" And it waved its broom tail
to and fro in a pensive manner.
"Come, come!" said the Scarecrow, kindly. "do try, to be more cheerful and
take life as you find it. We shall be kind masters, and will strive to
render your existence as pleasant as possible. Are you willing to carry us
through the air wherever we wish to go?"
"Certainly," answered the Gump. "I greatly prefer to navigate the air. For
should I travel on the earth and meet with one of my own species, my
embarrassment would be something awful!"
"I can appreciate that," said the Tin Woodman, sympathetically.
"And yet," continued the Thing, "when I carefully
203
look you over, my masters, none of you seems to be constructed much more
artistically than I am."
"Appearances are deceitful," said the Woggle-Bug, earnestly. "I am both
Highly Magnified and Thoroughly Educated."
"Indeed!" murmured the Gump, indifferently.
"And my brains are considered remarkably rare specimens," added the
Scarecrow, proudly.
"How strange!" remarked the Gump.
"Although I am of tin," said the Woodman, "I own a heart altogether the
warmest and most admirable in the whole world."
"I'm delighted to hear it," replied the Gump, with a slight cough.
"My smile," said Jack Pumpkinhead, "is worthy your best attention. It is
always the same."
"Semper idem," explained the Woggle-Bug, pompously; and the Gump turned to
stare at him.
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