"An' I
don't imagine any island floatin' in the sky is any bigger. But the
Universe is a big place, an' you can't be sure of what's in it till
you've traveled like we have."
"Perhaps you are right," mused the Blueskin, but he still seemed to
doubt them.
"Is the Pink side of Sky Island bigger than the Blue side?" asked
Button-Bright.
"No, it is supposed to be the same size," was the reply.
"Then why haven't you ever been there? Seems to me you could walk
across the whole island in an hour," said the boy.
"The two parts are separated by an impassable barrier," answered
Ghip-Ghisizzle. "Between them lies the Great Fog Bank."
"A fog bank? Why, that's no barrier!" exclaimed Cap'n Bill.
"It is indeed," returned the Blueskin. "The Fog Bank is so thick and
heavy that it blinds one, and if once you got into the Bank, you
might wander forever and not find your way out again. Also, it is
full of dampness that wets your clothes and your hair until you
become miserable. It is furthermore said that those who enter the
Fog Bank forfeit the six hundred years allowed them to live and are
liable to die at any time. Here we do not die, you know; we merely
pass away."
"How's that?" asked the sailor. "Isn't 'pass'n' away' jus' the same
as dyin'?"
"No indeed. When our six hundred years are ended, we march into the
Great Blue Grotto, through the Arch of Phinis, and are never seen
again.
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