Showing That the Age of Magic And Magicians is Not Yet Over
- The narrator describes the unexpected shift in the previous chapter as if Charlie had been transformed into a snake. He's not wrong.
- But the honeymoon isn't quite over yet, because something really weird happens. While Charlie is saying mean angry things to Frank, Frank takes out ten coins and places them in a circle around Charlie.
- Frank steps back, waves his pipe like a wand, and says some mysterious magic words. Inside the circle, Charlie is in a honest-to-goodness trance.
- Frank commands that the old happy Charlie return when he says the words "my dear Frank."
- Frank concludes the spell, and Charlie says a lot of things. What else is new?
- Apparently, Charlie is under the impression that Frank was just joking about needing money and says that being a mean jerk-face when he asked for it was all a joke. These guys—such tricksters.
- Charlie says they should keep drinking, and Frank is up for it.
- Frank says Charlie was so clever in how he played along and pretended to be angry about the money.
- Charlie: Well, I used to do theater. So kinda got this acting thing down.
- Frank: You're a gem. Want to hear about Charlemont?
- Charlie: Oh, yeah, for sure—who?