So Cap’n Bill was lad away by the chief of the soldiers, and when he had gone, the king said to Button-Bright, “You, slave, shall be the Royal Bootblue.  Your duty will be to keep the boots and shoes of the royal family nicely polished with blue.”

“I don’t know how,” answered Button-Bright surlily.

“You’ll soon learn.  The Royal Steward will supply you with blue paste, and when you’ve brushed this on our shoes, you must shine them with Q-rays of Moonshine.  Do you understand?”

“No,” said Button-Bright.

Then the Boolooroo told one of the soldiers to take the boy to the shoeblue den and have him instructed in his duties, and the soldiers promptly obeyed and dragged Button-Bright away to the end of the palace where the servants lived.

GHIP-GHISIZZLE PROVES FRIENDLY

CHAPTER 7

The Royal Palace was certainly a magnificent building, with large and lofty rooms and superb furnishings, all being in shades of blue.  The soldier and the boy passed through several broad corridors and then came to a big hall where many servants were congregated.  These were staring in bewilderment at Cap’n Bill, who had been introduced to them by Captain Ultramarine.  Now they turned in no less surprise to examine the boy, and their looks expressed not only astonishment but dislike.

The servants were all richly attired in blue silk liveries, and they seemed disposed to resent the fact that these strangers had been added to their ranks.  They scowled and muttered and behaved in a very unfriendly way, even after Captain Ultramarine had explained that the newcomers were merely base slaves, and not to be classed with the free royal servants of the palace.

One of those present, however, showed no especial enmity to Button-Bright and Cap’n Bill, and this Blueskin attracted the boy’s notice because his appearance was so strange.  He looked as if he were made of two separate men, each cut through the middle and then joined together, half of one to half of the other.  One side of his blue hair was curly and the other half straight; one ear was big and stuck out from the side of his head, while the other ear was small and flat; one eye was half shut and twinkling, while the other was big and staring; his nose was thin on one side and flat on the other, while one side of his mouth curled up and the other down.  Button-Bright also noticed that he limped as he walked because one leg was a trifle longer than the other, and that one hand was delicate and slender and the other thick and hardened by use.

“Don’t stare at him,” a voice whispered in the boy’s ear.  “The poor fellow has been patched, that’s all.”

Button-Bright turned to see who had spoken and found by his side a tall young Blueskin with a blue-gold chain around his neck.  He was quite the best looking person the boy had seen in Sky Island, and he spoke in a pleasant way and seemed quite friendly.  But the two-sided man had overheard the remark, and he now stepped forward and said in a careless tone: