where I have to go. I must insist you change this back
to my one-dollar bill." He laughed.
"I don't know the magic to change it back.
Sorry."
"You're being very foolish, giving away money
like that." He shrugged.
"Easy come, easy go. Besides, it was worth far
more than four dollars to have seen your face when I
performed my trick," he said fixing his eyes on me. I
felt myself blush.
"Are you a magician?"
"Not really. I've been working in a circus
nearby and I picked up a lot of stuff like that from the
carnies." "Carnies?"
"Carnival people. They're wonderful people to
know. They stick together through thick and thin and
help each other all the time, and some of them have
traveled all over the world and know a great many
things. Just sitting around and listening to them talk, I
learn a lot. You'd be surprised how much I already
know, and knowledge and experience is what makes
you older," he added proudly.
"You don't look that old."
"Seventeen. You don't look very old either." "I'm almost fourteen."
"Well, we're not much older than Romeo and
Juliet, you know," he said. "The duchess told me
about them. She was a professional actress in Europe.
Now, she does the knife throwing act with her
husband."
"You mean, she stands there while he throws