squeak a little. Woot the Wanderer, having satisfied
his hunger, watched this oiling process with much
curiosity, but begged the Tin Man to go on with his
tale.

"The Witch with the Silver Shoes hated me for having
defied her," resumed the Emperor, his voice now
sounding clear as a bell, "and she insisted that Nimmie
Amee should never marry me. Therefore she made the
enchanted axe cut off my other arm, and the tinsmith
also replaced that member with tin, including these
finely-jointed hands that you see me using. But, alas!
after that, the axe, still enchanted by the cruel
Witch, cut my body in two, so that I fell to the
ground. Then the Witch, who was watching from a near-by
bush, rushed up and seized the axe and chopped my body
into several small pieces, after which, thinking that
at last she had destroyed me, she ran away laughing in
wicked glee.

"But Nimmie Amee found me. She picked up my arms and
legs and head, and made a bundle of them and carried
them to the tinsmith, who set to work and made me a
fine body of pure tin. When he had joined the arms and
legs to the body, and set my head in the tin collar, I
was a much better man than ever, for my body could not
ache or pain me, and I was so beautiful and bright that
I had no need of clothing. Clothing is always a
nuisance, because it soils and tears and has to be
replaced; but my tin body only needs to be oiled and