Put in this way, the idea had a certain appeal, and David found himself warming to it. But there was another thing to consider. "How about electricity, Phoenix?" "Look above you, my boy! The telephone pole is simply loaded down with power lines waiting to be tapped." The Phoenix was evidently set on carrying out the Plan, and David did not want to wear out the bird's patience with more objections. And--well, why not? There should be no harm in trying it out, anyway. They gathered up the tools and walked along the hedge to the telephone pole, which was in one corner of the yard. The Phoenix began to uncoil the wire, while David gazed up doubtfully at the shadowy maze of lines and insulators on the cross-arms. "Electricity," said the Phoenix thoughtfully, "is a complicated and profound subject. There are amperes, and there are volts, and there are kilowatt hours. I might also mention positive and negative and--ah--all that sort of thing. Most profound. Perhaps I had better investigate up there. Screw driver, please." The Phoenix took the screw driver in one claw and flew up to the top of the pole. David could hear the creak of the lines under the Phoenix's weight and the rattling of the screw driver against the porcelain insulators. For some minutes the Phoenix investigated, clicking and scraping about, and muttering "Quite so" and "_There_ we are." Then it fluttered down again and rubbed its wings together. "The whole situation up there is a lot simpler than I thought it would be, my boy. The power lines merely come up to the pole on one side, pass through the insulators, and go away from the pole on the other side. Child's play! The covering on the lines is rather tough, however. We shall have to use the wire-cutters." The Phoenix returned to the top of the pole with the cutters, and worked on the wires for five more minutes. Bits of debris began to shower down on the hedge. One of the wires vibrated on a low note like a slack guitar string. "We must not forget the difference between alternating and direct current, my boy," said the Phoenix as it flew down again. "An important problem, that. Where is our wire? Ah, there we are. The pliers, please." "Do you need any help up there?" David asked. "No, everything is coming along beautifully, thank you. I shall have everything finished in a flash." Trailing one end of the wire in its beak, the Phoenix flew up into the darkness once more. The tinkering sounds began again, and a spurt of falling debris rattled in the leaves of the hedge.