sir. But it seems you've got to wait a hundred years or more afore
you can take his place."

Ghip-Ghisizzle rose to his feet and paced up and down the room for a
time, a frown upon his face. Then he halted and faced Cap'n Bill.
"Sir," said he, "there lies all my trouble. I'm quite sure the
present Boolooroo has reigned three hundred years next Thursday, but
he claims it is only two hundred years, and as he holds the Royal
Book of Records under lock and key in the Royal Treasury, there is
no way for us to prove he is wrong."

"Oh," said Button-Bright. "How old is the Boolooroo?"

"He was two hundred years old when he was elected," replied
Ghip-Ghisizzle. "If he has already reigned three hundred years as I
suspect, then he is now five hundred years old. You see, he is
trying to steal another hundred years of rule so as to remain a
tyrant all his life."

"He don't seem as old as that," observed Cap'n Bill thoughtfully.
"Why, I'm only sixty myself, an' I guess I look twice as old as your
king does."

"We do not show our age in looks," the officer answered. "I am just
about your age, sir--sixty-two my next birthday--but I'm sure I
don't look as old as that."

"That's a fact," agreed Cap'n Bill. Then he turned to Button-Bright
and added, "Don't that prove Sky Island is a fairy country as I
said?"