David. The two of them proceeded slowly down the trail
together, frequently sitting down to rest. The Scientist murmured the
name of his hotel and pointed out the direction.

Townspeople stared at them as they passed, but no one stopped them or
asked questions, and they reached the hotel without further incident.
They entered the lobby, and the Scientist sank into a chair.

"Let me help you to your room," said David.

In a few minutes the Scientist got up again, and they took the
elevator to the fourth floor. David closely watched the direction they
were going, and when they came into the Scientist's room, he looked
quickly through the window. There was a fire escape just outside. He
had the information now: fourth floor, west side, fire escape by
window.

The Scientist eased himself onto the bed with a groan.

Then he turned to David and said severely: "There's something strange
about all this, and I intend to get to the bottom of it. You'll be
hearing from me, young man!"

"All right," said David, closing the door. "And you'll be hearing from
_us_," he added in an undertone, "if I know the Phoenix!"

* * * * *

Flying at night was colder than flying by day, but it was more
thrilling, too. They whistled through an immense blackness. Stars
glittered overhead, and quicksilver patches of moonlight and shadow
flashed across the clouds below. They were going to Ireland, but why,
David did not know. The Phoenix was playing its wait-and-see game
again.

In an hour or so they shot out over the edge of the cloud mass, and
David could see a rocky coast below, dark and cold in the half-light.
The Phoenix began to slant down toward it, and presently they landed
in a little meadow. One side of the meadow ran down to a bog filled
with reeds, and on the other side was a gloomy wood. Everything was
dark and indistinct, but David thought he could tell why the Phoenix
had called this the Emerald Isle. The grass beneath their feet was the
thickest he had ever felt. He touched a boulder and found it furry
with moss. With the wood and the reed-choked bog, the whole place
would be rich with various greens in the daylight.

Just then they saw a little man approaching them from the wood. He was
three feet tall, dressed all in green, and had a long white beard.
When he reached them he raised his cap politely and said, "Good
evenin' to you."

"A fine evening to you, my good Leprechaun," said the Phoe