The Cruise of the Noahs Ark | Page 3

after all, although a trifle damp,
"we'll see how we get along."
By this time Marjorie began to feel tired.
"Would you mind," she said, turning to Mrs. Noah, "if I went to bed? I
feel so sleepy, and it's long past Maria Jane's bedtime, I'm sure."
"Come right along with me," answered Mrs. Noah kindly.
"Good night, all," said Marjorie, following Mrs. Noah into the Ark.
"You shall sleep in the room next to mine," said Mrs. Noah, turning to
the little girl with a smile as she led the way into a pretty bedroom.
"Would you like me to unfasten your dress for you?"
"I think I can manage that," replied Marjorie, "but if you wouldn't mind,
I'd like to have you wait and tuck me in bed after I've said my prayers. I
can't very well tuck in the sheets at the side after I'm once in."
So good, kind, motherly Mrs. Noah tucked in the little girl and kissed
her good night, and in a few minutes she was fast asleep, with her arms
tightly clasped around her rag doll, Maria Jane.

[Illustration: Ham is sent to the "brig" for chasing the pigs around the
deck.]
COCK-A-DOODLE-DO
"Cock-a-Doodle-Do, My Master's lost a shoe, But what's the use of an
excuse A rubber boot'll do."
Marjorie leaped out of bed and ran over to the window to see where the
Ark had drifted during the night.
To her surprise it was aground on the roof of a big barn.
And, goodness me! Didn't the weathercock look handsome, with his
gilt feathers shining brightly in the rays of the morning sun as he turned
to and fro with every little change of wind.
"Good morning," said Marjorie. "Isn't it a beautiful day?"
"I don't feel sure about anything," replied the weathercock. "I used to
be a jolly weathercock, but now, with all this water around, I feel more
like a lighthouse."
"Then why didn't you warn us off the reef--I mean the roof?" asked
Marjorie.
"I did, but everybody was asleep and paid no attention to me."
And just then the wind came in a sudden gust and the weathercock flew
around to face it.
"Goodness," he cried, "I believe it's going to rain again."
"Ahoy, there," shouted Capt. Noah from the deck below, "tell that gilt
rooster I'm going to shove off. If he wants to come aboard he'd better
be quick about it."
"Would you like to come with us?" asked Marjorie. "I'd like to have
you. I once read about a very nice weathercock in 'Old Mother Goose.'"

"Thank you, I think I will," replied the weathercock, hopping nimbly
on to the flagpole of the Ark. "I shall feel more at home here now that
the green meadows have turned into an ocean. A barn is no place for a
rooster when the water is above the hayloft."
Marjorie had no time to answer, for just then the rain began to fall in
torrents, making it necessary to close the window.
In a few minutes the Ark began to quiver and shake, and then, with a
loud grating noise it slipped off the ridge of the roof and once more
floated down the tide.
"Good-by, red barn, with your loft of hay, We're off on a voyage to Far
Away,"
crowed the weathercock. And then Marjorie waved her hand from
behind the window pane and ran down to breakfast where in a few
minutes the family were all seated around the table.
"What did you give the pigs for supper last night?" asked Capt. Noah,
looking at Ham suspiciously.
"Why, father?" asked Ham, in a low voice.
"Because they don't seem well this morning."
"I gave them some green apples," said Ham.
"W-e-l-l," replied Capt. Noah, "don't know as that should make them
ill?"
"I chased them 'round the deck."
"What in thunder did you do that for?" asked his father.
"I wanted to see them slide when they turned the corners," said Ham,
sheepishly.
"Perhaps they were seasick," interposed Mrs. Noah, who began to feel

sorry for Ham.
"Perhaps they weren't," said Capt. Noah, sternly. "I think, young man,
you had better be locked up in the brig for the rest of the day and fed on
bread and water. We can't afford to have any passengers abused by the
crew," and then he turned to Marjorie and smiled, "even if one of the
crew happens to be the captain's son."
And after that, poor Ham was solemnly marched up to the brig and
locked in, much to Marjorie's regret, for she liked Ham very much,
although he was the most mischievous of all Capt. Noah's sons.
It was still raining heavily, and as the wind was blowing quite a gale
the sea became rough and the