y
friends among the London sparrows, and I have a beak and claws.'

These happenings had somewhat shaken the adventurous temper of the
children, and the Phoenix had to exert its golden self to hearten them
up.

Presently the children came to a great house in Lombard Street, and
there, on each side of the door, was the image of the Phoenix carved in
stone, and set forth on shining brass were the words--

PHOENIX FIRE OFFICE

'One moment,' said the bird. 'Fire? For altars, I suppose?'

'_I_ don't know,' said Robert; he was beginning to feel shy, and that
always made him rather cross.

'Oh, yes, you do,' Cyril contradicted. 'When people's houses are burnt
down the Phoenix gives them new houses. Father told me; I asked him.'

'The house, then, like the Phoenix, rises from its ashes? Well have my
priests dealt with the sons of men!'

'The sons of men pay, you know,' said Anthea; 'but it's only a little
every year.'

'That is to maintain my priests,' said the bird, 'who, in the hour of
affliction, heal sorrows and rebuild houses. Lead on; inquire for the
High Priest. I will not break upon them too suddenly in all my glory.
Noble and honour-deserving are they who make as nought the evil deeds of
the lame-footed and unpleasing Hephaestus.'

'I don't know what you're talking about, and I wish you wouldn't muddle
us with new names. Fire just happens. Nobody does it--not as a deed,
you know,' Cyril explained. 'If they did the Phoenix wouldn't help them,
because its a crime to set fire to things. Arsenic, or something they
call it, because it's as bad as poisoning people. The Phoenix wouldn't
help THEM--father told me it wouldn't.'

'My priests do well,' said the Phoenix. 'Lead on.'

'I don't know what to say,' said Cyril; and the Others said the same.

'Ask for the High Priest,' said the Phoenix. 'Say that you have a
secret to unfold that concerns my worship, and he will lead you to the
innermost sanctuary.'

So the children went in, all four of them, though they didn't like it,
and stood in a large and beautiful hall adorned with Doulton tiles,
like a large and beautiful bath with no water in it, and stately pillars
supporting the roof. An unpleasing representation of the Phoenix in
brown pottery disfigured one wall. There were counters and desks of
mahogany and brass, and clerks bent over the desks and walked behind the
counters. There was a great clock over an inner doorway.

'Inquire for the High Prie