s tin hollyhock going to seed?" asked the
Wizard, bending over the flowers.

"Why, I believe it is!" exclaimed the Tin Woodman, as if surprised. "I
hadn't noticed that before. But I shall plant the tin seeds and raise
another bed of tin hollyhocks."

In one corner of the gardens Nick Chopper had established a fish-pond
in which they saw swimming and disporting themselves many pretty tin
fishes.

"Would they bite on hooks?" asked Aunt Em, curiously.

The Tin Woodman seemed hurt at this question.

"Madam," said he, "do you suppose I would allow anyone to catch my
beautiful fishes, even if they were foolish enough to bite on hooks?
No, indeed! Every created thing is safe from harm in my domain, and I
would as soon think of killing my little friend Dorothy as killing one
of my tin fishes."

"The Emperor is very kind-hearted, ma'am," explained the Wizard. "If a
fly happens to light upon his tin body he doesn't rudely brush it off,
as some people might do; he asks it politely to find some other resting
place."

"What does the fly do then?" enquired Aunt Em.

"Usually it begs his pardon and goes away," said the Wizard, gravely.
"Flies like to be treated politely as well as other creatures, and here
in Oz they understand what we say to them, and behave very nicely."

"Well," said Aunt Em, "the flies in Kansas, where I came from, don't
understand anything but a swat. You have to smash 'em to make 'em
behave; and it's the same way with 'skeeters. Do you have 'skeeters in
Oz?"

"We have some very large mosquitoes here, which sing as beautifully as
song birds," replied the Tin Woodman. "But they never bite or annoy
our people, because they are well fed and taken care of. The reason
they bite people in your country is because they are hungry--poor
things!"

"Yes," agreed Aunt Em; "they're hungry, all right. An' they ain't very
particular who they feed on. I'm glad you've got the 'skeeters
educated in Oz."

That evening after dinner they were entertained by the Emperor's Tin
Cornet Band, which played for them several sweet melodies. Also the
Wizard did a few sleight-of-hand tricks to amuse the company; after
which they all retired to their cozy tin bedrooms and slept soundly
until morning.

After breakfast Dorothy said to the Tin Woodman:

"If you'll tell us which way to go we'll visit the Scarecrow on our way
home."

"I will go with you, and show you the way," replied the Emperor; "for I
must journey