The Mad Magician Page #3

the dummy head comes up,

and the real girl

slips out of the machine.

Very good. But it needs a showman

to present it to an audience.

It was presumptuous of you

to think you could do it.

Only an amateur could be so brash.

But I'll make you famous, my pet.

In my hands you'll become a star.

Now, look, I'll send a moving Van to pick

it up this afternoon and deliver it to me.

L'm bringing my show

to the 44th street theater next month,

and I want to start rehearsing this trick.

I'll give it top billing

on all my posters.

The 44th street theater.

Of course.

Ross owns half interest in my show.

Well, I have a matinee in Jersey city.

- Good-bye, Ross.

- Good-bye.

Good-bye, gallico the great.

So that's why you took

the trick away from me.

I could have stopped you

before you booked your first date.

But why didn't you?

Why did you let me go on?

You needed a lesson.

You belong here, not in the theater.

When I stumbled onto you, you were a two-bit

concessionaire with a broken-down carny outfit.

All you had was a leaky tent

and a bag full of cheap tricks.

I had a lovely wife.

She was the only reason I took a

second look at your flea-bitten show.

The only reason you brought me here

and gave me a job.

She was a lot different then.

For one thing, she had an innocent mind.

But to you, that meant ignorance,

and so you did your best to change it.

She had one great weakness,

a consuming hunger for rich living,

and I couldn't give her that.

If you'd left us alone,

she might have gotten over it,

but you catered to it, built it up.

I could see her change

before my eyes.

It was no surprise

when she asked me for a divorce.

You seemed willing enough.

She didn't try to deceive me.

She told me what she wanted,

and I let her have her way.

It couldn't have bothered you much, or

you wouldn't have stayed here onthejob.

I loved her, Ross.

Oh, yeah.

That's funny, isn't it?

Yes, it would be, to you.

I knew you, even then.

I knew what could happen.

I stayed on the job to pick up the pieces.

You're lucky

i took her off your hands.

Look how she's behaved

since I've married her.

Gallivanting all over Europe,

spending my money like water.

I haven't seen her in six months.

Didn't try to deceive you?

You stupid fool.

She's always been a trollop.

She double-crossed you from the first,

just as she double-crossed me.

Don. don, what's the matter with you?

Keep away from me.

You took everything.

Everything I ever had.

My wife! My brains! My self-respect!

Everything but the air I breathe.

Gallico the great, magician

extraordinary. that's funny, isn't it?

Gallico the clown.

Gallico the stupid fool.

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