“One day this little girl was sitting on the fence looking up at the sky and wishing something would happen, when she heard the boy calling her.  She answered, and he came running across the grass and climbed up beside her, and with an air of great mystery told her he knew a secret.  Of course the little girl was anxious to hear it, and of course the boy tried to tease her by refusing to tell.  But by and by he could keep it no longer, and in tones of awe he whispered that he knew a magician who lived in their very town.

“The little girl clapped her hands; for if her playmate believed in magicians, he must surely come to believe in fairies too.

“The boy went on to explain that this magician appeared exactly like other men, so that few guessed his mysterious power.  He lived in a house quite like other houses except that its door was painted black; but behind this door lay a tiger, always ready to spring upon any one who tried to enter.  On this great tiger in some way depended the magician’s power.

“There had been a fire in the village recently, which, the boy said, had been caused by the magician, as well as certain other calamities, such as scarlet-fever and measles, and the time had come when this must be stopped.  The boy claimed to have discovered—­he did not say how—­that the magician’s tiger had three white whiskers, all the rest being black, and in these white whiskers resided all his power.  If in any way they could be removed, he and his master would be harmless forevermore.

“But how was this to be done? the little girl wanted to know, feeling deeply impressed meanwhile by the tragedy of the situation.

“The only way, the boy replied, was to catch the tiger while he slept, and then—­a snip of the scissors, and he could do no more harm.  The little girl had some round-pointed scissors hanging from a ribbon around her neck, for she was fond of cutting things; she took them in her hand now and looked at them with a shiver as the boy added in a tragic whisper, ‘We must do it!’

“Although she was very much afraid, she never thought of objecting.  It was her duty, and she had great confidence in her companion.  He could do many things she couldn’t do, and he was ten and she only six; so when he examined the scissors and said they would answer, without a word of objection she slipped down from the fence and trotted beside him.

“It seemed quite natural that the way should be over fences and through back yards instead of along the street.  They climbed rails and squeezed through hedges until the little girl was breathless and had not the least idea where she was, when she found herself in a narrow garden-path, on either side of which grew hollyhocks and sunflowers.

“‘There is the door,’ the boy whispered; and—­yes—­at the end of the path she saw the black door.

“‘This is the hour when he sleeps,’ the boy said, in thrilling tones, looking at an imaginary watch.  ’We have timed it well.  I will open the door softly, and you have your scissors ready; I will hold him while you cut off the whiskers.’  The little girl’s heart almost stopped beating, but she had no thought of running away.