hands as he trudged along the road, while Dorothy walked on the other
side of her old friend and Billina perched by turns upon his shoulder or
his copper hat. Polly once more joyously danced ahead and Toto ran after
her, barking with glee. The shaggy man was left to walk behind; but he
didn't seem to mind that a bit, and whistled merrily or looked curiously
upon the pretty scenes they passed.

At last they came to a hilltop from which the tin castle of Nick Chopper
could plainly be seen, its towers glistening magnificently under the
rays of the declining sun.

"How pretty!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I've never seen the Emp'ror's new
house before."

"He built it because the old castle was damp, and likely to rust his tin
body," said Billina. "All those towers and steeples and domes and gables
took a lot of tin, as you can see."

"Is it a toy?" asked Button-Bright, softly.

"No, dear," answered Dorothy; "it's better than that. It's the fairy
dwelling of a fairy prince."

[Illustration]

The Emperor's Tin Castle

[Illustration]

The grounds around Nick Chopper's new house were laid out in pretty
flower-beds, with fountains of crystal water and statues of tin
representing the Emperor's personal friends. Dorothy was astonished and
delighted to find a tin statue of herself standing on a tin pedestal at
a bend in the avenue leading up to the entrance. It was life-size and
showed her in her sunbonnet with her basket on her arm, just as she had
first appeared in the Land of Oz.

"Oh, Toto--you're there too!" she exclaimed; and sure enough there was
the tin figure of Toto lying at the tin Dorothy's feet.

Also Dorothy saw figures of the Scarecrow, and the Wizard, and Ozma, and
of many others, including Tik-tok. They reached the grand tin entrance
to the tin castle, and the Tin Woodman himself came running out of the
door to embrace little Dorothy and give her a glad welcome. He welcomed
her friends as well, and the Rainbow's Daughter he declared to be the
loveliest vision his tin eyes had ever beheld. He patted Button-Bright's
curly head tenderly, for he was fond of children, and turned to the
shaggy man and shook both his hands at the same time.

[Illustration]

Nick Chopper, the Emperor of the Winkies, who was also known throughout
the Land of Oz as the Tin Woodman, was certainly a remarkable person. He
was neatly made, all of tin, nicely soldered at the joints, and his
various limbs were cleverly hinged to