queer? I asked the Rabbit what the news was. He said he would ask the
Mouse and proposed to me to go and call on him. I was afraid to at
first; the Mouse is so learned; but then the Rabbit is on very good
terms with him and promised to introduce me. So I got the Squirrel to
brush me down--he always carries a whisk brush with him and is very
obliging--and went with the Rabbit to call on the Mouse. The Rabbit did
not seem at all disconcerted. He was chewing parsley all the way; but I
was trying to think what it was proper to say upon entering."

"The Mouse lives in a very small house; he had to come out to the door to
us; it was quite impossible for us to enter. He looked very venerable
indeed, and very learned. His hair was brushed back over his forehead,
and his whiskers were grown very long. I noticed the Rabbit wore his so;
he told me afterwards that it was the fashion among learned men, and
though he did not presume to call himself a learned man, yet he thought
it best to be in the fashion. I hardly knew what to say to the Mouse; I
had been trying all the way to think of some book I might mention, but
the Rabbit opened the way very easily. He told the Mouse where I was
from and mentioned my connection with you, sir," (turning to the
Phoenix; the Phoenix bowed--"Yes, I am well known," he said.) "Ah,
indeed," said the Mouse. "The Phoenix? yes. I came across an account
of the Phoenicians in a book the other day; the book was elegantly
bound; the Phoenicians are a very enterprising race."

"The Phoenicians! indeed!" broke in the angry Phoenix. "There is but
one Phoenix. I am the only Phoenix, I am nearly five hundred years
old. My great-great-great-grandfather made the Old Brown Coat." And he
went on with his reminiscences till he was quite exhausted. After that
the Tufter hardly dared mention the Mouse, and, indeed, began to suspect
that he was not so very learned after all; but he proceeded to state how
he had gathered that the Prince had sent messengers to find the woodman,
Isal's father.

"It is in vain," said the Phoenix, who had recovered himself, and was
really growing very wise, as the days of his life neared their end. "It
is in vain, children, you must go again to the Palace--all of you. I
would go myself, but I am getting too old, and besides, I must begin to
gather my spices and make my dying nest. This you must tell Isal. Her
father longs to see her once before he dies. Yet if she chooses to go to
him sh