Jack’s knees turned to jelly.
The knocking came again.
Mr. Eiffel laughed. “Goodness, another unexpected 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 telling the truth! He thinks you’re all magicians!”
“Don’t be afraid, son,” Dr. Pasteur said to Jack. “I’m sure it’s just another guest.”
Mr. Eiffel stepped toward the door.
Mr. Eiffel opened the door. There was a deafening clap 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 the others moved. Mr. Eiffel, Mr. Bell, Mr. Edison, and Dr. Pasteur were all as still as stone.
Jack could barely make out a dark figure in a long cloak 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 see—
Jack waited for Annie to finish the rhyme. But she didn’t say her line. Oh, no! She’s forgotten it! Jack thought wildly.
Suddenly he heard Annie laugh. “It’s you,” she said.
Jack looked up. The haze had cleared. The sorcerer’s face glowed in the light. It was a familiar face, craggy with electric-blue eyes.
“Merlin?” breathed Jack.
The master magician answered him with a smile.
“Merlin! Hi!” said Annie. She rushed over and hugged him.
Jack just stared at Merlin. “What happened?” he asked. “Where’s the evil sorcerer?”
“There are evil sorcerers in my world,” Merlin said in his deep voice. “But I assure you none of them were here at the World’s Fair today.”
“So you were the messenger?” said Annie. “You delivered the invitations for everyone to come to the top of the tower?”
“Yes, I was the messenger,” said Merlin. “I wanted to gather these remarkable men together so you could meet them all in the short time you had to spend in Paris.”
“But why did you tell us that we had to find them before an evil sorcerer did?” said Jack.
Merlin smiled. “Without that challenge, would you have used all your powers of thinking and courage?” he asked. “Would you have been so determined to find 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 more swiftly. Never wish for all your problems to disappear. Problems can help you achieve your goals. Do you understand?”
Jack and Annie nodded.
“So now, what are the secrets of these remarkable men?” asked Merlin. “I truly wish to know.”
“If you want to reach your goal, you have to love adventure and responsibility,” said Jack.
“You have to study and be prepared so luck will favor you,” said Annie.
“You have to work really hard, because genius is ninety-nine percent perspiration and only one 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 excellent secrets! And I believe you not only learned them on this mission, but you lived each of them as well. Do you understand?”
“I guess,” said Jack.
Annie looked at the four frozen men. “What about them, Merlin?” she said anxiously. “Will they be okay?”
“Yes, they will awaken as soon as I leave. Do not worry,” said Merlin.
“I’m sorry I almost made you disappear,” said Jack.
Merlin smiled. “That is quite all right. But now we have a little problem. One must never leave a magic rhyme hanging in the air unfinished.”
“Oh,” said Jack. “So Annie needs to finish the rhyme and make something disappear?”
“Precisely,” said Merlin. “Perhaps you could use the rhyme to speed me back to Camelot.”
“Sure,” said Annie. “But do you have to leave so soon?”
“Yes, I must be on my way,” said Merlin. “I would not want to confuse these kind gentlemen. Do not worry. I will send for you both again in the very near future. But now it is time for me to … disappear.”
Jack smiled. “Good-bye, Merlin,” he said.
Annie took a deep breath. Then she looked at Merlin and slowly said her line:
Thee-be-wan-new-ee-vee!
There was a clap of thunder and a blast of fiery light—and Merlin was gone.
Just as suddenly, the new magicians came back to life. Mr. Eiffel pointed to the open doorway as wind gusted inside. “You see, son,” he said to Jack, “it was only the wind.”
“Oh, yeah,” said Jack, pretending to be embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry,” said Mr. Eiffel. “You and your sister are perfectly safe. We live in the wondrous new world of science, and not in the old world of magic and sorcerers.”
Mr. Eiffel moved toward the open doorway. “Come, let us all step outside and take a look at our new world.”
Everyone joined him on the windy terrace and looked over the railing.
“Paris is a lovely city, is it not?” Mr. Eiffel said.
Jack and Annie and the others watched the giant spotlights sweep over Paris like white comets. The lights shined down on the domes and treetops, the grand monuments and church spires, the colorful fountain waters and rippling river. The boat lights twinkled like fireflies.
“Thanks to Mr. Eiffel and his tower, we can see the entire city,” Mr. Edison shouted above the wind.
“Thanks to Mr. Edison, ten thousand gas streetlamps in Paris will soon be replaced by electric lights!” said Mr. Eiffel.
“Thanks to Dr. Pasteur’s institute, we will soon have cures for many more deadly diseases,” said Mr. Bell.
“And thanks to Mr. Bell, I’ll be able to call you all on 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 their pockets and talk to other people anywhere in the world.”
“Uh, Annie, we’d better be going,” said Jack. He didn’t want the others to know he and Annie were from the future.
But Annie kept talking. “And there’ll be these things called computers,” she said, “that can give you instant information about anything, anytime—”
“Annie!” said Jack.
“And get this!” she said. She pointed to the full moon overhead. “Someday people will actually walk on that moon up there!”
The men all chuckled. “You have a most delightful imagination,” said Mr. Eiffel.
“And that is a wonderful thing!” said Mr. Edison. “Without imagination, none of us would be standing here 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 United States,” 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 safe trip in your magic tree house,” said Mr. Eiffel. “You have both been most entertaining guests. Please come visit me anytime.”
Jack and Annie waved good-bye to the four men. Then they climbed carefully down the spiral staircase and started down the 1,652 steps of the Eiffel Tower.