'
'You mean the fire insurance office,' said Robert. 'It's not
really a temple, and they don't--'
'Excuse me,' said the Phoenix, coldly, 'you are wholly misinformed.
It IS a temple, and they do.'
'Don't let's waste the sunshine,' said Anthea; 'we might argue as
we go along, to save time.'
So the Phoenix consented to make itself a nest in the breast of
Robert's Norfolk jacket, and they all went out into the splendid
sunshine. The best way to the temple of the Phoenix seemed to be
to take the tram, and on the top of it the children talked, while
the Phoenix now and then put out a wary beak, cocked a cautious
eye, and contradicted what the children were saying.
It was a delicious ride, and the children felt how lucky they were
to have had the money to pay for it. They went with the tram as
far as it went, and when it did not go any farther they stopped
too, and got off. The tram stops at the end of the Gray's Inn
Road, and it was Cyril who thought that one might well find a short
cut to the Phoenix Office through the little streets and courts
that lie tightly packed between Fetter Lane and Ludgate Circus. Of
course, he was quite mistaken, as Robert told him at the time, and
afterwards Robert did not forbear to remind his brother how he had
said so.
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