Night of the New Magicians

by Mary Pope Osborne

  People of all ages from many different countries bustled about in the twilight. Everyone seemed to be having fun, reading from guide books, strolling from one exhibit to another, or buying refreshments and souvenirs.

  “We can’t see much from here,” said Annie. “It’s hard to know what’s going on.”

  “What about that little train?” said Jack. “Maybe we could ride on it and get a good look at everything.”

  “Great idea,” said Annie.

  The train whistle blew again.

  “Over there,” said Jack. He pointed to a clear space where passengers were getting off the train and other passengers were boarding.

  “Hurry!” said Jack.

  They raced to the train and jumped on. Annie dug into her pocket and took out some coins. She held them out to the conductor. He took a few, and Jack and Annie squeezed into seats on a wooden bench. The whistle blew, steam sputtered out of the smokestack, and the small train began to move.

  “Look for anything about magic or magicians,” said Jack.

  As the train slowly chugged through the World’s Fair, a tour guide’s voice blared from a megaphone: “Welcome to the World’s Fair Sightseeing Train! On your ride, you will witness the astounding history of human structures as seen nowhere else! In every age, buildings had style and beauty.”

  The train chugged by cave dwellings, canvas tents, and huts made of mud.

  Magic? Magicians? Jack thought as he looked at the different structures. No, no, no.

  The train passed a thatched cottage, a mansion with columns, and a palace with a huge golden dome.

  No, no, no, Jack thought.

  “Now we will visit the many lands of the world,” said the tour guide. “First, Egypt!”

  The train chugged past an outdoor café. Smells of grilled meat and rich coffee filled the air. Three women with veils over their faces danced to flute music.

  No magicians there, thought Jack.

  “Next we have an African village on the beautiful Serengeti Plain,” said the tour guide. They passed a cluster of huts surrounded by tall grass. People played drums and shook gourd rattles. Still no magicians, thought Jack.

  “And now we visit a New Year’s festival in faraway China,” said the guide. The train chugged by Chinese acrobats and a huge dancing red dragon.

  “Dragons are sort of magic, aren’t they?” said Annie, looking back.

  “It’s just a couple of guys in a costume,” said Jack. “That doesn’t count.”

  “On our left is a Muslim mosque,” the tour guide said. “On the right, a Buddhist temple. Here is an exquisite Japanese garden….”

  “No, no, no,” murmured Jack.

  The train passed by a show with dolls dressed in outfits from all around the world. It rolled by a giant brown statue of a woman. “This amazing creation is the Roman goddess Venus,” said the tour guide, “made entirely of chocolate.”

  “That is amazing!” said Annie.

  “It is, but it’s not magic,” said Jack.

  The train rode by a globe of the world at least three stories high. The globe was turning slowly. “See the lovely mountains, deserts, rivers, and oceans of Earth,” said the tour guide.

  “This fair really is a living encyclopedia!” Annie said.

  “But the encyclopedia doesn’t have what we need to find,” said Jack. He sighed and started thumbing through the guide book.

  “Ahh, fantastic!” a train passenger said.

  “Shocking!” said another.

  “Magical!” exclaimed another.

  Jack looked up. “Did someone just say magical?” he asked Annie.

  “False alarm,” said Annie. “They’re talking about the Eiffel Tower.”

  The train came to a stop. All the passengers were gazing up. Pink lights lit the huge arches at the base of the tower.

  “The Eiffel Tower was built especially for this World’s Fair,” said the tour guide. “The tower is nearly one thousand feet high, making it the tallest structure in the world today. Some of you may want to leave us here to get a closer look at Paris’s newest miracle.”

  People began climbing off the train. “Maybe we should get off here, too,” said Jack. “This train isn’t much help.”

  Jack and Annie jumped off the train just before its whistle blew and it started moving again.

  “That’s a tall tower,” said Jack, looking up.

  “Really tall,” breathed Annie.

  Iron rods rose in crisscross patterns high into the sky. Large elevators clanked up through the tower’s lacy ironwork. Powerful spotlights beamed from the top of the tower, sweeping long fingers of light over the city.

  “It would be fun to ride to the top in one of those elevators,” said Annie.

  “I know, but we don’t have time,” said Jack. “We have to find the four new magicians before the evil sorcerer finds them.”

  “I wonder if he’s here yet,” said Annie.

  Jack and Annie looked around at all the people busily moving about the fairgrounds, going from one exhibit to another. Parents were holding their children’s hands and pointing to the tower. Couples were strolling arm in arm. Everyone seemed happy and excited.

  No one looks like an evil sorcerer, thought Jack. No one looks like a Magician of Sound, or a Magician of Light, or a Magician of the Invisible, or a Magician of Iron, either.

  Jack’s thoughts were interrupted by a young girl’s voice—“You see, Papa? It is magic!”

  “Magic?” said Jack. He and Annie looked at each other.

  “Over there,” said Annie. She pointed to a nearby exhibit. A little girl was laughing as her father pressed a pair of earpieces against his ears.

  Jack and Annie walked closer to the exhibit. “It is positively unbelievable, Mimi!” the man said, shaking his head.

  “It’s magic, isn’t it, Papa?” said the girl. “It can send a voice a thousand miles!”

  Annie grabbed Jack’s arm. “Did you hear what she just said?” she whispered. “Send a voice a thousand miles—that’s what the Magician of Sound does!”

  “Right!” said Jack. He and Annie looked at the sign above the exhibit. It said:

  Telephone:

  A New Invention by Alexander Graham Bell

  “She’s talking about a telephone!” said Jack. “I guess it’s just been invented!”

  “So Alexander Graham Bell must be the Magician of Sound!” said Annie.

  “Oh, man, do you think Alexander Graham Bell is here in person?” said Jack.

  “I’ll ask,” said Annie. She walked to a gray-haired woman helping with the exhibit. “Excuse me, but do you know where we can find Alexander Graham Bell?”

  “I’m afraid he just left,” said the woman.

  “Where did he go?” asked Annie.

  “I do not know,” said the woman. “A strange man gave me an invitation to give to Mr. Bell. When Mr. Bell read it, he left at once. That is all I know. Excuse me.” The woman turned away to answer someone else’s question.

  “Alexander Graham Bell!” Jack said to Annie. “He’s a famous inventor, not a magician!”

  “The evil sorcerer must’ve heard about the telephone and thought it was magic,” said Annie.

  “I wonder what that invitation said,” said Jack. “And why did that lady say the messenger was strange?”

  “Let’s ask,” said Annie.

  Annie tapped the gray-haired woman on the arm. “Excuse me, we have two more questions,” she said. “Do you know what was on the invitation? And why did you say the messenger was strange?”

  “I do not know what the invitation said,” replied the woman, “but the man who delivered it was dressed in a long, dark cloak. He wore a hood that hid most of his face, and he spoke in a deep, whispery voice.”

  Jack felt a chill go down his spine. So that’s what the evil sorcerer looks like, he thought. Just like you’d expect!

  “Sounds like the sorcerer,” Annie whispered to Jack.

  “I know,
I know,” Jack said, looking around.

  “Do you have any idea where the strange man in the cloak went?” Annie asked the woman.

  “He asked for directions to the Hall of Machines,” said the woman.

  “Where’s that?” asked Jack. “Is that here at the fair?”

  “Yes, of course. It is the gigantic building made of glass. Can you see the roof?” The woman pointed to an arched glass rooftop looming above other fair buildings in the distance.

  “I see it,” said Annie.

  “Good,” said the woman. “Excuse me now. I must help some other people.”

  “Sure, thanks,” said Annie. “Let’s go,” she said to Jack. She started walking quickly across the fairgrounds.

  “Wait, wait, wait,” said Jack, hurrying after her.

  “The messenger is the sorcerer, I just know it!” said Annie.

  “Of course he is,” said Jack. “But what do we do when we find him?”

  “I don’t know yet,” said Annie.

  “He could be dangerous,” said Jack. “We need to make a plan.”

  “We need to find him first,” said Annie, “before he gets away! Hurry!” She broke into a run and dashed toward the Hall of Machines.

  Jack ran after Annie. He caught up to her outside the huge building made of glass. She was standing in line waiting to buy tickets.

  “Listen,” Jack said breathlessly, “we … we’ve got to make a plan. What if we suddenly find the sorcerer? What do we say to him? What if he tries to use his powers against us?”

  “We use a rhyme,” said Annie.

  “Which rhyme?” said Jack.

  “How many, children?” interrupted the ticket seller. They’d reached the front of the line.

  “Two, please,” said Annie, holding out some coins. The man gave her two tickets, and Annie turned back to Jack. “Let’s go inside and see if we can find the sorcerer. Then we can figure out which rhyme.”

  “Okay, but be cool,” said Jack, “so the sorcerer doesn’t notice us.”

  Jack and Annie walked through the entrance of the glass building. “Oh, man,” whispered Jack.

  The Hall of Machines was the size of a football stadium. It was filled with thousands of people— and thousands of machines! Motors roared, wheels spun, gears clanked.

  “What kind of place is this?” asked Annie.

  Jack pulled out their guide book and read aloud:

  In the Hall of Machines you will see machines from all over the world, bringing alive the world of engineers and inventors. You will see how cloth is sewn by machines to make clothes! You will see an exhibit of an automobile powered by gasoline! And of course, you will see a collection of inventions by the American grand-prize winner from Menlo Park, New Jersey—

  “Look at that!” Annie interrupted. She pointed to a mechanical walkway overhead. The walkway circled the entire exhibit hall. Sightseers gazed down on all the exhibits. “We can get a look at everything from up there.”

  “Good,” said Jack. “Maybe we can spot the sorcerer.”

  He put away the guide book and led the way up the stairs. They stepped onto the crowded moving walkway and peered down at all the people milling about the exhibit hall below.

  There were lots of men dressed in black coats and top hats. There were American cowboys and bearded men in Arab robes and headcloths. But Jack didn’t see a single scary-looking guy in a hooded cloak.

  As Jack and Annie moved slowly over the exhibits, the air grew hotter and the sounds in the hall grew louder. Hammers hammered, sirens blew, bells rang, whistles whistled. The voices of other sightseers swirled around Jack and Annie. “What genius!” “The Age of Machines!” “He’s the Wizard of Menlo Park!”

  “Did you hear that?” Annie shouted to Jack. “Someone said something about a wizard!”

  “I heard!” said Jack. “The Wizard of Menlo Park! We just read something about Menlo Park.” He pulled out their guide book and found the page he’d been reading. He read aloud:

  And of course, you will see a collection of inventions by the American grand-prize winner from Menlo Park, New Jersey—Mr. Thomas Alva Edison!

  “Thomas Alva Edison!” said Jack. “He’s one of the most brilliant inventors who ever lived! Where’s his exhibit?” They looked down at all the booths. Directly below them was a booth with a big sign that said EDISON.

  “There! Let’s go down!” said Annie.

  When the moving walkway came to a staircase, Jack and Annie jumped off and hurried down to the main floor, squeezing past people as they went.

  “Okay, where is it?” said Annie, looking around.

  “Follow me,” said Jack. He led her down a wide aisle until they came to the Edison exhibit. Lots of people were gathered around the booth.

  Jack and Annie slipped through the crowd to get a good look. Many of Thomas Edison’s inventions were on display. One of them had a big tube and lots of switches. Above it was a sign:

  Phonograph

  “What’s a phonograph?” Annie asked.

  “I think it’s like an old-fashioned CD player,” said Jack. “It was the first thing that played recordings of music.”

  A man with earphones was listening to the phonograph. Tears ran down his wrinkled face. “It’s incredible!” he said to the woman beside him. “Now we can hear the dead sing!”

  “What does he mean?” Annie asked Jack.

  “I guess he means that even after people die, you’ll still be able to hear their voices on the recordings,” said Jack.

  “I never thought of it like that,” said Annie.

  “Shh!” someone said. People were trying to listen to a man delivering a speech to the crowd. His name tag said: HENRI.

  “Yes, indeed,” Henri was saying. “Thomas Alva Edison of Menlo Park, New Jersey, U.S.A., invented the phonograph, shown to the public for the first time here at the Paris World’s Fair. Mr. Edison has invented many other things, too.” Henri moved to another display in the booth: a lightbulb with a switch. He clicked the switch, turning the bulb on and off.

  “Ten years ago, after years of work and thousands of experiments, Thomas Alva Edison invented the incandescent lightbulb,” said Henri. “When electricity passes through the thread, it gets very hot. There is no oxygen in the glass bulb, however. So the fire glows, but it does not burn.”

  As others moved closer to the lightbulb to get a good look, Jack turned to Annie. “His fires glow, but they do not burn!” he whispered. “Thomas Edison is the Magician of Light!”

  “I know!” said Annie. She turned to Henri. “Excuse me—is Mr. Edison in Menlo Park now?” she asked.

  “No, as a matter of fact, Mr. Edison was here at this exhibit just a short while ago,” said Henri.

  “Do you know where he is now?” asked Jack.

  “No. All I know is that he was invited to a party and he left,” said Henri.

  Jack felt the hair on his neck go up. “The sorcerer,” he whispered.

  “Did a strange messenger in a cloak deliver the invitation?” asked Annie.

  “Why, yes,” said Henri.

  “Do you know where the messenger went after he left here?” Jack asked.

  “He asked for directions to the Pasteur Institute. That is all I know,” said Henri.

  “The Pasteur Institute?” said Jack. “Where’s that?”

  But Henri didn’t answer. Another boy had asked him a question about the lightbulb.

  “Come on,” Annie said to Jack. “We’ll find it somehow!”

  As Jack and Annie left the Edison exhibit, they could hear Henri repeating his speech word for word: “Ten years ago, after years of work and thousands of experiments, Thomas Alva Edison invented the incandescent lightbulb….”

  Jack and Annie pressed through the crowd of people swarming about the Hall of Machines. Finally they reached the exit and slipped back out into the warm Paris night. The fair was just as crowded outside the hall as inside. Musicians played guitars, singers sang, food sellers shouted,
“Chocolate milk! Cheese! Bread! Wine!”

  “We have to get to the Pasteur Institute fast!” Annie shouted to Jack.

  Jack pulled out their guide book and scanned the index, looking for the Pasteur Institute. “It’s not in here,” he said. He closed the guide book. “It must not be part of the fair.”

  “Maybe one of those horse-and-buggies can take us there,” said Annie. She pointed to a row of carriages along a street. There was a line of people waiting to get into them.

  “Come on!” said Jack.

  Annie and Jack made their way through the crowd and stood in the carriage line.

  “Thomas Alva Edison and Alexander Graham Bell!” said Jack. “The sorcerer must think they’re new magicians with secret powers!”

  “And now he’s invited them to some kind of party,” said Annie, “so he can steal their secrets.”

  “I’ll bet he’s inviting the other two,” said Jack, “the Magician of Iron and the Magician of the Invisible.”

  “I wonder if they’re inventors, too,” said Annie.

  “Come on, it’s our turn,” said Jack.

  They had reached the front of the carriage line. “We need to go to a place called the Pasteur Institute,” Jack called to the coachman. “Can you take us?”

  “But of course,” said the man.

  “Thanks!” said Annie. She and Jack climbed into the back of the open carriage. The coachman shook the reins, and his white horse clopped down the cobblestone street.

  “Excuse me,” Annie said, leaning forward. “But what exactly is the Pasteur Institute?”

  “It is a laboratory for finding the cures for diseases,” said the coachman.

  “Oh …,” said Annie. “Interesting.” She turned back to Jack. “Why would an evil sorcerer look for magicians in a place like that?”

  “I don’t know,” said Jack.

  “Maybe the sorcerer got sick,” said Annie.

  “I don’t think so,” said Jack. “But now we really need a plan. What if we run into him at the institute? Remember, he has magic powers.”