The Cowardly Lion was much pleased to hear that the WickedWitch had been melted by a bucket of water, and Dorothy at onceunlocked the gate of his prison and set him free. They went intogether to the castle, where Dorothy's first act was to call allthe Winkies together and tell them that they were no longer slaves.

There was great rejoicing among the yellow Winkies, for theyhad been made to work hard during many years for the Wicked Witch,who had always treated them with great cruelty. They kept thisday as a holiday, then and ever after, and spent the time infeasting and dancing.

"If our friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, were onlywith us," 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 wouldhelp to rescue their friends, and the Winkies said that they wouldbe delighted to do all in their power for Dorothy, who had set themfree from bondage. So she chose a number of the Winkies who lookedas if they knew the most, and they all started away. They traveledthat day and part of the next until they came to the rocky plainwhere the Tin Woodman lay, all battered and bent. His axe was near him,but the blade was rusted and the handle broken off short.

The Winkies lifted him tenderly in their arms, and carried himback to the Yellow Castle again, Dorothy shedding a few tears bythe way at the sad plight of her old friend, and the Lion lookingsober and sorry. When they reached the castle Dorothy said to theWinkies:

"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 inquired,"Can you straighten out those dents in the Tin Woodman, and bend himback into shape again, and solder him together where he is broken?"

The tinsmiths looked the Woodman over carefully and thenanswered that they thought they could mend him so he would be asgood as ever. So they set to work in one of the big yellow roomsof the castle and worked for three days and four nights, hammeringand twisting and bending and soldering and polishing and poundingat the legs and body and head of the Tin Woodman, until at last hewas straightened out into his old form, and his joints worked aswell as ever. To be sure, there were several patches on him, butthe tinsmiths did a good job, and as the Woodman was not a vainman he did not mind the patches at all.

When, at last, he walked into Dorothy's room and thanked herfor rescuing him, he was so pleased that he wept tears of joy,and Dorothy had to wipe every tear carefully from his face withher apron, so his joints would not be rusted. At the same timeher own tears fell thick and fast at the joy of meeting her oldfriend again, and these tears did not need to be wiped away. Asfor the Lion, he wiped his eyes so often with the tip of his tailthat it became quite wet, and he was obliged to go out into thecourtyard and hold it in the sun till it dried.

"If we only had the Scarecrow with us again," said theTin Woodman, when Dorothy had finished telling him everythingthat 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 branches ofwhich the Winged Monkeys had tossed the carecrow's clothes.

It was a very tall tree, and the trunk was so smooth that noone could climb it; but the Woodman said at once, "I'll chop itdown, and then we can get the Scarecrow's clothes."

Now while the tinsmiths had been at work mending the Woodmanhimself, another of the Winkies, who was a goldsmith, had made anaxe-handle of solid gold and fitted it to the Woodman's axe,instead of the old broken handle. Others polished the blade untilall the rust was removed 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, whereupon 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 tothe castle, where they were stuffed with nice, clean straw; andbehold! here was the Scarecrow, as good as ever, thanking themover and over again for saving him.

Now that they were reunited, Dorothy and her friends spent afew happy days at the Yellow Castle, where they found everythingthey needed to make them comfortable.

But one day the girl thought of Aunt Em, and said, "We must goback 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 Winkiestogether and bade them good-bye. The Winkies were sorry to havethem go, and they had grown so fond of the Tin Woodman that theybegged 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 Lioneach a golden collar; and to Dorothy they presented a beautiful braceletstudded with diamonds; and to the Scarecrow they gave a gold-headedwalking stick, to keep him from stumbling; and to the Tin Woodman theyoffered a silver oil-can, inlaid with gold and set with precious jewels.

Every one of the travelers 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 withfood for the journey, and there she saw the Golden Cap. She triedit on her own head and found that it fitted her exactly. She didnot know anything about the charm of the Golden Cap, but she sawthat it was pretty, so she made up her mind to wear it and carryher 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.