u foolish beasts!" exclaimed the Ruler of Oz, in a gentle but
chiding voice. "Why should you fight to defend us, who are all three
loving friends and in no sense rivals? Answer me!" she continued, as
they bowed their heads sheepishly.

"I have the right to express my opinion, your Highness," pleaded the
Lion.

"And so have the others," replied Ozma. "I am glad you and the Hungry
Tiger love Dorothy best, for she was your first friend and companion.
Also I am pleased that my Sawhorse loves me best, for together we have
endured both joy and sorrow. Hank has proved his faith and loyalty by
defending his own little mistress; and so you are all right in one way,
but wrong in another. Our Land of Oz is a Land of Love, and here
friendship outranks every other quality. Unless you can all be friends,
you cannot retain our love."

They accepted this rebuke very meekly.

"All right," said the Sawhorse, quite cheerfully; "shake hoofs, friend
Mule."

Hank touched his hoof to that of the wooden horse.

"Let us be friends and rub noses," said the Tiger. So Hank modestly
rubbed noses with the big beast.

The Lion merely nodded and said, as he crouched before the mule:

"Any friend of a friend of our beloved Ruler is a friend of the
Cowardly Lion. That seems to cover your case. If ever you need help or
advice, friend Hank, call on me."

"Why, this is as it should be," said Ozma, highly pleased to see them
so fully reconciled. Then she turned to her companions: "Come, my
dears, let us resume our walk."

As they turned away Betsy said wonderingly:

"Do all the animals in Oz talk as we do?"

"Almost all," answered Dorothy. "There's a Yellow Hen here, and she can
talk, and so can her chickens; and there's a Pink Kitten upstairs in my
room who talks very nicely; but I've a little fuzzy black dog, named
Toto, who has been with me in Oz a long time, and he's never said a
single word but 'Bow-wow!'"

"Do you know why?" asked Ozma.

"Why, he's a Kansas dog; so I s'pose he's different from these fairy
animals," replied Dorothy.

"Hank isn't a fairy animal, any more than Toto," said Ozma, "yet as
soon as he came under the spell of our fairyland he found he could
talk. It was the same way with Billina, the Yellow Hen whom you brought
here at one time. The same spell has affected Toto, I assure you; but
he's a wise little dog and while he knows everything that is said to
him he prefers not to talk."

"Goodness me!" exclaimed Dor