"
"Yet, in spite of this condition, you were going to
marry Nimmie Amee?"
"Well, you see I had promised to marry her, and I am
an honest man and always try to keep my promises. I
didn't like to disappoint the poor girl, who had been
disappointed by one tin man already."
"That was not my fault," declared the Emperor of the
Winkies, and then he related how he, also, had rusted
in the forest and after a long time had been rescued by
Dorothy and the Scarecrow and had traveled with them to
the Emerald City in search of a heart that could love.
"If you have found such a heart, sir," said the
Soldier, "I will gladly allow you to marry Nimmie Amee
in my place."
"If she loves you best, sir," answered the Woodman,
"I shall not interfere with your wedding her. For, to
be quite frank with you, I cannot yet love Nimmie Amee
as I did before I became tin."
"Still, one of you ought to marry the poor girl,"
remarked Woot; "and, if she likes tin men, there is not
much choice between you. Why don't you draw lots for
her?"
"That wouldn't be right," said the Scarecrow.
"The girl should be permitted to choose her own
husband," asserted Polychrome. "You should both go to
her and allow her to take her choice. Then she will
surely be happy."
"That, to me, seems a very fair arrangement," said
the Tin Soldier.
"I agree to it," said the Tin Woodman, shaking the
hand of his twin to show the matter was settled.
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