"If
you have to pay for what I don't eat, I'll try," he said; "but my
breast is cold." Reassured on this point, and furtively rubbing his
little chilly stomach, David put down his spoon and slipped out of his
chair, ready to make a night of it. For, supper over, they went to see
a magician!
"I don't know what Mrs. Richie will say to me," said Dr. Lavendar.
"You won't get to bed before ten o'clock!"
"She'll say 'all right,'" said David. Then he added, "The gentleman at
dinner tells lies, or else he's foolish. It would melt before the
heathen got it."
Dr. Lavendar, singing to himself--
Hither ye faithful, haste with songs of triumph,--
did not hear the morals of his bishop aspersed. He took David's hand,
and by and by they were sitting staring open-mouthed at a man who put
eggs in a pan, and held it over a fire, and took out live pigeons! Oh,
yes, and many other wonders! David never spoke once on his way back to
the hotel, and Dr. Lavendar began to be worried for fear the child was
overtired. He hustled him to bed as quickly as possible, and then sat
down under the far-off chandelier of the hotel bedroom, to glance at a
newspaper and wait until David was asleep before he got into his own
bed. He did not have to wait long for the soft breathing of childish
sleep. It had been poor David's intention to go over in his mind every
single thing he saw the magician do, so that he wouldn't leave out
anything at recess on Monday.
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