broken?"
The tinsmiths looked the Woodman over carefully and then
answered that they thought they could mend him so he would be as
good as ever. So they set to work in one of the big yellow rooms of
the castle and worked for three days and four nights, hammering and
twisting and bending and soldering and polishing and pounding at
the legs and body and head of the Tin Woodman, until at last he was
straightened out into his old form, and his joints worked as well
as ever. To be sure, there were several patches on him, but the
tinsmiths did a good job, and as the Woodman was not a vain man he
did not mind the patches at all.
When, at last, he walked into Dorothy's room and thanked her for
rescuing him, he was so pleased that he wept tears of joy, and
Dorothy had to wipe every tear carefully from his face with her
apron, so his joints would not be rusted. At the same time her own
tears fell thick and fast at the joy of meeting her old friend
again, and these tears did not need to be wiped away. As for the
Lion, he wiped his eyes so often with the tip of his tail that it
became quite wet, and he was obliged to go out into the courtyard
and hold it in the sun till it dried.
"If we only had the Scarecrow with us again," said the Tin
Woodman, when Dorothy had finished telling him everything that had
happened, "I should be quite happy."
"We must try to find him," said the girl.
So she called the Winkies to help her, and they walked all that
day and part of the next until they came to the tall tree in the
branches of which the Winged Monkeys had tossed the Scarecrow's
clothes.
It was a very tall tree, and the trunk was so smooth that no one
could climb it; but the Woodman said at once, "I'll chop it down,
and then we can get the Scarecrow's clothes."
Now while the tinsmiths had been at work mending the Woodman
himself, another of the Winkies, who was a goldsmith, had made an
axe-handle of solid gold and fitted it to the Woodman's axe,
instead of the old broken handle. Others polished the blade untilinstead of the old broken handle. Others polished the blade until
all the rust was removed and it glistened like burnished
silver.
As soon as he had spoken, the Tin Woodman began to chop, and in
a short time the tree fell over with a crash, whereupon the
Scarecrow's clothes fell out of the branches and rolled off on the
ground.
Dorothy picked them up and had the Winkies carry them back to
the castle, where they were stuffed with nice, clean straw; and
behold! here was the Scarecrow, as good as ever, thanking them over
and over again for saving him.
Now that they were reunited, Dorothy and her friends spent a few
happy days at the Yellow Castle, where they found everything they
needed to make them comfortable.
But one day the girl thought of Aunt Em, and said, "We must go
back to Oz, and claim his promise."
"Yes," said the Woodman, "at last I shall get my heart."
"And I shall get my brains," added the Scarecrow joyfully.
"And I shall get my courage," said the Lion thoughtfully.
"And I shall get back to Kansas," cried Dorothy, clapping her
hands. "Oh, let us start for the Emerald City tomorrow!"
This they decided to do. The next day they called the Winkies
together and bade them good-bye. The Winkies were sorry to have
them go, and they had grown so fond of the Tin Woodman that they
begged him to stay and rule over them and the Yellow Land of the
West. Finding they were determined to go, the Winkies gave Toto and
the Lion each a golden collar; and to Dorothy they presented a
beautiful bracelet studded with diamonds; and to the Scarecrow they
gave a gold-headed walking stick, to keep him from stumbling; and
to the Tin Woodman they offered a silver oil-can, inlaid with gold
and set with precious jewels.
Every one of the travelers made the Winkies a pretty speech in
return, and all shook hands with them until their arms ached.
Dorothy went to the Witch's cupboard to fill her basket with
food for the journey, and there she saw the Golden Cap. She tried
it on her own head and found that it fitted her exactly. She didit on her own head and found that it fitted her exactly. She did
not know anything about the charm of the Golden Cap, but she saw
that it was pretty, so she made up her mind to wear it and carry
her sunbonnet in the basket.
Then, being prepared for the journey, they all started for the
Emerald City; and the Winkies gave them three cheers and many good
wishes to carry with them.You will remember there was no road—not even a pathway—between
the castle of the Wicked Witch and the Emerald City. When the four
travelers went in search of the Witch she had seen them coming, and
so sent the Winged Monkeys to bring them to her. It was much harder
to find their way back through the big fields of buttercups and
yellow daisies than it was being carried. They knew, of course,
they must go straight east, toward the rising sun; and they started
off in the right way. But at noon, when the sun was over their
heads, they did not know which was east and which was west, and
that was the reason they were lost in the great fields. They kept
on walking, however, and at night the moon came out and shone
brightly. So they lay down among the sweet smelling yellow flowers
and slept soundly until morning—all but the Scarecrow and the Tin
Woodman.
The next morning the sun was behind a cloud, but they started
on, as if they were quite sure which way they were going.
"If we walk far enough," said Dorothy, "I am sure we shall
sometime come to some place."
But day by day passed away, and they still saw nothing before
them but the scarlet fields. The Scarecrow began to grumble a
bit.
"We have surely lost our way," he said, "and unless we find it
again in time to reach the Emerald City, I shall never get my
brains."
"Nor I my heart," declared the Tin Woodman. "It seems to me I
can scarcely wait till I get to Oz, and you must admit this is a
very long journey."
"You see," said the Cowardly Lion, with a whimper, "I haven't
the courage to keep tramping forever, without getting anywhere at
all."
Then Dorothy lost heart. She sat down on the grass and looked at
her companions, and they sat down and looked at her, and Toto found
that for the first time in his life he was too tired to chase a
butterfly that flew past his head. So he put out his tongue and
panted and looked at Dorothy as if to ask what they should do
next.
"Suppose we call the field mice," she suggested. "They could