see how good it is. Please!"

"No," said the Phoenix sharply.

"Oh, all right for _you_!" she said, tossing her head. "You just don't
dare, because you know I'll beat your tail feathers off!" And she shot
back into the mist below.

"Indeed!" the Phoenix snorted. "Beat my tail feathers off! Ha!"

"Is she a Witch?" David asked.

"Yes, my boy, and a shocking example of the decline of the younger
generation. She will come to no good end, believe me. Tail feathers,
indeed!"

Just then they burst out of the clouds and into the hot sunlight.
Below them, the land was wild and desolate, a vast rolling plain
covered for the most part with dry, tawny grass. Here and there were
groves of trees drooping beneath the sun. The Phoenix, still snorting
indignantly to itself, dropped to within a hundred feet of the ground.
They began to soar back and forth.

"Can you see anything, my boy?"

David had never seen a Gryffin, of course; so he was not sure what to
look for. But he caught sight of something lying in the shade of a
bush and pointed it out to the Phoenix.

"Ah, quite so," the Phoenix said doubtfully. "It does not look like
a--but we can take a closer look."

They landed and walked toward the bush. In its shadow sprawled a very
untidy animal. Its tail and hindquarters were exactly like those of a
panther, its chest and forelegs were like a hawk's, and it had pointed
wings. Burrs matted its dusty fur. Its claws were shabby and split,
and numerous black flies were crawling over its haunches. The bush
trembled with its snoring.

"Bah! We are wasting our time here, my boy. This is a Gryffen. A
disgusting brute, isn't it?" And the Phoenix sniffed disapprovingly.

"Maybe if we wake it up," David suggested, "it could tell us where the
other ones live."

"Next to impossible. For one thing, a cannon could not awaken the
beast. For another thing, it would not, even if awake, be able to tell
us anything. You simply cannot imagine the stupidity of these brutes."

"Well, let's _try_ it, anyway," David said.

"Very well, my boy. But it will be a complete waste of time." The
Phoenix shrugged its shoulders, stepped up to the Gryffen, and kicked
it violently.

"Phoenix!" David cried in alarm. "Don't hurt it!"

"No fear," said the Phoenix, delivering another lusty kick. "One
simply cannot damage a sleeping Gryffen. Give me a hand, my boy."

David took hold of the Gryffen's wing, and the Phoenix seized its
tail. For the next