and
went out, closing the door on the Phoenix--left, at last, alone with the
carpet.

'One of us must keep watch,' said Robert, excitedly, as soon as they
were all out of the room, 'and the others can go and buy sweet woods and
spices. Get the very best that money can buy, and plenty of them.
Don't let's stand to a threepence or so. I want it to have a jolly good
send-off. It's the only thing that'll make us feel less horrid inside.'

It was felt that Robert, as the pet of the Phoenix, ought to have the
last melancholy pleasure of choosing the materials for its funeral pyre.

'I'll keep watch if you like,' said Cyril. 'I don't mind. And, besides,
it's raining hard, and my boots let in the wet. You might call and see
if my other ones are "really reliable" again yet.'

So they left Cyril, standing like a Roman sentinel outside the door
inside which the Phoenix was getting ready for the great change, and
they all went out to buy the precious things for the last sad rites.

'Robert is right,' Anthea said; 'this is no time for being careful about
our money. Let's go to the stationer's first, and buy a whole packet of
lead-pencils. They're cheaper if you buy them by the packet.'

This was a thing that they had always wanted to do, but it needed the
great excitement of a funeral pyre and a parting from a beloved Phoenix
to screw them up to the extravagance.

The people at the stationer's said that the pencils were real
cedar-wood, so I hope they were, for stationers should always speak
the truth. At any rate they cost one-and-fourpence. Also they spent
sevenpence three-farthings on a little sandal-wood box inlaid with
ivory.

'Because,' said Anthea, 'I know sandalwood smells sweet, and when it's
burned it smells very sweet indeed.'

'Ivory doesn't smell at all,' said Robert, 'but I expect when you burn
it it smells most awful vile, like bones.'

At the grocer's they bought all the spices they could remember the names
of--shell-like mace, cloves like blunt nails, peppercorns, the long
and the round kind; ginger, the dry sort, of course; and the beautiful
bloom-covered shells of fragrant cinnamon. Allspice too, and caraway
seeds (caraway seeds that smelt most deadly when the time came for
burning them).

Camphor and oil of lavender were bought at the chemist's, and also a
little scent sachet labelled 'Violettes de Parme'.

They took the things home and found Cyril still on guard. When they had
knocked and the gold