The magician turned around as if to look for spies.
"A sissy," said the magician. "Go sit down."
Then he stared at all the faces one by one. Rosaura felt her heart tremble.
"You, with the Spanish eyes," said the magician. And everyone saw that he was pointing at her. She wasn't afraid. Neither holding the monkey, nor when the magician made him vanish; not even
when, at the end, the magician flung his red cape over Rosaura's head and uttered a few magic words . . . and the monkey reappeared, chattering happily, in her arms. The children clapped furiously. And before Rosaura returned to her seat, the magician said, "Thank you very much, my little countess."
She was so pleased with the compliment that a while later, when her mother came to fetch her, that was the first thing she told her.