"Thanks," muttered the Hungry Tiger, grinning behind his whiskers. He knew that if he ever reached Oz in safety, nothing could tempt him away from the Emerald city again, not even his terrible appetite.
"But what do the three R's stand for?" asked Carter. He had been turning the matter over in his mind for some time.
"Readin', ritin', and rithmetic," guessed Betsy Bobbin.
"Rightful Ruler of Rash," corrected Reddy, with a cheerful bounce. Now that one of the magic rubies was in his possession anything seemed possible. "Hurry up!" he called over his shoulder to the Rash barber and singer. "We're almost there." And they almost were, for beyond a thin fringe of feather brush rose the high buildings and towers of the city they had seen in the moonlight. The trip across the fields of Down had been rather tiresome. The feet of the travellers sank at each step into the soft feathers, so that even the Hungry Tiger was panting a little when they reached the city itself. Over the gates, creaking backward and forward in the brisk morning breeze, was a large silver sign.
"Down Town," read Betsy, squinting a little in the bright sunshine. "Why, it looks just like down town at home, Carter."
"Home in Oz?" queried the Vegetable Man, pressing his nose against the bars.
"No, in Oklahoma!" laughed Betsy hastily. "But let's go in. I see stores and hotels and everything!"
"Hotels?" gulped the Hungry Tiger, pricking up his ears. "Hotels! B-r-r-r!" And before Betsy or anyone else could stop him, he had hurled himself headlong at the gates of Down Town. With a creak and bang, they burst open and the whole Rash company fell through.
"Food!" roared the Hungry Tiger, charging at full speed down the main street. "Give us food!" At the tiger's roars, such citizens as were in the streets stopped in horror and astonishment. Then, right and left like startled hares, they darted, huddling into doorways, scurrying into side alleys, tumbling over one another in their frenzy to get away. In fact they were as amazed and terrified to see a tiger in their Down Town, as we would be to see one in ours, and when they glimpsed Carter Green, they ran faster than ever.