He advised them all to wear their raincoats over their
pretty pink clothes so they would not get wet, and he assured them
that all the creatures to be met with in the Fog were perfectly
harmless.
"When we come to the Blue Country, though," he added, "you're liable
to be pretty busy. The Blueskins are tall an' lanky, an' ugly an'
fierce, an' if they happen to capture you, you'll all be patched,
which is a deep disgrace an' a uncomfortable mix-up."
"Will they throw us over the edge?" asked Captain Tintint.
"I don't think so," replied Cap'n Bill. "While I was there I never
heard the edge mentioned. They're cruel enough to do
that--'specially the Boolooroo--but I guess they've never thought o'
throwin' folks over the edge. They fight with long cords that have
weights on the ends, which coil 'round you an' make you helpless in
a jiffy; so whenever they throw them cords you mus' ward 'em off
with your long sticks. Don't let 'em wind around your bodies, or
you're done for."
He told them other things about the Blueskins, so they would not be
frightened when they faced the enemy and found them so different in
appearance from themselves, and also he assured them that the
Pinkies were so much the braver and better armed that he had no
doubt they would easily conquer.
On the third day, just at sunrise, the army moved forward to the Fog
Bank, headed by Cap'n Bill, clad in an embroidered pink coat with
wide, flowing pink trousers, and accompanied by Trot and
Button-Bright and Rosalie the Witch, all bundled up in their pink
raincoats.
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