Magic Tree House #50: Hurry Up, Houdini! (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))

a large canvas bag, and Houdini tied the bag at the top.
    With Hank and Butch’s help, Houdini lifted Bess into the steamer trunk that had been placed inside the cabinet. Then Hank and Butch closed the trunk, wrapped it with a rope, and locked it with padlocks. After volunteers checked to see that the trunk was securely bound and locked, Houdini shouted, “Behold a miracle!”
    Remaining inside the cabinet with the trunk,Harry closed the black curtain. As the audience watched and waited, three loud claps rang out from behind the curtain.
    The curtain was thrown open. Bess stood in front of the roped and locked trunk, completely free! She quickly cut the rope around the trunk, unlocked the padlocks, untied the sack—and out jumped the Great Houdini!
    Everyone leapt to their feet, applauding and roaring, “Bravo! Bravo!”
    Jack and Annie clapped and shouted with them as the Houdinis bowed again and again.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, let me assure you that I have shown you no supernatural powers tonight!” Harry shouted. “Please know that magic is all tricks! Everything you saw tonight was illusion!”
    And Harry Houdini is the greatest Master of Illusion in the world
, Jack thought.
    Jack’s only disappointment was that all during the Great Houdini show, the Ring of Truth had not glowed once. Not even the tiniest bit.

A fter the curtain closed, Jack could hear the joyful crowd leaving the theater. Mr. Dewey, Mr. Wilson, Butch, and Hank rushed from the wings to congratulate the Houdinis.
    Mr. Dewey actually went down on his knees to thank them. “You have made my audience very happy!” he exclaimed. “And when my audience is happy, I am happy, too! Great show! Great show!”
    “Man, he’s
really
lost it,” Jack said.
    Annie laughed. “Come on, I want to tell them ‘Great show,’ too,” she said.
    But as Jack and Annie started toward the Houdinis, some teenage boys rushed onstage ahead of them.
    “Sorry, boys,” said Mr. Wilson, stepping between the boys and the Houdinis. “Mr. Houdini is exhausted from his magnificent performance. You’ll have to buy a ticket and come back again!”
    “Come on, Harry, let’s get you two out of here!” Mr. Dewey said.
    As Mr. Dewey whisked Harry and Bess backstage, Jack and Annie followed them. Mr. Dewey ushered the couple into their dressing room. He hurried in after them and closed the door.
    Annie was about to knock, but Jack stopped her. “Don’t bother them yet,” he said. “Let them relax a minute first. We’ll see them when they come out.”
    “Good idea,” said Annie.
    Jack and Annie waited outside the Houdinis’ dressing room door as the crew cleared all the hooligan fans off the stage.
    They waited as Hank and Butch took awayHoudini’s cabinet, his milk can, and his steamer trunk. They waited as Mrs. Crenshaw collected the bird and rabbit cages and carried them away. They waited as Mr. Wilson swept the floor and turned off the stage lights.
    “They should be relaxed by now,” said Annie.
    “No kidding,” said Jack. He tapped softly on the door. There was no answer.
    Annie knocked louder. “Bess? Harry?” she called.
    Still, no one answered. Annie tried the handle, but the door was locked.
    “They’re gone,” said Mr. Wilson, passing by Jack and Annie in the hall.
    “Gone?” said Annie.
    “Yes, both the Houdinis left a while ago,” the stage manager said.
    “Left? How?” asked Jack. He and Annie had been watching the door every minute!
    “Mr. Dewey took them through the secret exit out of the stars’ dressing room,” said Mr. Wilson. “It goes through the basement and out of thetheater. Otherwise, they’d be mobbed by all the crazy fans.”
    “So they’re really gone?” said Jack.
    “They don’t call Harry the Master of Escape for nothing,” Mr. Wilson said. “You’d better change out of your costumes and get going, too. We’ll be locking up the building soon.”
    Jack and Annie walked down the hall and into their dressing room. “I can’t believe it!” Annie wailed. “We didn’t even get to tell them ‘Great show.’ ”
    “Worse than that, we didn’t get to find out a secret of greatness,” said Jack. He held up his finger with the Ring of Truth. “The ring didn’t glow all night.”
    “Well, I guess all we can do is get dressed and go look for them,” said Annie.
    Jack and Annie quickly changed out of the tuxedos and back into their street clothes. Jack grabbed his bag and put his watch in the pocket