The Boolooroo stamped up and down the room, muttering threats and
declaring Cap'n Bill should be punished whether Tiggle was found or
not, and while they waited, Trot took time to make an inspection of
the place, which she now saw for the first time in broad daylight.
The Room of the Great Knife was high and big, and around it ran rows
of benches for the spectators to sit upon. In one place at the head
of the room was a raised platform for the royal family, with elegant
throne-chairs for the King and Queen and six smaller but richly
upholstered chairs for the Snubnosed Princesses. The poor Queen, by
the way, was seldom seen, as she passed all her time playing
solitaire with a deck that was one card short, hoping that before
she had lived her entire six hundred years she would win the game.
Therefore, her Majesty paid no attention to anyone and no one paid
any attention to her.
In the center of the room stood the terrible knife that gave the
place its name, a name dreaded by every inhabitant of the Blue City.
The knife was built into a huge framework like a derrick, that
reached to the ceiling, and it was so arranged that when the
Boolooroo pulled a cord the great blade would drop down in its frame
and neatly cut in two the person who stood under it. And in order
that the slicing would be accurate, there was another frame to which
the prisoner was tied so that he couldn't wiggle either way.
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