The Classic Children's Literature Collection: 39 Classic Novels

by Various Authors

  Ozma offered to take them all in the Red Wagon to a place as near to the great Munchkin forest as a wagon could get. The Red Wagon was big enough to seat them all, and so, bidding good-bye to Jinjur, who gave Woot a basket of ripe cream-puffs and caramels to take with him, Ozma commanded the Wooden Sawhorse to start, and the strange creature moved swiftly over the lanes and presently came to the Road of Yellow Bricks. This road led straight to a dense forest, where the path was too narrow for the Red Wagon to proceed farther, so here the party separated.

  Ozma and Dorothy and Toto returned to the Emerald City, after wishing their friends a safe and successful journey, while the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, Woot the Wanderer and Polychrome, the Rainbow’s Daughter, prepared to push their way through the thick forest. However, these forest paths were well known to the Tin Man and the Scarecrow, who felt quite at home among the trees.

  “I was born in this grand forest,” said Nick Chopper, the tin Emperor, speaking proudly, “and it was here that the Witch enchanted my axe and I lost different parts of my meat body until I became all tin. Here, also—for it is a big forest—Nimmie Amee lived with the Wicked Witch, and at the other edge of the trees stands the cottage of my friend Ku-Klip, the famous tinsmith who made my present beautiful form.”

  “He must be a clever workman,” declared Woot, admiringly.

  “He is simply wonderful,” declared the Tin Woodman.

  “I shall be glad to make his acquaintance,” said Woot.

  “If you wish to meet with real cleverness,” remarked the Scarecrow, “you should visit the Munchkin farmer who first made me. I won’t say that my friend the Emperor isn’t all right for a tin man, but any judge of beauty can understand that a Scarecrow is far more artistic and refined.”

  “You are too soft and flimsy,” said the Tin Woodman.

  “You are too hard and stiff,” said the Scarecrow, and this was as near to quarreling as the two friends ever came. Polychrome laughed at them both, as well she might, and Woot hastened to change the subject.

  At night they all camped underneath the trees. The boy ate cream-puffs for supper and offered Polychrome some, but she preferred other food and at daybreak sipped the dew that was clustered thick on the forest flowers. Then they tramped onward again, and presently the Scarecrow paused and said:

  “It was on this very spot that Dorothy and I first met the Tin Woodman, who was rusted so badly that none of his joints would move. But after we had oiled him up, he was as good as new and accompanied us to the Emerald City.”

  “Ah, that was a sad experience,” asserted the Tin Woodman soberly. “I was caught in a rainstorm while chopping down a tree for exercise, and before I realized it, I was firmly rusted in every joint. There I stood, axe in hand, but unable to move, for days and weeks and months! Indeed, I have never known exactly how long the time was; but finally along came Dorothy and I was saved. See! This is the very tree I was chopping at the time I rusted.”

  “You cannot be far from your old home, in that case,” said Woot.

  “No; my little cabin stands not a great way off, but there is no occasion for us to visit it. Our errand is with Nimmie Amee, and her house is somewhat farther away, to the left of us.”

  “Didn’t you say she lives with a Wicked Witch, who makes her a slave?” asked the boy.

  “She did, but she doesn’t,” was the reply. “I am told the Witch was destroyed when Dorothy’s house fell on her, so now Nimmie Amee must live all alone. I haven’t seen her, of course, since the Witch was crushed, for at that time I was standing rusted in the forest and had been there a long time, but the poor girl must have felt very happy to be free from her cruel mistress.”

  “Well,” said the Scarecrow, “let’s travel on and find Nimmie Amee. Lead on, your Majesty, since you know the way, and we will follow.”

  So the Tin Woodman took a path that led through the thickest part of the forest, and they followed it for some time. The light was dim here, because vines and bushes and leafy foliage were all about them, and often the Tin Man had to push aside the branches that obstructed their way, or cut them off with his axe. After they had proceeded some distance, the Emperor suddenly stopped short and exclaimed: “Good gracious!”

  The Scarecrow, who was next, first bumped into his friend and then peered around his tin body, and said in a tone of wonder:

  “Well, I declare!”

  Woot the Wanderer pushed forward to see what was the matter, and cried out in astonishment: “For goodness’ sake!”

  Then the three stood motionless, staring hard, until Polychrome’s merry laughter rang out behind them and aroused them from their stupor.

  In the path before them stood a tin man who was the exact duplicate of the Tin Woodman. He was of the same size, he was jointed in the same manner, and he was made of shining tin from top to toe. But he stood immovable, with his tin jaws half parted and his tin eyes turned upward. In one of his hands was held a long, gleaming sword. Yes, there was the difference, the only thing that distinguished him from the Emperor of the Winkies. This tin man bore a sword, while the Tin Woodman bore an axe.

  “It’s a dream; it must be a dream!” gasped Woot.

  “That’s it, of course,” said the Scarecrow; “there couldn’t be two Tin Woodmen.”

  “No,” agreed Polychrome, dancing nearer to the stranger, “this one is a Tin Soldier. Don’t you see his sword?”

  The Tin Woodman cautiously put out one tin hand and felt of his double’s arm. Then he said in a voice that trembled with emotion:

  “Who are you, friend?”

  There was no reply

  “Can’t you see he’s rusted, just as you were once?” asked Polychrome, laughing again. “Here, Nick Chopper, lend me your oil-can a minute!”

  The Tin Woodman silently handed her his oil-can, without which he never traveled, and Polychrome first oiled the stranger’s tin jaws and then worked them gently to and fro until the Tin Soldier said:

  “That’s enough. Thank you. I can now talk. But please oil my other joints.”

  Woot seized the oil-can and did this, but all the others helped wiggle the soldier’s joints as soon as they were oiled, until they moved freely.

  The Tin Soldier seemed highly pleased at his release. He strutted up and down the path, saying in a high, thin voice:

  “The Soldier is a splendid man

  When marching on parade,

  And when he meets the enemy

  He never is afraid.

  He rights the wrongs of nations,

  His country’s flag defends,

  The foe he’ll fight with great delight,

  But seldom fights his friends.”

  Chapter Sixteen.Captain Fyter

  “Are you really a soldier?” asked Woot, when they had all watched this strange tin person parade up and down the path and proudly flourish his sword.

  “I was a soldier,” was the reply, “but I’ve been a prisoner to Mr. Rust so long that I don’t know exactly what I am.”

  “But—dear me!” cried the Tin Woodman, sadly perplexed; “how came you to be made of tin?”

  “That,” answered the Soldier, “is a sad, sad story I was in love with a beautiful Munchkin girl, who lived with a Wicked Witch. The Witch did not wish me to marry the girl, so she enchanted my sword, which began hacking me to pieces. When I lost my legs I went to the tinsmith, Ku-Klip, and he made me some tin legs. When I lost my arms, Ku-Klip made me tin arms, and when I lost my head he made me this fine one out of tin. It was the same way with my body, and finally I was all tin. But I was not unhappy, for Ku-Klip made a good job of me, having had experience in making another tin man before me.”

  “Yes,” observed the Tin Woodman, “it was Ku-Klip who made me. But, tell me, what was the name of the Munchkin girl you were in love with?”

  “She is called Nimmie Amee,”
said the Tin Soldier.

  Hearing this, they were all so astonished that they were silent for a time, regarding the stranger with wondering looks. Finally the Tin Woodman ventured to ask:

  “And did Nimmie Amee return your love?”

  “Not at first,” admitted the Soldier. “When first I marched into the forest and met her, she was weeping over the loss of her former sweetheart, a woodman whose name was Nick Chopper.”

  “That is me,” said the Tin Woodman.

  “She told me he was nicer than a soldier, because he was all made of tin and shone beautifully in the sun. She said a tin man appealed to her artistic instincts more than an ordinary meat man, as I was then. But I did not despair, because her tin sweetheart had disappeared, and could not be found. And finally Nimmie Amee permitted me to call upon her and we became friends. It was then that the Wicked Witch discovered me and became furiously angry when I said I wanted to marry the girl. She enchanted my sword, as I said, and then my troubles began. When I got my tin legs, Nimmie Amee began to take an interest in me; when I got my tin arms, she began to like me better than ever, and when I was all made of tin, she said I looked like her dear Nick Chopper and she would be willing to marry me.

  “The day of our wedding was set, and it turned out to be a rainy day. Nevertheless I started out to get Nimmie Amee, because the Witch had been absent for some time, and we meant to elope before she got back. As I traveled the forest paths the rain wetted my joints, but I paid no attention to this because my thoughts were all on my wedding with beautiful Nimmie Amee and I could think of nothing else until suddenly my legs stopped moving. Then my arms rusted at the joints and I became frightened and cried for help, for now I was unable to oil myself. No one heard my calls and before long my jaws rusted, and I was unable to utter another sound. So I stood helpless in this spot, hoping some wanderer would come my way and save me. But this forest path is seldom used, and I have been standing here so long that I have lost all track of time. In my mind I composed poetry and sang songs, but not a sound have I been able to utter. But this desperate condition has now been relieved by your coming my way and I must thank you for my rescue.”

  “This is wonderful!” said the Scarecrow, heaving a stuffy, long sigh. “I think Ku-Klip was wrong to make two tin men, just alike, and the strangest thing of all is that both you tin men fell in love with the same girl.”

  “As for that,” returned the Soldier, seriously, “I must admit I lost my ability to love when I lost my meat heart. Ku-Klip gave me a tin heart, to be sure, but it doesn’t love anything, as far as I can discover, and merely rattles against my tin ribs, which makes me wish I had no heart at all.”

  “Yet, in spite of this condition, you were going to marry Nimmie Amee?”

  “Well, you see I had promised to marry her, and I am an honest man and always try to keep my promises. I didn’t like to disappoint the poor girl, who had been disappointed by one tin man already.”

  “That was not my fault,” declared the Emperor of the Winkies, and then he related how he, also, had rusted in the forest and after a long time had been rescued by Dorothy and the Scarecrow and had traveled with them to the Emerald City in search of a heart that could love.

  “If you have found such a heart, sir,” said the Soldier, “I will gladly allow you to marry Nimmie Amee in my place.”

  “If she loves you best, sir,” answered the Woodman, “I shall not interfere with your wedding her. For, to be quite frank with you, I cannot yet love Nimmie Amee as I did before I became tin.”

  “Still, one of you ought to marry the poor girl,” remarked Woot; “and, if she likes tin men, there is not much choice between you. Why don’t you draw lots for her?”

  “That wouldn’t be right,” said the Scarecrow.

  “The girl should be permitted to choose her own husband,” asserted Polychrome. “You should both go to her and allow her to take her choice. Then she will surely be happy.”

  “That, to me, seems a very fair arrangement,” said the Tin Soldier.

  “I agree to it,” said the Tin Woodman, shaking the hand of his twin to show the matter was settled. “May I ask your name, sir?” he continued.

  “Before I was so cut up,” replied the other, “I was known as Captain Fyter, but afterward I was merely called ‘The Tin Soldier.’”

  “Well, Captain, if you are agreeable, let us now go to Nimmie Amee’s house and let her choose between us.”

  “Very well; and if we meet the Witch, we will both fight her—you with your axe and I with my sword.”

  “The Witch is destroyed,” announced the Scarecrow, and as they walked away he told the Tin Soldier of much that had happened in the Land of Oz since he had stood rusted in the forest.

  “I must have stood there longer than I had imagined,” he said thoughtfully.

  Chapter Seventeen.The Workshop of Ku-Klip

  It was not more than a two hours’ journey to the house where Nimmie Amee had lived, but when our travelers arrived there they found the place deserted. The door was partly off its hinges, the roof had fallen in at the rear and the interior of the cottage was thick with dust. Not only was the place vacant, but it was evident that no one had lived there for a long time.

  “I suppose,” said the Scarecrow, as they all stood looking wonderingly at the ruined house, “that after the Wicked Witch was destroyed, Nimmie Amee became lonely and went somewhere else to live.”

  “One could scarcely expect a young girl to live all alone in a forest,” added Woot. “She would want company, of course, and so I believe she has gone where other people live.”

  “And perhaps she is still crying her poor little heart out because no tin man comes to marry her,” suggested Polychrome.

  “Well, in that case, it is the clear duty of you two tin persons to seek Nimmie Amee until you find her,” declared the Scarecrow.

  “I do not know where to look for the girl,” said the Tin Soldier, “for I am almost a stranger to this part of the country.”

  “I was born here,” said the Tin Woodman, “but the forest has few inhabitants except the wild beasts. I cannot think of anyone living near here with whom Nimmie Amee might care to live.”

  “Why not go to Ku-Klip and ask him what has become of the girl?” proposed Polychrome.

  That struck them all as being a good suggestion, so once more they started to tramp through the forest, taking the direct path to Ku-Klip’s house, for both the tin twins knew the way, having followed it many times.

  Ku-Klip lived at the far edge of the great forest, his house facing the broad plains of the Munchkin Country that lay to the eastward. But, when they came to this residence by the forest’s edge, the tinsmith was not at home.

  It was a pretty place, all painted dark blue with trimmings of lighter blue. There was a neat blue fence around the yard and several blue benches had been placed underneath the shady blue trees which marked the line between forest and plain. There was a blue lawn before the house, which was a good sized building. Ku-Klip lived in the front part of the house and had his work-shop in the back part, where he had also built a lean-to addition, in order to give him more room.

  Although they found the tinsmith absent on their arrival, there was smoke coming out of his chimney, which proved that he would soon return.

  “And perhaps Nimmie Amee will be with him,” said the Scarecrow in a cheerful voice.

  While they waited, the Tin Woodman went to the door of the workshop and, finding it unlocked, entered and looked curiously around the room where he had been made.

  “It seems almost like home to me,” hie told his friends, who had followed him in. “The first time I came here I had lost a leg, so I had to carry it in my hand while I hopped on the other leg all the way from the place in the forest where the enchanted axe cut me. I remember that old Ku-Klip carefully put my meat leg into a barrel—I think that is the
same barrel, still standing in the corner yonder—and then at once he began to make a tin leg for me. He worked fast and with skill, and I was much interested in the job.”

  “My experience was much the same,” said the Tin Soldier. “I used to bring all the parts of me, which the enchanted sword had cut away, here to the tinsmith, and Ku-Klip would put them into the barrel.”

  “I wonder,” said Woot, “if those cast-off parts of you two unfortunates are still in that barrel in the corner?”

  “I suppose so.” replied the Tin Woodman. “In the Land of Oz no part of a living creature can ever be destroyed.”

  “If that is true, how was that Wicked Witch destroyed?” inquired Woot.

  “Why, she was very old and was all dried up and withered before Oz became a fairyland,” explained the Scarecrow. “Only her magic arts had kept her alive so long, and when Dorothy’s house fell upon her she just turned to dust, and was blown away and scattered by the wind. I do not think, however, that the parts cut away from these two young men could ever be entirely destroyed and, if they are still in those barrels, they are likely to be just the same as when the enchanted axe or sword severed them.”

  “It doesn’t matter, however,” said the Tin Woodman; “our tin bodies are more brilliant and durable, and quite satisfy us.”

  “Yes, the tin bodies are best,” agreed the Tin Soldier. “Nothing can hurt them.”