They talked and they walked and they walked and they talked and when they came back to the den, there was the reckless Roley, rolling about with the little tiger cub.
“Ha, ha,” laughed the old tiger. “So here you are, you little rascal! Just sit down and I will tell you a nice story.”
“Oh, do, dear Uncle One-eye,” cried Roley.
So One-Eye began, “When I eat my dinner, I like to eat kids. Four little kids are just one mouthful for me, and today I’m very hungry. So I am coming to your house and I shall make one mouthful of you and your brothers and sisters.”
“Good, good!” cried Roley, clapping his paws. “What good stories you do tell. Now, listen, and I will tell you a story.
“When you come to eat us up, Skipster will hold you by the forelegs, and Jumpster will hold you by the hind legs, and Poley will hold your head, and Roley will chop it off. And our mother will have a big fire ready, and we will cook you. But I think first we will skin off your coat for it will make us such a nice striped rug for our floor.”
This story terrified the old tiger and he took to his heels and ran for home as fast as he could go.
On the way home, he met six other tigers and he said, “My dear friends, I know where there’s a fine kid for you to eat. I do not care for him, myself, but I will help you catch him, and I will watch you eat him.”
The six tigers were all so hungry that each one would have liked to eat the whole kid. As they followed One-Eye, each tiger was plotting how to make the others do the work so that he could get the kid.
They started toward the goat’s home and, sure enough, there was Roley, rolling along toward home. But the minute he saw the tigers he crawled up into a tall tree that grew near his house.