Jack and Annie whirled around. A dark figure wasstanding at a side door of the institute.
The sorcerer!
Jack thought. He frantically tried to remember hisline of the rhyme.
"Can I help you?" the figure said. He steppedforward into the light of a gas lamp. He was an oldman with stooped shoulders. His hair was white andhe had a friendly smile.
"Hi! Who are you?" asked Annie.
"I am the night watchman," the man said. "Theinstitute is closed for the night. Have you61been bitten by a dog? Have you come for the rabiestreatment?""No, we're fine," said Annie.
"Is that what you do here?" asked Jack. "You treatpeople for rabies?""Yes. Not I, of course, but Dr. Pasteur. He treatsother diseases as well," said the old man. "He is theworld's foremost medical researcher.""Really?" said Jack. "What does he research?""Microbes," said the night watchman.
"Microbes?" said Annie.
"Germs," explained Jack. "Yuck," said Annie.
"Microbes are invisible to the eye," said the oldman. "Some are useful and necessary, but others cancause great harm. Dr. Pasteur battles the deadly oneswith research and vaccines and new medicines."Annie gasped.
"He battles deadly enemies no one can see!"she said. "He's the Magician of the Invisible!"62"Yes!" said Jack.
The old man smiled. "I suppose you could say that,"he said. "Dr. Pasteur has certainly helped a lot ofpeople.""We have to find him," said Annie. "Do you knowwhere he is now?""Unfortunately, you have just missed him," said thenight watchman. "Earlier, a messenger left aninvitation for him.""A strange man in a black cloak?" said Annie. "Youknow him?" said the night watchman.
"Not really," said Jack. "But we think we know whohe is. What did the invitation say?""I do not know," said the old man. "But when Dr.
Pasteur read it, he left immediately. He said he had toget to the Eiffel Tower by ten p.m.""The Eiffel Tower?" said Annie.
"By ten p.m.?" said Jack. "Do you know what timeit is now?"The old man pulled out a pocket watch. "It is abouttwenty-five minutes until ten."63"Yikes, we'd better get going!" said Annie. "Thanksfor your help," Jack said to the night watchman.
"You're welcome," the old man said. Then hestepped back inside the institute and closed the door.
"Hurry!" said Annie. She and Jack ran down thesteps to the street.
"Dr. Louis Pasteur!" said Jack. "I've heard of him,too! This is crazy. None of these guys are reallymagicians. They're all famous for doing great thingsin science and stuff!""I wonder who thefourth`magician' is," said Annie. "The Magician of Iron,who bends the metals of earth and triumphs over thewind. Is he a magician or a scientist or what?""I don't know," said Jack. "But we have to get tothat tower fast! We have to find the magicians andlearn their secrets-before the sorcerer finds them!"Jack and Annie looked up and down the64lamp-lit street. A man was pushing a cart over thecobblestones. A couple on a two-seater bicycle rodeby and disappeared. Then a horse and carriageclattered up the street.
"Taxi!" yelled Jack.
But the horse and carriage kept going. There wasno sign of another one. The street was empty, exceptfor Jack and Annie.
"Let's start walking," said Jack. "Look," said Annie.
The couple on the two-seater bicycle rattled backdown the road. They stopped near a yellowstreetlamp.
"We heard you call for help. Do you needassistance?" the man asked in a gruff voice. Jack andAnnie stepped closer to the bike.
The riders were an odd-looking couple. The manwas short. He wore a tall black hat and had a bushybeard and a long mustache. The woman was short,also. She wore a hat with a veil that hid most of herface.
65"We need to know the quickest way to the EiffelTower," said Annie. "We have to get there by ten. It'san emergency!""An emergency! Oh, dear!" exclaimed the woman ina high, squeaky voice.
The man cleared his throat and spoke in his low,gruff voice. "It would take quite a long time to walkto the Eiffel Tower from here," he said. "Perhaps youshould take our bicycle.""Really?" said Jack.
"Of course," said the man, "if it'strulyan emergency.""It's an emergency, all right," said Annie. "But howcan we get your bike back to you?""Just leave it for us under the arches at the bottomof the tower," said the man.
"We can pay you for letting us borrow it," saidAnnie. She pulled coins out of her pocket and heldthem out to the couple. "You can have them all.""No, please, we are happy to help," said the man asthe couple climbed off their bicycle.
66"This is really nice of you!" said Annie. "Good luck!"the woman squeaked. Then she and the man startedwalking away.
"Youwere our good luck!" shouted Annie.
"Thanks!"6768"Yes, thanks a lot!" shouted Jack.
The man turned back. "You had better hurry!" hecalled over his shoulder. "If you want to be there byten, you will have to spin like a whirlwind!" Then heand the woman rounded the corner and were gone.
"I love this bike!" said Annie. She climbed onto thefront seat, and Jack climbed onto the one in back.
"Ready?""Go easy till we get the hang of it," said Jack. Jackand Annie started pedaling. At first, the large bikewas very wobbly and they almost fell over. "We haveto pedal at the same speed," said Jack.
Jack and Annie balanced themselves on the bikeand tried to pedal together. The bike bumped over thecobblestones a little more smoothly.
"I think I've got the hang of it now!" said Annie.
"Me too!" said Jack. "It isn't that different fromriding a regular bike.""Which way do we go?" said Annie.
69"We have to find that busy street with the cafes,"said Jack.
They rode the bike to the corner and looked rightand left. "That way," said Annie. She pointed to theright, where there was a busy block with lots of gaslitrestaurants and people strolling about.
"Okay, go," said Jack.
Annie turned the front handlebars, and she andJack pedaled down the bumpy street. Annie steeredthem carefully around couples walking arm in arm.
People at outdoor cafes waved at them as they rodeby.
But the street grew more deserted as Jack andAnnie kept riding. By the time they came to the end,there was no one around. They pushed back on theirpedals and brought their bike to a shaky stop.
"Which way now?" said Annie.
Jack looked to the right and left. Both ways weredimly lit, with closed shops and dark houses. Jackdidn't recognize anything. "I don't70know," he said. "I wasn't paying attention duringthe carriage ride.""Me, either," said Annie.
Jack could see the Eiffel Tower rising into the skybehind other buildings. It didn't look that far away,but he had no idea how to get there. "Let's try goingleft," he said.
Jack and Annie turned left and rattled over thecobblestones until they came to an empty square atthe end of the street.
"It's a dead end," said Jack.
"We have to go back!" said Annie. "Hurry!"Jack and Annie turned the bike around and spedback up the street. They pedaled until they came toanother dead end.
"Oh, no!" said Jack. "Where's that busy street withall the cafes?""We must have missed it somehow," said Annie.
"We'recompletelylost! And it's almost ten o'clock!""This, is so annoying!" said Jack. "The tower71isright there!"He pointed to the Eiffel Tower looming over Paris.
"It's really not that far away! We just don't know howto get there!""Wait a minute," said Annie. "That guy said that toget there by ten, we'd have to `spin like awhirlwind."'
"I know, but we're lost!" said Jack. "We don't knowwhich way to go!""It doesn't matter!" said Annie. "We have to spin!
Spin into the Air!
That's one of our magic rhymes!
We have to spin our bike into the air!" |