The Rescue by the Field Mice

The Rescue by the Field Mice is the pivotal scene in which the Tin Woodman's instinctive kindness toward a tiny creature triggers a chain of gratitude and cooperation that saves the Cowardly Lion from a deathlike sleep in the poppy field, demonstrating that even the smallest beings can accomplish what the largest cannot. The event transforms the travelers' despair into hope and cements the mice as loyal allies, while also revealing the Tin Woodman's careful moral code and the Scarecrow's growing capacity for practical thought.

The Wildcat and the Queen

After the travelers had carried the sleeping Dorothy out of the poppy field and laid her on soft grass beside the river, the Scarecrow remarked that they could not be far from the road of yellow brick. The Tin Woodman was about to reply when he heard a low growl. Turning his head on its hinges, he saw a great yellow Wildcat bounding toward them, its ears flat against its head, its mouth wide open showing two rows of ugly teeth, and its red eyes glowing like balls of fire. Running before the beast was a little gray field mouse. Although the Tin Woodman had no heart, he knew it was wrong for the Wildcat to try to kill such a pretty, harmless creature. He raised his axe, and as the Wildcat ran by he gave it a quick blow that cut the beast's head clean off from its body, rolling it over at his feet in two pieces. The field mouse, freed from its enemy, stopped short and came slowly up to the Woodman, speaking in a squeaky little voice: "Oh, thank you! Thank you ever so much for saving my life." The Woodman replied, "I have no heart, you know, so I am careful to help all those who may need a friend, even if it happens to be only a mouse." The little animal indignantly declared, "Only a mouse! Why, I am a Queen — the Queen of all the Field Mice!" The Woodman made a bow, and the Queen added that he had done a great deed as well as a brave one.

The Mice Pledge Their Service

At that moment several mice ran up as fast as their little legs could carry them, and when they saw their Queen they exclaimed, "Oh, your Majesty, we thought you would be killed! How did you manage to escape the great Wildcat?" They bowed so low that they almost stood upon their heads. The Queen told them that the funny tin man had killed the Wildcat and saved her life, and commanded, "So hereafter you must all serve him, and obey his slightest wish." The mice cried in a shrill chorus, "We will!" and then scampered in all directions — for Toto had awakened from his sleep, and seeing all these mice around him, he gave one bark of delight and jumped right into the middle of the group. Toto had always loved to chase mice when he lived in Kansas, and saw no harm in it. But the Tin Woodman caught the dog in his arms and held him tight, calling to the mice, "Come back! Come back! Toto shall not hurt you." The Queen of the Mice stuck her head out from underneath a clump of grass and asked in a timid voice, "Are you sure he will not bite us?" The Woodman promised he would not let him, and one by one the mice came creeping back. Toto did not bark again, although he tried to get out of the Woodman's arms and would have bitten him had he not known very well he was made of tin. Finally one of the biggest mice asked if there was anything they could do to repay the Woodman for saving the life of their Queen.

The Scarecrow's Plan and the Building of the Truck

The Woodman answered that he knew of nothing, but the Scarecrow, who had been trying to think but could not because his head was stuffed with straw, said quickly, "Oh, yes; you can save our friend, the Cowardly Lion, who is asleep in the poppy bed." The little Queen cried out, "A Lion! Why, he would eat us all up." The Scarecrow declared that this Lion was a coward, that he said so himself, and that he would never hurt anyone who was their friend. The Queen trusted them and asked what they should do. The Scarecrow asked if there were many mice who called her Queen and were willing to obey her; she replied that there were thousands. He then instructed her to send for them all to come as soon as possible, each one bringing a long piece of string. The Queen turned to the mice that attended her and told them to go at once and get all her people, and they ran away in every direction as fast as possible. The Scarecrow then told the Tin Woodman to go to the trees by the riverside and make a truck that would carry the Lion. The Woodman went at once and began to work, making a truck out of the limbs of trees, chopping away all the leaves and branches, fastening it together with wooden pegs, and making four wheels out of short pieces of a big tree trunk. He worked so fast and so well that by the time the mice began to arrive, the truck was all ready for them.

The Harnessing and the Rescue

The mice came from all directions — thousands of them, big mice and little mice and middle-sized mice — each one bringing a piece of string in its mouth. It was about this time that Dorothy woke from her long sleep and opened her eyes, greatly astonished to find herself lying upon the grass with thousands of mice standing around looking at her timidly. The Scarecrow told her about everything and introduced her to the Queen, who made a curtsy and became quite friendly with the little girl. The Scarecrow and the Woodman began to fasten the mice to the truck, using the strings they had brought. One end of a string was tied around the neck of each mouse and the other end to the truck. Though the truck was a thousand times bigger than any of the mice who were to draw it, when all the mice had been harnessed they were able to pull it quite easily. Even the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman could sit on it and be drawn swiftly by their queer little horses to the place where the Lion lay asleep. After a great deal of hard work — for the Lion was heavy — they managed to get him up on the truck. The Queen hurriedly gave her people the order to start, for she feared that if the mice stayed among the poppies too long they also would fall asleep. At first the little creatures could hardly stir the heavily loaded truck, but the Woodman and the Scarecrow both pushed from behind, and they got along better. Soon they rolled the Lion out of the poppy bed to the green fields, where he could breathe the sweet, fresh air again instead of the poisonous scent of the flowers.

Gratitude and Farewell

Dorothy came to meet them and thanked the little mice warmly for saving her companion from death. She had grown so fond of the big Lion that she was glad he had been rescued. Then the mice were unharnessed from the truck and scampered away through the grass to their homes. The Queen of the Mice was the last to leave. She said, "If ever you need us again, come out into the field and call, and we shall hear you and come to your assistance. Good-bye!" They all answered, "Good-bye!" and away the Queen ran, while Dorothy held Toto tightly lest he should run after her and frighten her. After this they sat down beside the Lion until he should awaken, and the Scarecrow brought Dorothy some fruit from a tree near by, which she ate for her dinner.