or a tiger to do.

"Of course not," he said. "Don't you know who I am? I am the Hungry
Tiger of Oz. Everyone's heard of me. There have been volumes of books
written about me! I am always hungry, but I am not a carnivore. I am
afraid I would feel just awful if ever I ate up one of my fellow beings.
Here in the Land of Oz, as you know, all creatures are treated equally.
I can't stand the thought of eating up any organism that might
ultimately become a friend. This makes me feel bad, too. I am reduced to
a strictly vegetarian diet. I yearn to gobble up a few scrumptiously
delicious fat babies, yet I am reduced to struggling through meals of
tofu-strips and Loveburger. Oh, if only my conscience would let me feast
upon a fat baby just once! But, alas, I am cursed with a very strong
conscience."

"Then I am not afraid of you," said Graham. "What about this lion?"

"He is the Cowardly Lion of Oz," explained the Hungry Tiger. "He's got
a pretty good conscience, too."

"Then why did he attack me like that?" Graham wanted to know.

"I didn't attack you," replied the Cowardly Lion. "I heard you say that
there were some wolves or monsters or something-or-others who were
working for the Wicked Witch. You announced that you were going to fight
them, so I naturally jumped behind you to cower in fear."

"Oh," said Graham. "I misunderstood your actions."

"So," continued the Lion, "are there really slaves of the W-w-w-witch
around here?"

"I heard them talking about how a Witch sent a forest monster and some
wolves to attack innocent people," said Graham. "But ..."

"That was us," explained the Tiger. "We like to talk about Oz history a
lot. We were in the bushes looking for some yummy kiwi fruits to help
satisfy my never-ending hunger when you came along."

"So the Witch isn't after me after all?"

"Guess not," replied the Tiger. "Should she be?"

"Well," he said meekly. "I played a couple of rather crude tricks on
her. I suspect that she'll be pretty peeved when she does find me. I
left her admiring herself in a ... well, a kind of self-induced trance.
It's kind of hard to explain. But when she finds a mirror ... well, I
dread to think what will happen."

The Lion and the Tiger looked at one another. The Lion stood to his full
height, which was actually somewhat larger than most of the lions we can
see in zoos, and smiled a toothy smile. "I'll protect you, my son!" he
snarled. And how he could snarl and smile at the sam