Part 1 (1/2)

David and the Phoenix

by Edward Or, and a Mysterious Voice Is Overheard_

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All the way there David had saved thisnot to peek until the proper tiot out stiffly and went into the new house But David walked slowly into the back yard with his eyes fixed on the ground For a wholeto look up Then he took a deep breath, clenched his hands tightly, and lifted his head

There it was!--as Dad had described it, but infinitely rand It swept upward fro, so tall that its misty blue peak could surely talk face to face with the stars To David, who had never seen a ht was alht and shi+very inside that he didn't knohether he wanted to laugh, or cry, or both And the really wonderful thing about the mountain was the way it _looked_ at hi at hi for years to see hiain And when he closed his eyes, he see, then, and clied in (with part of the hedge growing right across the toes of the h to crawl through And just beyond the hedge theup and up in one shts of rock It aiting for him ”Come and clireat deal to do first They were going toout in front, the car retfully, he waved his hand at the peak and whispered, ”It shouldn't take long--I'll be back as soon as I can” Then he went around to the front door to see what could be done about speeding things up

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Inside, everything was in confusion Dad was pushi+ng chairs and tables around in an aiain; we forgot to put down the rug first” Aunt A roo in her crib because it was ti that the ansould be no

”C' hi board”

When the ironing board was finally located, Mother had so for him to do And when he was finished with that, Dad called for his help So the afternoon wore on without letup--and also without any signs of progress in their ot a chance to sneak out for a breathing spell, he felt his heart sink Somehow, in all the rush and confusion, the afternoon had disappeared Already the evening sun was throwing shadows across the side of theits peak with a ruddy blaze It was too late now He would have to wait until azed up ht he saw a tiny speck soar out from it in a brief circle Was it a bird of some sort, or just one of those dots that swi at the sky? It al its hand, as if to say that it was quite all right for hi He felt better then, and returnedafter dark before thevan drove away Beckie crooned happily over her bottle, and the rest of theathered in the kitchen for a late supper of sandwiches and canned soup But David could not eat until he had found the courage to ask one question:

”May I cli about landslides, which were firmly fixed in her mind as the fate of people who climbed mountains But Dad said, ”I don't see why not, do you?” and looked to Mother for agreement

Mother said, ”Wellbe very careful,” in a doubtful tone, and that was that

You never knohat you will find when you climb a mountain, even if you have climbed the up froht that it was a s as he climbed that it was not smooth at all, but very es, knolls, ravines, and e part of it was that each feature concealed the ones above it At the top of a rise would be an outcropping of strangely colored rock, invisible fro, a small stand of aspens would quiver in the breeze, their quicksilver leaves hiding a tiny meadow on the slope behind And when theelse beyond He was a real explorer now When he got to the top, he thought, he would build a little tower of stones, the way explorers always do

But at the end of two hours' steady cli, he was ready to admit that he would never reach the peak that day It still rose above his head, see as far distant as ever But he did not care now It had been a glorious climb, and the distance he had already covered was a considerable one He looked back The town looked like a model of a toith little toy houses and different-colored roofs a the trees that made a darker patch on the pattern of the valley floor The mountains on the other side of the valley seee of the world Even the peak could not give hiazed up the face of a scarp which rose like a cliff above him--a smooth, bare wall of rock that had halted his climb Halfway up the scarp was a dark horizontal line of bushes, soe or shelf there, and he decided to climb up to it before he returned home To scale the rock face itself was impossible, however: there were no hand or foot holds So he turned and rass until he reached the end of the bare stone Then he started upward again It was hard work Vines clutched at his feet, and the close-set bushes see to let hiht have been his last if he had not grabbed a tough clump of weeds at the crucial instant

But, oh! it orth it He felt like shouting when at last he reached the ledge Truly it was an enchanted place! It was a long, level strip of ground, several yards wide, carpeted with short grass and dandelions Bushes grew along e was bounded by a second scarp--a wall of red stone with sparkling points of light imbedded in its srass and rolled in it It ar; it soothed away the hurt of his achingof his scratches He rolled over on his back and cushi+oned his head in his hands The sky see overhead like a broad blue river The breeze ruffled his hair and whispered, the bushes ht seemed to hum to him as it laid warm hands on his face

But there was another sound, which now and then rose above these murmurs Then it would fade and be drowned out by the breeze Hard to say why, but it just did not seem to fit there David propped himself up on his elbows and listenedit No, he had not been iain He sat up Now he noticed that the ledge was divided by a thicket which grew from the inner side to the outer The noise, whatever it was, came from the other side of the thicket

David's curiosity was aroused, but it occurred to hiht be wise to be cautious The noise did not sound dangerous, but--well, he had never been up a ht find He dropped into a crouch and crept silently up to the tangle of bushes His heart began to pound, and he sed to relieve the dryness in his throat The noise was much more distinct now, and it sounded like--like--yes, not only sounded like, but _was_--so to himself

Who could it possibly be? Well, there was only one way to find out