L.Frank Baum. The marvelous land of Oz -
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of my gleaming axe, are enough to strike terror into the hearts of the
rebels."
"We five," corrected the Pumpkinhead.
"Five?" repeated the Tin Woodman.
"Yes; the Saw-Horse is brave and fearless," answered Jack, forgetting
his recent quarrel with the quadruped.
The Tin Woodman looked around him in a puzzled way, for the Saw-Horse
had until now remained quietly standing in a corner, where the Emperor had
not noticed him. Tip immediately called the odd-looking creature to them,
and it approached so awkwardly that it nearly upset the beautiful
center-table and the engraved oil-can.
"I begin to think," remarked the Tin Woodman as he looked earnestly
at the Saw-Horse, "that wonders will never cease! How came this creature
alive?"
"I did it with a magic powder," modestly asserted the boy. "and the
SawHorse has been very useful to us."
"He enabled us to escape the rebels," added the Scarecrow.
"Then we must surely accept him as a comrade," declared the emperor.
"A live Saw-Horse is a distinct novelty, and should prove an interesting
study. Does he know anything?"
"Well, I cannot claim any great experience in life," the Saw-Horse
answered for himself. "but I seem to learn very quickly, and often it
occurs to me that I know more than any of those around me."
"Perhaps you do," said the emperor; "for experience does not always
mean wisdom. But time is precious Just now, so let us quickly make
preparations to start upon our Journey.
The emperor called his Lord High Chancellor and instructed him how to
run the kingdom during his absence. Meanwhile the Scarecrow was taken
apart and the painted sack that served him for a head was carefully
laundered and restuffed with the brains originally given him by the great