animile looks as if it could eat both of us an' lick its chops for
more! If I only had a gun--"

"Haven't you, Henry? Haven't you?" she asked anxiously.

"Nary gun, Em. So let's die as brave an' graceful as we can. I knew
our luck couldn't last!"

"I won't die. I won't be eaten by a lion!" wailed Aunt Em, glaring
upon the huge beast. Then a thought struck her, and she whispered,
"Henry, I've heard as savage beastses can be conquered by the human
eye. I'll eye that lion out o' countenance an' save our lives."

"Try it, Em," he returned, also in a whisper. "Look at him as you do
at me when I'm late to dinner."

Aunt Em turned upon the Lion a determined countenance and a wild dilated
eye. She glared at the immense beast steadily, and the Lion, who had
been quietly blinking at them, began to appear uneasy and disturbed.

"Is anything the matter, ma'am?" he asked, in a mild voice.

At this speech from the terrible beast Aunt Em and Uncle Henry both
were startled, and then Uncle Henry remembered that this must be the
Lion they had seen in Ozma's Throne Room.

"Hold on, Em!" he exclaimed. "Quit the eagle eye conquest an'
take courage. I guess this is the same Cowardly Lion Dorothy
has told us about."