y, and we have seen you
fight the terrible Kalidahs and conquer them, so we know you are the
King of all Beasts."

"It is true," replied the Cowardly Lion; "but I did not come here to
rule the beasts of this forest. Gugu is King here, and I believe he is
a good King and just and wise. I come, with my friends, to be the
guest of Gugu, and I hope we are welcome."

That pleased the great Leopard, who said very quickly:

"Yes; you, at least, are welcome to my forest. But who are these
strangers with you?"

"Dorothy has introduced herself," replied the Lion, "and you are sure
to like her when you know her better. This man is the Wizard of Oz, a
friend of mine who can do wonderful tricks of magic. And here is my
true and tried friend, the Hungry Tiger, who lives with me in the
Emerald City."

"Is he ALWAYS hungry?" asked Loo the Unicorn.

"I am," replied the Tiger, answering the question himself. "I am
always hungry for fat babies."

"Can't you find any fat babies in Oz to eat?" inquired Loo, the Unicorn.

"There are plenty of them, of course," said the Tiger, "but
unfortunately I have such a tender conscience that it won't allow me to
eat babies. So I'm always hungry for 'em and never can eat 'em,
because my conscience won't let me."

Now of all the surprised beasts in that clearing, not one was so much
surprised at the sudden appearance of these four strangers as Ruggedo
the Nome. He was frightened, too, for he recognized them as his most
powerful enemies; but he also realized that they could not know he was
the former King of the Nomes, because of the beast's form he wore,
which disguised him so effectually. So he took courage and resolved
that the Wizard and Dorothy should not defeat his plans.

It was hard to tell, just yet, what the vast assemblage of beasts
thought of the new arrivals. Some glared angrily at them, but more of
them seemed to be curious and wondering. All were interested, however,
and they kept very quiet and listened carefully to all that was said.

Kiki Aru, who had remained unnoticed in the shadow of the rock, was at
first more alarmed by the coming of the strangers than even Ruggedo
was, and the boy told himself that unless he acted quickly and without
waiting to ask the advice of the old Nome, their conspiracy was likely
to be discovered and all their plans to conquer and rule Oz be
defeated. Kiki didn't like the way Ruggedo acted either, for the
former King of the Nomes wa