“It’s very important,” the little man added. “You must come—just for a moment. I’ve wanted to see you for a very long time.”
Tubby clambered to his feet; his two friends, absorbed in the picture before them, did not notice him leave. In silence he followed the stranger back up the aisle to the lighted theater lobby.
“I’ve wanted to see you for a long time,” the little man repeated. Tubby could see now he was a very little man, with a thin, frail body and a very big head set upon a long spindly neck. His hair was snow-white and long about his ears. His yellow face was seamed with lines, but most of it was hidden by flowing side-whiskers and by a pair of huge iron-rimmed spectacles. He wore a long black frock coat that hung from his thin shoulders like a shroud.
“I’m a professor,” said the stranger. He held out a shriveled, taloned hand. “A Professor of Light,” he added impressively.
“Oh,” said Tubby.
“My name is Obadiah Oats.”
Tubby shook hands. “Mine’s Tubby,” he said. “Pleased to meet you.”
The professor put on his high hat, which made him nearly as tall as Tubby.
“I want to consult you on a matter of very great importance to both of us,” he said slowly.
Tubby waited.