About noon
You could love the Tin Woodman because he had a fine nature , kindly and simple ; but the machine man you could only admire without loving , since to love such a thing as he was as impossible as to love a sewing-machine or an automobile . Yet Tik-tok was popular with the people of Oz because he was so trustworthy , reliable and true ; he was sure to do exactly what he was wound up to do , at all times and in all circumstances . Perhaps it is better to be a machine that does its duty than a flesh-and-blood person who will not , for a dead truth is better than a live falsehood . About noon the travelers reached a large field of pumpkins -- a vegetable quite appropriate to the yellow country of the Winkies -- and some of the pumpkins which grew there were of remarkable size . Just before they entered upon this field they saw three little mounds that looked like graves , with a pretty headstone to each one of them . -LSB- Illustration -RSB- `` What is this ? '' asked Dorothy , in wonder .