"Goody!" cried Dorothy. "I'd like to see dear Nick Chopper again.
How's his heart?"

"It's fine," said Billina; "the Tin Woodman says it gets softer and
kindlier every day. He's waiting at his castle to welcome you,
Dorothy; but he couldn't come with us because he's getting polished as
bright as possible for Ozma's party."

"Well then," said Dorothy, "let's start on, and we can talk more as we
go."

They proceeded on their journey in a friendly group, for Polychrome had
discovered that the copper man was harmless and was no longer afraid of
him. Button-Bright was also reassured, and took quite a fancy to
Tik-tok. He wanted the clockwork man to open himself, so that he might
see the wheels go round; but that was a thing Tik-tok could not do.
Button-Bright then wanted to wind up the copper man, and Dorothy
promised he should do so as soon as any part of the machinery ran down.
This pleased Button-Bright, who held fast to one of Tik-tok's copper
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."

15. The Emperor's Tin Castle

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, Tot