Captain Salt in Oz

MP3 Audio CD. Captain Salt in Oz

CHAPTER 1

Sail Ho!


Eight miles east of Pingaree lies the eight-sided island of King
Ato the Eighth. While not so large as Pingaree, the Octagon Isle is
nevertheless one of the tidiest and most pleasing of the sea realms
that dot the great green rolling expanses of the Nonestic Ocean. And
Ato himself is as pleasing as his island, enormously fat and jolly with
a kind word for everyone.

In his eight-sided castle, he has every modern convenience and comfort
and some of which even an up-to-date country like our own cannot boast.
For instance, take Roger, his Royal Read Bird. Roger, besides knowing
eight languages, can read aloud for hours at a time without growing
hoarse or weary. So Ato never has to strain his eyes poring over his
eight hundred huge volumes of adventure and history, nor his arms
holding a newspaper or court document, nor his jaw pronouncing the
names of kings and countries in Ev and Oz and other curious places on
the mainland west of his own island. And Roger is as handsome as he
is handy, his head and bill rather like a duck's, his body shaped and
colored like a parrot, but much larger, while his tail opens out into
an enormous fan. This is extremely fortunate, for the Octagon Isle
is semi-tropical in climate, and on warm sultry days, Roger not only
reads to his Majesty, but fans him as well. All in all, Ato's life is
decidedly luxurious and lazy.

Sixentwo, Chief Chancellor of the realm, and Four'nfour, its treasurer,
attend to all the business of governing, so that Ato and Roger have
little to do but enjoy themselves. The Octagon Islanders, one hundred
and eighty in number, are a sober and industrious lot, rarely giving
any trouble.

Once, it is true, they sailed off and deserted the King entirely, but
A