of firewood to Nimmie Amee and we became very friendly.
Finally I asked her to marry me, and she agreed to do
so, but the Witch happened to overhear our conversation
and it made her very angry, for she did not wish her
slave to be taken away from her. The Witch commanded me
never to come near Nimmie Amee again, but I told her I
was my own master and would do as I pleased, not
realizing that this was a careless way to speak to a
Witch.

"The next day, as I was cutting wood in the forest,
the cruel Witch enchanted my axe, so that it slipped
and cut off my right leg."

"How dreadful!" cried Woot the Wanderer.

"Yes, it was a seeming misfortune," agreed the Tin
Man, "for a one-legged woodchopper is of little use 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.