'
'That is to maintain my priests,' said the bird, 'who, in the hour
of affliction, heal sorrows and rebuild houses. Lead on; inquire
for the High Priest. I will not break upon them too suddenly in
all my glory. Noble and honour-deserving are they who make as
nought the evil deeds of the lame-footed and unpleasing
Hephaestus.'
'I don't know what you're talking about, and I wish you wouldn't
muddle us with new names. Fire just happens. Nobody does it--not
as a deed, you know,' Cyril explained. 'If they did the Phoenix
wouldn't help them, because its a crime to set fire to things.
Arsenic, or something they call it, because it's as bad as
poisoning people. The Phoenix wouldn't help THEM--father told me
it wouldn't.'
'My priests do well,' said the Phoenix. 'Lead on.'
'I don't know what to say,' said Cyril; and the Others said the
same.
'Ask for the High Priest,' said the Phoenix. 'Say that you have a
secret to unfold that concerns my worship, and he will lead you to
the innermost sanctuary.'
So the children went in, all four of them, though they didn't like
it, and stood in a large and beautiful hall adorned with Doulton
tiles, like a large and beautiful bath with no water in it, and
stately pillars supporting the roof. An unpleasing representation
of the Phoenix in brown pottery disfigured one wall.
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