The Emperor of the Winkies paused in his story toreach for an oil-can, with which he carefully oiled thejoints in his tin throat, for his voice had begun tosqueak a little. Woot the Wanderer, having satisfiedhis hunger, watched this oiling process with muchcuriosity, but begged the Tin Man to go on with histale.

"The Witch with the Silver Shoes hated me for havingdefied her," resumed the Emperor, his voice nowsounding clear as a bell, "and she insisted that NimmieAmee should never marry me. Therefore she made theenchanted axe cut off my other arm, and the tinsmithalso replaced that member with tin, including thesefinely-jointed hands that you see me using. But, alas!after that, the axe, still enchanted by the cruelWitch, cut my body in two, so that I fell to theground. Then the Witch, who was watching from a near-bybush, rushed up and seized the axe and chopped my bodyinto several small pieces, after which, thinking thatat last she had destroyed me, she ran away laughing inwicked glee.

"But Nimmie Amee found me. She picked up my arms andlegs and head, and made a bundle of them and carriedthem to the tinsmith, who set to work and made me afine body of pure tin. When he had joined the arms andlegs to the body, and set my head in the tin collar, Iwas a much better man than ever, for my body could notache or pain me, and I was so beautiful and bright thatI had no need of clothing. Clothing is always anuisance, because it soils and tears and has to bereplaced; but my tin body only needs to be oiled andpolished.

"Nimmie Amee still declared she would marry me, asshe still loved me in spite of the Witch's evil deeds.The girl declared I would make the brightest husband inall the world, which was quite true. However, theWicked Witch was not yet defeated. When I returned tomy work the axe slipped and cut off my head, which wasthe only meat part of me then remaining. Moreover, theold woman grabbed up my severed head and carried itaway with her and hid it. But Nimmie Amee came into theforest and found me wandering around helplessly,because I could not see where to go, and she led me tomy friend the tinsmith. The faithful fellow at once setto work to make me a tin head, and he had justcompleted it when Nimmie Amee came running up with myold head, which she had stolen from the Witch. But, onreflection, I considered the tin head far superior tothe meat one -- I am wearing it yet, so you can see itsbeauty and grace of outline -- and the girl agreed withme that a man all made of tin was far more perfect thanone formed of different materials. The tinsmith was asproud of his workmanship as I was, and for three wholedays, all admired me and praised my beauty. "Being nowcompletely formed of tin, I had no more fear of theWicked Witch, for she was powerless to injure me.Nimmie Amee said we must be married at once, for thenshe could come to my cottage and live with me and keepme bright and sparkling.

"'I am sure, my dear Nick,' said the brave andbeautiful girl -- my name was then Nick Chopper, youshould be told -- 'that you will make the best husbandany girl could have. I shall not be obliged to cook foryou, for now you do not eat; I shall not have to makeyour bed, for tin does not tire or require sleep; whenwe go to a dance, you will not get weary before themusic stops and say you want to go home. All day long,while you are chopping wood in the forest, I shall beable to amuse myself in my own way -- a privilege fewwives enjoy. There is no temper in your new head, soyou will not get angry with me. Finally, I shall takepride in being the wife of the only live Tin Woodman inall the world!' Which shows that Nimmie Amee was aswise as she was brave and beautiful."

"I think she was a very nice girl," said Woot theWanderer. "But, tell me, please, why were you notkilled when you were chopped to pieces?"

"In the Land of Oz," replied the Emperor, "no one canever be killed. A man with a wooden leg or a tin leg isstill the same man; and, as I lost parts of my meatbody by degrees, I always remained the same person asin the beginning, even though in the end I was all tinand no meat."

"I see," said the boy, thoughtfully. "And did youmarry Nimmie Amee?"

"No," answered the Tin Woodman, "I did not. She saidshe still loved me, but I found that I no longer lovedher. My tin body contained no heart, and without aheart no one can love. So the Wicked Witch conquered inthe end, and when I left the Munchkin Country of Oz,the poor girl was still the slave of the Witch and hadto do her bidding day and night."

"Where did you go?" asked Woot.

"Well, I first started out to find a heart, so Icould love Nimmie Amee again; but hearts are morescarce than one would think. One day, in a big forestthat was strange to me, my joints suddenly becamerusted, because I had forgotten to oil them. There Istood, unable to move hand or foot. And there Icontinued to stand -- while days came and went -- untilDorothy and the Scarecrow came along and rescued me.They oiled my joints and set me free, and I've takengood care never to rust again."

"Who was this Dorothy?" questioned the Wanderer.

"A little girl who happened to be in a house when itwas carried by a cyclone all the way from Kansas to theLand of Oz. When the house fell, in the MunchkinCountry, it fortunately landed on the Wicked Witch andsmashed her flat. It was a big house, and I think theWitch is under it yet."

"No," said the Scarecrow, correcting him, "Dorothysays the Witch turned to dust, and the wind scatteredthe dust in every direction."

"Well," continued the Tin Woodman, "after meeting theScarecrow and Dorothy, I went with them to the EmeraldCity, where the Wizard of Oz gave me a heart. But theWizard's stock of hearts was low, and he gave me a KindHeart instead of a Loving Heart, so that I could notlove Nimmie Amee any more than I did when I washeartless."

"Couldn't the Wizard give you a heart that was bothKind and Loving?" asked the boy.

"No; that was what I asked for, but he said he was soshort on hearts, just then, that there was but one instock, and I could take that or none at all. So Iaccepted it, and I must say that for its kind it is avery good heart indeed."

"It seems to me," said Woot, musingly, "that theWizard fooled you. It can't be a very Kind Heart, youknow."

"Why not?" demanded the Emperor.

"Because it was unkind of you to desert the girl wholoved you, and who had been faithful and true to youwhen you were in trouble. Had the heart the Wizard gaveyou been a Kind Heart, you would have gone back homeand made the beautiful Munchkin girl your wife, andthen brought her here to be an Empress and live in yoursplendid tin castle."

The Tin Woodman was so surprised at this frank speechthat for a time he did nothing but stare hard at theboy Wanderer. But the Scarecrow wagged his stuffed headand said in a positive tone:

"This boy is right. I've often wondered, myself, whyyou didn't go back and find that poor Munchkin girl."

Then the Tin Woodman stared hard at his friend theScarecrow. But finally he said in a serious tone ofvoice:

"I must admit that never before have I thought ofsuch a thing as finding Nimmie Amee and making herEmpress of the Winkies. But it is surely not too late,even now, to do this, for the girl must still be livingin the Munchkin Country. And, since this strangeWanderer has reminded me of Nimmie Amee, I believe itis my duty to set out and find her. Surely it is notthe girl's fault that I no longer love her, and so, ifI can make her happy, it is proper that I should do so,and in this way reward her for her faithfulness."

"Quite right, my friend!" agreed the Scarecrow.

"Will you accompany me on this errand?" asked the TinEmperor.

"Of course," said the Scarecrow.

"And will you take me along?" pleaded Woot theWanderer in an eager voice.

"To be sure," said the Tin Woodman, "if you care tojoin our party. It was you who first told me it was myduty to find and marry Nimmie Amee, and I'd like you toknow that Nick Chopper, the Tin Emperor of the Winkies,is a man who never shirks his duty, once it is pointedout to him."

"It ought to be a pleasure, as well as a duty, if thegirl is so beautiful," said Woot, well pleased with theidea of the adventure.

"Beautiful things may be admired, if not loved,"asserted the Tin Man. "Flowers are beautiful, forinstance, but we are not inclined to marry them. Duty,on the contrary, is a bugle call to action, whether youare inclined to act, or not. In this case, I obey thebugle call of duty."

"When shall we start?" inquired the Scarecrow, whowas always glad to embark upon a new adventure. "Idon't hear any bugle, but when do we go?"

"As soon as we can get ready," answered the Emperor."I'll call my servants at once and order them to makepreparations for our journey."