8: In Which David and the
Phoenix Visit a Banshee,
and a Surprise Is Planted
in the Enemy's Camp
Next day Mother asked David to help her straighten out the garden, which had been trampled by the repair men; so he could not go to see the Phoenix until after lunch. But when that was finished, he rushed up the mountainside as fast as he could, wondering all the way what he and the Phoenix were going to do now.
The ledge was empty when he got there. He shouted, "Phoenix!" and listened.
"Hel-l-lp!" came a faint answering cry from the other end of the ledge.
David jumped through the thicket. A pitiful sight met his eyes. There was the Phoenix, dangling by one foot from the snare, its wings feebly struggling and its free foot clawing the air. The feathers of its wings and tail were singed. Great beads of sweat rolled from its forehead into a puddle on the ground below. The snared foot was blue and swollen.
"Get me down," gasped the Phoenix weakly.
David took a running leap at the sapling, which broke under the sudden increase of weight, and the two of them crashed to the ground. He unfastened the noose and dragged the Phoenix to the shadiest, softest spot on the ledge.