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
don'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 messenger.
Having heard of the old Boolooroo's downfall and disgrace, the 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.
[Illustration]
"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 good-bye 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 got 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, good-bye!"
"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.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE ELEPHANT'S HEAD COMES TO LIFE