all right," observed Trot, looking at the girls
with much interest, "but I should think it would make 'em mad to call
'em that."

"Why?" asked the Boolooroo in surprise. "Is not a snub nose the highest
mark of female beauty?"

"Is it?" asked the girl.

"Most certainly. In this favored island, which is the Center of the
Universe, a snub nose is an evidence of high breeding which any lady
would be proud to possess."

The Six Snubnosed Princesses now approached the fountain and stood in a
row, staring with haughty looks at the strangers.

"Goodness me, your Majesty!" exclaimed the first. "What queer,
dreadful-looking creatures are these? Where in all the Sky did they
come from?"

"They say they came from the Earth, Cerulia," answered the Boolooroo.

"But that is impossible," said another Princess. "Our scientists have
proved that the Earth is not inhabited."

"Your scientists'll have to guess again, then," said Trot.

"But how did they get to Sky Island?" inquired the third snubnosed one.

"By means of a Magic Umbrella, which I have captured and put away in my
Treasure Chamber," replied the Boolooroo.

"What will you do with the monsters, papa?" asked the fourth Princess.

"I haven't decided yet," said the Boolooroo. "They're curiosities, you
see, and may serve to amuse us. But as they're only half civilized, I
shall make them my slaves."

"What are they good for? Can they do anything useful?" asked the fifth.

"We'll see," returned the King impatiently. "I can't decide in a hurry.
Give me time, Azure, give me time. If there's anything I hate, it's a
hurry."

"I've an idea, your Majesty," announced the sixth Snubnosed Princess,
whose complexion was rather darker than that of her sisters, "and it
has come to me quite deliberately, without any hurry at all. Let us
take the little girl to be our maid--to wait upon us and amuse us when
we're dull. All the other ladies of the court will be wild with envy,
and if the child doesn't prove of use to us, we can keep her for a
living pincushion."

"Oh! Ah! That will be fine!" cried all the other five, and the
Boolooroo said:

"Very well, Indigo, it shall be as you desire." Then he turned to Trot
and added, "I present you to the Six Lovely Snubnosed Princesses, to be
their slave. If you are good and obedient, you won't get your ears
boxed oftener than once an hour."

"I won't be anybody's slave," protested Trot. "I don't like these
snubnosed, fussy females, an'