"Sh--h!" begged Reddy again. "To-night when the Giants are asleep, we'll escape. I still have the Rash rubies, remember." Holding them up, Reddy looked eagerly at the ruffled and doleful tiger. The sight of the rubies seemed to restore him a little. "We can try it anyway," he mused wearily. "But, take care, here comes that awful girl back again. Hide yourself, quick!" Reddy had just time to scramble beneath a chintz chair, when Princess Elma came bounding back, a plate of chicken in one hand and a doll bed in the other. CHAPTER 17 The Big Wig's Secret The Giantess seemed astonished to find the Hungry Tiger without his wraps, and picking him up began to scold gently. She was thrusting his front paws into a doll's night dress, when a loud voice from the next room made her pause. "Bother!" exclaimed Princess Elma, putting the Hungry Tiger down beside the plate of chicken, "I've got to take my bath. But I'll be right back." "Don't hurry," growled the Hungry Tiger, gnashing his teeth ferociously as Elma ran toward the Big Wig nurse, standing in the doorway. "Why don't you bite her," asked Reddy, venturing out from beneath the chair. "My conscience tells me it would be wrong," groaned the poor tiger. "After all, she is only a child and really means no harm." Princess Elma was gone so long that Reddy and the Hungry Tiger had time to dine most comfortably on the plate of chicken and tell their strange experiences in the Giant Castle. The Hungry Tiger was amazed to learn how Reddy had been carried over the wall and listened eagerly to his plans for escape. "We'll wait till midnight," whispered the little Prince. "Then, with the Rash rubies to protect us, we'll fall all the way down the stairs and try to find our way out of the castle." "I hope nothing has happened to Carter and Betsy," sighed the tiger mournfully. "Help me out of these horrible sleeves, boy!" But Reddy advised him to keep on the doll's gown so that Elma would suspect nothing, and reluctantly the tiger agreed. "I had no idea kittens lead such hard lives," he groaned dismally. "My ribs ache from hugging and I've been dragged around all day like a duster. Hide, Reddy, hide! Here she comes again." Reddy lost no time in concealing himself beneath the chair, and from his hiding place he watched the Giantess kiss the Hungry Tiger good-night, and tuck him vigorously into the doll bed. Then, with a huge yawn, she walked over to her own bed--the tiny bed that had so astonished Reddy in the first place. "How does the great creature expect to sleep in that?" thought the little boy scornfully. How, indeed? Raising her hand to her head, Elma calmly took off her huge wig, and as she did she shrank so swiftly downward that Reddy clutched the leg of the chair and clapped his hand over his mouth to keep from screaming aloud.