L. Frank Baum_Oz 12 (13 page)

"As for that," returned the Soldier, seriously, "I must admit I lost my
ability to love when I lost my meat heart. Ku-Klip gave me a tin heart,
to be sure, but it doesn't love anything, as far as I can discover, and
merely rattles against my tin ribs, which makes me wish I had no heart
at all."

"Yet, in spite of this condition, you were going to marry Nimmie Amee?"

"Well, you see I had promised to marry her, and I am an honest man and
always try to keep my promises. I didn't like to disappoint the poor
girl, who had been disappointed by one tin man already."

"That was not my fault," declared the Emperor of the Winkies, and then
he related how he, also, had rusted in the forest and after a long time
had been rescued by Dorothy and the Scarecrow and had traveled with
them to the Emerald City in search of a heart that could love.

"If you have found such a heart, sir," said the Soldier, "I will gladly
allow you to marry Nimmie Amee in my place."

"If she loves you best, sir," answered the Woodman, "I shall not
interfere with your wedding her. For, to be quite frank with you, I
cannot yet love Nimmie Amee as I did before I became tin."

"Still, one of you ought to marry the poor girl," remarked Woot; "and,
if she likes tin men, there is not much choice between you. Why don't
you draw lots for her?"

"That wouldn't be right," said the Scarecrow.

"The girl should be permitted to choose her own husband," asserted
Polychrome. "You should both go to her and allow her to take her
choice. Then she will surely be happy."

"That, to me, seems a very fair arrangement," said the Tin Soldier.

"I agree to it," said the Tin Woodman, shaking the hand of his twin to
show the matter was settled. "May I ask your name, sir?" he continued.

"Before I was so cut up," replied the other, "I was known as Captain
Fyter, but afterward I was merely called 'The Tin Soldier.'"

"Well, Captain, if you are agreeable, let us now go to Nimmie Amee's
house and let her choose between us."

"Very well; and if we meet the Witch, we will both fight her—you with
your axe and I with my sword."

"The Witch is destroyed," announced the Scarecrow, and as they walked
away he told the Tin Soldier of much that had happened in the Land of
Oz since he had stood rusted in the forest.

"I must have stood there longer than I had imagined," he said
thoughtfully.

It was not more than a two hours' journey to the house where Nimmie
Amee had lived, but when our travelers arrived there they found the
place deserted. The door was partly off its hinges, the roof had fallen
in at the rear and the interior of the cottage was thick with dust. Not
only was the place vacant, but it was evident that no one had lived
there for a long time.

"I suppose," said the Scarecrow, as they all stood looking wonderingly
at the ruined house, "that after the Wicked Witch was destroyed, Nimmie
Amee became lonely and went somewhere else to live."

"One could scarcely expect a young girl to live all alone in a forest,"
added Woot. "She would want company, of course, and so I believe she
has gone where other people live."

"And perhaps she is still crying her poor little heart out because no
tin man comes to marry her," suggested Polychrome.

"Well, in that case, it is the clear duty of you two tin persons to
seek Nimmie Amee until you find her," declared the Scarecrow.

"I do not know where to look for the girl," said the Tin Soldier, "for
I am almost a stranger to this part of the country."

"I was born here," said the Tin Woodman, "but the forest has few
inhabitants except the wild beasts. I cannot think of anyone living
near here with whom Nimmie Amee might care to live."

"Why not go to Ku-Klip and ask him what has become of the girl?"
proposed Polychrome.

That struck them all as being a good suggestion, so once more they
started to tramp through the forest, taking the direct path to
Ku-Klip's house, for both the tin twins knew the way, having followed
it many times.

Ku-Klip lived at the far edge of the great forest, his house facing the
broad plains of the Munchkin Country that lay to the eastward. But,
when they came to this residence by the forest's edge, the tinsmith was
not at home.

It was a pretty place, all painted dark blue with trimmings of lighter
blue. There was a neat blue fence around the yard and several blue
benches had been placed underneath the shady blue trees which marked
the line between forest and plain. There was a blue lawn before the
house, which was a good sized building. Ku-Klip lived in the front part
of the house and had his work-shop in the back part, where he had also
built a lean-to addition, in order to give him more room.

Although they found the tinsmith absent on their arrival, there was
smoke coming out of his chimney, which proved that he would soon return.

"And perhaps Nimmie Amee will be with him," said the Scarecrow in a
cheerful voice.

While they waited, the Tin Woodman went to the door of the workshop
and, finding it unlocked, entered and looked curiously around the room
where he had been made.

"It seems almost like home to me," hie told his friends, who had
followed him in. "The first time I came here I had lost a leg, so I had
to carry it in my hand while I hopped on the other leg all the way from
the place in the forest where the enchanted axe cut me. I remember that
old Ku-Klip carefully put my meat leg into a barrel—I think that is
the same barrel, still standing in the corner yonder—and then at once
he began to make a tin leg for me. He worked fast and with skill, and I
was much interested in the job."

"My experience was much the same," said the Tin Soldier. "I used to
bring all the parts of me, which the enchanted sword had cut away, here
to the tinsmith, and Ku-Klip would put them into the barrel."

"I wonder," said Woot, "if those cast-off parts of you two unfortunates
are still in that barrel in the corner?"

"I suppose so." replied the Tin Woodman. "In the Land of Oz no part of
a living creature can ever be destroyed."

"If that is true, how was that Wicked Witch destroyed?" inquired Woot.

"Why, she was very old and was all dried up and withered before Oz
became a fairyland," explained the Scarecrow. "Only her magic arts had
kept her alive so long, and when Dorothy's house fell upon her she just
turned to dust, and was blown away and scattered by the wind. I do not
think, however, that the parts cut away from these two young men could
ever be entirely destroyed and, if they are still in those barrels,
they are likely to be just the same as when the enchanted axe or sword
severed them."

"It doesn't matter, however," said the Tin Woodman; "our tin bodies are
more brilliant and durable, and quite satisfy us."

"Yes, the tin bodies are best," agreed the Tin Soldier. "Nothing can
hurt them."

"Unless they get dented or rusted," said Woot, but both the tin men
frowned on him.

Scraps of tin, of all shapes and sizes, lay scattered around the
workshop. Also there were hammers and anvils and soldering irons and a
charcoal furnace and many other tools such as a tinsmith works with.
Against two of the side walls had been built stout work-benches and in
the center of the room was a long table. At the end of the shop, which
adjoined the dwelling, were several cupboards.

After examining the interior of the workshop until his curiosity was
satisfied, Woot said:

"I think I will go outside until Ku-Klip comes. It does not seem quite
proper for us to take possession of his house while he is absent."

"That is true," agreed the Scarecrow, and they were all about to leave
the room when the Tin Woodman said: "Wait a minute," and they halted in
obedience to the command.

The Tin Woodman had just noticed the cupboards and was curious to know
what they contained, so he went to one of them and opened the door.
There were shelves inside, and upon one of the shelves which was about
on a level with his tin chin the Emperor discovered a Head—it looked
like a doll's head, only it was larger, and he soon saw it was the Head
of some person. It was facing the Tin Woodman and as the cupboard door
swung back, the eyes of the Head slowly opened and looked at him. The
Tin Woodman was not at all surprised, for in the Land of Oz one runs
into magic at every turn.

"Dear me!" said the Tin Woodman, staring hard. "It seems as if I had
met you, somewhere, before. Good morning, sir!"

"You have the advantage of me," replied the Head. "I never saw you
before in my life."

"Still, your face is very familiar," persisted the Tin Woodman. "Pardon
me, but may I ask if you—eh—eh—if you ever had a Body?"

"Yes, at one time," answered the Head, "but that is so long ago I can't
remember it. Did you think," with a pleasant smile, "that I was born
just as I am? That a Head would be created without a Body?"

"No, of course not," said the other. "But how came you to lose your
body?"

"Well, I can't recollect the details; you'll have to ask Ku-Klip about
it," returned the Head. "For, curious as it may seem to you, my memory
is not good since my separation from the rest of me. I still possess my
brains and my intellect is as good as ever, but my memory of some of
the events I formerly experienced is quite hazy."

"How long have you been in this cupboard?" asked the Emperor.

"I don't know."

"Haven't you a name?"

"Oh, yes," said the Head; "I used to be called Nick Chopper, when I was
a woodman and cut down trees for a living."

"Good gracious!" cried the Tin Woodman in astonishment. "If you are
Nick Chopper's Head, then you are Me—or I'm You—or—or—What relation
are we, anyhow?"

"Don't ask me," replied the Head. "For my part, I'm not anxious to
claim relationship with any common, manufactured article, like you. You
may be all right in your class, but your class isn't my class. You're
tin."

The poor Emperor felt so bewildered that for a time he could only stare
at his old Head in silence. Then he said:

"I must admit that I wasn't at all bad looking before I became tin.
You're almost handsome—for meat. If your hair was combed, you'd be
quite attractive."

"How do you expect me to comb my hair without help?" demanded the Head,
indignantly. "I used to keep it smooth and neat, when I had arms, but
after I was removed from the rest of me, my hair got mussed, and old
Ku-Klip never has combed it for me."

"I'll speak to him about it," said the Tin Woodman. "Do you remember
loving a pretty Munchkin girl named Nimmie Amee?"

"No," answered the Head. "That is a foolish question. The heart in my
body—when I had a body—might have loved someone, for all I know, but
a head isn't made to love; it's made to think."

"Oh; do you think, then?"

"I used to think."

"You must have been shut up in this cupboard for years and years. What
have you thought about, in all that time?"

"Nothing. That's another foolish question. A little reflection will
convince you that I have had nothing to think about, except the boards
on the inside of the cupboard door, and it didn't take me long to think
of everything about those boards that could be thought of. Then, of
course, I quit thinking."

"And are you happy?"

"Happy? What's that?"

"Don't you know what happiness is?" inquired the Tin Woodman.

"I haven't the faintest idea whether it's round or square, or black or
white, or what it is. And, if you will pardon my lack of interest in
it, I will say that I don't care."

The Tin Woodman was much puzzled by these answers. His traveling
companions had grouped themselves at his back, and had fixed their eyes
on the Head and listened to the conversation with much interest, but
until now, they had not interrupted because they thought the Tin
Woodman had the best right to talk to his own head and renew
acquaintance with it.

But now the Tin Soldier remarked:

"I wonder if my old head happens to be in any of these cupboards," and
he proceeded to open all the cupboard doors. But no other head was to
be found on any of the shelves.

"Oh, well; never mind," said Woot the Wanderer; "I can't imagine what
anyone wants of a cast-off head, anyhow."

"I can understand the Soldier's interest," asserted Polychrome, dancing
around the grimy workshop until her draperies formed a cloud around her
dainty form. "For sentimental reasons a man might like to see his old
head once more, just as one likes to revisit an old home."

"And then to kiss it good-bye," added the Scarecrow.

"I hope that tin thing won't try to kiss me good-bye!" exclaimed the
Tin Woodman's former head. "And I don't see what right you folks have
to disturb my peace and comfort, either."

"You belong to me," the Tin Woodman declared.

"I do not!"

"You and I are one."

"We've been parted," asserted the Head. "It would be unnatural for me
to have any interest in a man made of tin. Please close the door and
leave me alone."

"I did not think that my old Head could be so disagreeable," said the
Emperor. "I—I'm quite ashamed of myself; meaning you."

"You ought to be glad that I've enough sense to know what my rights
are," retorted the Head. "In this cupboard I am leading a simple life,
peaceful and dignified, and when a mob of people in whom I am not
interested disturb me, they are the disagreeable ones; not I."

With a sigh the Tin Woodman closed and latched the cupboard door and
turned away.

"Well," said the Tin Soldier, "if my old head would have treated me as
coldly and in so unfriendly a manner as your old head has treated you,
friend Chopper, I'm glad I could not find it."