"Good for you, Phoenix! What is it?"

"Aha!" said the Phoenix, with a mysterious smile. "All will unfold in
time. Rest assured that the Plan is brilliant. In one stroke of genius
it solves everything. Tactics, my boy! Napoleon had nothing on me."

"But what _is_ it, Phoenix?"

"Tut, my boy," said the Phoenix in a maddening way. "Control your
impatience. You will see. Now, we shall have to buy some things, so we
shall need money. Let me see.... Several of the Leprechauns have large
pots of gold.... No, I fear they would not part with so much as a
penny. Tightfisted, my dear fellow!--you never saw such misers.
Hmmm.... Well, there are the Dragons, of course; they guard heaps of
treasure in caves. But no--they are excellent chaps in most respects,
but frightfully stuffy about loans and gifts. No.... The Djinn? No,
his money is all tied up in Arabian oil speculation. Aha! Why didn't I
think of that before? The Sea Monster, of course!"

"Do Sea Monsters have money?" asked David.

"No, but the Sea Monster should know where pirate treasure is
buried--quite in its nautical line. We shall visit the Monster, my
boy. Tomorrow, of course--I could not fly a foot today to save my
life. My muscles are killing me!"

"Oh, poor Phoenix!" David said. But he was so excited that he could
not feel much pity. Pirate treasure! They were going to dig for pirate
treasure!

"We shall need a spade. I trust you will arrange for it, my boy?"

"Of course, Phoenix," said David, jumping to his feet. "I'll get
everything ready right away. Don't move till I get back."

"Impossible, my boy." The Phoenix groaned as it shifted into a more
comfortable position.

David raced home to collect the necessary things for the trip.
Remembering how cold it had been last time, he took his leather jacket
out of the closet, and a pair of gloves and a scarf. For the Phoenix
he borrowed a bottle of liniment and took all the cookies from the
cooky jar. And he picked the shortest of three spades in the garage.
During the rest of the day he massaged the Phoenix's back and wings
with the liniment. He was exploding with curiosity about the Plan, of
course. But the Phoenix would only smile its smuggest smile and tell
him to "wait and see, wait and see"--which almost drove David mad.

* * * * *

Tomorrow took its time, the way it always does when you are anxious to
see it arrive, but it finally came. And David found himself with the