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Baum, L. Frank (Lyman Frank), 1856-1919

"Glinda of Oz"


Tik-Tok was there, a copper man with machinery inside
him, so cleverly constructed that he moved, spoke and
thought by three separate clock-works. Tik-Tok was very
reliable because he always did exactly what he was
wound up to do, but his machinery was liable to run
down at times and then he was quite helpless until
wound up again.
A different sort of person was Jack Pumpkinhead, one
of Ozma's oldest friends and her companion on many
adventures. Jack's body was very crude and awkward,
being formed of limbs of trees of different sizes,
jointed with wooden pegs. But it was a substantial body
and not likely to break or wear out, and when it was
dressed the clothes covered much of its roughness. The
head of Jack Pumpkinhead was, as you have guessed, a
ripe pumpkin, with the eyes, nose and mouth carved upon
one side. The pumpkin was stuck on Jack's wooden neck
and was liable to get turned sidewise or backward and
then he would have to straighten it with his wooden
hands.
The worst thing about this sort of a head was that it
did not keep well and was sure to spoil sooner or
later. So Jack's main business was to grow a field of
fine pumpkins each year, and always before his old head
spoiled he would select a fresh pumpkin from the field
and carve the features on it very neatly, and have it
ready to replace the old head whenever it became
necessary.


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