Jack could see the Paris sky through the iron rails ofthe tower. At first, climbing was easy. The stepsweren't very steep, and Jack counted each one as theyclimbed. "Twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight ...""I wonder what's going on at the top now," saidAnnie.
"Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three," breathed Jack.
"I wonder if the sorcerer is there with the others,"said Annie. "What will he do when he81finds out those guys aren't the kind of magicians hethinks they are?""Don't know," breathed Jack. "Forty-nine, fifty.""I'll bet he won't believe them!" said Annie. "Hemight kidnap them-andforcethem to tell their secrets.""Sixty-one, sixty-two . . . ," said Jack. "Faster,faster," said Annie.
8283By the time Jack had counted the 360 steps to thetower's first-story platform, they were both panting.
Jack's feet felt like lead.
"That's a lot of steps!" said Annie, out of breath.
"No ... no kidding," said Jack, gasping betweenwords. "But we ... we have to keep going!"They kept going-but a little more slowly. Jackpicked up the count: "Three hundred sixty-one ...
three hundred sixty-two...""You can see how he might have thoughtAlexander Graham Bell was a new magician," saidAnnie, panting.
"Three hundred ninety-two ... three hundredninety-three ... ," said Jack.
"Think about it!" said Annie. "You've never used aphone in your life ... then one day you pick up thisthing ... hear a voice talking ... the voice of someone ...
who lives far away ... you'd think..."84"Magic!" breathed Jack. "Four hundred forty-four ...
four hundred forty-five...""And Thomas Edison!" said Annie. "Think about it!
Thousands of years ... you depend on fire for light ...
then one day ... you flip a switch ...
presto! ...
a glass bulb lights up....""Magic!" gasped Jack. "Five hundred ten ... fivehundred eleven...""And Louis Pasteur ... think about it!" said Annie.
"There are all these diseases ... nobody knows what'scausing them ... then one day ... this guy discoversgerms ... and he figures out a way ... to wipe out thebad ones!""Magic!" said Jack. "Six hundred two ... six hundredthree ... six hundred four...""I can't believe the sorcerer would do anythingmean to these guys!" said Annie. "Even if he is...""Evil ... ," said Jack. "Six hundred twenty ... sixhundred twenty-one . . ." His leg muscles burned, buthe moved like a machine up the85mountain of steps. Finally they reached the secondplatform.
"Seven hundred!" breathed Jack.
"We have ... to keep going," said Annie.
"Keep going ... and let's get ... our rhyme ready,"said Jack. "As soon as we see ... the sorcerer ... wehave to say it ... make him disappear!""Right," breathed Annie. "That's our mission!
Protect ... the new magicians... and find out ... theirsecrets ... for Merlin....""Don't talk ... save breath ... ," said Jack. Jack andAnnie kept climbing and counting. Drawing closer tothe top of the tower, Jack heard piano music. As theyclimbed higher, the music grew louder.
Finally, Jack and Annie climbed onto a thirdplatform. "One thousand six hundred and fifty-two!"gasped Jack. They were almost at the very top of thetower. A spiral staircase led from the platform up to aterrace.
Jack's leg muscles ached, his head hurt,86his heart pounded. "But we have to keep ... going.. .
," he whispered. He and Annie dragged themselves upthe spiral staircase that led to the terrace.
They both collapsed and sat on the top step, tryingto breathe. A flag overhead flapped noisily. Dampwith sweat, Jack felt chilled by the wind.
The piano music was coming from a smallapartment on the terrace.
"I wonder who's ... playing," said Annie, stillgasping for breath.
"Maybe one of the ... magicians," said Jack. "Or the... the sorcerer," said Annie.
Jack felt a surge of fear. It almost took away histiredness. "We have to ... make him disappear," hesaid. He stood up shakily.
"Let's look through the window," said Annie. Thetwo of them struggled against the wind as theystaggered to the window of the apartment. Whenthey peeked in, they saw a cozy room with leatherchairs and glowing lamps. A87man with a trim, pointed beard was playing thepiano. Behind him stood an elderly man with agraying beard, a big man with a bushy white beard,and a friendly-looking man with no beard.
All of them were smiling and nodding their headsin time to the music.
"There're four of them in there," whispered Jack.
8889"Is the fourth one the sorcerer?" said Annie. "Or ishe the fourth new magician?""I don't think any of them are the sorcerer,"whispered Jack. "None of them look evil. They alllook pretty nice.""What is this place, anyway?" said Annie. "Let'scheck the book," said Jack. He pulled out the guidebook and looked upEiffel Tower.
He found a drawing of the tower. Each platformwas labeled. The area at the top read:
At the very top of the tower is the apartment ofGustave Eiffel.
A picture showed Gustave Eiffel sitting in hisapartment.
"Look, he's the guy playing the piano!" said Jack. Heread on:
Gustave Eiffel is one of the world's masterengineers. He built the Eiffel Tower with glass andiron, the world's newest building materials. Sincethese materials are lighter than stone or brick,structures can be built very tall.
90The tower's open design and its iron beams keep itstable in strong winds.
"He's the fourth magician!" whispered Jack. "TheMagician of Iron-hebends the metals of earth and triumphs over thewind!""They're all together now," said Annie. "AlexanderGraham Bell, Thomas Edison, Louis Pasteur, andGustave Eiffel-the four new magicians.""And the evil sorcerer hasn't shown up yet," saidJack.
"Come on," said Annie. "We have to warn themabout him!""And find out their secrets beforehedoes!" said Jack. He and Annie walked to the doorof the apartment. Annie knocked.
The night fell silent as the piano music stopped.
Oh, brother,thought Jack. How would they explain such a weirdsituation to these famous men? The door of theapartment opened. Gustave Eiffel looked out. "Yes?"he said.
91"Hello. Can we come in?" asked Annie.
Mr. Eiffel looked startled. "Goodness, I seem to behaving many unexpected guests tonight. How didyou get up here, little girl? I thought the elevatorswere closed.""My brother and I climbed the stairs," said Annie.
"Oh, my! That's a very long climb for two children!"said Mr. Eiffel. "Or anyone else, for that matter! Didsomeone invite you to a party here, too?""Not exactly," said Annie.
"Well, come in anyway. The more the merrier!" Mr.
Eiffel stepped back to let Annie and Jack inside. Thenhe closed the door behind them.
The four men looked curiously at Jack and Annie.
"Before you tell us about yourselves, allow me tointroduce my other unexpected guests," said Mr.
Eiffel. "This is Dr. Louis Pasteur." He pointed to theelderly man with the graying92beard. "And Mr. Alexander Graham Bell." The bigman with the white beard nodded. "And Mr. ThomasAlva Edison."The friendly-looking man reached out and shookboth of their hands, first Annie's, then Jack's. "Youcan call me Alva," Mr. Edison said.
"Hi, Alva," Jack murmured shyly. He couldn'tbelieve he was shaking hands with Thomas AlvaEdison.
"You can call us Jack and Annie," said Annie.
"So, Jack and Annie, how did you learn about thisgathering?" Mr. Eiffel asked. "You have nothing to dowith the invitations these gentlemen received, doyou?""We ... um..." Annie smiled a goofy grin, as if shedidn't know what to say next. She took a deep breath.
"Well, no," she said. "But we know who sent them.""Who?" asked Mr. Eiffel.
"An evil sorcerer who wants to steal the secrets ofyour magic," said Annie.
93"An evil sorcerer?" said Mr. Eiffel.
"Yes," said Annie. "We can make him disappear, butwe need you to tell us your secrets before he getshere."The four men just stared at her.
"What did she say?" asked Mr. Edison, as if he werea little hard of hearing.
"She says an evil sorcerer wants to steal the secretsof our magic," Mr. Eiffel said loudly. "And that wemust tell them our secrets before the sorcerer arrives."Mr. Edison laughed. So did the others. Jack felt hisface grow red.
"The secrets of our magic, eh?" said Mr. Eiffel.
"That's really a very good question. Let's think.... Ibelieve the secret ofmymagic is actually quite simple. I have a taste foradventure and a love of work and responsibility. Sothe challenge of building the tallest structure in theworld was greatly appealing to me.""Very good," said Annie. "Taste for adven94ture, love of work and responsibility." She turned toDr. Pasteur. "Doctor, what's your secret?""My secret?" said Dr. Pasteur. He looked down atthe floor for a long moment. Then he looked up andsaid, "I believe my secret is this: Chance favors theprepared mind."The other men nodded. "Hmm," said Mr. Bell. "Ah,"said Mr. Eiffel. "Indeed," said Mr. Edison.
"Um . . . what does that mean?" said Annie.
"Chancemeansluck,"explained Dr. Pasteur. "I daresay we all hope for abit of luck in our work. But I find the more I studyand prepare, the luckier I become.""Oh, that makes good sense," said Annie. "Studyingmakes you luckier." She turned to Mr. Edison. "Alva,what's your secret?"Mr. Edison smiled modestly. "Well, let me see." Hiseyes were bright and twinkling. "I95suppose my secret is this: Genius is one percentinspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."The other men laughed.
"That's right," said Mr. Eiffel. "Sweat! Hard work!
Thousands of experiments fail-then finally oneworks!"The other men clapped.
"I get it!" said Annie. "Genius is mostly sweat."Everyone then turned to the last magician. "Oh,my," said Mr. Bell. He stroked his bushy white beard.
"How shall I say it?" He closed his eyes. "When onedoor closes, another door opens."Everyone started to applaud.
"Wait, there's more!" Keeping his eyes closed, Mr.
Bell continued. "We often look so long and soregretfully upon the closed door that we do not seethe new ones which open for us." He looked ateveryone and smiled. The other men clapped again.
96"Yes, yes!" said Mr. Eiffel. "There's always anotherdoor.""Never give up hope!" said Annie. "Got it!"Mr. Eiffel smiled at Annie. "So, do you think oursecrets would satisfy your evil sorcerer?"Before Annie could answer, there was a loudknocking on the door. |