very dear boy," said the Phoenix, its voice breaking with
emotion, "I have Thought, I have Pondered, I have--well, to be brief,
it is no use. Stiff upper lip, my boy! We are Doomed."

"Phoenix, I--"

"Let this be a lesson to you, my boy, even though it be your last one.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Ah! who could have said, in
the golden days of my youth, that I should come to such an end! Oh,
miserable bird! Oh, unhappy boy!"

"Phoenix--"

"But we can show them how to die, my boy! We still have that--the last
magnificent gesture. Let those who have lived wisely and well show
that they can die in the same way! I hope I am to go first, so that
you may have an example to follow."

"_Phoenix!_"

"My boy?"

"Listen, please!" And David whispered in the Phoenix's ear.

The plan had seemed like a good one while it was still in his mind,
but put into words it sounded a little too simple. As he whispered,
David began to feel more and more foolish, so that finally he stopped
altogether.

"I--I guess it's really kind of silly," he stammered.

But the Phoenix was looking at him with hope and admiration in its
eyes. "My very dear chap," it said solemnly, "I salute you. I humbly
await your signal."

"Do you really think it will work?"

"My boy, it must--it can--it shall. Proceed."

Poor as the plan now seemed to David, he prepared to carry it out.
Holding his breath so as not to sneeze again, he scooped up as much
dust as he could hold in two hands. Then he took his position on one
side of the cave, nodded the Phoenix toward the other, and glanced out
to see if the guardian Gryffons were looking. They were not.

"Now," he whispered.

The cave rocked with their uproar. David screamed at the top of his
voice and kicked the walls. The Phoenix let out a series of
ear-splitting whistles and squawks and beat its wings frantically.
Echoes bounced from wall to wall. The two Gryffons came rushing into
the cave, adding to the racket with their shrieking. "Now!" David
shouted, and he flung the double handful of dust into the Gryffons'
faces. Instantly they were all choking and sneezing in the thick
cloud. He plunged between the legs of the two Gryffons, who in the
confusion began to bite and tear savagely at each other.

David and the Phoenix burst out of the cave together. The other
Gryffons, aroused by the noise, were bounding toward them. David flung
himself on the Phoenix's back and shouted "Fly!" and snee