill sat flat upon the ground, landing with such a
force that jarred the sailorman and made his teeth click together,
while down upon him came the seat that Trot and Button-Bright
occupied, so that for a moment they were all tangled up.
"Get off from me! Get off from my feet, I say!" cried an excited
voice. "What in the Sky do you mean by sitting on my feet? Get off!
Get off at once!"
THE BOOLOOROO OF THE BLUES
CHAPTER 5
Cap'n Bill suspected that these remarks were addressed to him, but
he couldn't move just then because the seat was across him, and a
boy and girl were sprawling on the seat. As the Magic Umbrella was
now as motionless as any ordinary umbrella might be, Button-Bright
first released the catch and closed it up, after which he unhooked
the crooked handle from the rope and rose to his feet. Trot had
managed by this time to stand up, and she pulled the board off from
Cap'n Bill. All this time the shrill, excited voice was loudly
complaining because the sailor was on his feet, and Trot looked to
see who was making the protest, while Cap'n Bill rolled over and got
on his hands and knees so he could pull his meat leg and his wooden
leg into an upright position, which wasn't a very easy thing to do.
Button-Bright and Trot were staring with all their might at the
queerest person they had ever seen. They decided it must be a man
because he had two long legs, a body as round as a ball, a neck like
an ostrich, and a comical little head set on the top of it. But the
most curious thing about him was his skin, which was of a lovely
sky-blue tint. His eyes were also sky-blue, and his hair, which was
trained straight up and ended in a curl at the top of his head, was
likewise blue in color and matched his skin and his eyes. He wore
tight-fitting clothes made of sky-blue silk, with a broad blue
ruffle around his long neck, and on his breast glittered a
magnificent jewel in the form of a star, set with splendid blue
stones.
If the blue man astonished the travelers, they were no less
surprised by his surroundings, for look where they might, everything
they beheld was of the same blue color as the sky above. They seemed
to have landed in a large garden, surrounded by a high wall of blue
stone. The trees were all blue, the grass was blue, the flowers were
blue, and even the pebbles in the paths were blue. There were many
handsomely carved benches and seats of blue wood scattered about the
garden, and near them stood a fountain made of blue marble, which
shot lovely sprays of blue water into the blue air.
But the angry inhabitants of this blue place would not permit them
to look around them in peace, for as soon as Cap'n Bill rolled off
his toes, he began dancing around in an excited way and saying very
disrespectful things of his visitors. "You brutes! You apes! You
miserable, white-skinned creatures! How dare you come into my garden
and knock me on the head with that awful basket and then fall on my
toes and cause me pain and suffering? How dare you, I say? Don't you
know you will be punished for your impudence? Don't you know the
Boolooroo of the Blues will have revenge? I can have you patched for
this insult, and I will--just as sure as I'm the Royal Boolooroo of
Sky Island!"
"Oh, is this Sky Island, then?" asked Trot.
"Of course it's Sky Island. What else could it be? And I'm its
Ruler, its King, its sole Royal Potentate and Dictator. Behold in
the Personage you have injured the Mighty Quitey Righty Boolooroo of
the Blues!" Here he strutted around in a very pompous manner and
wagged his little head contemptuously at them.
"Glad to meet you, sir," said Cap'n Bill. "I allus had a likin' for
kings, bein' as they're summat unusual. Please 'scuse me for
a-sittin' on your royal toes, not knowin' as your toes were there."
"I won't excuse you!" roared the Boolooroo. "But I'll punish you.
You may depend upon that."
"Seems to me," said Trot, "you're actin' rather imperlite to
strangers. If anyone comes to our country to visit us, we always
treat 'em decent."
"YOUR country!" exclaimed the Boolooroo, looking at them more
carefully and seeming interested in their appearance. "Where in the
Sky did you come from, then, and where is your country located?"
"We live on the Earth when we're at home," replied the girl.
"The Earth? Nonsense! I've heard of the Earth, my child, but it
isn't inhabited. No one can live there because it's just a round,
cold, barren ball of mud and water," declared the Blueskin.
"Oh, you're wrong about that," said Button-Bright.
"You surely are," added Cap'n Bill.
"Why, we live there ourselves," cried Trot.
"I don't believe it. I believe you are living in Sky Island, where
you have no right to be, with your horrid white skins. And you've
intruded into the private garden of the palace of the Greatly
Stately Irately Boolooroo, which is a criminal offense. And you've
bumped my head with your basket and smashed my toes with your boards
and bodies, which is a crime unparalleled in all the history of Sky
Island! Aren't you sorry for yourselves?"
"I'm sorry for you," replied Trot, "'cause you don't seem to know
the proper way to treat visitors. But we won't stay long. We'll go
home pretty soon."
"Not until you have been punished!" exclaimed the Boolooroo sternly.
"You are my prisoners."
"Beg parding, your Majesty," said Cap'n Bill, "but you're takin' a
good deal for granted. We've tried to be friendly and peaceable, an'
we've 'poligized for hurtin' you, but if that don't satisfy you,
you'll have to make the most of it. You may be the Boolooroo of the
Blues, but you ain't even a tin whistle to us, an' you can't skeer
us for half a minute. I'm an ol' man, myself, but if you don't
behave, I'll spank you like I would a baby, an' it won't be any
trouble at all to do it, thank'e. As a matter o' fact, we've
captured your whole bloomin' blue island, but we don't like the
place very much, and I guess we'll give it back. It gives us the
blues, don't it, Trot? So as soon as we eat a bite of lunch from our
basket, we'll sail away again."
"Sail away? How?" asked the Boolooroo.
"With the Magic Umbrel," said Cap'n Bill, pointing to the umbrella
that Button-Bright was holding underneath his arm.
"Oh, ho! I see, I see," said the Boolooroo, nodding his funny head.
"Go ahead, then, and eat your lunch."
He retreated a little way to a marble seat beside the fountain, but
watched the strangers carefully. Cap'n Bill, feeling sure he had won
the argument, whispered to the boy and girl that they must eat and
get away as soon as possible, as this might prove a dangerous
country for them to remain in. Trot longed to see more of the
strange blue island, and especially wanted to explore the
magnificent blue palace that adjoined the garden and which had six
hundred tall towers and turrets; but she felt that her old friend
was wise in advising them to get away quickly. So she opened the
basket, and they all three sat in a row on a stone bench and began
to eat sandwiches and cake and pickles and cheese and all the good
things that were packed in the lunch basket.
They were hungry from the long ride, and while they ate they kept
their eyes busily employed in examining all the queer things around
them. The Boolooroo seemed quite the queerest of anything, and Trot
noticed that when he pulled the long curl that stuck up from the top
of his head, a bell tinkled somewhere in the palace. He next pulled
at the bottom of his right ear, and another faraway bell tinkled;
then he touched the end of his nose, and still another bell was
faintly heard. The Boolooroo said not a word while he was ringing
the bells, and Trot wondered if that was the way he amused himself.
But now the frown died away from his face and was replaced with a
look of satisfaction.
"Have you nearly finished?" he inquired.
"No," said Trot, "we've got to eat our apples yet."
"Apples? Apples? What are apples?" he asked.
Trot took some from the basket. "Have one?" she said. "They're awful
good."
The Boolooroo advanced a step and took the apple, which he regarded
with much curiosity.
"Guess they don't grow anywhere but on the Earth," remarked Cap'n
Bill.
"Are they good to eat?" asked the Boolooroo.
"Try it and see," answered Trot, biting into an apple herself.
The Blueskin sat down on the end of their bench, next to
Button-Bright, and began to eat his apple. He seemed to like it, for
he finished it in a hurry, and when it was gone he picked up the
Magic Umbrella.
"Let that alone!" said Button-Bright, making a grab for it. But the
Boolooroo jerked it away in an instant, and standing up he held the
umbrella behind him and laughed aloud.
"Now then," said he, "you can't get away until I'm willing to let
you go. You are my prisoners."
"I guess not," returned Cap'n Bill, and reaching out one of his long
arms, the sailorman suddenly grasped the Boolooroo around his long,
thin neck and shook him until his whole body fluttered like a flag.
"Drop that umbrel. Drop it!" yelled Cap'n Bill, and the Boolooroo
quickly obeyed. The Magic Umbrella fell to the ground, and
Button-Bright promptly seized it. Then the sailor let go his hold
and the King staggered to a seat, choking and coughing to get his
breath back.
"I told you to let things alone," growled Cap'n Bill. "If you don't
behave, your Majesty, this Blue Island'll have to get another
Boolooroo."
"Why?" asked the Blueskin.
"Because I'll prob'ly spoil you for a king, an' mebbe for anything
else. Anyhow, you'll get badly damaged if you try to interfere with
us, an' that's a fact."
"Don't kill him, Cap'n Bill," said Trot cheerfully.
"Kill me? Why, he couldn't do that," observed the King, who was
trying to rearrange the ruffle around his neck. "Nothing can kill
me."
"Why not?" asked Cap'n Bill.
"Because I haven't lived my six hundred years yet. Perhaps you don't
know that every Blueskin in Sky Island lives exactly six hundred
years from the time he is born."
"No, I didn't know that," admitted the sailor.
"It's a fact, said the King. "Nothing can kill us until we've lived
to the last day of our appointed lives. When the final minute is up,
we die; but we're obliged to live all of the six hundred years
whether we want to or not. So you needn't think of trying to kill
anybody on Sky Island. It can't be done."
"Never mind," said Cap'n Bill. "I'm no murderer, thank goodness, and
I wouldn't kill you if I could, much as you deserve it."
"But isn't six hundred years an awful long time to live?" questioned
Trot.
"It seems like it at first," replied the King, "but I notice that
whenever any of my subjects get near the end of their six hundred,
they grow nervous and say the life is altogether too short."
"How long have you lived?" asked Button-Bright.
The King coughed again and turned a bit bluer. "That is considered
an impertinent question in Sky Island," he answered, "but I will say
that every Boolooroo is elected to reign three hundred years, and
I've reigned not quite--ahem!--two hundred."
"Are your kings elected, then?" asked Cap'n Bill.
"Yes, of course. This is a Republic, you know. The people elect all
their officers from the King down. Every man and every woman is a
voter. The Boolooroo tells them whom to vote for, and if they don't
obey, they are severely punished. It's a fine system of government,
and the only thing I object to is electing the Boolooroo for only
three hundred years. It ought to be for life. My successor has
already been elected, but he can't reign for a hundred years to
come."
"I think three hundred years is plenty long enough," said Trot. "It
gives someone else a chance to rule, an' I wouldn't be s'prised if
the next king is a better one. Seems to me you're not much of a
Boolooroo."
"That," replied the King indignantly, "is a matter of opinion. I
like myself very much, but I can't expect you to like me, because
you're deformed and ignorant."
"I'm not!" cried Trot.
"Yes, you are. Your legs are too short and your neck is nothing at
all. Your color is most peculiar, but there isn't a shade of blue
about any of you, except the deep-blue color of the clothes the old
ape that choked me wears. Also, you are ignorant because you know
nothing of Sky Island, which is the Center of the Universe and the
only place anyone would care to live."
"Don't listen to him, Trot," said Button-Bright. "He's an ignorant
himself."
Cap'n Bill packed up the lunch basket. One end of the rope was still
tied to the handle of the basket, and the other end to his swing
seat, which lay on the ground before them.
"Well," said he, "let's go home. We've seen enough of this Blue
Country and its Blue Boolooroo, I guess, an' it's a long journey
back again."
"All right," agreed Trot, jumping up.
Button-Bright stood on the bench and held up the Magic Umbrella, so
he could open it, and the sailor had just attached the ropes when a
thin blue line shot out from behind them and in a twinkling wound
itself around the umbrella. At the same instant another blue cord
wound itself around the boy's body, and others caught Trot and Cap'n
Bill in their coils, so that all had their arms pinned fast to their
sides and found themselves absolutely helpless.
THE SIX SNUBNOSED PRINCESSES
CHAPTER 6
The Boolooroo was laughing and dancing around in front of them as if
well pleased. For a moment the prisoners could not imagine what had
happened to them, but presently half a dozen Blueskins, resembling
in shape and costume their ruler but less magnificently dressed,
stepped in front of them and bowed low to the Boolooroo.
"Your orders, most Mighty, Flighty, Tight and Righty Monarch, have
been obeyed," said the leader.
"Very well, Captain. Take that umbrella and carry it to my Royal
Treasury. See that it is safely locked up. Here's the key, and if
you don't return it to me within five minutes, I'll have you
patched."
The Captain took the key and the Magic Umbrella and hastened away to
the palace. Button-Bright had already hooked the ropes to the
elephant-trunk handle, so that when the Captain carried away the
umbrella, he dragged after him first the double seat, then Cap'n
Bill's seat, which was fastened to it, and finally the lunch-basket,
which was attached to the lower seat. At every few steps some of
these would trip up the Captain and cause him to take a tumble, but
as he had only five minutes' time in which to perform his errand, he
would scramble to his feet again and dash along the path until a
board or the basket tripped him up again.
They all watched him with interest until he had disappeared within
the palace, when the King turned to his men and said:
"Release the prisoners. They are now quite safe, and cannot escape
me."
So the men unwound the long cords that were twined around the bodies
of our three friends, and set them free. These men seemed to be
soldiers, although they bore no arms except the cords. Each cord had
a weight at the end, and when the weight was skillfully thrown by a
soldier, it wound the cord around anything in the twinkling of an
eye and held fast until it was unwound again.
Trot decided these Blueskins must have stolen into the garden when
summoned by the bells the Boolooroo had rung, but they had kept out
of sight and crept up behind the bench on which our friends were
seated until a signal from the king aroused them to action.
The little girl was greatly surprised by the suddenness of her
capture, and so was Button-Bright. Cap'n Bill shook his head and
said he was afeared they'd get into trouble. "Our mistake," he
added, "was in stoppin' to eat our lunch. But it's too late now to
cry over spilt milk."
"I don't mind, not much anyhow," asserted Trot bravely. "We're in no
hurry to get back, are we, Button-Bright?"
"I'm not," said the boy. "If they hadn't taken the umbrella, I
wouldn't care how long we stopped in this funny island. Do you think
it's a fairy country, Trot?"
"Can't say, I'm sure," she answered. "I haven't seen anything here
yet that reminds me of fairies, but Cap'n Bill said a floating
island in the sky was sure to be a fairyland."
"I think so yet, mate," returned the sailor. "But there's all sorts
o' fairies, I've heard. Some is good, an' some is bad, an' if all
the Blueskins are like their Boolooroo, they can't be called
fust-class."
"Don't let me hear any more impudence, prisoners!" called the
Boolooroo sternly. "You are already condemned to severe punishment,
and if I have any further trouble with you, you are liable to be
patched."
"What's being patched?" inquired the girl.
The soldiers all laughed at this question, but the King did not
reply. Just then a door in the palace opened and out trooped a group
of girls. There were six of them, all gorgeously dressed in silken
gowns with many puffs and tucks and ruffles and flounces and laces
and ribbons, everything being in some shade of blue, grading from
light blue to deep blue. Their blue hair was elaborately dressed and
came to a point at the top of their heads. The girls approached in a
line along the garden path, all walking with mincing steps and
holding their chins high. Their skirts prevented their long legs
from appearing as grotesque as did those of the men, but their necks
were so thin and long that the ruffles around them only made them
seem the more absurd.
"Ah," said the King with a frown, "here come the Six Snubnosed
Princesses, the most beautiful and aristocratic ladies in Sky
Island."
"They're snubnosed, all right," observed Trot, looking at the girls
with much interest, "but I should think it would make 'em mad to
call 'em that."
"Why?" asked the Boolooroo in surprise. "Is not a snub nose the
highest mark of female beauty?"
"Is it?" asked the girl.
"Most certainly. In this favored island, which is the Center of the
Universe, a snub nose is an evidence of high breeding which any lady
would be proud to possess."
The Six Snubnosed Princesses now approached the fountain and stood
in a row, staring with haughty looks at the strangers.
"Goodness me, your Majesty!" exclaimed the first. "What queer,
dreadful-looking creatures are these? Where in all the Sky did they
come from?"
"They say they came from the Earth, Cerulia," answered the
Boolooroo.
"But that is impossible," said another Princess. "Our scientists
have proved that the Earth is not inhabited."
"Your scientists'll have to guess again, then," said Trot.
"But how did they get to Sky Island?" inquired the third snubnosed
one.
"By means of a Magic Umbrella, which I have captured and put away in
my Treasure Chamber," replied the Boolooroo.
"What will you do with the monsters, papa?" asked the fourth
Princess.
"I haven't decided yet," said the Boolooroo. "They're curiosities,
you see, and may serve to amuse us. But as they're only half
civilized, I shall make them my slaves."
"What are they good for? Can they do anything useful?" asked the
fifth.
"We'll see," returned the King impatiently. "I can't decide in a
hurry. Give me time, Azure, give me time. If there's anything I
hate, it's a hurry."
"I've an idea, your Majesty," announced the sixth Snubnosed
Princess, whose complexion was rather darker than that of her
sisters, "and it has come to me quite deliberately, without any
hurry at all. Let us take the little girl to be our maid--to wait
upon us and amuse us when we're dull. All the other ladies of the
court will be wild with envy, and if the child doesn't prove of use
to us, we can keep her for a living pincushion."
"Oh! Ah! That will be fine!" cried all the other five, and the
Boolooroo said:
"Very well, Indigo, it shall be as you desire." Then he turned to
Trot and added, "I present you to the Six Lovely Snubnosed
Princesses, to be their slave. If you are good and obedient, you
won't get your ears boxed oftener than once an hour."
"I won't be anybody's slave," protested Trot. "I don't like these
snubnosed, fussy females, an' I won't have anything to do with 'em."
"How impudent!" cried Cerulia.
"How vulgar!" cried Turquoise.
"How unladylike!" cried Sapphire.
"How silly!" cried Azure.
"How absurd!" cried Cobalt.
"How wicked!" cried Indigo. And then all six held up their hands as
if horrified.
The Boolooroo laughed. "You'll know how to bring her to time, I
imagine," he remarked, "and if the girl isn't reasonable and
obedient, send her to me and I'll have her patched. Now, then, take
her away."
But Trot was obstinate and wouldn't budge a step. "Keep us together,
your Majesty," begged Cap'n Bill. "If we're to be slaves, don't
separate us, but make us all the same kind o' slaves."
"I shall do what pleases me," declared the Boolooroo angrily. "Don't
try to dictate, old Moonface, for there's only one Royal Will in Sky
Island, and that's my own."
He then gave a command to a soldier, who hastened away to the palace
and soon returned with a number of long, blue ribbons. One he tied
around Trot's waist and then attached to it six other ribbons. Each
of the Six Snubnosed Princesses held the end of a ribbon, and then
they turned and marched haughtily away to the palace, dragging the
little girl after them.
"Don't worry, Trot," cried Button-Bright. "We'll get you out of this
trouble pretty soon."
"Trust to us, mate," added Cap'n Bill. "We'll manage to take care o'
you."
"Oh, I'm all right," answered Trot with fine courage. "I'm not
afraid of these gawkies."
But the princesses pulled her after them, and soon they had all
disappeared into one of the entrances to the Blue Palace.
"Now, then," said the Boolooroo. "I will instruct you two in your
future duties. I shall make old Moonface--"
"My name's Cap'n Bill Weedles," interrupted the sailor.
"I don't care what your name is. I shall call you old Moonface,"
replied the king, "for that suits you quite well. I shall appoint
you the Royal Nectar Mixer to the court of Sky Island, and if you
don't mix our nectar properly, I'll have you patched."
"How do you mix it?" asked Cap'n Bill.
"I don't mix it. It's not the Boolooroo's place to mix nectar," was
the stern reply. "But you may inquire of the palace servants, and
perhaps the Royal Chef or the Major-domo will condescend to tell
you. Take him to the servants' quarters, Captain Ultramarine, and
give him a suit of the royal livery."
So Cap'n Bill was lad away by the chief of the soldiers, and when he
had gone, the king said to Button-Bright, "You, slave, shall be the
Royal Bootblue. Your duty will be to keep the boots and shoes of the
royal family nicely polished with blue."
"I don't know how," answered Button-Bright surlily.
"You'll soon learn. The Royal Steward will supply you with blue
paste, and when you've brushed this on our shoes, you must shine
them with Q-rays of Moonshine. Do you understand?"
"No," said Button-Bright.
Then the Boolooroo told one of the soldiers to take the boy to the
shoeblue den and have him instructed in his duties, and the soldiers
promptly obeyed and dragged Button-Bright away to the end of the
palace where the servants lived.
GHIP-GHISIZZLE PROVES FRIENDLY
CHAPTER 7
The Royal Palace was certainly a magnificent building, with large
and lofty rooms and superb furnishings, all being in shades of blue.
The soldier and the boy passed through several broad corridors and
then came to a big hall where many servants were congregated. These
were staring in bewilderment at Cap'n Bill, who had been introduced
to them by Captain Ultramarine. Now they turned in no less surprise
to examine the boy, and their looks expressed not only astonishment
but dislike.
The servants were all richly attired in blue silk liveries, and they
seemed disposed to resent the fact that these strangers had been
added to their ranks. They scowled and muttered and behaved in a
very unfriendly way, even after Captain Ultramarine had explained
that the newcomers were merely base slaves, and not to be classed
with the free royal servants of the palace.
One of those present, however, showed no especial enmity to
Button-Bright and Cap'n Bill, and this Blueskin attracted the boy's
notice because his appearance was so strange. He looked as if he
were made of two separate men, each cut through the middle and then
joined together, half of one to half of the other. One side of his
blue hair was curly and the other half straight; one ear was big and
stuck out from the side of his head, while the other ear was small
and flat; one eye was half shut and twinkling, while the other was
big and staring; his nose was thin on one side and flat on the
other, while one side of his mouth curled up and the other down.
Button-Bright also noticed that he limped as he walked because one
leg was a trifle longer than the other, and that one hand was
delicate and slender and the other thick and hardened by use.
"Don't stare at him," a voice whispered in the boy's ear. "The poor
fellow has been patched, that's all."
Button-Bright turned to see who had spoken and found by his side a
tall young Blueskin with a blue-gold chain around his neck. He was
quite the best looking person the boy had seen in Sky Island, and he
spoke in a pleasant way and seemed quite friendly. But the two-sided
man had overheard the remark, and he now stepped forward and said in
a careless tone:
"Never mind. It's no disgrace to be patched in a country ruled by
such a cruel Boolooroo as we have. Let the boy look at me if he
wants to. I'm not pretty, but that's not my fault. Blame the
Boolooroo."
"I--I'm glad to meet you, sir," stammered Button-Bright. "What is
your name, please?"
"I'm now named Jimfred Jonesjinks, and my partner is called Fredjim
Jinksjones. He's busy at present guarding the Treasure Chamber, but
I'll introduce you to him when he comes back. We've had the
misfortune to be patched, you know."
"What is being patched?" asked the boy.
"They cut two of us in halves and mismatch the halves--half of one
to half of the other, you know--and then the other two halves are
patched together. It destroys our individuality and makes us complex
creatures, so it's the worst punishment than can be inflicted in Sky
Island."
"Oh," said Button-Bright, alarmed at such dreadful butchery.
"Doesn't it hurt?"
"No, it doesn't hurt," replied Jimfred. "But it makes one
frightfully nervous. They stand you under a big knife, which drops
and slices you neatly in two, exactly in the middle. Then they match
half of you to another person who has likewise been sliced, and
there you are, patched to someone you don't care about and haven't
much interest in. If your half wants to do something, the other half
is likely to want to do something different, and the funny part of
it is you don't quite know which is your half and which is the other
half. It's a terrible punishment, and in a country where one can't
die or be killed until he has lived his six hundred years, to be
patched is a great misfortune."
"I'm sure it is," said Button-Bright earnestly. "But can't you ever
get--get--UNpatched again?"
"If the Boolooroo would consent, I think it could be done," Jimfred
replied, "but he never will consent. This is about the meanest
Boolooroo who ever ruled this land, and he was the first to invent
patching people as a punishment. I think we will all be glad when
his three hundred years of rule are ended."
"When will that be?" inquired the boy.
"Hush-sh-sh!" cried everyone in a chorus, and they all looked over
their shoulders as if frightened by the question. The officer with
the blue-gold chain pulled Button-Bright's sleeve and whispered,
"Follow me, please." And then he beckoned to Cap'n Bill and led the
two slaves to another room where they were alone.
"I must instruct you in your duties," said he when they were all
comfortably seated in cozy chairs with blue cushions. "You must
learn how to obey the Boolooroo's commands, so he won't become angry
and have you patched."
"How could he patch US?" asked the sailorman curiously.
"Oh, he'd just slice you all in halves and then patch half of the
boy to half of the girl, and the other half to half of you, and the
other half of you to the other half of the girl. See?"
"Can't say I do," said Cap'n Bill, much bewildered. "It's a reg'lar
mix-up."
"That's what it's meant to be," explained the young officer.
"An' seein' as we're Earth folks, an' not natives of Sky Island,
I've an idea the slicing machine would about end us, without bein'
patched," continued the sailor.
"Oh," said Button-Bright, "so it would."
"While you are in this country, you can't die till you've lived six
hundred years," declared the officer.
"Oh," said Button-Bright. "That's different, of course. But who are
you, please?"
"My name is Ghip-Ghi-siz-zle. Can you remember it?"
"I can 'member the 'sizzle,'" said the boy, "but I'm 'fraid the
Gwip--Grip--Glip--"
"Ghip-Ghi-siz-zle" repeated the officer slowly. "I want you to
remember my name, because if you are going to live here, you are
sure to hear of me a great many times. Can you keep a secret?"
"I can try," said Button-Bright.
"I've kep' secrets--once in a while," asserted Cap'n Bill.
"Well, try to keep this one. I'm to be the next Boolooroo of Sky
Island."
"Good for you!" cried the sailor. "I wish you was the Boolooroo now,
sir. But it seems you've got to wait a hundred years or more afore
you can take his place."
Ghip-Ghisizzle rose to his feet and paced up and down the room for a
time, a frown upon his face. Then he halted and faced Cap'n Bill.
"Sir," said he, "there lies all my trouble. I'm quite sure the
present Boolooroo has reigned three hundred years next Thursday, but
he claims it is only two hundred years, and as he holds the Royal
Book of Records under lock and key in the Royal Treasury, there is
no way for us to prove he is wrong."
"Oh," said Button-Bright. "How old is the Boolooroo?"
"He was two hundred years old when he was elected," replied
Ghip-Ghisizzle. "If he has already reigned three hundred years as I
suspect, then he is now five hundred years old. You see, he is
trying to steal another hundred years of rule so as to remain a
tyrant all his life."
"He don't seem as old as that," observed Cap'n Bill thoughtfully.
"Why, I'm only sixty myself, an' I guess I look twice as old as your
king does."
"We do not show our age in looks," the officer answered. "I am just
about your age, sir--sixty-two my next birthday--but I'm sure I
don't look as old as that."
"That's a fact," agreed Cap'n Bill. Then he turned to Button-Bright
and added, "Don't that prove Sky Island is a fairy country as I
said?"
"Oh, I've known that all along," said the boy. "The slicing and
patching proves it, and so do lots of other things."
"Now then," said Ghip-Ghisizzle, "let us talk over your duties. It
seems you must mix the royal nectar, Cap'n Bill. Do you know how to
do that?"
"I'm free to say as I don't, friend Sizzle."
"The Boolooroo is very particular about his nectar. I think he has
given you this job so he can find fault with you and have you
punished. But we will fool him. You are strangers here, and I don't
want you imposed upon. I'll send Tiggle to the royal pantry and keep
him there to mix the nectar. Then when the Boolooroo or the Queen or
any of the Snubnosed Princesses call for a drink, you can carry it
to them and it will be sure to suit them."
"Thank'e sir," said Cap'n Bill. "That's real kind of you."
"Your job, Button-Bright, is easier," continued Ghip-Ghisizzle.
"I'm no bootblack," declared the boy. "The Boolooroo has no right to
make me do his dirty work."
"You're a slave," the officer reminded him, "and a slave must obey."
"Why?" asked Button-Bright.
"Because he can't help himself. No slave ever wants to obey, but he
just has to. And it isn't dirty work at all. You don't black the
royal boots and shoes, you merely blue them with a finely perfumed
blue paste. Then you shine them neatly and your task is done. You
will not be humiliated by becoming a bootblack. You'll be a
bootblue."
"Oh," said Button-Bright. "I don't see much difference, but perhaps
it's a little more respectable."
"Yes, the Royal Bootblue is considered a high official in Sky
Island. You do your work at evening or early morning, and the rest
of the day you are at liberty to do as you please."
"It won't last long, Button-Bright," said Cap'n Bill consolingly.
"Somethin's bound to happen pretty soon, you know."
"I think so myself," answered the boy.
"And now," remarked Ghip-Ghisizzle, "since you understand your new
duties, perhaps you'd like to walk out with me and see the Blue City
and the glorious Blue Country of Sky Island."
"We would that!" cried Cap'n Bill promptly.
So they accompanied their new friend through a maze of passages--for
the palace was very big--and then through a high, arched portal into
the streets of the City. So rapid had been their descent when the
umbrella landed them in the royal garden that they had not even
caught a glimpse of the Blue City, so now they gazed with wonder and
interest at the splendid sights that met their eyes.
THE BLUE CITY
CHAPTER 8
The Blue City was quite extensive, and consisted of many broad
streets paved with blue marble and lined with splendid buildings of
the same beautiful material. There were houses and castles and shops
for the merchants, and all were prettily designed and had many
slender spires and imposing turrets that rose far into the blue air.
Everything was blue here, just as was everything in the Royal Palace
and gardens, and a blue haze overhung all the city.
"Doesn't the sun ever shine?" asked Cap'n Bill.
"Not in the blue part of Sky Island," replied Ghip-Ghisizzle. "The
moon shines here every night, but we never see the sun. I am told,
however, that on the other half of the Island--which I have never
seen--the sun shines brightly but there is no moon at all."
"Oh," said Button-Bright. "Is there another half to Sky Island?'
"Yes, a dreadful place called the Pink Country. I'm told everything
there is pink instead of blue. A fearful place it must be, indeed!"
said the Blueskin with a shudder.
"I dunno 'bout that," remarked Cap'n Bill. "That Pink Country sounds
kind o' cheerful to me. Is your Blue Country very big?"
"It is immense," was the proud reply. "This enormous city extends a
half mile in all directions from the center, and the country outside
the City is fully a half-mile further in extent. That's very big,
isn't it?"
"Not very," replied Cap'n Bill with a smile. "We've cities on the
Earth ten times bigger, an' then some big besides. We'd call this a
small town in our country."
"Our Country is thousands of miles wide and thousands of miles
long--it's the great United States of America!" added the boy
earnestly.
Ghip-Ghisizzle seemed astonished. He was silent a moment, and then
he said, "Here in Sky Island we prize truthfulness very highly. Our
Boolooroo is not very truthful, I admit, for he is trying to
misrepresent the length of his reign, but our people as a rule speak
only the truth."
"So do we," asserted Cap'n Bill. "What Button-Bright said is the
honest truth, every word of it."
"But we have been led to believe that Sky Island is the greatest
country in the universe--meaning, of course, our half of it, the
Blue Country."
"It may be for you, perhaps," the sailor stated politely. "An' I
don't imagine any island floatin' in the sky is any bigger. But the
Universe is a big place, an' you can't be sure of what's in it till
you've traveled like we have."
"Perhaps you are right," mused the Blueskin, but he still seemed to
doubt them.
"Is the Pink side of Sky Island bigger than the Blue side?" asked
Button-Bright.
"No, it is supposed to be the same size," was the reply.
"Then why haven't you ever been there? Seems to me you could walk
across the whole island in an hour," said the boy.
"The two parts are separated by an impassable barrier," answered
Ghip-Ghisizzle. "Between them lies the Great Fog Bank."
"A fog bank? Why, that's no barrier!" exclaimed Cap'n Bill.
"It is indeed," returned the Blueskin. "The Fog Bank is so thick and
heavy that it blinds one, and if once you got into the Bank, you
might wander forever and not find your way out again. Also, it is
full of dampness that wets your clothes and your hair until you
become miserable. It is furthermore said that those who enter the
Fog Bank forfeit the six hundred years allowed them to live and are
liable to die at any time. Here we do not die, you know; we merely
pass away."
"How's that?" asked the sailor. "Isn't 'pass'n' away' jus' the same
as dyin'?"
"No indeed. When our six hundred years are ended, we march into the
Great Blue Grotto, through the Arch of Phinis, and are never seen
again."
"That's queer," said Button-Bright. "What would happen if you didn't
march through the Arch?"
"I do not know, for no one has ever refused to do so. It is the Law,
and we all obey it."
"It saves funeral expenses, anyhow," remarked Cap'n Bill. "Where is
this Arch?"
"Just outside the gates of the City. There is a mountain in the
center of the Blue land, and the entrance to the Great Blue Grotto
is at the foot of the mountain. According to our figures, the
Boolooroo ought to march into this Grotto a hundred years from next
Thursday, but he is trying to steal a hundred years and so perhaps
he won't enter the Arch of Phinis. Therefore, if you will please be
patient for about a hundred years, you will discover what happens to
one who breaks the Law."
"Thank'e," remarked Cap'n Bill. "I don't expect to be very curious a
hundred years from now."
"Nor I," added Button-Bright, laughing at the whimsical speech. "But
I don't see how the Boolooroo is able to fool you all. Can't any of
you remember two or three hundred years back when he first began to
rule?"
"No," said Ghip-Ghisizzle, "that's a long time to remember, and we
Blueskins try to forget all we can, especially whatever is
unpleasant. Those who remember are usually the unhappy ones; only
those able to forget find the most joy in life."
During this conversation they had been walking along the streets of
the Blue City, where many of the Blueskin inhabitants stopped to
gaze wonderingly at the sailor and the boy, whose strange appearance
surprised them. They were a nervous, restless people, and their
egg-shaped heads, set on the ends of long, thin necks, seemed so
grotesque to the strangers that they could scarcely forbear laughing
at them. The bodies of these people were short and round and their
legs exceptionally long, so when a Blueskin walked, he covered twice
as much ground at one step as Cap'n Bill or Button-Bright did. The
women seemed just as repellent as the men, and Button-Bright began
to understand that the Six Snubnosed Princesses were, after all,
rather better looking than most of the females of the Blue Country
and so had a certain right to be proud and haughty.
There were no horses nor cows in this land, but there were plenty of
blue goats, from which the people got their milk. Children tended
the goats--wee Blueskin boys and girls whose appearance was so
comical that Button-Bright laughed whenever he saw one of them.
Although the natives had never seen before this any human beings
made as Button-Bright and Cap'n Bill were, they took a strong
dislike to the strangers and several times threatened to attack
them. Perhaps if Ghip-Ghisizzle, who was their favorite, had not
been present, they would have mobbed our friends with vicious
ill-will and might have seriously injured them. But Ghip-Ghisizzle's
friendly protection made them hold aloof.
By and by they passed through a City gate, and their guide showed
them the outer walls, which protected the City from the country
beyond. There were several of these gates, and from their recesses
stone steps led to the top of the wall. They mounted a flight of
these steps and from their elevation plainly saw the low mountain
where the Arch of Phinis was located, and beyond that the thick,
blue-gray Fog Bank, which constantly rolled like billows of the
ocean and really seemed, from a distance, quite forbidding.
"But it wouldn't take long to get there," decided Button-Bright,
"and if you were close up, it might not be worse than any other fog.
Is the Pink Country on the other side of it?"
"So we are told in the Book of Records," replied Ghip-Ghisizzle.
"None of us now living know anything about it, but the Book of
Records calls it the 'Sunset Country' and says that at evening the
pink shades are drowned by terrible colors of orange and crimson and
golden-yellow and red. Wouldn't it be horrible to be obliged to look
upon such a sight? It must give the poor people who live there
dreadful headaches."
"I'd like to see that Book of Records," mused Cap'n Bill, who didn't
think the description of the Sunset Country at all dreadful.
"I'd like to see it myself," returned Ghip-Ghisizzle with a sigh,
"but no one can lay hands on it because the Boolooroo keeps it
safely locked up in his Treasure Chamber."
"Where's the key to the Treasure Chamber?" asked Button-Bright.
"The Boolooroo keeps it in his pocket night and day," was the reply.
"He is afraid to let anyone see the Book because it would prove he
has already reigned three hundred years next Thursday, and then he
would have to resign the throne to me and leave the Palace and live
in a common house."
"My Magic Umbrella is in that Treasure Chamber," said Button-Bright,
"and I'm going to try to get it."
"Are you?" inquired Ghip-Ghisizzle eagerly. "Well, if you manage to
enter the Treasure Chamber, be sure to bring me the Book of Records.
If you can do that, I will be the best and most grateful friend you
ever had!"
"I'll see," said the boy. "It ought not to be hard work to break
into the Treasure chamber. Is it guarded?"
"Yes. The outside guard is Jimfred Jinksjones, the double patch of
the Fredjim whom you have met, and the inside guard is a ravenous
creature known as the Blue Wolf, which has teeth a foot long and as
sharp as needles."
"Oh," said Button-Bright. "But never mind the Blue Wolf; I must
manage to get my umbrella somehow or other."
They now walked back to the palace, still objects of much curiosity
to the natives, who sneered at them and mocked them but dared not
interfere with their progress. At the palace they found that dinner
was about to be served in the big dining hall of the servants and
dependents and household officers of the royal Boolooroo.
Ghip-Ghisizzle was the Majordomo and Master of Ceremonies, so he
took his seat at the end of the long table and placed Cap'n Bill on
one side of him and Button-Bright on the other, to the great
annoyance of the other Blueskins present, who favored the strangers
with nothing pleasanter than envious scowls.
The Boolooroo and his Queen and daughters--the Six Snubnosed
Princesses--dined in formal state in the Banquet Hall, where they
were waited upon by favorite soldiers of the Royal Bodyguard. Here
in the servants' hall there was one vacant seat next to
Button-Bright which was reserved for Trot; but the little girl had
not yet appeared, and the sailorman and the boy were beginning to be
uneasy about her.
THE TRIBULATION OF TROT
CHAPTER 9
The apartments occupied by the Six Snubnosed Princesses were so
magnificent that when Trot first entered them, led by her haughty
captors, she thought they must be the most beautiful rooms in the
world. There was a long and broad reception room, with forty-seven
windows in it, and opening out of it were six lovely bedchambers,
each furnished in the greatest luxury. Adjoining each sleeping room
was a marble bath, and each Princess had a separate boudoir and a
dressing room. The furnishings were of the utmost splendor,
blue-gold and blue gems being profusely used in the decorations,
while the divans and chairs were of richly carved bluewood
upholstered in blue satins and silks. The draperies were superbly
embroidered, and the rugs upon the marble floors were woven with
beautiful scenes in every conceivable shade of blue.
When they first reached the reception room, Princess Azure cast
herself upon a divan while her five sisters sat or reclined in easy
chairs with their heads thrown back and their blue chins scornfully
elevated. Trot, who was much annoyed at the treatment she had
received, did not hesitate to seat herself also in a big easy chair.
"Slave!" cried Princess Cerulia, "Fetch me a mirror."
"Slave!" cried Princess Turquoise, "A lock of my hair is loosened;
bind it up."
"Slave!" cried Princess Cobalt, "Unfasten my shoes; they're too
tight."
"Slave!" cried Princess Sapphire, "Bring hither my box of blue
chocolates."
"Slave!" cried Princess Azure, "Stand by my side and fan me."
"Slave!" cried Princess Indigo, "Get out of that chair. How dare you
sit in our presence?"
"If you're saying all those things to me," replied Trot, "you may as
well save your breath. I'm no slave." And she cuddled down closer in
the chair.
"You ARE a slave!" shouted the six all together.
"I'm not!"
"Our father, the Revered and Resplendent Royal Ruler of the Blues,
has made you our slave," asserted Indigo with a yawn.
"But he can't," objected the little girl. "I'm some Royal an'
Rapturous an' Ridic'lous myself, an' I won't allow any cheap
Boolooroo to order me 'round."
"Are you of royal birth?" asked Azure, seeming surprised.
"Royal! Why, I'm an American, Snubnoses, and if there's anything
royaler than an American, I'd like to know what it is."
The Princesses seemed uncertain what reply to make to this speech
and began whispering together. Finally, Indigo said to Trot, "We do
not think it matters what you were in your own country, for having
left there you have forfeited your rank. By recklessly intruding
into our domain, you have become a slave, and being a slave you must
obey us or suffer the consequences."
"What cons'quences?" asked the girl.
"Dare to disobey us and you will quickly find out," snapped Indigo,
swaying her head from side to side on its long, swan-like neck like
the pendulum of a clock.
"I don't want any trouble," said Trot gravely. "We came to Sky
Island by mistake and wanted to go right away again; but your father
wouldn't let us. It isn't our fault we're still here, an' I'm free
to say you're a very dis'gree'ble an' horrid lot of people with no
manners to speak of, or you'd treat us nicely."
"No impertinence!" cried Indigo savagely.
"Why, it's the truth," replied Trot.
Indigo made a rush and caught Trot by both shoulders. The Princess
was twice the little girl's size, and she shook her victim so
violently that Trot's teeth rattled together. Then Princess Cobalt
came up and slapped one side of the slave's face, and Princess
Turquoise ran forward and slapped the other side. Cerulia gave Trot
a push one way, and Sapphire pushed her the other way, so the little
girl was quite out of breath and very angry when finally her
punishment ceased. She had not been much hurt, though, and she was
wise enough to understand that these Princesses were all cruel and
vindictive, so that her safest plan was to pretend to obey them.
"Now then," commanded Princess Indigo, "go and feed my little blue
dog that crows like a rooster."
"And feed my pretty blue cat that sings like a bird," said Princess
Azure.
"And feed my soft, blue lamb that chatters like a monkey," said
Princess Cobalt.
"And feed my poetic blue parrot that barks like a dog," said
Princess Sapphire.
"And feed my fuzzy blue rabbit that roars like a lion," said
Princess Turquoise.
"And feed my lovely blue peacock that mews like a cat," said
Princess Cerulia.
"Anything else?" asked Trot, drawing a long breath.
"Not until you have properly fed our pets," replied Azure with a
scowl.
"What do they eat, then?"
"Meat!"
"Milk!"
"Clover!"
"Seeds!"
"Bread!"
"Carrots!"
"All right," said Trot, "where do you keep the menagerie?"
"Our pets are in our boudoirs," said Indigo harshly. "What a little
fool you are!"
"Perhaps," said Trot, pausing as she was about to leave the room,
"when I grow up I'll be as big a fool as any of you."
Then she ran away to escape another shaking, and in the first
boudoir she found the little blue dog curled up on a blue cushion in
a corner. Trot patted his head gently, and this surprised the dog,
who was accustomed to cuffs and kicks. So he licked Trot's hand and
wagged his funny little tail and then straightened up and crowed
like a rooster. The girl was delighted with the queer doggie, and
she found some meat in a cupboard and fed him out of her hand,
patting the tiny creature and stroking his soft blue hair. The
doggie had never in his life known anyone so kind and gentle, so
when Trot went into the next boudoir, the animal followed close at
her heels, wagging his tail every minute.
The blue cat was asleep on a window seat, but it woke up when Trot
tenderly took it in her lap and fed it milk from a blue-gold dish.
It was a pretty cat and instantly knew the little girl was a friend
vastly different from its own bad-tempered mistress, so it sang
beautifully as a bird sings, and both the cat and the dog followed
Trot into the third boudoir.
Here was a tiny baby lamb with fleece as blue as a larkspur and as
soft as milk.
"Oh, you darling!" cried Trot, hugging the little lamb tight in her
arms. At once the lamb began chattering just as a monkey chatters,
only in the most friendly and grateful way, and Trot fed it a
handful of fresh blue clover and smoothed and petted it until the
lamb was eager to follow her wherever she might go.
When she came to the fourth boudoir, a handsome blue parrot sat on a
blue perch and began barking as if it were nearly starved. Then it
cried out,
"Rub-a-dub, dub,
Gimme some grub!"
Trot laughed and gave it some seeds, and while the parrot ate them
she stroked gently his soft feathers. The bird seemed much
astonished at the unusual caress and turned upon the girl first one
little eye and then the other as if trying to discover why she was
so kind. He had never experienced kind treatment in all his life. So
it was no wonder that when the little girl entered the fifth boudoir
she was followed by the parrot, the lamb, the cat and the dog, who
all stood beside her and watched her feed the peacock, which she
found strutting around and mewing like a cat for his dinner. Said
the parrot,
"I spy a peacock's eye
On every feather. I wonder why?"
The peacock soon came to love Trot as much as the other bird and all
the beasts did, and it spread its tail and strutted after her into
the next boudoir, the sixth one. As she entered this room, Trot gave
a start of fear, for a terrible roar like the roar of a lion greeted
her. But there was no lion there; a fuzzy, blue rabbit was making
all the noise. "For goodness sake keep quiet," said Trot. "Here's a
nice blue carrot for you. The color seems all wrong, but it may
taste jus' as good as if it was red."
Evidently it did taste good, for the rabbit ate it greedily. When it
was not roaring, the creature was so soft and fluffy that Trot
played with it and fondled it a long time after it had finished
eating, and the rabbit played with the cat and the dog and the lamb
and did not seem a bit afraid of the parrot or the peacock. But all
of a sudden in pounced Princess Indigo with a yell of anger.
"So this is how you waste your time, is it?" exclaimed the Princess,
and grabbing Trot's arm, she jerked the girl to her feet and began
pushing her from the room. All the pets began to follow her, and
seeing this, Indigo yelled at them to keep back. As they paid no
attention to this command, the princess seized a basin of water and
dashed the fluid over the beasts and birds, after which she renewed
her attempt to push Trot from the room. The pets rebelled at such
treatment, and believing they ought to protect Trot, whom they knew
to be their friend, they proceeded to defend her. The little blue
dog dashed at Indigo and bit her right ankle, while the blue cat
scratched her left leg with its claws and the parrot flew upon her
shoulder and pecked her ear. The lamb ran up and butted Indigo so
that she stumbled forward on her face, when the peacock proceeded to
pound her head with his wings. Indigo, screaming with fright, sprang
to her feet again, but the rabbit ran between her legs and tripped
her up, all the time roaring loudly like a lion, and the dog crowed
triumphantly, as a rooster crows, while the cat warbled noisily and
the lamb chattered and the parrot barked and the peacock screeched
"me-ow!"
Altogether, Indigo was, as Trot said, "scared stiff," and she howled
for help until her sisters ran in and rescued her, pulling her
through the bedchamber into the reception room. When she was alone,
Trot sat down on the floor and laughed until the tears came to her
eyes, and she hugged all the pets and kissed them every one and
thanked them for protecting her.
"That's all right;
We like a fight,"
declared the parrot in reply.
The Princesses were horrified to find Indigo so scratched and
bitten, and they were likewise amazed at the rebellion of their six
pets, which they had never petted, indeed, but kept in their
boudoirs so they could abuse them whenever they felt especially
wicked or ill-natured. None of the snubnosed ones dared enter the
room where the girl was, but they called through a crack in the door
for Trot to come out instantly. Trot, pretending not to hear, paid
no attention to these demands.
Finding themselves helpless and balked of their revenge, the Six
Snubnosed Princesses finally recovered from their excitement and
settled down to a pleasant sisterly quarrel, as was their customary
amusement. Indigo wanted to have Trot patched, and Cerulia wanted
her beaten with knotted cords, and Cobalt wanted her locked up in a
dark room, and Sapphire wanted her fed on sand, and Turquoise wanted
her bound to a windmill, and so between these various desires, they
quarreled and argued until dinner time arrived.
Trot was occupying Indigo's room, so that Princess was obliged to
dress with Azure, not daring to enter her own chamber, and the two
sisters quarreled so enthusiastically that they almost came to blows
before they were ready for dinner.
Before the Six Snubnosed Princesses went to the Royal Banquet Hall,
Cobalt stuck her head through a crack of the door and said to Trot,
"If you want any dinner, you'll find it in the servants' hall. I
advise you to eat, for after our dinner we will decide upon a
fitting punishment for you, and then I'm sure you won't have much
appetite."
"Thank you," replied the girl. "I'm right hungry, jus' now." She
waited until the snubnosed sextette had pranced haughtily away, and
then she came out, followed by all the pets, and found her way to
the servants' quarters.
THE KING'S TREASURE CHAMBER
CHAPTER 10
All the Blueskins assembled in the servants' hall were amazed to see
the pets of the Princesses trailing after the strange little girl,
but Trot took her place next to Button-Bright at the table, and the
parrot perched upon her shoulder, while the peacock stood upon one
side of her chair, and the lamb upon the other, and the cat and dog
lay at her feet and the blue rabbit climbed into her lap and cuddled
down there. Some of the Blueskins insisted that the animals and
birds must be put out of the room, but Ghip-Ghisizzle said they
could remain, as they were the favored pets of the lovely Snubnosed
Princesses.
Cap'n Bill was delighted to see his dear little friend again, and so
was Button-Bright, and now that they were reunited--for a time, at
least--they paid little heed to the sour looks and taunting remarks
of the ugly Blueskins and ate heartily of the dinner, which was
really very good.
The meal was no sooner over than Ghip-Ghisizzle was summoned to the
chamber of his Majesty the Boolooroo, but before he went away, he
took Trot and Cap'n Bill and Button-Bright into a small room and
advised them to stay there until he returned so that the servants
and soldiers would not molest them. "My people seem to dislike
strangers," said the Majordomo thoughtfully, "and that surprises me
because you are the first strangers they have ever seen. I think
they imagine you will become favorites of the Boolooroo and of the
Princesses, and that is why they are jealous and hate you."
"They needn't worry 'bout that," replied Trot. "The Snubnoses hate
me worse than the people do."
"I can't imagine a bootblue becoming a royal favorite," grumbled
Button-Bright.
"Or a necktie mixer," added Cap'n Bill.
"You don't mix neckties; you're a nectar mixer," said Ghip-Ghisizzle
correcting the sailor. "I'll not be gone long, for I'm no favorite
of the Boolooroo, either, so please stay quietly in this room until
my return."
The Majordomo found the Boolooroo in a bad temper. He had finished
his dinner, where his six daughters had bitterly denounced Trot all
through the meal and implored their father to invent some new and
terrible punishment for her. Also, his wife, the Queen, had made him
angry by begging for gold to buy ribbons with. Then, when he had
retired to his own private room, he decided to send for the umbrella
he had stolen from Button-Bright and test its magic powers. But the
umbrella, in his hands, proved just as common as any other umbrella
might be. He opened it and closed it, and turned it this way and
that, commanding it to do all sorts of things, but of course the
Magic Umbrella would obey no one but a member of the family that
rightfully owned it. At last the Boolooroo threw it down and stamped
upon it and then kicked it into a corner, where it rolled underneath
a cabinet. Then he sent for Ghip-Ghisizzle.
"Do you know how to work that Magic Umbrella?" he asked the
Majordomo.
"No, your Majesty, I do not," was the reply.
"Well, find out. Make the Whiteskins tell you so that I can use it
for my own amusement."
"I'll do my best, your Majesty," said Ghip-Ghisizzle.
"You'll do more than that, or I'll have you patched!" roared the
angry Boolooroo. "And don't waste any time, either, for as soon as
we find out the secret of the umbrella I'm going to have the three
strangers marched through the Arch of Phin
