GHIP-GHISIZZLE HAS A BAD TIME
CHAPTER 20
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.
Only a few of the Blueskins were soldiers, and these all belonged to
the King's bodyguard, but the citizens realized that they must
indeed fight bravely to save themselves from getting hurt, so they
promised the Boolooroo to do all they could. They armed themselves
with long cords having weights fastened to the ends and practiced
throwing these weights in such a manner that the cords would wind
around their enemies. Also, they assembled in the streets in small
groups and told each other in frightened whispers that all their
trouble was due to the Boolooroo's cruel treatment of the Earth
people. If he had received them as friends instead of making them
slaves, they would never have escaped to the Pinkies and brought an
army into the Blue Country that they might be revenged. The
Blueskins had not liked their Boolooroo before this, and now they
began to hate him, forgetting they had also treated the strangers in
a very disagreeable manner.
Meantime, the Six Snubnosed Princesses had seen from their rooms in
a tower of the palace the army of the Pinkies marching upon them,
and the sight had served to excite them greatly. They had been
quarreling bitterly among themselves all morning, and strangely
enough this quarrel was all about which of them should marry
Ghip-Ghisizzle. They knew that some day the Majordomo would become
Boolooroo, and each one of the six had determined to marry him so as
to be Queen and thus force her sisters to obey her commands. They
paid no attention to the fact that Ghip-Ghisizzle did not want to
marry any of them, for they had determined that when it was agreed
who should have him, they would ask their father to force the man to
marry.
While they quarreled in one room of the palace, Ghip-Ghisizzle was
in danger of being patched in another room; but the Six Snubnosed
Princesses did not know that. The arrival of the Pinkies gave them
something new to talk about, so they hurried downstairs and along
the corridors so as to gain the courtyard and take part in the
exciting scenes. But as they passed the closed doors of the Room of
the Great Knife, they heard a low moan and stopped to listen. The
moan was repeated, and being curious, they unlocked the door--the
key having been left on the outside--and entered the room.
At once, the Pinkies were forgotten, for there upon the floor,
tightly bound, lay Ghip-Ghisizzle, and beside him poor Tiggle, who
had uttered the moans.
The six Princesses sat down in a circle facing the captives, and
Cerulia said, "Ghip, my dear, we will release you on one condition:
That you choose a wife from among us and promise to marry the one
selected as soon as the Pinkies are driven back into the Fog Bank."
Ghip-Ghisizzle managed to shake his head. Then he said, "Really,
ladies, you must excuse me. I'd rather be patched than mismatched,
as I would be with a lovely, snub-nosed wife. You are too beautiful
for me; go seek your husbands elsewhere."
"Monster!" cried Indigo. "If you choose me, I'll scratch your eyes
out!"
"If you choose me," said Cobalt in a rage, "I'll tear out your hair
by the roots!"
"If I am to be your wife," screamed Azure, "I'll mark your obstinate
face with my fingernails!"
"And I," said Turquoise passionately, "will pound your head with a
broomstick!"
"I'll shake him till his teeth rattle!" shrieked Sapphire.
"The best way to manage a husband," observed Cerulia angrily, "is to
pull his nose."
"Ladies," said Ghip-Ghisizzle when he had a chance to speak, "do not
anticipate these pleasures, I beg of you, for I shall choose none
among you for a wife."
"We'll see about that," said Indigo.
"I think you will soon change your mind," added Azure.
"I'm going to be patched to Tingle, here, as soon as the Boolooroo
returns," said Ghip-Ghisizzle, "and it's against the law for a
patched man to marry anyone. It's regarded as half-bigamy."
"Dear me!" cried Cerulia. "If he's patched, he never can be
Boolooroo."
"Then he musn't be patched," declared Sapphire. "We must save him
from that fate, girls, and force him to decide among us. Otherwise,
none of us can ever be the Queen."
This being evident, they proceeded to unbind the long legs of
Ghip-Ghisizzle, leaving his body and arms, however, tied fast
together. Then between them they got him upon his feet and led him
away, paying no attention to poor Tiggle, who whined to be released
so he could fight in the war. After a hurried consultation, the Six
Snubnosed Princesses decided to hide the Majordomo in one of their
boudoirs, so they dragged him up the stairs to their reception room
and fell to quarreling as to whose boudoir should be occupied by
their captive. Not being able to settle the question, they finally
locked him up in a vacant room across the hall and told him he must
stay there until he had decided to marry one of the Princesses and
could make a choice among them.
