THE CAPTURE OF CAP'N BILL
CHAPTER 21
While this was transpiring in the palace, Cap'n Bill and the Pinkies
had encamped before the principal gate of the City and a tent had
been pitched for Trot and Button-Bright and Rosalie. The army had
been very fearful and weak-kneed when it first entered the Blue
Country, but perceiving that the Boolooroo and his people were
afraid of them and had locked themselves up in the City, the Pinkies
grew bolder and longed to make an attack.
One of them, in his curiosity to examine the Blue City, got a little
too near the wall, and a blue soldier threw his cord-and-weight at
him. The cord didn't wind around the Pinkie, as he was too far off,
but the weight hit him in the eye and made him howl lustily as he
trotted back to this comrades at full speed. After this experience,
the invaders were careful to keep a safe distance from the wall.
The Boolooroo, having made all preparations to receive the enemy,
was annoyed because they held back. He was himself so nervous and
excited that he became desperate, and after an hour of tedious
waiting, during which time he pranced around impatiently, he decided
to attack the hated Pinkies and rid the country of them.
"Their dreadful color makes me hysterical," he said to his soldiers,
"so if I am to have any peace of mind, we must charge the foe and
drive them back into the Fog Bank. But take all the prisoners you
can, my brave men, and tomorrow we will have a jolly time patching
them. Don't be afraid; those pink creatures have no blue blood in
their veins, and they'll run like rabbits when they see us coming."
Then he ordered the gate thrown open, and immediately the Blueskins
poured out into the open plain and began to run toward the Pinkies.
The Boolooroo went out, too, but he kept well behind his people,
remembering the sharp sticks with which the enemy were armed.
Cap'n Bill was alert and had told his army what to do in case of an
attack. The Pinkies did not run like rabbits, but formed a solid
line and knelt down with their long, sharp sticks pointed directly
toward the Blueskins, the other ends being set firmly upon the
ground. Of course, the Blueskins couldn't run against these sharp
points, so they halted a few feet away and began swinging their
cord-and-weights. But the Pinkies were too close together to be
caught in this manner, and now by command of Cap'n Bill they
suddenly rose to their feet and began jabbing their sticks at the
foe. The Blueskins hesitated until a few got pricked and began to
yell with terror, when the whole of the Boolooroo's attacking party
turned around and ran back to the gate, their Ruler reaching it
first of all. The Pinkies tried to chase them, but their round, fat
legs were no match for the long, thin legs of the Blueskins, who
quickly gained the gate and shut themselves up in the City again.
"It is evident," panted the Boolooroo, facing his defeated soldiers
wrathfully, "that you are a pack of cowards!"
"But we followed your own royal example in running," replied the
Captain.
"I merely ran back to the City to get a drink of water, for I was
thirsty," declared the Boolooroo.
"So did we! So did we!" cried the soldiers eagerly. "We were all
thirsty."
"Your High and Mighty Spry and Flighty Majesty," remarked the
Captain respectfully, "it occurs to me that the weapons of the
Pinkies are superior 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
at once and make yourselves long, sharp sticks, and then we will
attack the enemy again."
So the soldiers and citizens all set to work preparing long, sharp
sticks, and while they were doing this, Rosalie the Witch had a
vision in which she saw exactly what was going on inside the City
wall. Queen Trot and Cap'n Bill and Button-Bright saw the vision,
too, for they were all in the tent together, and the sight made them
anxious.
"What can be done?" asked the girl. "The Blueskins are bigger and
stronger than the Pinkies, and if they have sharp sticks which are
longer than ours, they will surely defeat us."
"I have one magic charm," said Rosalie thoughtfully, "that will save
our army; but I am allowed to work only one magic charm every three
days--not oftener--and perhaps I'll need the magic for other
things."
"Strikes me, ma'am," returned the sailor, "that what we need most on
this expedition is to capture the Blueskins. If we don't, we'll need
plenty of magic to help us back to the Pink Country; but if we do,
we can take care of ourselves without magic."
"Very well," replied Rosalie. "I will take your advice, Cap'n, and
enchant 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 words and making queer
passes with her hands over the weapons. "Now," she said to them,
"you will be powerful enough to defeat the Blueskins whatever they
may do." The Pinkies were overjoyed at this promise, and it made
them very brave indeed, since they now believed they would surely be
victorious.
When the Boolooroo's people were armed with long, thin, lances of
bluewood all sharpened to fine points at one end, they prepared to
march once more against the invaders. Their sticks were twice as
long as those of the Pinkies, and the Boolooroo chuckled with glee
to think what fun they would have in punching holes in the round,
fat bodies of his enemies.
Out from the gate they marched very boldly and pressed on to attack
the Pinkies, who were drawn up in line of battle to receive them,
with Cap'n Bill at their head. When the opposing forces came
together, however, and the Blueskins pushed their points against the
Pinkies, the weapons which had been enchanted by Rosalie began to
whirl in swift circles--so swift that the eye could scarcely follow
the motion. The result was that the lances of the Boolooroo's people
could not touch the Pinkies, but were thrust aside with violence and
either broken in two or sent hurling through the air in all
directions. Finding themselves so suddenly disarmed, the amazed
Blueskins turned about and ran again, while Cap'n Bill, greatly
excited by his victory, shouted to his followers to pursue the
enemy, and hobbled after them as fast as he could make his wooden
leg go, swinging his sharp stick as he advanced.
The Blues were in such a frightened, confused mass that they got in
one another's way and could not make very good progress on the
retreat, so the old sailor soon caught up with them and began
jabbing at the crowd with his stick. Unfortunately, the Pinkies had
not followed their commander, being for the moment dazed by their
success, so that Cap'n Bill was all alone among the Blueskins when
he stepped his wooden leg into a hole in the ground and tumbled full
length, his sharp stick flying 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
with terror, but seeing that only the sailorman was pursuing them
and that this solitary foe had tumbled flat upon the ground, he
issued a command and several of his people fell upon poor Cap'n
Bill, seized him in their long arms, and carried him struggling into
the City, where he was fast bound.
Then a panic fell upon the Pinkies at the loss of their leader, and
Trot and Button-Bright called out in vain for them to rescue Cap'n
Bill. By the time the army recovered their wits and prepared to
obey, it was too late. And although Trot ran with them in her
eagerness to save her friend, the gate was found to be fast barred,
and she knew it was impossible for them to force an entrance into
the City.
So she went sorrowfully back to the camp, followed by the Pinkies,
and asked Rosalie what could be done.
"I'm sure I do not know," replied the Witch. "I cannot use another
magic charm until three days have expired, but if they do not harm
Cap'n Bill during 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,
but merely a witch, and so my magic powers are limited. We can only
hope that the Boolooroo won't patch Cap'n Bill for three days."
When night settled down upon the camp of the Pinkies, where many
tents had now been pitched, all the invaders were filled with gloom.
The band tried to enliven them by playing the "Dead March," but it
was not a success. The Pinkies were despondent in spite of the fact
that they had repulsed the attack of the Blues, for as yet they had
not succeeded in gaining the City or finding the Magic Umbrella, and
the blue dusk of this dread country--which was so different from
their own land of sunsets--made them all very nervous. They saw the
moon rise for the first time in their lives, and its cold, silvery
radiance made them shudder and prevented them from going to sleep.
Trot tried to interest them by telling them that on the Earth the
people had both the sun and the moon and loved them both; but
nevertheless it is certain that had not the terrible Fog Bank stood
between them and the Pink Land, most of the invading army would have
promptly deserted and gone back home.
Trot couldn't sleep, either, she was so worried over Cap'n Bill. She
went back to the tent where Rosalie and Button-Bright were sitting
in the moonlight and asked the Witch if there was no way in which
she could secretly 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
of the wall and descend into the City. But if anyone should see you,
you would be captured."
"I'll risk that," said the child, excited at the prospect of gaining
the side of Cap'n Bill in this adventurous way. "Please make the
rope ladder at once, Rosalie!"
So the Witch took some ropes and knotted together a ladder long
enough to reach the top of the wall. When it was finished, the
three--Rosalie, Trot and Button-Bright--stole out into the moonlight
and crept unobserved into the shadow of the wall. The Blueskins were
not keeping a very close watch, as they were confident the Pinkies
could not get into the City.
The hardest part of Rosalie's task was to toss up one end of the
rope ladder until it would catch on some projection on top of the
wall. There were few such projections, but after creeping along the
wall for a distance, they saw the end of a broken flagstaff near the
top edge. The Witch tossed up the ladder, trying to catch it upon
this point, and on the 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 little
wistfully.
"No," said the girl. "You must stay to lead the army. And if you can
think of a way, you must try to rescue us. Perhaps I'll be able to
save Cap'n Bill by 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
the bird. "I can't take it with me, for it would be a bother, an' if
it tried to spout po'try, I'd be discovered in a jiffy."
As the beautiful Witch kissed the little girl goodbye, she slipped
upon her 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 of Blueskins and Pinkies alike. I'm going to let you wear this
wonderful ring, for it will save you from being discovered by your
enemies. If at any time you wish to be seen, take the ring from your
finger; but as long 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 I
perceive it is enchanted in some way. Where did you get it?"
"The Queen of the Mermaids gave it to me," answered Trot. "But Sky
Island is so far away from the sea that the ring won't do me any
good while I'm here. It's only to call the mermaids to me if I need
them, and they can't swim in the sky, you see."
Rosalie smiled and kissed her again. "Be brave, my dear," she said,
"and I am sure you will be able to find Cap'n Bill without getting
in danger yourself. But be careful not to let any Blueskin touch
you, for while you are in contact with any person you will become
visible. Keep out of their way, and you will be perfectly safe.
Don't lose the ring, for you must give it back to me when you
return. It is one of my witchcraft treasures, and I need it in my
business."
The Trot climbed the ladder, although neither Button-Bright nor
Rosalie could see her do so, and when she was on top the broad wall
she pulled up the knotted ropes and began to search for a place to
let it down on the other side. A little way off she found a
bluestone seat near to the inner edge, and attaching the ladder to
this, she easily descended it and found 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 know how to reach it
again, Trot hurried away through the streets of the city.
