imagined. It was fortunate the Tin Woodman had no heart at that
moment, for it would have beat loud and fast from terror. But being
only tin, the Woodman was not at all afraid, although he was much
disappointed.
"I am Oz, the Great and Terrible," spoke the Beast, in a voice
that was one great roar. "Who are you, and why do you seek me?"
"I am a Woodman, and made of tin. Therefore I have no heart, and
cannot love. I pray you to give me a heart that I may be as other
men are."
"Why should I do this?" demanded the Beast.
"Because I ask it, and you alone can grant my request," answered
the Woodman.
Oz gave a low growl at this, but said, gruffly: "If you indeed
desire a heart, you must earn it."
"How?" asked the Woodman.
"Help Dorothy to kill the Wicked Witch of the West," replied the
Beast. "When the Witch is dead, come to me, and I will then give
you the biggest and kindest and most loving heart in all the Land
of Oz."
So the Tin Woodman was forced to return sorrowfully to his
friends and tell them of the terrible Beast he had seen. They all
wondered greatly at the many forms the Great Wizard could take upon
himself, and the Lion said:
"If he is a Beast when I go to see him, I shall roar my loudest,
and so frighten him that he will grant all I ask. And if he is the
lovely Lady, I shall pretend to spring upon her, and so compel her
to do my bidding. And if he is the great Head, he will be at my
mercy; for I will roll this head all about the room until he
promises to give us what we desire. So be of good cheer, my
friends, for all will yet be well."
The next morning the soldier with the green whiskers led the
Lion to the great Throne Room and bade him enter the presence of
Oz.
The Lion at once passed through the door, and glancing around
saw, to his surprise, that before the throne was a Ball of Fire, so
fierce and glowing he could scarcely bear to gaze upon it. His
first thought was that Oz had by accident caught on fire and was
burning up; but when he tried to go nearer, the heat was so intenseburning up; but when he tried to go nearer, the heat was so intense
that it singed his whiskers, and he crept back tremblingly to a
spot nearer the door.
Then a low, quiet voice came from the Ball of Fire, and these
were the words it spoke:
"I am Oz, the Great and Terrible. Who are you, and why do you
seek me?"
And the Lion answered, "I am a Cowardly Lion, afraid of
everything. I came to you to beg that you give me courage, so that
in reality I may become the King of Beasts, as men call me."
"Why should I give you courage?" demanded Oz.
"Because of all Wizards you are the greatest, and alone have
power to grant my request," answered the Lion.
The Ball of Fire burned fiercely for a time, and the voice said,
"Bring me proof that the Wicked Witch is dead, and that moment I
will give you courage. But as long as the Witch lives, you must
remain a coward."
The Lion was angry at this speech, but could say nothing in
reply, and while he stood silently gazing at the Ball of Fire it
became so furiously hot that he turned tail and rushed from the
room. He was glad to find his friends waiting for him, and told
them of his terrible interview with the Wizard.
"What shall we do now?" asked Dorothy sadly.
"There is only one thing we can do," returned the Lion, "and
that is to go to the land of the Winkies, seek out the Wicked
Witch, and destroy her."
"But suppose we cannot?" said the girl.
"Then I shall never have courage," declared the Lion.
"And I shall never have brains," added the Scarecrow.
"And I shall never have a heart," spoke the Tin of Woodman.
"And I shall never see Aunt Em and Uncle Henry," said Dorothy,
beginning to cry.
"Be careful!" cried the green girl. "The tears will fall on your
green silk gown and spot it."
So Dorothy dried her eyes and said, "I suppose we must try it;
but I am sure I do not want to kill anybody, even to see Aunt Em
again."
"I will go with you; but I'm too much of a coward to kill the
Witch," said the Lion.
"I will go too," declared the Scarecrow; "but I shall not be ofWitch," said the Lion.
"I will go too," declared the Scarecrow; "but I shall not be of
much help to you, I am such a fool."
"I haven't the heart to harm even a Witch," remarked the Tin
Woodman; "but if you go I certainly shall go with you."
Therefore it was decided to start upon their journey the next
morning, and the Woodman sharpened his axe on a green grindstone
and had all his joints properly oiled. The Scarecrow stuffed
himself with fresh straw and Dorothy put new paint on his eyes that
he might see better. The green girl, who was very kind to them,
filled Dorothy's basket with good things to eat, and fastened a
little bell around Toto's neck with a green ribbon.
They went to bed quite early and slept soundly until daylight,
when they were awakened by the crowing of a green cock that lived
in the back yard of the Palace, and the cackling of a hen that had
laid a green egg.The soldier with the green whiskers led them through the streets
of the Emerald City until they reached the room where the Guardian
of the Gates lived. This officer unlocked their spectacles to put
them back in his great box, and then he politely opened the gate
for our friends.
"Which road leads to the Wicked Witch of the West?" asked
Dorothy.
"There is no road," answered the Guardian of the Gates. "No one
ever wishes to go that way."
"How, then, are we to find her?" inquired the girl.
"That will be easy," replied the man, "for when she knows you
are in the country of the Winkies she will find you, and make you
all her slaves."
"Perhaps not," said the Scarecrow, "for we mean to destroy
her."
"Oh, that is different," said the Guardian of the Gates. "No one
has ever destroyed her before, so I naturally thought she would
make slaves of you, as she has of the rest. But take care; for she
is wicked and fierce, and may not allow you to destroy her. Keep to
the West, where the sun sets, and you cannot fail to find her."
They thanked him and bade him good-bye, and turned toward the
West, walking over fields of soft grass dotted here and there with
daisies and buttercups. Dorothy still wore the pretty silk dress
she had put on in the palace, but now, to her surprise, she found
it was no longer green, but pure white. The ribbon around Toto's
neck had also lost its green color and was as white as Dorothy's
dress.
The Emerald City was soon left far behind. As they advanced the
ground became rougher and hillier, for there were no farms nor
houses in this country of the West, and the ground was
untilled.
In the afternoon the sun shone hot in their faces, for there
were no trees to offer them shade; so that before night Dorothy and
Toto and the Lion were tired, and lay down upon the grass and fell
asleep, with the Woodman and the Scarecrow keeping watch.
Now the Wicked Witch of the West had but one eye, yet that was
as powerful as a telescope, and could see everywhere. So, as she