Jack's knees turned to jelly. The knocking cameagain.
Mr. Eiffel laughed. "Goodness,anotherunexpected guest!" He started toward the door.
"Don't open it!" Jack shouted.
Everyone looked at Jack as if he were crazy.
"It's the sorcerer!" Jack said. "My sister was tellingthe truth! He thinks you're all magicians!""Don't be afraid, son," Dr. Pasteur said to Jack. "I'msure it's just another guest."Mr. Eiffel stepped toward the door.
98"No, please!" shouted Jack.
Mr. Eiffel opened the door. There was a deafeningclap of thunder! A ball of fire blasted into the room!
Jack covered his face. Then all was quiet.
"Jack?" Annie said in a small voice.
Jack looked up. A golden haze had filled the room.
Annie stepped quickly to Jack's side. But none of theothers moved. Mr. Eiffel, Mr. Bell, Mr. Edison, andDr. Pasteur were all as still as stone.
Jack could barely make out a dark figure in a longcloak standing in the doorway.
"It's him!" Jack cried. "We have to say our rhyme!"Jack shouted the line he had memorized:
Thing before us, now we seeJack waited for Annie to finish the rhyme. But shedidn't say her line.
Oh, no! She's forgotten it!
Jack thought wildly.
99Suddenly he heard Annie laugh. "It'syou,"she said.
100101Jack looked up. The haze had cleared. The sorcerer'sface glowed in the light. It was a familiar face, craggywith electric-blue eyes.
"Merlin?" breathed Jack.
The master magician answered him with a smile.
"Merlin! Hi!" said Annie. She rushed over andhugged him.
Jack just stared at Merlin. "What happened?" heasked. "Where's the evil sorcerer?""Thereareevil sorcerers in my world," Merlin said in his deepvoice. "But I assure you none of them were here atthe World's Fair today.""Soyouwere the messenger?" said Annie.
"Youdelivered the invitations for everyone to come tothe top of the tower?""Yes, I was the messenger," said Merlin. "I wantedto gather these remarkable men together so you couldmeet them all in the short time you had to spend inParis."102"But why did you tell us that we had to find thembefore an evil sorcerer did?" said Jack.
Merlin smiled. "Without that challenge, would youhave used all your powers of thinking and courage?"he asked. "Would you have been so determined tofind the `new magicians' and learn their secrets?""Well, maybe not," Jack said honestly.
"Problems make us focus our energy," said Merlin.
"They can help us think more sharply and act moreswiftly. Never wish for all your problems todisappear. Problems can help you achieve your goals.
Do you understand?"Jack and Annie nodded.
"So now, whatarethe secrets of these remarkable men?" asked Merlin.
"I truly wish to know.""If you want to reach your goal, you have to loveadventure and responsibility," said Jack.
"You have to study and be prepared so luck willfavor you," said Annie.
"You have to work really hard, because103genius is ninety-nine percent perspiration and onlyone percent inspiration," said Jack.
"And you should never lose hope," said Annie,"because when one door closes, another one opens,and you don't want to miss it.""Wonderful!" said Merlin. "These are excellentsecrets! And I believe you not onlylearnedthem on this mission, but youlivedeach of them as well. Do you understand?""I guess," said Jack.
Annie looked at the four frozen men. "What aboutthem,Merlin?" she said anxiously. "Will they be okay?""Yes, they will awaken as soon as I leave. Do notworry," said Merlin.
"I'm sorry I almost made you disappear," said Jack.
Merlin smiled. "That is quite all right. But now wehave a little problem. One must never leave a magicrhyme hanging in the air unfinished."104"Oh," said Jack. "So Annie needs to finish the rhymeand make something disappear?""Precisely," said Merlin. "Perhaps you could use therhyme to speed me back to Camelot.""Sure," said Annie. "But do you have to leave sosoon?""Yes, I must be on my way," said Merlin. "I wouldnot want to confuse these kind gentlemen. Do notworry. I will send for you both again in the very nearfuture. But now it is time for me to ... disappear."Jack smiled. "Good-bye, Merlin," he said.
Annie took a deep breath. Then she looked atMerlin and slowly said her line:
Thee-be-wan-new-ee-vee!
There was a clap of thunder and a blast of fierylight-and Merlin was gone.
Just as suddenly, the new magicians came back tolife. Mr. Eiffel pointed to the open doorway as windgusted inside. "You see, son," he said to Jack, "it wasonly the wind."105"Oh, yeah," said Jack, pretending to be embarrassed.
"I'm sorry.""Don't worry," said Mr. Eiffel. "You and your sisterare perfectly safe. We live in the wondrous newworld of science, and not in the old world of magicand sorcerers."Mr. Eiffel moved toward the open doorway. "Come,let us all step outside and take a look at our newworld."Everyone joined him on the windy terrace andlooked over the railing.
"Paris is a lovely city, is it not?" Mr. Eiffel said.
Jack and Annie and the others watched the giantspotlights sweep over Paris like white comets. Thelights shined down on the domes and treetops, thegrand monuments and church spires, the colorfulfountain waters and rippling river. The boat lightstwinkled like fireflies.
"Thanks to Mr. Eiffel and his tower, we can see theentire city," Mr. Edison shouted above the wind.
106"Thanks to Mr. Edison, ten thousand gasstreetlamps in Paris will soon be replaced by electriclights!" said Mr. Eiffel.
"Thanks to Dr. Pasteur's institute, we will soonhave cures for many more deadly diseases," said Mr.
Bell.
"And thanks to Mr. Bell, I'll be able to call you allon the telephone and tell you about it!" joked Dr.
Pasteur.
Everyone laughed.
"And this is just the beginning!" said Annie.
"Someday people will carry tiny telephones in theirpockets and talk to other people anywhere in theworld.""Uh, Annie, we'd better be going," said Jack. Hedidn't want the others to know he and Annie werefrom the future.
But Annie kept talking. "And there'll be thesethings called computers," she said, "that can give youinstant information about anything, anytime-""Annie!"said Jack.
107"And get this!" she said. She pointed to the fullmoon overhead. "Someday people will actually walkon that moon up there!"The men all chuckled. "You have a most delightfulimagination," said Mr. Eiffel.
"And that is a wonderful thing!" said Mr. Edison.
"Without imagination, none of us would be standinghere tonight.""Well, we'd better be getting home now," said Jack.
"And where is your home? The moon?" teased Mr.Eiffel.
"No, it's Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, in the UnitedStates," said Jack.
"How will you get there?" said Mr. Bell.
"In our magic tree house," said Annie.
The men laughed. Jack tried to laugh with them.
"Ha. Good one, Annie," he said. "Well, let's go.
""Annie, I hope you and your brother have a safetrip in your magic tree house," said Mr. Eiffel. "You have both been most entertainingguests. Please come visit me anytime."Jack and Annie waved good-bye to the four men.
Then they climbed carefully down the spiral staircaseand started down the 1,652 steps of the Eiffel Tower. |