in his trade. But I would not
allow the Witch to conquer me so easily. I knew a very skillful
mechanic at the other side of the forest, who was my friend, so I
hopped on one leg to him and asked him to help me. He soon made me a
new leg out of tin and fastened it cleverly to my meat body. It had
joints at the knee and at the ankle and was almost as comfortable as
the leg I had lost."

"Your friend must have been a wonderful workman!" exclaimed Woot.

"He was, indeed," admitted the Emperor. "He was a tinsmith by trade and
could make anything out of tin. When I returned to Nimmie Amee, the
girl was delighted and threw her arms around my neck and kissed me,
declaring she was proud of me. The Witch saw the kiss and was more
angry than before. When I went to work in the forest, next day, my axe,
being still enchanted, slipped and cut off my other leg. Again I
hopped--on my tin leg--to my friend the tinsmith, who kindly made me
another tin leg and fastened it to my body. So I returned joyfully to
Nimmie Amee, who was much pleased with my glittering legs and promised
that when we were wed she would always keep them oiled and polished.
But the Witch was more furious than ever, and as soon as I raised my
axe to chop, it twisted around and cut off one of my arms. The tinsmith
made me a tin arm and I was not much worried, because Nimmie Amee
declared she still loved me."

Chapter Two

The Heart of the Tin Woodman

The Emperor of the Winkies paused in his story to reach for an oil-can,
with which he carefully oiled the joints in his tin throat, for his
voice had begun to squeak a little. Woot the Wanderer, having satisfied
his hunger, watched this oiling process with much curiosity, but begged
the Tin Man to go on with his tale.

"The Witch with the Silver Shoes hated me for having defied her,"
resumed the Emperor, his voice now sounding clear as a bell, "and she
insisted that Nimmie Amee should never marry me. Therefore she made
the enchanted axe cut off my other arm, and the tinsmith also replaced
that member with tin, including these finely-jointed hands that you see
me using. But, alas! after that, the axe, still enchanted by the cruel
Witch, cut my body in two, so that I fell to the ground. Then the
Witch, who was watching from a near-by bush, rushed up and seized the
axe and chopped my body into several small pieces, after which,
thinking that at last she had destroyed me, she ran away laughing in
wicked glee