“No!” she laughed.
“Very well, then I must find some one else.”
There was a movement in the back of the house as if some one intended to volunteer, but, as the professor did not want this, he forestalled it by quickly saying:
“Never mind. I see you are all afraid. Well, I will call on my young assistant. He is not of much use to me, or to the world either, so I will make him disappear.”
This was Joe’s signal to come forward for one of the more elaborate tricks.
CHAPTER XIV
JOE’S DISAPPEARANCE
“You’re not afraid to be made to vanish into thin air, are you?” asked Professor Rosello of Joe, that being part of the “patter” of this trick. “You don’t mind being made to vanish?”
“No,” answered Joe, “not if it doesn’t hurt.” The audience laughed. Joe was getting on surprisingly well. He had feared he would be stricken with stage fright on this, his first appearance in public. But there was not the least sign of it, though there was a packed house. One reason was that, of course, the magician occupied the center of the stage most of the time, and all eyes were focused on him. Joe had only a minor part as yet.
But, also, there must have been something inherited by him from his parents, who fairly lived in the public eye. Joe took to it naturally.
“You see he doesn’t mind in the least,” the professor said to the audience. “He’ll never be missed, and if I used some boy from the audience this might not be the case.”