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.
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:
