"Would that hurt any more than to tear one into about a dozen pieces?" inquired the Lion, with a little shudder. "Who cares whether it hurts or not?" growled the Tiger. The Lion did not reply. They entered a side street, but met no one. Suddenly they heard a child crying. "Aha!" exclaimed the Tiger. "There is my meat." He rushed around a corner, the Lion following, and came upon a nice fat baby sitting in the middle of the street and crying as if in great distress. "What's the matter?" asked the Tiger, crouching before the baby. "I--I--I-lost my m-m-mamma!" wailed the baby. "Why, you poor little thing," said the great beast, softly stroking the child's head with its paw. "Don't cry, my dear, for mamma can't be far away and I'll help you to find her." "Go on," said the Lion, who stood by. "Go on where?" asked the Tiger, looking up. "Go on and eat your fat baby." "Why, you dreadful creature!" said the Tiger reproachfully; "would you want me to eat a poor little lost baby, that doesn't know where its mother is?" And the beast gathered the little one into its strong, hairy arms and tried to comfort it by rocking it gently back and forth. [Illustration] The Lion growled low in his throat and seemed very much disappointed; but at that moment a scream reached their ears and a woman came bounding out of a house and into the street. Seeing her baby in the embrace of the monster Tiger the woman screamed again and rushed forward to rescue it, but in her haste she caught her foot in her skirt and tumbled head over heels and heels over head, stopping with such a bump that she saw many stars in the heavens, although it was broad daylight. And there she lay, in a helpless manner, all tangled up and unable to stir. With one bound and a roar like thunder the huge Lion was beside her. With his strong jaws he grasped her dress and raised her into an upright position. [Illustration] [Illustration] "Poor thing! Are you hurt?" he gently asked. Gasping for breath the woman struggled to free herself and tried to walk, but she limped badly and tumbled down again. "My baby!" she said pleadingly. "The baby is all right; don't worry," replied the Lion; and then he added: "Keep quiet, now, and I'll carry you back to your house, and the Hungry Tiger will carry your baby." The Tiger, who had approached the place with the child in its arms, asked in astonishment: "Aren't you going to tear her into sixty pieces?" [Illustration] "No, nor into six pieces," answered the Lion indignantly. "I'm not such a brute as to destroy a poor woman who has hurt herself trying to save her lost baby. If you are so ferocious and cruel and bloodthirsty, you may leave me and go away, for I do not care to associate with you." "That's all right," answered the Tiger. "I'm not cruel--not in the least--I'm only hungry. But I thought _you_ were cruel."