COCO BOLO [Illustration: _Up the garden ran the King_] COCO BOLO King of the Floating Islands SIDFORD F. HAMP [Illustration: ARTI et VERITATI] BOSTON RICHARD G. BADGER THE GORHAM PRESS 1911 Copyright, 1910, by Richard G. Badger All Rights Reserved THE GORHAM PRESS, BOSTON, U. S. A. CONTENTS _Chapter One_ The Shadow-Chasers 9 _Chapter Two_ Admiral Boxwood 19 _Chapter Three_ The Royal Yacht 31 _Chapter Four_ The King's Hounds 43 _Chapter Five_ The Court Crier 56 _Chapter Six_ Refreshments 71 _Chapter Seven_ Coco Bolo Rex 84 _Chapter Eight_ Lobsterneck 95 _Chapter Nine_ The Snap-Dragon Sings 109 _Chapter Ten_ The Archbishop 120 _Chapter Eleven_ The Blue-Gum Policeman 134 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Up the Garden Ran the King Frontispiece Shadow Chasing 13 Picked Up the Little Admiral 23 Allowed the Anchor to Hit Him 33 His Heels Went up in the Air 45 Down He Plumped on the Top Step 65 Began Gently Floating Down Again 77 Turned Heels Up and Came Floating Down Head First 97 With that He Unfolded a Sheet of Music and Prepared to Sing 107 He Was a Jaunty Young Gentleman 123 Away He Went, Straight for the Palace 131 Nor Was it Surprising That She Should Sit and Stare 143 COCO BOLO KING OF THE FLOATING ISLANDS =Coco Bolo= CHAPTER I THE SHADOW-CHASERS "Edward can't come," said Margaret: "he'd get tired too soon and want to go home again." "No, Edward can't come," Frances agreed. "His legs are too short. We must wait till he goes upstairs for his nap, and then we'll start." There were three children in the family: Margaret, who was nearly eight; Frances, who was six and a quarter; and Edward, who, being only half way between three and four, was still--as Frances had sagely remarked--too short in the legs for such an enterprise as the two little girls had in mind. They had been spending the winter on the coast of Southern California, when, one morning in April, Margaret and Frances went out into the road in front of the house, and turning their backs to the sun, amused themselves by running after their shadows, trying to step on their own heads--a feat they had often attempted before, but never yet with any success. While they were thus occupied, their father, coming out of the house, stood on the edge of the sidewalk watching them, and when the two children, tousled and breathless, presently came back to him, he put an arm round the shoulders of each, saying: "What are you doing, Chicks? Chasing shadows?"