City."

"Was that the time the Wizard scared you?" asked Aunt Em.

"He didn't treat us well, at first," acknowledged Dorothy; "for he made
us go away and destroy the Wicked Witch. But after we found out he was
only a humbug wizard we were not afraid of him."

The Wizard sighed and looked a little ashamed.

"When we try to deceive people we always make mistakes," he said. "But
I'm getting to be a real wizard now, and Glinda the Good's magic, that
I am trying to practice, can never harm any one."

"You were always a good man," declared Dorothy, "even when you were a
bad wizard."

"He's a good wizard now," asserted Aunt Em, looking at the little man
admiringly. "The way he made those tents grow out of handkerchiefs was
just wonderful! And didn't he enchant the wagon wheels so they'd find
the road?"

"All the people of Oz," said the Captain General, "are very proud of
their Wizard. He once made some soap-bubbles that astonished the
world."

The Wizard blushed at this praise, yet it pleased him. He no longer
looked sad, but seemed to have recovered his usual good humor.

The country through which they now rode was thickly dotted with
farmhouses, and yellow grain waved in all the fields. Many of the
Winkies could be seen working on their farms and the wild and unsettled
parts of Oz were by this time left far behind.

These Winkies appeared to be happy, light-hearted folk, and all removed
their caps and bowed low when the red wagon with its load of travelers
passed by.

It was not long before they saw something glittering in the sunshine
far ahead.

"See!" cried Dorothy; "that's the Tin Castle, Aunt Em!"

And the Sawhorse, knowing his passengers were eager to arrive, broke
into a swift trot that soon brought them to their destination.

24. How the Tin Woodman Told the Sad News

The Tin Woodman received Princess Dorothy's party with much grace and
cordiality, yet the little girl decided that something must be worrying
with her old friend, because he was not so merry as usual.

But at first she said nothing about this, for Uncle Henry and Aunt Em
were fairly bubbling over with admiration for the beautiful tin castle
and its polished tin owner. So her suspicion that something unpleasant
had happened was for a time forgotten.

"Where is the Scarecrow?" she asked, when they had all been ushered
into the big tin drawing-room of the castle, the Sawhorse being led
around to the tin stable in the rear