Little Ada peered at him through the sunbeam. He was such a little man; and although his cheeks were somewhat hollow and his complexion rather sallow, there was an expression of frank gentleness in his eyes which at once inspired confidence. A child might trust him, and a child is quick to detect untrustworthy persons.
‘I’m not afraid—why should I?’ said Ada laughing.
‘Because you do not know me—at least you do not know me enough to be quite sure that I am not the wicked magician who tried so hard to kill Aladdin because he got hold of the wonderful lamp.’
‘But that was a long time ago,’ she said with an air of thoughtfulness; ‘and papa says there are no magicians—no real magicians—and no ghosts now, and that anybody who pretends to tell fortunes or to do magic things is’——
The child instinctively paused and turned her face away.
‘Is an impostor, and ought to be taken up by the policeman,’ said Tuppit, cheerfully completing the sentence for her; ‘and he is quite right so far. All the same, Ada, there are great magicians always close by us. There is the Good Magician, Love, who makes you fond of your father and mother and ready to do kindly things for other people. Then there are the wicked magicians Anger and Envy, who make you hate everybody and everybody hate you. But you know I don’t pretend to be like them; I only make-believe—that is, I perform tricks and tell you how they are done.’
‘Is that all?’ she said, disappointed, allowing her hands to drop, and passing through the sunbeam, which had hitherto formed a golden bar between them.
‘That is all; but you have to work a great deal before you can do so much.—Now, here is this big desk—your papa opens it by magic; but do you know how it is done?’
‘O yes; he takes out a nail and pushes something in—but that’s telling. Could you do it? I have seen papa do it often, and he did not mind me; but he doesn’t like anybody else to see him, for he was angry one day when nurse Susan came in without knocking just as he was going to open it.’
Tuppit was already busy examining the brass screws. He found one the notch of which indicated that it was more frequently used than the others. A penknife served his purpose; he took out the screw, thrust a thin pencil into the hole; pressed it, and the desk opened.