THE FATE OF THE MAGIC UMBRELLA
CHAPTER 27
Next morning the search for the Magic Umbrella began in earnest.
With many to hunt for it and the liberty of the whole palace to aid
them, every inch of the great building was carefully examined. But
no trace of the umbrella could be found. Cap'n Bill and
Button-Bright went down to the cabin of the former Boolooroo and
tried to find out what he had done with the umbrella, but the old
Boolooroo said,
"I had it brought from the Treasure Chamber and tried to make it
work, but there was no magic about the thing. So I threw it away. I
haven't any idea what became of it."
The six former Princesses were sitting upon a rude bench, looking
quite bedraggled and untidy. Said Indigo:
"If you will make Ghip-Ghisizzle marry me, I'll find your old
umbrella."
"Where is it?" asked Button-Bright eagerly.
"Make Ghip-Ghisizzle marry me, and I'll tell you," repeated Indigo.
"But I won't say another word about it until after I am married."
So they went back to the palace and proposed to the new Boolooroo to
marry Indigo so they could get their Magic Umbrella. But
Ghip-Ghisizzle positively refused.
"I'd like to help you," said he, "but nothing will ever induce me to
marry one of those snubnoses."
"They're very pretty--for Blueskins," said Trot.
"But when you marry a girl, you marry the inside as well as the
outside," declared Ghip-Ghisizzle, "and inside these Princesses
there are wicked hearts and evil thoughts. I'd rather be patched
than marry the best of them."
"Which IS the best?" asked Button-Bright.
"I don't know, I'm sure," was the reply. "Judging from their actions
in the past, there is no best."
Rosalie the Witch now went to the cabin and put Indigo into a deep
sleep by means of a powerful charm. Then, while the Princess slept,
the Witch made her tell all she knew, which wasn't a great deal, to
be sure; but it was soon discovered that Indigo had been deceiving
them and knew nothing at all about the umbrella. She had hoped to
marry Ghip-Ghisizzle and become Queen, after which she could afford
to laugh at their reproaches. So the Witch woke her up and went back
to the palace to tell Trot of her failure.
The girl and Button-bright and Cap'n Bill were all rather
discouraged by this time, for they had searched high and low and had
not found a trace of the all-important umbrella. That night none of
them slept much, for they all lay awake wondering how they could
ever return to the Earth and to their homes.
In the morning of the third day after Trot's conquest of the Blues,
the little girl conceived another idea. She called all the servants
of the palace to her and questioned them closely. But not one could
remember having seen anything that looked like an umbrella.
"Are all the servants of the old Boolooroo here?" inquired Cap'n
Bill, who was sorry to see Trot looking so sad and downcast.
"All but one," was the reply. "Tiggle used to be a servant, but he
escaped and ran away."
"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Trot. "Tiggle is in hiding somewhere. Perhaps
he doesn't know there's been a revolution and a new Boolooroo rules
the country. If he did, there's no need for him to hide any longer,
for he is now in no danger."
She now dispatched messengers all through the City and the
surrounding country, who cried aloud for Tiggle, saying that the new
Boolooroo wanted him. Tiggle, hiding in the cellar of a deserted
house in a back street, at last heard these cries and joyfully came
forth to confront the messengers. Having heard of the old
Boolooroo's downfall and disgrace, the old man consented to go to
the palace again, and as soon as Trot saw him she asked about the
umbrella.
Tiggle thought hard for a minute and then said he remembered
sweeping the King's rooms and finding a queer thing--that might have
been an umbrella--lying beneath a cabinet. It had ropes and two
wooden seats and a wicker basket all attached to the handle.
"That's it!" cried Button-Bright excitedly, and "That's it! That's
it!" cried both Trot and Cap'n Bill.
"But what did you do with it?" asked Ghip-Ghisizzle.
"I dragged it out and threw it on the rubbish heap in an alley back
of the palace," said Tiggle. At once they all rushed out to the
alley and began digging in the rubbish heap. By and by Cap'n Bill
uncovered the lunch basket, and pulling on this he soon drew up the
two seats, and finally the Magic Umbrella.
"Hurrah!" shouted Button-Bright, grabbing the umbrella and hugging
it tight in his arms.
"Hooray!" shrieked the parrot.
"Cap'n Bill's a lucky fellah,
'Cause he found the old umbrella!"
Trot's face was wreathed in smiles. "This is jus' the best luck that
could have happened to us," she exclaimed, "'cause now we can go
home whenever we please."
"Let's go now--this minute--before we lose the umbrella again," said
Button-Bright.
But Trot shook her head. "Not yet," she replied. "We've got to
straighten out things in Sky Island first of all. A Queen has some
duties, you know, and as long as I'm Queen here, I've got to live up
to the part."
"What has to be did, mate?" inquired Cap'n Bill.
"Well, we've fixed the Blue Country pretty well by makin' 'Sizzle
the Boolooroo of it; but the Pinkies mus' be looked after, too,
'cause they've stood by us an' helped us to win. We must take 'em
home again safe an' sound and get a new Queen to rule over 'em. When
that's done, we can go home any time we want to."
"Quite right, Trot," said the sailor approvingly. "When do we
march?"
"Right away," she replied. "I've had enough of the Blue Country,
haven't you?"
"We have, mate."
"We've had plenty of it," observed Button-Bright.
"And the Pinkies are anxious to get home," added Rosalie, who was
present.
So Cap'n Bill unhooked the seats from the handle of the umbrella and
wound the ropes around the two boards and made a package of them,
which he carried under his arm. Trot took the empty lunch basket,
and Button-Bright held fast to the precious umbrella. Then they
returned to the palace to bid goodbye to Ghip-Ghisizzle and the
Blues.
The new Boolooroo seemed rather sorry to lose his friends, but the
people were secretly glad to get rid of the strangers, especially of
the Pinkies. They maintained a sullen silence while Coralie and
Captain Tintint formed their ranks in marching order, and they did
not even cheer when Trot said to them in a final speech:
"I'm the Queen of Sky Island, you know, and the new Boolooroo has to
carry out my orders and treat you all nicely while I'm away. I don't
know when I'll come back, but you'd better watch out an' not make
any trouble, or I'll find a way to make you sorry for it. So now,
goodbye!"
"And good riddance!" screamed the Six Snubnosed Girls who had once
been Princesses and who were now in the crowd that watched the
departure.
But Trot paid no attention to them. She made a signal to the Pinkie
Band, which struck up a fine Pink March, and then the Army stepped
out with the left foot first, and away went the conquerors down the
streets of the Blue City, out of the blue-barred gateway and across
the country toward the Fog Bank.
