The Tin Woodman of Oz, Page 3

  Chapter Three

  Roundabout

  Woot the Wanderer slept that night in the tin castle of the Emperor ofthe Winkies and found his tin bed quite comfortable. Early the nextmorning he rose and took a walk through the gardens, where there weretin fountains and beds of curious tin flowers, and where tin birdsperched upon the branches of tin trees and sang songs that sounded likethe notes of tin whistles. All these wonders had been made by theclever Winkie tinsmiths, who wound the birds up every morning so thatthey would move about and sing.

  After breakfast the boy went into the throne room, where the Emperorwas having his tin joints carefully oiled by a servant, while otherservants were stuffing sweet, fresh straw into the body of theScarecrow.

  Woot watched this operation with much interest, for the Scarecrow'sbody was only a suit of clothes filled with straw. The coat wasbuttoned tight to keep the packed straw from falling out and a rope wastied around the waist to hold it in shape and prevent the straw fromsagging down. The Scarecrow's head was a gunnysack filled with bran, onwhich the eyes, nose and mouth had been painted. His hands were whitecotton gloves stuffed with fine straw. Woot noticed that even whencarefully stuffed and patted into shape, the straw man was awkward inhis movements and decidedly wobbly on his feet, so the boy wondered ifthe Scarecrow would be able to travel with them all the way to theforests of the Munchkin Country of Oz.

  The preparations made for this important journey were very simple. Aknapsack was filled with food and given Woot the Wanderer to carry uponhis back, for the food was for his use alone. The Tin Woodmanshouldered an axe which was sharp and brightly polished, and theScarecrow put the Emperor's oil-can in his pocket, that he might oilhis friend's joints should they need it.

  "Who will govern the Winkie Country during your absence?" asked the boy.

  "Why, the Country will run itself," answered the Emperor. "As a matterof fact, my people do not need an Emperor, for Ozma of Oz watches overthe welfare of all her subjects, including the Winkies. Like a goodmany kings and emperors, I have a grand title, but very little realpower, which allows me time to amuse myself in my own way. The peopleof Oz have but one law to obey, which is: 'Behave Yourself,' so it iseasy for them to abide by this Law, and you'll notice they behave verywell. But it is time for us to be off, and I am eager to start becauseI suppose that that poor Munchkin girl is anxiously awaiting my coming."

  "She's waited a long time already, seems to me," remarked theScarecrow, as they left the grounds of the castle and followed a paththat led eastward.

  "True," replied the Tin Woodman; "but I've noticed that the last end ofa wait, however long it has been, is the hardest to endure; so I musttry to make Nimmie Amee happy as soon as possible."

  "Ah; that proves you have a Kind heart," remarked the Scarecrow,approvingly.

  "It's too bad he hasn't a Loving Heart," said Woot. "This Tin Man isgoing to marry a nice girl through kindness, and not because he lovesher, and somehow that doesn't seem quite right."

  "Even so, I am not sure it isn't best for the girl," said theScarecrow, who seemed very intelligent for a straw man, "for a lovinghusband is not always kind, while a kind husband is sure to make anygirl content."

  "Nimmie Amee will become an Empress!" announced the Tin Woodman,proudly. "I shall have a tin gown made for her, with tin ruffles andtucks on it, and she shall have tin slippers, and tin earrings andbracelets, and wear a tin crown on her head. I am sure that willdelight Nimmie Amee, for all girls are fond of finery."

  "Are we going to the Munchkin Country by way of the Emerald City?"inquired the Scarecrow, who looked upon the Tin Woodman as the leaderof the party.

  "I think not," was the reply. "We are engaged upon a rather delicateadventure, for we are seeking a girl who fears her former lover hasforgotten her. It will be rather hard for me, you must admit, when Iconfess to Nimmie Amee that I have come to marry her because it is myduty to do so, and therefore the fewer witnesses there are to ourmeeting the better for both of us. After I have found Nimmie Amee andshe has managed to control her joy at our reunion, I shall take her tothe Emerald City and introduce her to Ozma and Dorothy, and to BetsyBobbin and Tiny Trot, and all our other friends; but, if I rememberrightly, poor Nimmie Amee has a sharp tongue when angry, and she may bea trifle angry with me, at first, because I have been so long in comingto her."

  "I can understand that," said Woot gravely. "But how can we get to thatpart of the Munchkin Country where you once lived without passingthrough the Emerald City?"

  "Why, that is easy," the Tin Man assured him.

  "I have a map of Oz in my pocket," persisted the boy, "and it showsthat the Winkie Country, where we now are, is at the west of Oz, andthe Munchkin Country at the east, while directly between them lies theEmerald City."

  "True enough; but we shall go toward the north, first of all, into theGillikin Country, and so pass around the Emerald City," explained theTin Woodman.

  "That may prove a dangerous journey," replied the boy. "I used to livein one of the top corners of the Gillikin Country, near to Oogaboo, andI have been told that in this northland country are many people whom itis not pleasant to meet. I was very careful to avoid them during myjourney south."

  "A Wanderer should have no fear," observed the Scarecrow, who waswobbling along in a funny, haphazard manner, but keeping pace with hisfriends.

  "Fear does not make one a coward," returned Woot, growing a little redin the face, "but I believe it is more easy to avoid danger than toovercome it. The safest way is the best way, even for one who is braveand determined."

  "Do not worry, for we shall not go far to the north," said the Emperor."My one idea is to avoid the Emerald City without going out of our waymore than is necessary. Once around the Emerald City we will turn southinto the Munchkin Country, where the Scarecrow and I are wellacquainted and have many friends."

  "I have traveled some in the Gillikin Country," remarked the Scarecrow,"and while I must say I have met some strange people there at times, Ihave never yet been harmed by them."

  "Well, it's all the same to me," said Woot, with assumed carelessness."Dangers, when they cannot be avoided, are often quite interesting, andI am willing to go wherever you two venture to go."

  So they left the path they had been following and began to traveltoward the northeast, and all that day they were in the pleasant WinkieCountry, and all the people they met saluted the Emperor with greatrespect and wished him good luck on his journey. At night they stoppedat a house where they were well entertained and where Woot was given acomfortable bed to sleep in.

  "Were the Scarecrow and I alone," said the Tin Woodman, "we wouldtravel by night as well as by day; but with a meat person in our party,we must halt at night to permit him to rest."

  "Meat tires, after a day's travel," added the Scarecrow, "while strawand tin never tire at all. Which proves," said he, "that we aresomewhat superior to people made in the common way."

  Woot could not deny that he was tired, and he slept soundly untilmorning, when he was given a good breakfast, smoking hot.

  "You two miss a great deal by not eating," he said to his companions.

  "It is true," responded the Scarecrow. "We miss suffering from hunger,when food cannot be had, and we miss a stomachache, now and then."

  As he said this, the Scarecrow glanced at the Tin Woodman, who noddedhis assent.

  All that second day they traveled steadily, entertaining one anotherthe while with stories of adventures they had formerly met andlistening to the Scarecrow recite poetry. He had learned a great manypoems from Professor Wogglebug and loved to repeat them wheneveranybody would listen to him. Of course Woot and the Tin Woodman nowlistened, because they could not do otherwise--unless they rudely ranaway from their stuffed comrade. One of the Scarecrow's recitations waslike this:

  "What sound is so sweet As the straw from the wheat When it crunkles so tender and low? It is yellow and bright, So it gives me delight To crunkle wherever I go.

  "S
weet, fresh, golden Straw! There is surely no flaw In a stuffing so clean and compact. It creaks when I walk, And it thrills when I talk, And its fragrance is fine, for a fact. "To cut me don't hurt,

  For I've no blood to squirt, And I therefore can suffer no pain; The straw that I use Doesn't lump up or bruise, Though it's pounded again and again!

  "I know it is said That my beautiful head Has brains of mixed wheat-straw and bran, But my thoughts are so good I'd not change, if I could, For the brains of a common meat man.

  "Content with my lot, I'm glad that I'm not Like others I meet day by day; If my insides get musty, Or mussed-up, or dusty, I get newly stuffed right away."