"I see. What a good idea! I suppose that is the carpenter over there, talking to the King: the little man in pink overalls and a paper cap, scratching his ear with a chisel."
"That's the carpenter. He seems to be rather puzzled about something. Let us go and see what he's making."
They found the King and the carpenter bending over a short log of wood, roughly chiseled into the form of a man, which lay on a pair of trestles between them. Both of them looked so serious that the little girls could not help thinking there must be something wrong.
"What is it, Rex?" asked the Admiral. "Anything the matter?"
"Matter!" cried His Majesty. "I should think there was. We're regularly up a stump. What kind of wood do you suppose this is?"—touching the log with his foot.
"I'm sure I don't know," replied the Admiral. "What is it? Mahogany?"
"No. I wish it were. That would be simple enough. It's Blue Gum!"
"Phew!" whistled the Admiral. And then he and the King and the carpenter all took hold of their chins with one hand, stuck out their lower lips, and gazed in perplexity at the log of wood lying on the trestles.
Evidently it was a serious matter, for even the little Coco Bolos stuck out their lower lips in imitation of their elders, though why it was a serious matter Margaret and Frances could not understand. Margaret was just going to ask, when the King turned round and said:
"It's because it's Blue Gum, you see. Any other color would have been all right—but Blue! The one color we've always avoided."