Sky Island
Category: Children
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Sky Island is the 1912 sequel by L. Frank Baum to The Sea Fairies. Baum is known for his fantasy fiction and created the popular Oz series. In Sky Island, Trot meet s strange boy with a magic umbrella. The two, along with Cap'n Bill, take a trip to an island that looks halfway in the sky. Read their adventure written by a great talent in children's fiction.

Sky Island

by
L. Frank Baum

Illustrated by John R. Neill


Sky Island

A Little Talk to My Readers

With “The Sea Fairies,” my book for 1911, I ventured into a new field of fairy literature and to my delight the book was received with much approval by my former readers, many of whom have written me that they like Trot “almost as well as Dorothy.” As Dorothy was an old, old friend and Trot a new one, I think this is very high praise for Cap’n Bill’s little companion. Cap’n Bill is also a new character who seems to have won approval, and so both Trot and the old sailor are again introduced in the present story, which may be called the second of the series of adventures of Trot and Cap’n Bill.

But you will recognize some other acquaintances in “Sky Island.” Here, for instance, is Button-Bright, who once had an adventure with Dorothy in Oz, and without Button-Bright and his Magic Umbrella you will see that the story of “Sky Island” could never have been written. As Polychrome, the Rainbow’s Daughter, lives in the sky, it is natural that Trot and Button-Bright meet her during their adventures there.

This story of Sky Island has astonished me considerably, and I think it will also astonish you. The sky country is certainly a remarkable fairyland, but after reading about it I am sure you will agree with me that our old Mother Earth is a very good place to live upon and that Trot and Button-Bright and Cap’n Bill were fortunate to get back to it again.

By the way, one of my little correspondents has suggested that I print my address in this book, so that the children may know where letters will reach me. I am doing this, as you see, and hope that many will write to me and tell me how they like “Sky Island.” My greatest treasures are these letters from my readers and I am always delighted to receive them.

L. FRANK BAUM.

“OZCOT”
at HOLLYWOOD
in CALIFORNIA


Sky Island
Sky Island

Chapter I.
A Mysterious Arrival

HELLO,” said the boy.

“Hello,” answered Trot, looking up surprised. “Where did you come from?”

“Philadelphia,” said he.

“Dear me,” said Trot; “you’re a long way from home, then.”

“’Bout as far as I can get, in this country,” the boy replied, gazing out over the water. “Isn’t this the Pacific Ocean?”

“Of course.”

“Why of course?” he asked.

“Because it’s the biggest lot of water in all the world.”

“How do you know?”

“Cap’n Bill told me,” she said.

“Who’s Cap’n Bill?”

“An old sailorman who’s a friend of mine. He lives at my house, too — the white house you see over there on the bluff.”

“Oh; is that your home?”

“Yes,” said Trot, proudly. “Isn’t it pretty?”

“It’s pretty small, seems to me,” answered the boy.

“But it’s big enough for mother and me, an’ for Cap’n Bill,” said Trot.

“Haven’t you any father?”

“Yes, ’ndeed; Cap’n Griffith is my father; but he’s gone, most of the time, sailin’ on his ship. You mus’ be a stranger in these parts, little boy, not to know ’bout Cap’n Griffith,” she added, looking at her new acquaintance intently.

Trot wasn’t very big herself, but the boy was not quite as big as Trot. He was thin, with a rather pale complexion and his blue eyes were round and earnest. He wore a blouse waist, a short jacket and knickerbockers. Under his arm he held an old umbrella that was as tall as he was. Its covering had once been of thick brown cloth, but the color had faded to a dull drab, except in the creases, and Trot thought it looked very old-fashioned and common. The handle, though, was really curious. It was of wood and carved to resemble an elephant’s head. The long trunk of the elephant was curved to make a crook for the handle. The eyes of the beast were small red stones, and it had two tiny tusks of ivory.

The boy’s dress was rich and expensive, even to his fine silk stockings and tan shoes; but the umbrella looked old and disreputable.

“It isn’t the rainy season now,” remarked Trot, with a smile.

The boy glanced at his umbrella and hugged it tighter.

“No,” he said; “but umbrellas are good for other things ’sides rain.”

“’Fraid of gett’n’ sun-struck?” asked Trot.

He shook his head, still gazing far out over the water.

“I don’t b’lieve this is bigger than any other ocean,” said he. “I can’t see any more of it than I can of the Atlantic.”

“You’d find out, if you had to sail across it,” she declared.

“When I was in Chicago I saw Lake Michigan,” he went on dreamily, “and it looked just as big as this water does.”

“Looks don’t count, with oceans,” she asserted. “Your eyes can only see jus’ so far, whether you’re lookin’ at a pond or a great sea.”

“Then it doesn’t make any difference how big an ocean is,” he replied. “What are those buildings over there?” pointing to the right, along the shore of the bay.

“That’s the town,” said Trot. “Most of the people earn their living by fishing. The town is half a mile from here an’ my house is almost a half mile the other way; so it’s ’bout a mile from my house to the town.”

The boy sat down beside her on the flat rock.

“Do you like girls?” asked Trot, making room for him.

“Not very well,” the boy replied. “Some of ’em are pretty good fellows, but not many. The girls with brothers are bossy, an’ the girls without brothers haven’t any ‘go’ to ’em. But the world’s full o’ both kinds, and so I try to take ’em as they come. They can’t help being girls, of course. Do you like boys?”

“When they don’t put on airs, or get rough-house,” replied Trot. “My ’sperience with boys is that they don’t know much, but think they do.”

“That’s true,” he answered. “I don’t like boys much better than I do girls; but some are all right, and — you seem to be one of ’em.”

“Much obliged,” laughed Trot. “You aren’t so bad, either, an’ if we don’t both turn out worse than we seem we ought to be friends.”

He nodded, rather absently, and tossed a pebble into the water.

“Been to town?” he asked.

“Yes. Mother wanted some yarn from the store. She’s knittin’ Cap’n Bill a stocking.”

“Doesn’t he wear but one?”

“That’s all. Cap’n Bill has one wooden leg,” she explained. “That’s why he don’t sailor any more. I’m glad of it, ’cause Cap’n Bill knows ev’rything. I s’pose he knows more than anyone else in all the world.”

“Whew!” said the boy; “that’s taking a good deal for granted. A one-legged sailor can’t know much.”

“Why not?” asked Trot, a little indignantly. “Folks don’t learn things with their legs, do they?”

“No; but they can’t get around, without legs, to find out things.”

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