Woot the Wanderer slept that night in the tin castle ofthe Emperor of the Winkies and found his tin bed quitecomfortable. Early the next morning he rose and took awalk through the gardens, where there were tinfountains and beds of curious tin flowers, and wheretin birds perched upon the branches of tin trees andsang songs that sounded like the notes of tin whistles.All these wonders had been made by the clever Winkietinsmiths, 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 Emperor was having his tin joints carefullyoiled by a servant, while other servants were stuffingsweet, fresh straw into the body of the Scarecrow.

Woot watched this operation with much interest, forthe Scarecrow's body was only a suit of clothes filledwith straw. The coat was buttoned tight to keep thepacked straw from falling out and a rope was tiedaround the waist to hold it in shape and prevent thestraw from sagging down. The Scarecrow's head was agunnysack filled with bran, on which the eyes, nose andmouth had been painted. His hands were white cottongloves stuffed with fine straw. Woot noticed that evenwhen carefully stuffed and patted into shape, the strawman was awkward in his movements and decidedly wobblyon his feet, so the boy wondered if the Scarecrow wouldbe able to travel with them all the way to the forestsof the Munchkin Country of Oz.

The preparations made for this important journey werevery simple. A knapsack was filled with food and givenWoot the Wanderer to carry upon his back, for the foodwas for his use alone. The Tin Woodman shouldered anaxe which was sharp and brightly polished, and theScarecrow put the Emperor's oil-can in his pocket, thathe might oil his friend's joints should they need it.

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

"Why, the Country will run itself," answered theEmperor. "As a matter of fact, my people do not need anEmperor, for Ozma of Oz watches over the welfare of allher subjects, including the Winkies. Like a good manykings and emperors, I have a grand title, but verylittle real power, which allows me time to amuse myselfin my own way. The people of Oz have but one law toobey, which is: 'Behave Yourself,' so it is easy forthem to abide by this Law, and you'll notice theybehave very well. But it is time for us to be off, andI am eager to start because I suppose that that poorMunchkin girl is anxiously awaiting my coming."

"She's waited a long time already, seems to me,"remarked the Scarecrow, as they left the grounds of thecastle and followed a path that led eastward.

"True," replied the Tin Woodman; "but I've noticedthat the last end of a wait, however long it has been,is the hardest to endure; so I must try to make NimmieAmee happy as soon as possible."

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

"It's too bad he hasn't a Loving Heart," said Woot."This Tin Man is going to marry a nice girl throughkindness, and not because he loves her, and somehowthat doesn't seem quite right."

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

"Nimmie Amee will become an Empress!" announced theTin Woodman, proudly. "I shall have a tin gown made forher, with tin ruffles and tucks on it, and she shallhave tin slippers, and tin earrings and bracelets, andwear 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 theEmerald City?" inquired the Scarecrow, who looked uponthe Tin Woodman as the leader of the party.

"I think not," was the reply. "We are engaged upon arather delicate adventure, for we are seeking a girlwho fears her former lover has forgotten her. It willbe rather hard for me, you must admit, when I confessto Nimmie Amee that I have come to marry her because itis my duty to do so, and therefore the fewer witnessesthere are to our meeting the better for both of us.After I have found Nimmie Amee and she has managed tocontrol her joy at our reunion, I shall take her to theEmerald City and introduce her to Ozma and Dorothy, andto Betsy Bobbin and Tiny Trot, and all our otherfriends; but, if I remember rightly, poor Nimmie Ameehas a sharp tongue when angry, and she may be a trifleangry with me, at first, because I have been so long incoming to her."

"I can understand that," said Woot gravely. "But howcan we get to that part of the Munchkin Country whereyou once lived without passing through the EmeraldCity?"

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

"I have a map of Oz in my pocket," persisted the boy,"and it shows that the Winkie Country, where we noware, is at the west of Oz, and the Munchkin Country atthe east, while directly between them lies the EmeraldCity."

"True enough; but we shall go toward the north, firstof all, into the Gillikin Country, and so pass aroundthe Emerald City," explained the Tin Woodman.

"That may prove a dangerous journey," replied theboy. "I used to live in one of the top corners of theGillikin Country, near to Oogaboo, and I have been toldthat in this northland country are many people whom itis not pleasant to meet. I was very careful to avoidthem during my journey south."

"A Wanderer should have no fear," observed theScarecrow, who was wobbling along in a funny, haphazardmanner, but keeping pace with his friends.

"Fear does not make one a coward," returned Woot,growing a little red in the face, "but I believe it ismore easy to avoid danger than to overcome it. Thesafest 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 EmeraldCity without going out of our way more than isnecessary. Once around the Emerald City we will turnsouth into the Munchkin Country, where the Scarecrowand I are well acquainted and have many friends."

"I have traveled some in the Gillikin Country,"remarked the Scarecrow, "and while I must say I havemet some strange people there at times, I have neveryet been harmed by them."

"Well, it's all the same to me," said Woot, withassumed carelessness. "Dangers, when they cannot beavoided, are often quite interesting, and I am willingto go wherever you two venture to go."

So they left the path they had been following andbegan to travel toward the northeast, and all that daythey were in the pleasant Winkie Country, and all thepeople they met saluted the Emperor with great respectand wished him good luck on his journey. At night theystopped at a house where they were well entertained andwhere Woot was given a comfortable bed to sleep in.

"Were the Scarecrow and I alone," said the TinWoodman, "we would travel by night as well as by day;but with a meat person in our party, we must halt atnight to permit him to rest."

"Meat tires, after a day's travel," added theScarecrow, "while straw and tin never tire at all.Which proves," said he, "that we are somewhat superiorto people made in the common way."

Woot could not deny that he was tired, and he sleptsoundly until morning, when he was given a goodbreakfast, smoking hot.

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

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

As he said this, the Scarecrow glanced at the TinWoodman, who nodded his assent.

All that second day they traveled steadily,entertaining one another the while with stories ofadventures they had formerly met and listening to theScarecrow recite poetry. He had learned a great manypoems from Professor Wogglebug and loved to repeat themwhenever anybody would listen to him. Of course Wootand the Tin Woodman now listened, because they couldnot do otherwise -- unless they rudely ran away fromtheir stuffed comrade. One of the Scarecrow'srecitations was like this:

"What sound is so sweetAs the straw from the wheatWhen it crunkles so tender and low?It is yellow and bright,So it gives me delightTo crunkle wherever I go.

"Sweet, fresh, golden Straw!There is surely no flawIn 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 useDoesn't lump up or bruise,Though it's pounded again and again!

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

"Content with my lot,I'm glad that I'm notLike others I meet day by day;If my insides get musty,Or mussed-up, or dusty,I get newly stuffed right away."