Sky Island

  THE CAPTURE OF CAP'N BILL

  CHAPTER 21.

  While this was transpiring in the palace Cap'n Bill and the Pinkies hadencamped before the principal gate of the City and a tent had beenpitched for Trot and Button-Bright and Rosalie. The army had been veryfearful and weak-kneed when it first entered the Blue Country, butperceiving that the Boolooroo and his people were afraid of them and hadlocked themselves up in the City, the Pinkies grew bolder and longed tomake an attack.

  One of them, in his curiosity to examine the Blue City, got a little toonear the wall, and a blue soldier throw his cord-and-weight at him. Thecord didn't wind around the Pinkie, as he was too far off, but theweight hit him in the eye and made him howl lustily as he trotted backto his comrades at full speed. After this experience the invaders werecareful to keep a safe distance from the wall.

  The Boolooroo, having made all preparations to receive the enemy, wasannoyed because they held back. He was himself so nervous and excitedthat he became desperate and after an hour of tedious waiting, duringwhich time he pranced around impatiently, he decided to attack the hatedPinkies and rid the country of them.

  "Their dreadful color makes me hysterical," he said to his soldiers, "soif I am to have any peace of mind we must charge the foe and drive themback into the Fog Bank. But take all the prisoners you can, my bravemen, and to-morrow we will have a jolly time patching them. Don't beafraid; those pink creatures have no blue blood in their veins andthey'll run like rabbits when they see us coming."

  Then he ordered the gate thrown open and immediately the Blueskinspoured out into the open plain and began to run toward the Pinkies. TheBoolooroo went out, too, but he kept well behind his people, rememberingthe sharp sticks with which the enemy were armed.

  Cap'n Bill was alert and had told his army what to do in case of anattack. The Pinkies did not run like rabbits, but formed a solid lineand knelt down with their long, sharp sticks pointed directly toward theBlueskins, the other ends being set firmly upon the ground. Of coursethe Blueskins couldn't run against these sharp points, so they halted afew feet away and began to swing their cord-and-weights. But the Pinkieswere too close together to be caught in this manner, and now by commandof Cap'n Bill they suddenly rose to their feet and began jabbing theirsticks at the foe. The Blueskins hesitated until a few got pricked andbegan to yell with terror, when the whole of the Boolooroo's attackingparty turned and ran back to the gate, their Ruler reaching it first ofall. The Pinkies tried to chase them, but their round, fat legs were nomatch for the long, thin legs of the Blueskins, who quickly gained thegate and shut themselves up in the City again.

  "It is evident," panted the Boolooroo, facing his defeated soldierswrathfully, "that you are a pack of cowards!"

  "We but followed your own royal example in running," replied theCaptain.

  "I merely ran back to the City to get a drink of water, for I wasthirsty," declared the Boolooroo.

  "So did we! So did we!" cried the soldiers, eagerly. "We were allthirsty."

  "Your High and Mighty Spry and Flighty Majesty," remarked the Captain,respectfully, "it occurs to me that the weapons of the Pinkies aresuperior to our own. What we need, in order to oppose them successfully,is a number of sharp sticks which are longer than their own."

  "True--true!" exclaimed the Boolooroo, enthusiastically. "Get to work atonce and make yourselves long sharp sticks, and then we will attack theenemy again."

  So the soldiers and citizens all set to work preparing long sharpsticks, and while they were doing this Rosalie the Witch had a vision inwhich she saw exactly what was going on inside the City wall. Queen Trotand Cap'n Bill and Button-Bright saw the vision, too, for they were allin the tent together, and the sight made them anxious.

  "What can be done?" asked the girl. "The Blueskins are bigger andstronger than the Pinkies, and if they have sharp sticks which arelonger than ours they will surely defeat us."

  "I have one magic charm," said Rosalie, thoughtfully, "that will saveour army; but I am allowed to work only one magic charm every threedays--not oftener--and perhaps I'll need the magic for other things."

  "Strikes me, ma'am," returned the sailor, "that what we need most onthis expedition is to capture the Blueskins. If we don't, we'll needplenty of magic to help us back to the Pink Country; but if we do, wecan take care of ourselves without magic."

  "Very well," replied Rosalie; "I will take your advice, Cap'n, andenchant the weapons of the Pinkies."

  She then went out and had all the Pinkies come before her, one by one,and she enchanted their sharp sticks by muttering some cabalistic wordsand making queer passes with her hands over the weapons.

  "Now," she said to them, "you will be powerful enough to defeat theBlueskins, whatever they may do."

  The Pinkies were overjoyed at this promise and it made them very braveindeed, since they now believed they would surely be victorious.

  When the Boolooroo's people were armed with long, thin lances ofbluewood, all sharpened to fine points at one end, they prepared tomarch once more against the invaders. Their sticks were twice as long asthose of the Pinkies and the Boolooroo chuckled with glee to think whatfun they would have in punching holes in the round, fat bodies of hisenemies.

  Out from the gate they marched very boldly and pressed on to attack thePinkies, who were drawn up in line of battle to receive them, with Cap'nBill at their head. When the opposing forces came together, however, andthe Blueskins pushed their points against the Pinkies, the weapons whichhad been enchanted by Rosalie began to whirl in swift circles--so swiftthat the eye could scarcely follow the motion. The result was that thelances of the Boolooroo's people could not touch the Pinkies, but werethrust aside with violence and either broken in two or sent hurlingthrough the air in all directions. Finding themselves so suddenlydisarmed, the amazed Blueskins turned about and ran again, while Cap'nBill, greatly excited by his victory, shouted to his followers to pursuethe enemy, and hobbled after them as fast as he could make his woodenleg go, swinging his sharp stick as he advanced.

  The Blues were in such a frightened, confused mass that they got in oneanother's way and could not make very good progress on the retreat, sothe old sailor soon caught up with them and began jabbing at the crowdwith his stick. Unfortunately the Pinkies had not followed theircommander, being for the moment dazed by their success, so that Cap'nBill was all alone among the Blueskins when he stepped his wooden leginto a hole in the ground and tumbled full length, his sharp stickflying from his hand and pricking the Boolooroo in the leg as it fell.

  At this the Ruler of the Blues stopped short in his flight to yell withterror, but seeing that only the sailorman was pursuing them and thatthis solitary foe had tumbled flat upon the ground, he issued a commandand several of his people fell upon poor Cap'n Bill, seized him in theirlong arms and carried him struggling into the City, where he was fastbound.

  Then a panic fell upon the Pinkies at the loss of their leader, and Trotand Button-Bright called out in vain for them to rescue Cap'n Bill. Bythe time the army recovered their wits and prepared to obey, it was toolate. And, although Trot ran with them, in her eagerness to save herfriend, the gate was found to be fast barred and she knew it wasimpossible for them to force an entrance into the City.

  So she went sorrowfully back to the camp, followed by the Pinkies, andasked Rosalie what could be done.

  "I'm sure I do not know," replied the Witch. "I cannot use another magiccharm until three days have expired, but if they do not harm Cap'n Billduring that time I believe I can then find a way to save him."

  "Three days is a long time," remarked Trot, dismally.

  "The Boolooroo may decide to patch him at once," added Button-Bright,with equal sadness, for he too mourned the sailor's loss.

  "It can't be helped," replied Rosalie. "I am not a fairy, my dears, butmerely a witch, and so my magic powers are limited. We can only hopethat the Boolooroo won't patch Cap'n Bill for three days."

  When night settled down upon the camp of the
Pinkies, where many tentshad now been pitched, all the invaders were filled with gloom. The bandtried to enliven them by playing the "Dead March," but it was not asuccess. The Pinkies were despondent in spite of the fact that they hadrepulsed the attack of the Blues, for as yet they had not succeeded ingaining the City or finding the Magic Umbrella, and the blue dusk ofthis dread country--which was so different from their own land ofsunsets--made them all very nervous. They saw the moon rise for thefirst time in their lives, and its cold, silvery radiance made themshudder and prevented them from going to sleep. Trot tried tointerest them by telling them that on the Earth the people had both thesun and the moon, and loved them both; but nevertheless it is certainthat had not the terrible Fog Bank stood between them and the Pink Landmost of the invading army would have promptly deserted and gone backhome.

  Trot couldn't sleep, either, she was so worried over Cap'n Bill. Shewent back to the tent where Rosalie and Button-Bright were sitting inthe moonlight and asked the Witch if there was no way in which she couldsecretly get into the City of the Blues and search for her friend.Rosalie thought it over for some time and then replied:

  "We can make a rope ladder that will enable you to climb to the top ofthe wall, and then you can lower it to the other side and descend intothe City. But, if anyone should see you, you would be captured."

  "I'll risk that," said the child, excited at the prospect of gaining theside of Cap'n Bill in this adventurous way. "Please make the rope ladderat once, Rosalie!"

  So the Witch took some ropes and knotted together a ladder long enoughto reach to the top of the wall. When it was finished, thethree--Rosalie, Trot and Button-Bright--stole out into the moonlight andcrept unobserved into the shadow of the wall. The Blueskins were notkeeping a very close watch, as they were confident the Pinkies could notget into the City.

  The hardest part of Rosalie's task was to toss up one end of the ropeladder until it would catch on some projection on top of the wall. Therewere few such projections, but after creeping along the wall for adistance they saw the end of a broken flagstaff near the top edge. TheWitch tossed up the ladder, trying to catch it upon this point, and onthe seventh attempt she succeeded.

  "Good!" cried Trot; "now I can climb up."

  "Don't you want me to go with you?" asked Button-Bright, a littlewistfully.

  "No," said the girl; "you must stay to lead the army. And, if you canthink of a way, you must try to rescue us. Perhaps I'll be able to saveCap'n Bill myself; but if I don't it's all up to you, Button-Bright."

  "I'll do my best," he promised.

  "And here--keep my polly till I come back," added Trot, giving him thebird. "I can't take it with me, for it would be a bother, an' if ittried to spout po'try I'd be discovered in a jiffy."

  As the beautiful Witch kissed the little girl good-bye she slipped uponher finger a curious ring. At once Button-Bright exclaimed:

  "Why, where has she gone?"

  "I'm right here," said Trot's voice by his side. "Can't you see me?"

  "No," replied the boy, mystified.

  Rosalie laughed. "It's a magic ring I've loaned you, my dear," said she,"and as long as you wear it you will be invisible to all eyes--those ofBlueskins and Pinkies alike. I'm going to let you wear this wonderfulring, for it will save you from being discovered by your enemies. If atany time you wish to be seen, take the ring from your finger; but aslong as you wear it, no one can see you--not even Earth people."

  "Oh, thank you!" cried Trot. "That will be fine."

  "I see you have another ring on your hand," said Rosalie, "and Iperceive it is enchanted in some way. Where did you get it?"

  "The Queen of the Mermaids gave it to me," answered Trot; "but SkyIsland is so far away from the sea that the ring won't do me any goodwhile I'm here. It's only to call the mermaids to me if I need them, andthey can't swim in the sky, you see."

  Rosalie smiled and kissed her again. "Be brave, my dear," she said, "andI am sure you will be able to find Cap'n Bill without getting in dangeryourself. But be careful not to let any Blueskin touch you, for whileyou are in contact with any person you will become visible. Keep out oftheir way and you will be perfectly safe. Don't lose the ring, for youmust give it back to me when you return. It is one of my witchcrafttreasures and I need it in my business."

  Then Trot climbed the ladder, although neither Button-Bright nor Rosaliecould see her do so, and when she was on top the broad wall she pulledup the knotted ropes and began to search for a place to let it down onthe other side. A little way off she found a bluestone seat, near to theinner edge, and attaching the ladder to this she easily descended it andfound herself in the Blue City. A guard was pacing up and down near her,but as he could not see the girl he of course paid no attention to her.So, after marking the place where the ladder hung, that she might knowhow to reach it again, Trot hurried away through the streets of thecity.