ailed to notice Watts and his
four companions surround him with their ferocious teeth bared. This
caused the Forest Monster to hesitate while he sized up the situation.
Here he was, the bad guy, trying to get bigger and stronger at the
expense of the Land Sharks, yet at the same time inadvertently saving
Ozma and her friends, and now Ozma's forces were bearing down on him
while his back was turned. "Hey! This is grossly unfair," he said,
almost crying. Just then, a group of Droffs, accompanied by several
Sniffers and Stinkfoots, arrived. The confusion allowed Ozma to use her
silver wand to cast a spell. Between the Forest Monster, Elephant, the
Stinkfoots, Sniffers and the Cowardly Lion, the Land Sharks were
disabled within a matter of forty-five minutes. Those who had not been
deenergized by the Forest Monster or otherwise rendered harmless by one
of the others had fallen to their spindly knees and were pleading for
mercy. One was staring directly into the foot of one of the newcomers
and crying hysterically. All the while, Ozma had been using her wand to
turn the Sharks into tiny snails, which Cubby picked up and put into a
nearby pond.

"It is finished," said the Cowardly Lion. He pushed his aching body to
the ground and licked one of his wounds. "The Land Sharks are subdued. I
don't think they will have the same cruel spirits now that they are
snails."

"Indeed not," said the Forest Monster. Turning to the Cowardly Lion, he
added, "You fought bravely. For one who is called Cowardly, you
certainly didn't show any signs of having earned that title in this
battle."

"But I felt them," sighed the Lion. "I was only acting brave because I
saw my friends in danger. To tell you the truth, I was scared out of my
wits the whole time."

"Your friends?" echoed the Forest Monster. "You call us your friends?
Even me? Do you not remember who I am, and what you once did to me while
I was sleeping?"

The Lion did a double take. "Oh, yeah! I was so caught up in the battle
with the Land Sharks that I forgot what I had come here for."

"I was, too!" agreed Cubby. "But the Cowardly Lion was coming here to
have a talk with you," he added, remembering the words that the Lion had
spoken to him earlier. "He said that he was ashamed of what he did to
you without giving you a sporting chance." These last words on Cubby's
part were intended only as an observation. He had no idea that they
would have any effect on the Forest Monster at