loth, so that their bodies sparkled as beautifully
as did the tin castle--and almost as beautifully as did the Tin Woodman
himself.

Woot the Wanderer looked at the man servant--all bright and
glittering--and at the magnificent castle--all bright and
glittering--and as he looked his eyes grew big with wonder. For Woot
was not very big and not very old and, wanderer though he was, this
proved the most gorgeous sight that had ever met his boyish gaze.

"Who lives here?" he asked.

"The Emperor of the Winkies, who is the famous Tin Woodman of Oz,"
replied the servant, who had been trained to treat all strangers with
courtesy.

"A Tin Woodman? How queer!" exclaimed the little wanderer.

"Well, perhaps our Emperor is queer," admitted the servant; "but he is
a kind master and as honest and true as good tin can make him; so we,
who gladly serve him, are apt to forget that he is not like other
people."

"May I see him?" asked Woot the Wanderer, after a moment's thought.

"If it please you to wait a moment, I will go and ask him," said the
servant, and then he went into the hall where the Tin Woodman sat with
his friend the Scarecrow. Both were glad to learn that a stranger had
arrived at the castle, for this would give them something new to talk
about, so the servant was asked to admit the boy at once.

By the time Woot the Wanderer had passed through the grand
corridors--all lined with ornamental tin--and under stately tin
archways and through the many tin rooms all set with beautiful tin
furniture, his eyes had grown bigger than ever and his whole little
body thrilled with amazement. But, astonished though he was, he was
able to make a polite bow before the throne and to say in a respectful
voice: "I salute your Illustrious Majesty and offer you my humble
services."

"Very good!" answered the Tin Woodman in his accustomed cheerful
manner. "Tell me who you are, and whence you come."

"I am known as Woot the Wanderer," answered the boy, "and I have come,
through many travels and by roundabout ways, from my former home in a
far corner of the Gillikin Country of Oz."

"To wander from one's home," remarked the Scarecrow, "is to encounter
dangers and hardships, especially if one is made of meat and bone. Had
you no friends in that corner of the Gillikin Country? Was it not
homelike and comfortable?"

To hear a man stuffed with straw speak, and speak so well, quite
startled Woot, and perhaps he stared a bit rudely a