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how funny! Listen to this."
Then she read the following words, engraved
upon the copper plates of the man's body:
SMITH & TINKER'S
Patent Double-Action, Extra-Responsive,
Thought-Creating, Perfect-Talking
MECHANICAL MAN
Fitted with our Special Clockwork Attachment.
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Thinks, Speaks, Acts, and Does Everything
but Live.
"Isn't he wonderful!" exclaimed the Princess.
"Yes; but here's more," said Betsy, reading
from another engraved plate:
DIRECTIONS FOR USING:
For THINKING:--Wind the Clockwork
Man under his left arm, (marked No. 1).
For SPEAKING:--Wind the Clockwork
Man under his right arm, (marked No. 2).
For WALKING and ACTION:--Wind Clockwork Man
in the middle of his back, (marked No. 3).
N. B.--This Mechanism is guaranteed to
work perfectly for a thousand years.
"If he's guaranteed for a thousand years," said
Polychrome, "he ought to work yet."
"Of course," replied Shaggy. "Let's wind him up."
In order to do this they were obliged to set the
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copper man upon his feet, in an upright position,
and this was no easy task. He was inclined to
topple over, and had to be propped again and
again. The girls assisted Shaggy, and at last Tik-
Tok seemed to be balanced and stood alone upon his
broad feet.
"Yes," said Shaggy, looking at the copper man
carefully, "this must be, indeed, my old friend
Tik-Tok, whom I left ticking merrily in the
Land of Oz. But how he came to this lonely
place, and got into that old well, is surely a
mystery."
"If we wind him, perhaps he will tell us,"
suggested Betsy. "Here's the key, hanging to a
hook on his back. What part of him shall I wind up
first?"
"His thoughts, of course," said Polychrome,
"for it requires thought to speak or move
intelligently."
So Betsy wound him under his left arm, and
at once little flashes of light began to show in
the top of his head, which was proof that he had
begun to think.
"Now, then," said Shaggy, "wind up his
phonograph."
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"What's that?" she asked.
"Why, his talking-machine. His thoughts may
be interesting, but they don't tell us anything."
So Betsy wound the copper man under his right
arm, and then from the interior of his copper body
came in jerky tones the words: "Ma-ny thanks!"
"Hurrah!" cried Shaggy, joyfully, and he slapped
Tik-Tok upon the back in such a hearty manner that
the copper man lost his balance and tumbled to the
ground in a heap. But the clock-work that enabled
him to speak had been wound up and he kept saying:
"Pick-me-up! Pick-me-up! Pick-me-up!" until they
had again raised him and balanced him upon his
feet, when he added politely: "Ma-ny thanks!"
"He won't be self-supporting until we wind
up his action," remarked Shaggy; so Betsy
wound it, as tight as she could--for the key
turned rather hard--and then Tik-Tok lifted his
feet, marched around in a circle and ended by
stopping before the group and making them all
a low bow.
"How in the world did you happen to be in
that well, when I left you safe in Oz?" inquired
Shaggy.
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"It is a long sto-ry," replied Tik-Tok, "but
I'll tell it in a few words. Af-ter you had gone
in search of your broth-er, Oz-ma saw you wander-
ing in strange lands when-ev-er she looked in her
mag-ic pic-ture, and she also saw your broth-er in
the Nome King's cavern; so she sent me to tell you
where to find your broth-er and told me to help you
if I could. The Sor-cer-ess, Glin-da the Good,
trans-port-ed me to this place in the wink of an
eye; but here I met the Nome King him-self--old
Rug-ge-do, who is called in these parts the Met-al
Mon-arch. Rug-ge-do knew what I had come for, and
he was so an-gry that he threw me down the well.
Af-ter my works ran down I was help-less un-til you
came a-long and pulled me out a-gain. Ma-ny
thanks."
"This is, indeed, good news," said Shaggy. "I
suspected that my brother was the prisoner of
Ruggedo; but now I know it. Tell us, Tik-Tok, how
shall we get to the Nome King's underground
cavern?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]