David and the Phoenix (Full Audiobook) - Chapter 05

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter five of David in the Phoenix. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Greg Weeks. David in the Phoenix by Edward
ormand Dride chapter five, in which the scientist arrives in

(00:22):
pursuit of the phoenix, and there are alarums and excursions
by night. The lights downstairs were all on when David
got home, and as soon as he opened the front
door he could tell that they had company. He shouted,
I'm home and sneezed. The dust from the griffin's cave
still clung to him, tickling his nose. Well here he is,

(00:44):
at last, said Dad's voice. Come on in, David. Then,
as David walked into the living room, Good heavens, son,
what's happened to you? You're back, David, mother said, in
a horrified voice. You're poor back. What happened to you?
David felt himself. The back of his shirt was ripped

(01:05):
to tatters, and there were three lines of caked blood
across his shoulders. He remembered now it was the griffin
that had tried to grab him as he and the
phoenix made their escape, but he had promised the phoenix
to keep it secret. He stammered, Ay, I had an
accident and dust all over you. Mother went on, well,
said David desperately. It was a dusty accident. It seems

(01:28):
to have been very dusty. Indeed, said a third voice,
there was a loud sneeze. David's father jumped up. You
gave me such a shock when you came in that
I almost forgot David. We have a guest, and he
introduced David to a very tall, thin man with a
bald head. His face and neck were burnt red by
the sun, and he had on a pair of thick

(01:49):
glasses which made his pale eyes look immense. For some reason,
David took an instant dislike to him, but he shook
hands politely and said, how do you do David ass
said the man, Well, well, are you a good boy? David.
Of all the stupid questions in the world, that was
the one David hated most. He clenched his teeth and
looked the other way. David dear, said mother, with an

(02:12):
awkward laugh. I think you'd better go upstairs and wash
and change When David came into the living room again,
the guest was talking excitedly, completely unknown to man. He
was saying, it's the discovery of the age. My name
will be famous if I succeed in my plans. How fascinating,
mother said, And to think of it happening right here.

(02:34):
And it's huge, the guest said, simply huge and brilliantly colored.
For a scientist like myself, it's more than fascinating. David
was listening now, scientist, scientist. His heart missed a beat
and he choked, Oh no, it couldn't be thus, scientist,
or could it. David here spends all his time up

(02:55):
on the mountain. His father said, maybe he's seen it.
The guest turned his big page unpleasant eyes on David. Well, David,
he said, maybe you can help me. Now, have you
seen anything unusual on the mountain? Unusual, said David, unsteadily.
There was a pain in his chest from the pounding
of his heart. Yes, David, the guest went on, Unusual,

(03:18):
so unusual that you couldn't miss it. A very large
bird with bright plumage. The floor under David seemed to rock.
It was true, then, it was horribly true. This was
the scientist who had been chasing the phoenix. This was
their enemy bird, David dodged. Wo. Wo, Why there are
lots of birds up there, sparrows and meadow larks and

(03:42):
and sparrows, but nothing like a huge bird with bright feathers. Well,
he would have to tell a lie, after all, It
was for the phoenix's sake, no, said David. Ah, said
the scientist, but his cold eyes bored into David's for
another instant, plainly saying, I'm not fooled, young man. It's odd.

(04:04):
He continued that no one has seen it, but I
have no doubt it somewhere here. I am going to
begin my search as soon as my equipment gets here.
Tell us about it, said mother politely. Well I discovered
it on the other side of the valley, you know,
said the scientist eagerly, quite by accident. I was really
looking for another species. Now, birds, you know, have fixed habits.

(04:27):
If you know those habits, you can predict just what
they will do at any time. This particular bird was
a daytime creature, so I tried to watch it in
between dawn and dusk. But it seemed to have a
mind of its own. You might almost say an intelligence.
It avoided me in a very clever way, and it
avoided my traps also uncanny. So after several weeks I

(04:50):
decided to shoot it if I got the chance. Then
suddenly it disappeared, but I am certain it came over
to this side of the valley. There is no escape
from the subject. The scientists could think and talk of
nothing else. He described the merits of dead falls, snares,
steel traps, and bird lime. He asked which they thought

(05:10):
would make the best bait, a rabbit, a beef steak,
a live lamb or carrion. He told them all about
the new high powered long range rifle which he had ordered,
and he vowed to them all that he would not
rest until the bird was either caught or killed for
the advancement of human learning. David listened with horror. The

(05:32):
dinner before him went untouched. His only thought was that
now he would have to warn the phoenix as soon
as possible. The phoenix would go to South America after all,
and his education would end before it had even started,
all because of this hateful man. He fought to hold
back his tears. Dinner was over at last, David mumbled

(05:53):
his excuses and ducked out of the dining room, but
aunt Amy seized him firmly, just as he thought he
had got away. Had time for you, David, she said firmly, Oh,
aunt Amy, please, I've got to upstairs, young man. You've
had enough gallivanting around for one day. You're all worn out.
I'm not, said David, struggling. I feel fine, Look, I

(06:14):
just have to It was useless. She marched him upstairs
to his room and stood in the doorway until he
had undressed and put on his pajamas and got into bed. Now,
she said, you go to sleep. The mountain will still
be there in the morning, unless there's a land slide.
Good night, and she turned out the light and shut

(06:34):
the door. This was awful. He could not sneak down
stairs because the stairs could be seen from the living room.
He could not climb out of his window because a
rose arbor was directly beneath it, and he would be
ripped by the thorns. And mother always came in to
say good night before she went to bed. If he
was not there when she came in tonight, there would

(06:55):
be a lot of unpleasant explaining to do. The only
thing then was to wait till the scientist went home,
and everyone was in bed. It was a maddening wait.
The scientist's voice went on and on like the drone
of an electric fan, interrupted only by an occasional murmur
from mother or dad. For a while, David sat in bed,

(07:16):
twisting the sheets in his hands. Then he got up
and paced the room in his bare feet. It seemed
to him that three or four whole night times had
passed before he finally heard all three voices raised and
talking at once. The scientist was going now, they were
saying goodbye at the front door. Now the door was
being closed now or there were footsteps on the stairs.

(07:39):
He jumped into bed just before mother put her head
in and said good night, dear. David murmured, pretending to
be half asleep. His door closed again, the light switches snapped,
and there was silence. He waited another half hour to
make sure everyone was asleep. As quickly and silently as
he could. He pulled on his clothes, crept out of

(08:00):
his room, and slid cautiously down the banister in the backyard.
He put on his shoes, dived through the hedge, and
started to race up the mountain side. Fortunately, there was
a nearly full moon and no clouds in the sky,
but even with this light it was not easy to
keep to the trail. Several times he lost his way,
so that the trip took much longer than usual, but

(08:24):
he found the ledge at last, climbed over the final
difficult rock, and sat down to catch his breath. When
he could speak, he called softly, Phoenix. There was no answer, Phoenix.
He pushed through the thicket to the other side of
the ledge. Phoenix. The phoenix was gone. The tears that
had been stopped up all evening could be held no longer.

(08:46):
David dropped to the ground, leaned his forehead against a rock,
and let them go. He had just remembered, as soon
as they had come back from the Griffin adventure, the
phoenix had flown off on some sort of business, and
it had not said when it would return. The tears
cleared David's mind and made him feel better now what
he began to think if he stayed on the ledge

(09:09):
all night, they might find out at home and make
a terrible fuss. But if he did not warn the
phoenix before morning, the scientist might creep up while the
bird was resting and trap it, or shoot it, so
he would have to warn the phoenix and return home,
and the only way to do both these things was
to write the phoenix a note, but he had neither

(09:30):
paper nor pencil. A fine mess he had made of everything.
Now he would have to go all the way back home,
write the note, come all the way back up to
the ledge, and then go home again. David trudged down
the mountain side in a very low mood. Now that
he had a definite plan to work on, his fear
was gone, but he felt that he had been pretty
stupid to rush off without thinking of everything first. In

(09:52):
his mind, he could hear the phoenix saying look before
you leap, my boy, and other wise words of advice,
and he had cried too, lucky that no one had
been there to see that. As he approached the house,
he was surprised to see all the lights ablazed and
to hear his name being called. Oh oh, he thought,
they've found out I've gone here, I am, he shouted,

(10:15):
opening the door. What's the matter. It was a strange
sight which met him inside. Dad, in his gray pajamas,
was waving a revolver and making fierce noises. Mother, looking
frightened at a shoe in one hand. Aunt Amy, with
her hair and rags, was also well armed with a
big cast iron frying pan. Becky was howling up stairs. David.

(10:37):
Mother cried, are you all right? Where have you been?
Did he hurt you? Who's? Said David? I'm all right?
What's the matter the burglar, said mother excitedly. He put
his head in the window and said, pst. I tell you,
burglars don't say piste, Dad said. They tried to make
as little noise as possible. Just let me catch him

(10:58):
doing it again, he added, waving his pistol. Running around
on that mountain at all hours of the night. Aunt
Amy grumbled with burglars, and I don't know what all
loose in town. And then we found that you were gone,
and we thought he had stolen you. Mother went on,
where have you been? I couldn't sleep, said David, so
I went for a walk. Well, thank heavens, you're safe,

(11:20):
said mother, hankering after that mountain all night. Aunt Amy muttered,
as if he wasn't up there all day. Look here, son,
said Dad, what do you know about this? Honestly? Dad
said David. I couldn't sleep. There's nothing wrong with that.
I can't help it if I can't sleep, so I

(11:40):
took a walk. There's nothing wrong with oh, all right,
all right, his father said, I suppose it's just a coincidence.
Let's all get back to sleep, and David, the next
time you can't sleep, try counting sheep. Gradually the house
calmed down, Becky stopped wailing. Dad put away his gun.
Good Night's said, the lights were turned off. David knew

(12:03):
that it would be at least an hour before he
dared to move again, and he would have to be
doubly careful this time. And he was a little nervous
himself now about that burglar, what if he should meet
him when he went out again. He tried to forget
about that by thinking of what he would put in
the note for the phoenix. He had got as far
as dear phoenix, and was wondering how you spelled phoenix

(12:26):
when there came a swish and a thump at his window,
followed by a cautious whisper. Pste David felt his scalp prickle.
Wo woo, woe, Who's that? He quavered? Is that you,
my boy? Whispered a familiar guarded voice. Ah. Thank heavens,
and the phoenix crawled through the window. Weak with relief,

(12:49):
David snapped on the bedside light. The phoenix presented a
shocking sight. Its face was drawn with fatigue, and it
looked rather draggled. Its back sagged, its wings drooped to
the floor, and it walked with a limp. Oh, phoenix, Phoenix,
David whispered. He jumped to support the bird before it

(13:10):
collapsed entirely. Ah, thank you, my boy. The phoenix murmured,
your bed, I presume, may I thank you. The springs
creaked under its weight as the phoenix gingerly lay down.
What a night, my boy, What a night, it sighed, weakly,
closing its eyes. Oh, phoenix, what happened? Can I do
anything for you? David whispered, A damp cooling cloth upon

(13:33):
my forehead would be welcome, my boy, murmured the phoenix.
Also a bit of nourishment. David slid down the banister,
got a handful of cookies and a glass of milk,
and dampened a dish towel. When he returned, the phoenix
was fast asleep. Phoenix. He whispered, wake up, here's your
The phoenix woke with a violent start and stared wildly

(13:56):
round the room. Trapped, it muttered, making a frenzied f
to get off the bed. Not so loud, David whispered, sharply,
it's me Understanding dawned in the phoenix's eyes, and it
eased itself back with a sigh. Ah, you, my boy,
you gave me quite a fright, I thought. But here
the phoenix caught sight of the milk and cookies and

(14:17):
sat up again. Ambrosia, it sighed reverently, and nectar, you
are a prince, my dear fellow, And the phoenix reached
out eagerly. Now, Phoenix, David whispered, as he wrapped the
wet towel around the phoenix's head. What's happened? Ah, that
feels heavenly, my boy? Munch, munch, What has happened? Munch, munch, gulp.

(14:40):
I was insulted. I accepted a challenge, and I brilliantly
maintained my honor. Let that be a lesson to you,
my boy, death before dishonor Yes, in spite of my age,
I but phoenix, what happened to be brief? Then, my boy,
for brevity is the soul of wit. Although I am
not try trying to be witty now I am simply

(15:02):
too worn out brevity. Ah where was I? I think
you were telling me what happened to you tonight? David said, Ah, yes,
quite so. Well. I raced the witch, to put it
quite simply, Oh, Phoenix, did you win? She said that
she would beat my tail feathers off? Did she not behold,

(15:22):
my dear fellow, every tail feather intact? Good for you? Phoenix?
How did it go? I found her somewhere over Scotland
and accepted her challenge. We jockeyed about for starting positions,
and she insulted me by offering me a handicap, which
of course I refused. For several hundred miles it was
nip and tuck, as it were. Then over Luxembourg, I

(15:46):
put all my energies into a magnificent sprint and won
the race by three and a half broomlenks. She claimed
a fowl and went off in a fit of sulks.
Of course, I never saw a witch who was a
good loser, and I well, the fact is, my boy,
that I am not as young as I used to be.
I simply crawled home. Oh you poor Phoenix, But you

(16:10):
one though good for you, Phoenix. I'm proud of you.
I didn't like her at all. There you are, I
had to win for both of us. Now, as I
wended my wary way homeward, I realized that I should
be too tired to go traveling tomorrow. So I decided
to tell you in case you should want to do
something else during the day. But I did not know
which house was yours. I had to pick one at random.

(16:33):
I thrust my head in a window and uttered a
cautious post. Imagine my dismay when I was answered by
a piercing scream. I had to beat a hasty and
undignified retreat into a garage until all was peaceful again.
Then I did the same thing at the next house,
and the next, with the same results. The phoenix sighed,

(16:55):
would you believe it, my boy? This is the fifth
house I tried, but I knew I was on the
right track when I heard them calling for you. Oh
so it was you, said David. You almost frightened mother
to death. She thought you were a burglar. My dear fellow,
I am really sorry for having caused any misunderstanding or fright,
said the phoenix apologetically. It was just that I wanted

(17:18):
to tell you of my victory, that is, to tell
you that I should be indisposed tomorrow. Then David recalled
that he had something to say too. The shock of
remembering was such that he blurted out the news without
thinking of softening the blow. Phoenix, listen, the scientist is here.
The phoenix sat up in bed with a jerk, and

(17:38):
David barely suppressed its startled exclamation by clamping a hand
over its beak. It's not so bad yet, he whispered, hurriedly,
because he's not sure where you are, and he has
to wait for his equipment to get here. But oh, Phoenix,
now I suppose you'll go to South America after all,
and I won't have any more education. The phoenix lee

(18:00):
to its feet and struck a defiant pose. My boy,
it said, angrily, you are mistaken. I refuse to be
chased around any longer, even the lowly worm turns. Am
I a mouse? Or am I the phoenix? If that
insufferable man wishes to pursue me further, if he cannot
mind his own business, then by Jove, we shall meet

(18:21):
him face to face and fight to the finish. Its voice,
which had been getting louder and louder, ended in an
indignant squawk its battle cry. As it explained later, David's
warning sh was too late. They heard rapid footsteps and
the sound of light switches snapping. Quick David said out

(18:42):
the window with a hasty farewell, my boy. The phoenix
plunged headlong toward the window and tripped over the sill.
There was a resounding crash outside as the bird landed
on the rose arbor, a brief but furious thrashing and muttering,
and then the receding flurry of wings. Dad burst into
the room with his revolver, followed by mother and Aunt

(19:04):
Amy with two frying pans. This time he stuck his
head in the window and said, bast at me. David cried,
a big dark shape in the window. This time Dad
telephoned the police, and no time at all, three car
loads of wary policemen were swarming over the house and
yard with guns and flashlights drawn. It was the fifth

(19:27):
or was it the sixth call they had received from
the neighborhood that night, they explained. There followed an hour
of questions, arguments, and theories, during which everyone became very excited.
Everyone that is, except David, although he acted excited to
avoid suspicion, but he was happy. He had warned the phoenix,

(19:49):
and the phoenix was going to stay, and there was
nothing to worry about until tomorrow. End of chapter five