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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Chapter 13. The Rescue
The Cowardly Lion was very pleased to hear that the Wicked Witch had been melted by a bucket of water.
Dorothy at once unlocked the gate of his prison and set him free.
They went into the castle, and Dorothy first called all the Winkies and told them they were no longer slaves.
The yellow Winkies were very happy.
They had been made to work hard for years by the Wicked Witch, who had always been cruel to them.
They kept this day as a holiday, then and ever after, and they spent the time in feasting and dancing.
"If our friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, were only with us," said the Lion, "I should be quite happy."
"Don't you suppose we could rescue them?" asked the girl anxiously.
"We can try," answered the Lion.
So they called the yellow Winkies and asked if they'd help to rescue their friends.
The Winkies answered that they'd be delighted to do all in their power for Dorothy.
She had set them free from bondage.
So she chose a number of the Winkies who looked as if they knew the most, and they all started away.
They traveled into the rocky plain the next day and found the Tin Woodman lying hurt and bent.
His axe was near him, but the blade was rusted and the handle broken off short.
The Winkies lifted him gently in their arms.
They carried him back to the Yellow Castle again.
Dorothy shed a few tears by the way at the sad state of her old friend, and the Lion looked sober and sorry.
When they reached the castle Dorothy said to the Winkies,
"Are any of your people tinsmiths?"
"Oh, yes. Some of us are very good tinsmiths," they told her.
"Then bring them to me," she said.
And when the tinsmiths came, bringing with them all their tools in baskets, she asked,
"Can you straighten out those dents in the Tin Woodman?"
"Can you bend him back into shape again and solder him together where he's broken?"
The tinsmiths looked the Woodman over and said they could mend him to be as good as ever.
So they set to work in one of the big yellow rooms of the castle and worked for three days and four nights.
They hammered, twisted, bent, joined, polished, and pounded the Tin Woodman's legs, body, and head until he was whole again.
His joints worked as well as ever.
There were several patches on him, but the tinsmiths did a good job.
The Woodman was not a vain man, so he did not mind the patches at all.
At last he walked into Dorothy's room and thanked her for rescuing him.
He was so pleased that he wept tears of joy.
Dorothy had to wipe every tear carefully from his face with her apron so his joints wouldn't rust.
At the same time her own tears fell fast because she was happy to see her old friend again.
These tears did not need to be wiped away.
As for the Lion, he wiped his eyes so often with the tip of his tail that it became quite wet.
He was obliged to go out into the courtyard and hold it in the sun till it dried.
"If we only had the Scarecrow with us again," said the Tin Woodman, when Dorothy had finished telling him everything that had happened.
"I should be quite happy."
"We must try to find him," said the girl.
So she called the Winkies to help her.
They walked all that day and part of the next.
They came to the tall tree where the Winged Monkeys had tossed the Scarecrow's clothes.
It was a very tall tree, and the trunk was so smooth that no one could climb it.
The Woodman said at once, "I'll chop it down, and then we can get the Scarecrow's clothes."
While the tinsmiths were mending the Woodman, another Winkie, a goldsmith, made an axe-handle of solid gold.
He fitted it to the Woodman's axe instead of the old broken handle.
Others polished the blade until all the rust was removed and it glistened like burnished silver.
As soon as he had spoken, the Tin Woodman began to chop.
Soon the tree fell with a crash, and the Scarecrow's clothes dropped from the branches onto the ground.
Dorothy picked them up, she had the Winkies carry them back to the castle.
There they were stuffed with nice, clean straw.
Behold! Here was the Scarecrow, as good as ever, thanking them over and over again for saving him.
Now that they were reunited, Dorothy and her friends spent a few happy days at the Yellow Castle.
They found everything they needed there to make them comfortable.
But one day the girl thought of Aunt Em, and said, "We must go back to Oz, and claim his promise."
"Yes," said the Woodman, "at last I shall get my heart."
"And I shall get my brains," added the Scarecrow joyfully.
"And I shall get my courage," said the Lion thoughtfully.
"And I shall get back to Kansas," cried Dorothy, clapping her hands.
"Oh, let us start for the Emerald City tomorrow!"
This they decided to do, the next day they called the Winkies together and bade them good-bye.
The Winkies were sorry to have them go.
They grew fond of the Tin Woodman and begged him to stay and rule the Yellow Land of the West.
Finding they were determined to go, the Winkies gave Toto and the Lion each a golden collar.
They presented Dorothy with a beautiful bracelet studded with diamonds.
To the Scarecrow they gave a gold-headed walking stick to keep him from stumbling.
To the Tin Woodman they offered a silver oil-can, inlaid with gold and set with precious jewels.
Every one of the travelers made the Winkies a pretty speech in return, and all shook hands with them until their arms ached.
Dorothy went to the Witch's cupboard to fill her basket with food for the journey.
And there she saw the Golden Cap.
She tried it on her own head and found that it fitted her exactly.
She didn't know anything about the charm of the Golden Cap, but she saw that it was pretty.
So she made up her mind to wear it and carry her sunbonnet in the basket.
Being prepared for the journey, they all started for the Emerald City.
The Winkies gave them three cheers and many good wishes to carry with them.