ice whispered in the boy's ear. "The poor
fellow has been patched, that's all."

Button-Bright turned to see who had spoken and found by his side a tall
young Blueskin with a blue-gold chain around his neck. He was quite the
best looking person the boy had seen in Sky Island, and he spoke in a
pleasant way and seemed quite friendly. But the two-sided man had
overheard the remark, and he now stepped forward and said in a careless
tone:

"Never mind. It's no disgrace to be patched in a country ruled by such
a cruel Boolooroo as we have. Let the boy look at me if he wants to.
I'm not pretty, but that's not my fault. Blame the Boolooroo."

"I--I'm glad to meet you, sir," stammered Button-Bright. "What is your
name, please?"

"I'm now named Jimfred Jonesjinks, and my partner is called Fredjim
Jinksjones. He's busy at present guarding the Treasure Chamber, but
I'll introduce you to him when he comes back. We've had the misfortune
to be patched, you know."

"What is being patched?" asked the boy.

"They cut two of us in halves and mismatch the halves--half of one to
half of the other, you know--and then the other two halves are patched
together. It destroys our individuality and makes us complex creatures,
so it's the worst punishment than can be inflicted in Sky Island."

"Oh," said Button-Bright, alarmed at such dreadful butchery. "Doesn't
it hurt?"

"No, it doesn't hurt," replied Jimfred. "But it makes one frightfully
nervous. They stand you under a big knife, which drops and slices you
neatly in two, exactly in the middle. Then they match half of you to
another person who has likewise been sliced, and there you are, patched
to someone you don't care about and haven't much interest in. If your
half wants to do something, the other half is likely to want to do
something different, and the funny part of it is you don't quite know
which is your half and which is the other half. It's a terrible
punishment, and in a country where one can't die or be killed until he
has lived his six hundred years, to be patched is a great misfortune."

"I'm sure it is," said Button-Bright earnestly. "But can't you ever
get--get--UNpatched again?"

"If the Boolooroo would consent, I think it could be done," Jimfred
replied, "but he never will consent. This is about the meanest
Boolooroo who ever ruled this land, and he was the first to invent
patching people as a punishment. I think we will all be glad when his
three hundred years of