THE BOOLOOROO OF THE BLUES
CHAPTER 5.
Cap'n Bill suspected that these remarks were addressed to him, but hecouldn't move just then because the seat was across him, and a boy andgirl were sprawling on the seat. As the Magic Umbrella was now asmotionless as any ordinary umbrella might be, Button-Bright firstreleased the catch and closed it up, after which he unhooked the crookedhandle from the rope and rose to his feet. Trot had managed by this timeto stand up and she pulled the board off from Cap'n Bill. All this timethe shrill, excited voice was loudly complaining because the sailor wason his feet, and Trot looked to see who was making the protest, whileCap'n Bill rolled over and got on his hands and knees so he could pullhis meat leg and his wooden leg into an upright position, which wasn't avery easy thing to do.
Button-Bright and Trot were staring with all their might at the queerestperson they had ever seen. They decided it must be a man, because hehad two long legs, a body as round as a ball, a neck like an ostrich anda comical little head set on the top of it. But the most curious thingabout him was his skin, which was of a lovely sky-blue tint. His eyeswere also sky-blue, and his hair, which was trained straight up andended in a curl at the top of his head, was likewise blue in color andmatched his skin and his eyes. He wore tight-fitting clothes made ofsky-blue silk, with a broad blue ruffle around his long neck, and on hisbreast glittered a magnificent jewel in the form of a star, set withsplendid blue stones.
If the blue man astonished the travelers they were no less surprised byhis surroundings, for look where they might, everything they beheld wasof the same blue color as the sky above. They seemed to have landed in alarge garden, surrounded by a high wall of blue stone. The trees wereall blue, the grass was blue, the flowers were blue and even the pebblesin the paths were blue. There were many handsomely carved benches andseats of blue wood scattered about the garden, and near them stood afountain, made of blue marble, which shot lovely sprays of blue waterinto the blue air.
But the angry inhabitant of this blue place would not permit them tolook around them in peace, for as soon as Cap'n Bill rolled off his toeshe began dancing around in an excited way and saying very disrespectfulthings of his visitors.
"You brutes! you apes! you miserable white-skinned creatures! How dareyou come into my garden and knock me on the head with that awful basketand 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 youknow the Boolooroo of the Blues will have revenge? I can have youpatched for this insult, and I will--just as sure as I'm the RoyalBoolooroo 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 itsRuler--its King--its sole Royal Potentate and Dictator. Behold in thePersonage you have injured the Mighty Quitey Righty Boolooroo of theBlues!" Here he strutted around in a very pompous manner and wagged hislittle head contemptuously at them.
"Glad to meet you, sir," said Cap'n Bill. "I allus had a likin' forkings, 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. Youmay 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 morecarefully and seeming interested in their appearance. "Where in the Skydid 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'tinhabited. No one can live there because it's just a round, cold, barrenball 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 youhave no right to be, with your horrid white skins. And you've intrudedinto the private garden of the palace of the Greatly Stately IratelyBoolooroo, which is a criminal offense; and you've bumped my head withyour basket and smashed my toes with your boards and bodies, which is acrime unparalleled in all the history of Sky Island! Aren't you sorryfor yourselves?"
"I'm sorry for you," replied Trot, "'cause you don't seem to know theproper 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 gooddeal for granted. We've tried to be friendly an' peaceable, an' we've'poligized for hurtin' you; but if that don't satisfy you, you'll haveto make the most of it. You may be the Boolooroo of the Blues, but youain't even a tin whistle to us, an' you can't skeer us for half aminute. I'm an ol' man, myself, but if you don't behave I'll spank youlike 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' blueisland, but we don't like the place very much, and I guess we'll give itback. It gives us the blues--don't it, Trot?--so as soon as we eat abite o' 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 thatButton-Bright was holding underneath his arm.
"Oh, ho! I see--I see," said the Boolooroo, nodding his funny head. "Goahead, then, and eat your lunch."
He retreated a little way to a marble seat beside the fountain, butwatched the strangers carefully. Cap'n Bill, feeling sure he had won theargument, whispered to the boy and girl that they must eat and get awayas soon as possible, as this might prove a dangerous country for them toremain in. Trot longed to see more of the strange blue island, andespecially wanted to explore the magnificent blue palace that adjoinedthe garden, and which had six hundred tall towers and turrets; but shefelt 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 stonebench and began to eat sandwiches and cake and pickles and cheese andall the good things that were packed in the lunch basket.
They were hungry from the long ride, and while they ate they kept theireyes busily employed in examining all the queer things around them. TheBoolooroo seemed quite the queerest of anything, and Trot noticed thatwhen he pulled the long curl that stuck up from the top of his head abell tinkled somewhere in the palace. He next pulled at the bottom ofhis right ear, and another far-away bell tinkled; then he touched theend of his nose and still another bell was faintly heard. The Boolooroosaid not a word while he was ringing the bells, and Trot wondered ifthat was the way he amused himself. But now the frown died away from hisface and was replaced by 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 withmuch 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 ina hurry, and when it was gone he picked up the Magic Umbrella.
"Let that alone!" said Button-Bright, making a grab for it. But theBoolooroo jerked it away in an instant and standing up he held theumbrella behind him and laughed aloud.
"Now, then," said he, "you can't get away until I'm willing to let yougo. You are my prisoners."
"I guess n
ot," returned Cap'n Bill, and reaching out one of his longarms, the sailorman suddenly grasped the Boolooroo around his long, thinneck and shook him until his whole body fluttered like a flag.
"Drop that umbrel--drop it!" yelled Cap'n Bill, and the Booloorooquickly obeyed. The Magic Umbrella fell to the ground and Button-Brightpromptly seized it. Then the sailor let go his hold and the Kingstaggered 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'tbehave, your Majesty, this Blue Island'll have to get anotherBoolooroo."
"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 tryingto 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'tknow that every Blueskin in Sky Island lives exactly six hundred yearsfrom 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 tothe last day of our appointed lives. When the final minute is up, wedie; but we're obliged to live all of the six hundred years, whether wewant to or not. So you needn't think of trying to kill anybody on SkyIsland. It can't be done."
"Never mind," said Cap'n Bill. "I'm no murderer, thank goodness, and Iwouldn't kill you if I could--much as you deserve it."
"But isn't six hundred years an awful long time to live?" questionedTrot.
"It seems like it, at first," replied the King, "but I notice thatwhenever any of my subjects get near the end of their six hundred, theygrow 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," heanswered; "but I will say that every Boolooroo is elected to reign threehundred 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 alltheir officers, from the King down. Every man and every woman is avoter. The Boolooroo tells them whom to vote for, and if they don't obeythey are severely punished. It's a fine system of government, and theonly thing I object to is electing the Boolooroo for only three hundredyears. 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. "Itgives some one else a chance to rule, an' I wouldn't be s'prised if thenext 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 likemyself very much, but I can't expect you to like me, because you'redeformed 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 anyof you, except the deep blue color of the clothes the old ape thatchoked me wears. Also, you are ignorant, because you know nothing of SkyIsland, which is the Center of the Universe and the only place anyonewould care to live."
"Don't listen to him, Trot," said Button-Bright; "he's an ignoranthimself."
Cap'n Bill packed up the lunch basket. One end of the rope was stilltied 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 Countryand 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 hecould open it, and the sailor had just attached the ropes when a thinblue line shot out from behind them and in a twinkling wound itselfaround the umbrella. At the same instant another blue cord wound itselfaround the boy's body, and others caught Trot and Cap'n Bill in theircoils, so that all had their arms pinned fast to their sides and foundthemselves absolutely helpless.