The Rescue
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The Cowardly Lion was much pleased to hear that the Wicked Witch
had been melted by a bucket of water, and Dorothy at once unlocked
the gate of his prison and set him free. They went in together to
the castle, where Dorothy's first act was to call all the Winkies
together and tell them that they were no longer slaves.
There was great rejoicing among the yellow Winkies, for they had
been made to work hard during many years for the Wicked Witch, who
had always treated them with great cruelty. They kept this day as
a holiday, then and ever after, and spent the time in feasting and
dancing.
"If our friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, were only with
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 would help
to rescue their friends, and the Winkies said that they would be
delighted to do all in their power for Dorothy, who had set them free
from bondage. So she chose a number of the Winkies who looked as if
they knew the most, and they all started away. They travelled that
day and part of the next until they came to the rocky plain where 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 him back
to the yellow castle again, Dorothy shedding a few tears by the way
at the sad plight of her old friend, and the Lion looking sober and
sorry. 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,
[Illustration: "_The Tinsmiths worked for three days and four
nights._"]
"Can you straighten out those dents in the Tin Woodman, and bend
him back into shape again, and solder him together where he is
broken?"
The tinsmiths looked the Woodman over carefully and then answered
that 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 and
worked for three days and four nights, hammering and twisting and
bending and soldering and polishing and pounding at the legs and body
and head of the Tin Woodman, until at last he was straightened out into
his old form, and his joints worked as well as ever. To be sure, there
were several patches on him, but the tinsmiths did a good job, and as
the 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 for
rescuing him, he was so pleased that he wept tears of joy, and
Dorothy had to wipe every tear carefully from his face with her
apron, so his joints would not be rusted. At the same time her own
tears 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, he
wiped his eyes so often with the tip of his tail that it became quite
wet, and he was obliged to go out into the court-yard and hold it in
the 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 day
and part of the next until they came to the tall tree in the branches
of which the Winged Monkeys had tossed the Scarecrow's clothes.
It was a very tall tree, and the trunk was so smooth that no one
could 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-handle
of solid gold and fitted it to the Woodman's axe, instead of the
old broken handle. Others polished the blade until all the rust was
removed and it glistened like burnished silver.
As soon as he had spoken, the Tin Woodman began to chop, and in a
short time the tree fell over with a crash, when the Scarecrow's
clothes fell out of the branches and rolled off on the ground.
Dorothy picked them up and had the Winkies carry them back to the
castle, where they were stuffed with nice, clean straw; and, behold!
here was the Scarecrow, as good as ever, thanking them over and over
again for saving him.
Now they were reunited, Dorothy and her friends spent a few happy days
at the Yellow Castle, where they found everything they needed to make
them 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!"
[Illustration]
This they decided to do. The next day they called the Winkies together
and bade them good-bye. The Winkies were sorry to have them go, and
they had grown so fond of the Tin Woodman that they begged 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 Lion each a golden
collar; and to Dorothy they presented a beautiful bracelet, studded
with diamonds; and to the Scarecrow they gave a gold-headed walking
stick, to keep him from stumbling; and to the Tin Woodman they offered
a silver oil-can, inlaid with gold and set with precious jewels.
Every one of the travellers made the Winkies a pretty speech in
return, and all shook hands with them until their arms ached.
Dorothy went to the Witch's cupboard to fill her basket with food for
the journey, and there she saw the Golden Cap. She tried it on her own
head and found that it fitted her exactly. She did not know anything
about the charm of the Golden Cap, but she saw that it was pretty, so
she made up her mind to wear it and carry her sunbonnet in the basket.
Then, being prepared for the journey, they all started for the
Emerald City; and the Winkies gave them three cheers and many good
wishes to carry with them.