Oz 12: The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum
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old man, " but I_know that she wept bitterly when_the tin soldier did_not come to marry her, as he had promised to_do . the old witch was so provoked at_the girl's tears that she beat Nimmie Amee with her crooked stick and then hobbled away to gather some magic herbs, with_which she intended to transform the girl into an old hag, so_that no one would again love her or care to marry her . it_was while she was away on_this errand that Dorothy's house fell on_the wicked witch, and she turned to dust and blew away . when I heard this good news, I_sent Nimmie Amee to_find the silver shoes which the witch had worn, but Dorothy had taken them with her to_the emerald city ."

" yes, we_know all about_those silver shoes," said the Scarecrow .

" well," continued Ku-Klip, " after_that, Nimmie Amee decided to_go away from_the forest and live with some people she was acquainted with who had a house on mount munch . I_have never seen the girl since ."

" do_you_know the name of_the people on mount munch, with_whom she went to live ? " asked the tin woodman .

" no, Nimmie Amee did_not mention her friend's name, and I_did_not ask her . she took with her all that she_could carry of_the goods that were in_the witch's house, and she told me I_could_have the rest . but when I went there I_found nothing worth taking except some magic powders that I_did_not know how to use, and a bottle of magic glue ."

" what_is magic glue ? " asked Woot .

" it_is a magic preparation with_which to mend people when_they cut themselves . one_time, long_ago, I cut off one of_my fingers by accident, and I carried it to_the witch, who took down her bottle and glued it on again for_me . see ! " showing them his finger, " it_is as good as ever it_was . no one else that I ever heard of had this magic glue, and of_course when nick chopper cut himself to pieces with_his enchanted axe and captain Fyter cut himself to pieces with_his enchanted sword, the witch would_not mend them, or allow me to glue them together, because she had herself wickedly enchanted the axe and sword . nothing remained but for_me to_make them new parts out of tin; but, as you_see, tin answered the purpose very_well, and I_am_sure their tin bodies are a great improvement on their meat bodies ." " very true," said the tin soldier .

"I quite agree with_you," said the tin woodman ."I happened to_find my old head in your cupboard, a while ago, and certainly it_is_not as desirable a head as_the tin one I now wear ."

" by_the_way," said the tin soldier, " what ever became of_my old head, Ku-Klip ? "

" and of_the different parts of_our bodies ? " added the tin woodman .

" let me think a minute," replied Ku-Klip ." if I remember right, you two boys used to bring me most of your parts, when_they were cut off, and I saved them in_that barrel in_the corner . you_must not have brought me all the parts, for when I_made Chopfyt I had hard work finding enough pieces to complete the job .I finally had to finish him with one arm ."

" who_is Chopfyt ? " inquired Woot .

"Oh, haven't i_told you about Chopfyt ? " exclaimed Ku- Klip ." of_course not ! and he's quite a curiosity, too . you'll be interested in hearing about Chopfyt . this_is how he happened:

" one day, after_the witch had_been destroyed and Nimmie Amee had gone to live with her friends on mount munch, i_was looking around the shop for something and came upon_the bottle of magic glue which I had brought from_the old witch's house . it occurred to_me to piece together the odds and ends of you two people, which of_course were just as good as ever, and_see if I couldn't make a man out_of_them . if I succeeded, i_would_have an assistant to help me with my work, and i_thought it would_be a clever idea to_put to some practical use the scraps of nick chopper and captain Fyter . there were two perfectly good heads in my cupboard, and alot of feet and legs and parts of bodies in_the barrel, so I set to work to_see what I_could do .

" first, I pieced together a body, gluing it with_the witch's magic glue, which worked perfectly . that was_the hardest part of_my job, however, because the bodies didn't match up well and some parts were missing . but by using a piece of captain Fyter here and a piece of nick chopper there, I finally got together a very decent body, with heart and all the trimmings complete ."

" whose heart did you use in making asked the tin . woodman anxiously . the body ? "

" I_can't tell, for_the parts had no tags on them and one heart looks much like another . after_the body was completed, I glued two fine legs and feet onto it . one leg was nick chopper's and one was captain Fyter's and, finding one leg longer than_the other, I trimmed it down to_make them match . i_was much disappointed to_find that I had but one arm . there_was an extra leg in_the barrel, but I_could find only_one arm .Having glued this onto the body, i_was ready for_the head, and I had some difficulty in making up my mind which head to use . finally I shut my eyes and reached out my hand toward the cupboard shelf, and_the first head I touched I glued upon my new man ."

" it_was mine ! " declared the tin soldier, gloomily .

" no, it_was mine," asserted Ku-Klip, " for I had given you another in exchange for_it -- the beautiful tin head you now wear . when_the glue had dried, my man was quite an interesting fellow .I named him Chopfyt, using a part of nick chopper's name and a part of captain Fyter's name, because he_was a mixture of both your cast- off parts .Chopfyt was interesting, as I_said, but he_did_not prove a very agreeable companion . he complained bitterly because I had given him but one arm -- as_if it were my fault ! -- and he grumbled because the suit of blue Munchkin clothes, which I got for him from a neighbor, did_not fit him perfectly ."

"Ah, that was because he_was wearing my old head," remarked the tin soldier ."I remember that head used to_be very particular about its clothes ."

" as an assistant," the old tinsmith continued, "Chopfyt was not a success . he_was awkward with tools and was always hungry . he demanded something to eat six or eight times a day, so I wondered if I had fitted his insides properly . indeed, Chopfyt ate so_much that little food was left for_myself; so, when he proposed, one day, to_go out into_the world and seek adventures, i_was delighted to_be rid of him .I even made him a tin arm to take_the place of_the missing one, and_that pleased him very_much, so_that we parted good friends ."

" what became of Chopfyt after_that ? " the Scarecrow inquired .

"I never heard . he started off toward the east, into_the plains of_the Munchkin country, and_that was_the last I ever saw of him ."

" it seems to_me," said the tin woodman reflectively, " that you_did wrong in making a man out of_our cast- off parts . it_is evident that Chopfyt could, with justice, claim relationship with both of us ."

"Don't worry about_that," advised Ku-Klip cheerfully; " it_is_not likely that you_will ever meet the fellow . and, if you_should meet him, he doesn't know who he_is made of, for I never told him the secret of_his manufacture . indeed, you_are the only ones who_know of it, and you_may keep the secret to yourselves, if_you_wish to ."

" never mind Chopfyt," said the Scarecrow ." our business now is to_find poor Nimmie Amee and let her choose her tin husband . to do_that, it seems, from_the information Ku-Klip has_given us, we_must travel to mount munch ."

" if_that's the programme, let_us start at once," suggested Woot .

so they all went outside, where they found polychrome dancing about among_the trees and talking with_the birds and laughing as merrily as_if she had_not lost her rainbow and so been separated from all her fairy sisters .

they told her they were going to mount munch, and she replied:

" very_well; I_am as likely to_find my rainbow there as here, and any_other place is as likely as there . it all depends on_the weather . do_you_think it looks like rain ? "

they shook their heads, and polychrome laughed again and danced on after them when_they resumed their journey .

chapter Nineteen

the invisible country

they were proceeding so easily and comfortably on their way to mount munch that Woot said in a serious tone of voice:

"I'm afraid something is going to happen ."

" why ? " asked polychrome, dancing around the group of travelers .

" because," said the boy, thoughtfully, "I've noticed that when we_have the least reason for getting into trouble, something is sure to_go wrong . just now the weather is delightful; the grass is beautifully blue and quite soft to our feet; the mountain we_are seeking shows clearly in_the distance and there_is no reason anything should happen to delay us in getting there . our troubles all seem_to_be over, and -- well, that's why I'm afraid," he added, with a sigh .

" dear me ! " remarked the Scarecrow, " what unhappy thoughts you_have, to_be_sure . this_is proof that born brains cannot equal manufactured brains, for_my brains dwell only on facts and never borrow trouble . when there_is occasion for_my brains to_think, they_think, but i_would_be ashamed of_my brains if_they kept shooting out thoughts that were merely fears and imaginings, such as do no good, but are likely to_do harm ."

" for_my part," said the tin woodman, " I_do_not_think at all, but allow my velvet heart to guide me at all times ."

" the tinsmith filled my hollow head with scraps and clippings of tin," said the soldier, " and he_told me they_would do nicely for brains, but when I begin to_think, the tin scraps rattle around and get so mixed that I'm soon bewildered . so I try not to_think . my tin heart is almost as useless to_me, for_it is hard and cold, so I'm sure the red velvet heart of_my friend nick chopper is a better guide ."

" thoughtless people are_not unusual," observed the Scarecrow, " but I consider them more fortunate than those who_have useless or wicked thoughts and do_not try to curb them . your oil can, friend woodman, is filled with oil, but you only apply the oil to your joints, drop by drop, as you_need it, and do_not keep spilling it where it_will do no good .Thoughts should_be restrained in_the same way as_your oil, and only applied when necessary, and for a good purpose . if used carefully, thoughts are good things to_have ."

polychrome laughed at him, for_the rainbow's daughter knew more about thoughts than_the Scarecrow did . but the others were solemn, feeling they had_been rebuked, and tramped on in silence .

suddenly Woot, who was in_the lead, looked around and found that all his comrades had mysteriously disappeared . but where could they_have gone to ? the broad plain was all about him and there were neither trees nor bushes that could hide even a rabbit, nor any hole for_one to_fall into . yet there he stood, alone .

surprise had caused him to halt, and with a thoughtful and puzzled expression on_his face he looked down at his feet . it startled him anew to discover that he had no feet . he reached out his hands, but he could_not_see them . he_could feel his hands and arms and body; he stamped his feet on_the grass and knew they were there, but in some strange way they had become invisible .

while Woot stood, wondering, a crash of metal sounded in_his ears and he heard two heavy bodies tumble to_the earth just beside him .

" good gracious ! " exclaimed the voice of_the tin woodman .

" mercy me ! " cried the voice of_the tin soldier .

" why didn't you look where you were going ? " asked the tin woodman reproachfully .

" I_did, but I couldn't see you," said the tin soldier ." something has happened to my tin eyes . I_can't see you, even now, nor can I_see anyone else ! "

" it's the same way with me," admitted the tin woodman .

Woot couldn't see either of_them, although he heard them plainly, and just then something smashed against him unexpectedly and knocked him over; but it_was only the straw- stuffed body of_the Scarecrow that fell upon him and while he could_not_see the Scarecrow he managed to push him off and rose to_his feet just as polychrome whirled against him and made him tumble again .

Sitting upon_the ground, the boy asked:

" can you_see us, Poly ? "

" no, indeed," answered the rainbow's daughter; " we've all become invisible ."

" how did it happen, do_you suppose ? " inquired the Scarecrow, lying where he had fallen .

" we_have met with no enemy," answered Poly- chrome, " so it must_be that_this part of_the country has_the magic quality of making people invisible -- even fairies falling under the charm . we_can_see the grass, and_the flowers, and_the stretch of plain before_us, and we_can still see mount munch in_the distance; but we cannot_see ourselves or one another ."

" well, what_are we to_do about_it ? " demanded Woot .

" i_think this magic affects only a small part of_the plain," replied polychrome; " perhaps there_is only a streak of_the country

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