Now we want the sun, and so,
Pretty rain, be kind and go!

'You should always speak politely to people when you want them to
do things, and especially when it's going away that you want them
to do. And to-day you might add--

'Shine, great sun, the lovely Phoe-
Nix is here, and wants to be
Shone on, splendid sun, by thee!'

'That's poetry!' said Cyril, decidedly.

'It's like it,' said the more cautious Robert.

'I was obliged to put in "lovely",' said the Phoenix, modestly, 'to
make the line long enough.'

'There are plenty of nasty words just that length,' said Jane; but
every one else said 'Hush!' And then they opened the window and
shouted the seven lines as loud as they could, and the Phoenix said
all the words with them, except 'lovely', and when they came to
that it looked down and coughed bashfully.

The rain hesitated a moment and then went away.

'There's true politeness,' said the Phoenix, and the next moment it
was perched on the window-ledge, opening and shutting its radiant
wings and flapping out its golden feathers in such a flood of
glorious sunshine as you sometimes have at sunset in autumn time.