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"But I saw the little pigs with my own eyes!" exclaimed Zeb.
"So did I," purred the kitten.
"To be sure," answered the Wizard. "You saw them because they were
there. They are in my inside pocket now. But the pulling of them apart
and pushing them together again was only a sleight-of-hand trick."
"Let's see the pigs," said Eureka, eagerly.
The little man felt carefully in his pocket and pulled out the tiny
piglets, setting them upon the grass one by one, where they ran around
and nibbled the tender blades.
"They're hungry, too," he said.
"Oh, what cunning things!" cried Dorothy, catching up one and petting
it.
"Be careful!" said the piglet, with a squeal, "you're squeezing me!"
"Dear me!" murmured the Wizard, looking at his pets in astonishment.
"They can actually talk!"
"May I eat one of them?" asked the kitten, in a pleading voice. "I'm
awfully hungry."
"Why, Eureka," said Dorothy, reproachfully, "what a cruel question! It
would be dreadful to eat these dear little things."
"I should say so!" grunted another of the piglets, looking uneasily at
the kitten; "cats are cruel things."
"I'm not cruel," replied the kitten, yawning. "I'm just hungry."
"You cannot eat my piglets, even if you are starving," declared the
little man, in a stern voice. "They are the only things I have to prove
I'm a wizard."
"How did they happen to be so little?" asked Dorothy. "I never saw such
small pigs before."
"They are from the Island of Teenty-Weent," said the Wizard, "where
everything is small because it's a small island. A sailor brought them
to Los Angeles and I gave him nine tickets to the circus for them."
"But what am I going to eat?" wailed the kitten, sitting in front of
Dorothy and looking pleadingly into her face. "There are no cows here
to give milk; or any mice, or even grasshoppers. And if I can't eat the
piglets you may as well plant me at once and raise catsup."
"I have an idea," said the Wizard, "that there are fishes in these
brooks. Do you like fish?"
"Fish!" cried the kitten. "Do I like fish? Why, they're better than
piglets--or even milk!"
"Then I'll try to catch you some," said he.
"But won't they be veg'table, like everything else here?" asked the
kitten.
"I think not. Fishes are not animals, and they are as cold and moist as
the vegetables themselves. There is no reason, that I can see, why they
may not exist in the waters of this strange country."
Then the Wizard bent a pin for a hook and took a long piece of string
from his pocket for a fish-line. The only bait he could find was a
bright red blossom from a flower; but he knew fishes are easy to fool if
anything bright attracts their attention, so he decided to try the
blossom. Having thrown the end of his line in the water of a nearby
brook he soon felt a sharp tug that told him a fish had bitten and was
caught on the bent pin; so the little man drew in the string and, sure
enough, the fish came with it and was landed safely on the shore,
where it began to flop around in great excitement.
[Illustration: IN THE GARDEN OF THE MANGABOOS.]
The fish was fat and round, and its scales glistened like beautifully
cut jewels set close together; but there was no time to examine it
closely, for Eureka made a jump and caught it between her claws, and in
a few moments it had entirely disappeared.
"Oh, Eureka!" cried Dorothy, "did you eat the bones?"
"If it had any bones, I ate them," replied the kitten, composedly, as it
washed its face after the meal. "But I don't think that fish had any
bones, because I didn't feel them scratch my throat."
"You were very greedy," said the girl.
"I was very hungry," replied the kitten.
The little pigs had stood huddled in a group, watching this scene with
frightened eyes.
"Cats are dreadful creatures!" said one of them.
"I'm glad we are not fishes!" said another.