The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

  Chapter XIII.

  The Rescue

  The Cowardly Lion was much pleased to hear that the Wicked Witchhad been melted by a bucket of water, and Dorothy at once unlockedthe gate of his prison and set him free. They went in together tothe castle, where Dorothy's first act was to call all the Winkiestogether and tell them that they were no longer slaves.

  There was great rejoicing among the yellow Winkies, for they hadbeen made to work hard during many years for the Wicked Witch, whohad always treated them with great cruelty. They kept this day asa holiday, then and ever after, and spent the time in feasting anddancing.

  "If our friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, were only withus," said the Lion, "I should be quite happy."

  "Don't you suppose we could rescue them?" asked the girl, anxiously.

  "We can try," answered the Lion.

  So they called the yellow Winkies and asked them if they would helpto rescue their friends, and the Winkies said that they would bedelighted to do all in their power for Dorothy, who had set them freefrom bondage. So she chose a number of the Winkies who looked as ifthey knew the most, and they all started away. They travelled thatday and part of the next until they came to the rocky plain where theTin Woodman lay, all battered and bent. His axe was near him, but theblade was rusted and the handle broken off short.

  The Winkies lifted him tenderly in their arms, and carried him backto the yellow castle again, Dorothy shedding a few tears by the wayat the sad plight of her old friend, and the Lion looking sober andsorry. When they reached the castle Dorothy said to the Winkies,

  "Are any of your people tinsmiths?"

  "Oh, yes; some of us are very good tinsmiths," they told her.

  "Then bring them to me," she said. And when the tinsmiths came,bringing with them all their tools in baskets, she enquired,

  "_The Tinsmiths worked for three days and fournights._"]

  "Can you straighten out those dents in the Tin Woodman, and bendhim back into shape again, and solder him together where he isbroken?"

  The tinsmiths looked the Woodman over carefully and then answeredthat 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 andworked for three days and four nights, hammering and twisting andbending and soldering and polishing and pounding at the legs and bodyand head of the Tin Woodman, until at last he was straightened out intohis old form, and his joints worked as well as ever. To be sure, therewere several patches on him, but the tinsmiths did a good job, and asthe 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 forrescuing him, he was so pleased that he wept tears of joy, andDorothy had to wipe every tear carefully from his face with herapron, so his joints would not be rusted. At the same time her owntears 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, hewiped his eyes so often with the tip of his tail that it became quitewet, and he was obliged to go out into the court-yard and hold it inthe 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 dayand part of the next until they came to the tall tree in the branchesof which the Winged Monkeys had tossed the Scarecrow's clothes.

  It was a very tall tree, and the trunk was so smooth that no onecould 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-handleof solid gold and fitted it to the Woodman's axe, instead of theold broken handle. Others polished the blade until all the rust wasremoved and it glistened like burnished silver.

  As soon as he had spoken, the Tin Woodman began to chop, and in ashort time the tree fell over with a crash, when the Scarecrow'sclothes fell out of the branches and rolled off on the ground.

  Dorothy picked them up and had the Winkies carry them back to thecastle, where they were stuffed with nice, clean straw; and, behold!here was the Scarecrow, as good as ever, thanking them over and overagain for saving him.

  Now they were reunited, Dorothy and her friends spent a few happy daysat the Yellow Castle, where they found everything they needed to makethem 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 to-morrow!"

  This they decided to do. The next day they called the Winkies togetherand bade them good-bye. The Winkies were sorry to have them go, andthey had grown so fond of the Tin Woodman that they begged him to stayand rule over them and the Yellow Land of the West. Finding they weredetermined to go, the Winkies gave Toto and the Lion each a goldencollar; and to Dorothy they presented a beautiful bracelet, studdedwith diamonds; and to the Scarecrow they gave a gold-headed walkingstick, to keep him from stumbling; and to the Tin Woodman they offereda silver oil-can, inlaid with gold and set with precious jewels.

  Every one of the travellers made the Winkies a pretty speech inreturn, and all shook hands with them until their arms ached.

  Dorothy went to the Witch's cupboard to fill her basket with food forthe journey, and there she saw the Golden Cap. She tried it on her ownhead and found that it fitted her exactly. She did not know anythingabout the charm of the Golden Cap, but she saw that it was pretty, soshe made up her mind to wear it and carry her sunbonnet in the basket.

  Then, being prepared for the journey, they all started for theEmerald City; and the Winkies gave them three cheers and many goodwishes to carry with them.