the shoes in his hand and started for the Royal Bedchamber. He
passed the guard of the Royal Treasury and Fredjim nodded
good-naturedly to the boy. But the sleepy guard before the King's
apartments was cross and surly.

"What are you doing here at this hour?" he demanded.

"I'm returning his Majesty's shoes," said Button-Bright.

"Go back and wait till morning," commanded the guard.

"If you prevent me from obeying the Boolooroo's orders," returned
the boy quietly, "he will probably have you patched."

This threat frightened the long-necked guard, who did not know what
orders the Boolooroo had given his Royal Bootblue. "Go in, then,"
said he, "but if you make a noise and waken his Majesty, the chances
are you'll get yourself patched."

"I'll be quiet," promised the boy.

Indeed, Button-Bright had no desire to waken the Boolooroo, whom he
found snoring lustily with the curtains of his high-posted bed drawn
tightly around him. The boy had taken off his own shoes after he
passed the guard and now he tiptoed carefully into the room, set
down the royal shoes very gently and then crept to the chair where
his Majesty's clothes were piled. Scarcely daring to breathe for
fear of awakening the terrible monarch, the boy searched in the
royal pockets until he found a blue-gold key attached to a blue-gold
chain. At once he decided this must be the key to the Treasure