The Boolooroo was quite busy at the time the Pinkies invaded his
country. He had discovered the loss of the Book of Records, and
after being frightened 'most to death at the prospect of his fraud
on the people's being made public, he decided to act boldly and hold
his position as Boolooroo at any cost.
Since Ghip-Ghisizzle was to be the next Boolooroo, the king
suspected him first of all, so he had the Majordomo bound with cords
and brought before him, when he accused him of stealing the Book of
Records. Of course, Ghip-Ghisizzle denied taking the Book, but he
became almost as nervous at its loss as had the Boolooroo. He
secretly believed that Button-Bright had taken the Book from the
Treasure Chamber, and if this were true it might prove as great a
misfortune as if the king had kept it locked up. For Button-Bright
had escaped into the Fog Bank, and Ghip-Ghisizzle was afraid the boy
would never again be seen in the Blue Country.
He did not tell the Boolooroo of this suspicion, because in that
case the king would realize he was secure and that his deception
could never be proved against him. The Majordomo simply denied
taking the Record Book, and the Boolooroo did not believe he spoke
truly. To prevent his rival from ever becoming the Ruler of the Blue
Country, the Boolooroo determined to have him patched, but for some
time he could find no other Blueskin to patch him with. No one had
disobeyed a command or done anything wrong, so the king was in a
quandary until he discovered that a servant named Tiggle had mixed
the royal nectar for Cap'n Bill, who had been ordered to do it at
the time of his capture. This was sufficient excuse for the
Boolooroo, who at once had Tiggle made a prisoner and brought before
him.
This servant was not so long-legged as Ghip-Ghisizzle, and his head
was thicker and his nose flatter. But that pleased the Boolooroo all
the more. He realized that when the great knife had sliced the
prisoners in two and their halves were patched together, they would
present a ridiculous sight and all the Blueskins would laugh at them
and avoid them. So on the very morning that the Pinkies arrived, the
Boolooroo had ordered his two prisoners brought into the room of the
palace where the Great Knife stood, and his soldiers were getting
ready to perform the operation of patching Ghip-Ghisizzle with
Tingle when a messenger came running to say that a great army of the
Pinkies had broken through the Fog Bank.
"Never mind," said the Boolooroo, "I'll attend to them in a minute. I'm busy now."
"They are marching on the City," said the frightened messenger. "If
you delay, Most High and Mighty One, we shall all be captured. You'd
better save your City first and do your patching afterward."
"What!" roared the Boolooroo. "Dare you dictate to me?" But he was
impressed by the man's logic. After locking the prisoners, who were
still bound, in the Room of the Great Knife, the Ruler hurried away
to assemble his soldiers. By this time the Pinkies had advanced
halfway to the walls of the City, so the first thing the Boolooroo
did was to order all the gates closed and locked, and then he placed
a line of soldiers on the wall to prevent any of the Pinkies from
climbing over. Therefore, when Cap'n Bill's army reached the wall, he was obliged to halt his ranks until he could find a way to enter the City.
Now when the Boolooroo looked through the blue-steel bars of the
main gate and saw the enemy armed with sharp-pointed sticks, he
began to tremble; and when he thought how painful it would be to
have his body and arms and legs prodded and pricked by such weapons, he groaned aloud and was very miserable. But the thought occurred to him that if he could avoid being caught by the Pinkies, they would be unable to harm him. So he went among his people and reminded them how horrible it would feel to be punched full of holes by the invaders and urged them to fight desperately and drive the Pinkies back into the Fog Bank.