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.