n a humbug," agreed Dorothy. "I've
known him for a long time."

"If that is so," said the boy, "how could he do that wonderful trick
with the nine tiny piglets?"

"Don't know," said Dorothy, "but it must have been humbug."

"Very true," declared the Wizard, nodding at her. "It was necessary to
deceive that ugly Sorcerer and the Prince, as well as their stupid
people; but I don't mind telling you, who are my friends, that the
thing was only a trick."

"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 t