《神奇树屋》 第三十五册 Night of the New Magicians 02 A Living Encyclopedia

       Jack 1 opened his eyes. The scent 2 of roses floatedthrough the warm twilight 3. Jack was wearing an old-fashioned cap, a rust-colored jacket, and knee-lengthpants. His backpack had turned into a leather satchel 4.



Annie was wearing a puffy white blouse and a longpurple skirt with a ruffle 5. "Look, there's the EiffelTower," she said.



Jack looked. They had landed in a park filled withtrees. Beyond the park, rising into the sky, was a talltower with lights beaming from the top.



"That's the Eiffel Tower, all right," said Jack.



22"But where's the World's Fair?" He opened theirguide book and found a map. "Oh, great, it looks likethe fair is directly below the tower. That should makeit easy to find.""Let's get going," said Annie.



"Wait, we need to go over what we have to do onour mission," said Jack.



"It's simple," said Annie. "We have to find theMagician of Sound, the Magician of Light, theMagician of the Invisible, and the Magician of Iron.



We have to warn them about the evil sorcerer andthen learn their secrets for Merlin.""That doesn't sound simple to me," said Jack. "Itsounds like a huge responsibility.""So we'd better start now," said Annie. "Come on."Annie led the way down the tree house ladder.



Jack put their World's Fair guide into his satchel,along with their letter from Merlin and the book ofrhymes from Teddy and Kathleen.



23Then he followed Annie down the ladder.



As Jack and Annie started across the park, aclinking sound came from Annie's skirt pocket. Shereached into the pocket and pulled out a handful ofcoins. "Hey, our ice cream money got changed intoFrench coins!" she said.



"Good," said Jack. "We might need them at the fair."Jack and Annie followed a gravel 6 path that led outof the park and onto an avenue lit by gas streetlamps.



Horse-drawn carriages and oldfashioned bicyclesclattered over the cobblestones. They all seemed to beheaded toward a crowded bridge that crossed a wideriver.



Boats were gliding 7 down the river, their lightsreflecting in the water. On the far side of the river,thousands of tiny lamps twinkled along the bank. TheEiffel Tower glowed in the silver twilight.



"Paris is so beautiful," said Annie.



"No kidding," said Jack. "Let's cross that24bridge to the fair." They hurried to join the peoplestreaming across the bridge.



Jack and Annie blended in easily with the happycrowd. The kids in the crowd were all wearingclothes like theirs. Most of the men wore black tophats and black coats and pants. The women wore hatsas big as flower baskets. Their long, colorful dressespuffed out in back.



There seemed to be visitors from many countries.



Jack saw Chinese straw hats, Dutch caps, severalIndian turbans, and a Mexican sombrero.



"This reminds me of the carnival 8 we went to inVenice," said Annie.



"Me too," said Jack. "Except in Venice, people werewearing costumes. Here, they're wearing their realclothes. Remember, this is aworld'sfair.""Cool," said Annie.



Jack looked around. How would they recognize thefour new magicians? he wondered. Would they bedressed like people from Paris?



25Or people from another country? Or would theylook like Merlin or Morgan in flowing medievalrobes? And what about the evil sorcerer?



"Looks like we buy our tickets over there," saidAnnie as they reached the end of the bridge. Jack andAnnie headed for a ticket booth near an entrancegate. Above the gate, a giant banner read:



Welcome to the 1889 Paris World's FairAs they stood in line waiting to buy tickets, Jackpulled out their guide book. "We need to prepare forour mission," he said. He turned to the first page andread aloud:



Welcome to the World's Fair-a living encyclopediawith over 60,000 exhibits from all over the globe!



"Maybe some of the exhibits are magic shows," saidAnnie. "And that's where we'll find the newmagicians."26"Maybe," said Jack. He kept reading:



This World's Fair is a showcase of progress!



Discover the genius of man! Learn all about scienceand technology! See wondrous 9 new machines andinventions!



Jack looked up. "Hmm," he said. "It sounds like thisfair is mainly about inventions and scientific stuff. Idon't see anything here about magic or magicians.



"How many?" the ticket seller asked gruffly. Theyhad reached the front of the line.



Annie held out a handful of French coins. "Two,please," she said.



The ticket seller took two coins. Annie put theremaining change back into her pocket. Then she andJack walked through the gate into the 1889 ParisWorld's Fair.