So on the very morning that the Pinkies arrived, the
Boolooroo had ordered his two prisoners brought into the room of the
palace where the Great Knife stood, and his soldiers were getting
ready to perform the operation of patching Ghip-Ghisizzle with
Tingle when a messenger came running to say that a great army of the
Pinkies had broken through the Fog Bank.
"Never mind," said the Boolooroo, "I'll attend to them in a minute.
I'm busy now."
"They are marching on the City," said the frightened messenger. "If
you delay, Most High and Mighty One, we shall all be captured. You'd
better save your City first and do your patching afterward."
"What!" roared the Boolooroo. "Dare you dictate to me?" But he was
impressed by the man's logic. After locking the prisoners, who were
still bound, in the Room of the Great Knife, the Ruler hurried away
to assemble his soldiers. By this time the Pinkies had advanced
halfway to the walls of the City, so the first thing the Boolooroo
did was to order all the gates closed and locked, and then he placed
a line of soldiers on the wall to prevent any of the Pinkies from
climbing over. Therefore, when Cap'n Bill's army reached the wall,
he was obliged to halt his ranks until he could find a way to enter
the City.
Now when the Boolooroo looked through the blue-steel bars of the
main gate and saw the enemy armed with sharp-pointed sticks, he
began to tremble; and when he thought how painful it would be to
have his body and arms and legs prodded and pricked by such weapons,
he groaned aloud and was very miserable.
Pages:
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164