The Cruise of the Noahs Ark | Page 4

Ark began to roll from side to side.
Pretty soon the animals grew uneasy, and strange noises came from
many parts of the boat.
The roar of the tiger mingled with the trumpeting of the elephant and
the howling of the wolf made a dreadful discord with the bellowing of
the buffalo.
Then the monkeys started to chatter, and the parrots to screech, the
horses to neigh and the pigs to squeak, the cows to moo and the
donkeys to bray, the wild hyena to laugh and the little lambs to bleat.
But luckily toward evening the storm went down, and if it had not I
guess Mrs. Noah would have gone crazy.
The dove, which was the most quiet and peaceful of all the passengers,
perched herself on Marjorie's shoulder.
"You shall sleep in my cabin," said the little girl, stroking its glossy
neck. "I'm sure you'd never get a wink of sleep if you had to stay below
decks tonight."
Toward evening the weather grew calm, and after supper the rain
having stopped, Marjorie went on deck for some fresh air. The

weathercock, on seeing the dove perched on the little girl's shoulder,
called out politely, "Good evening, ladies."
"Aren't you glad it cleared off?" asked Marjorie, looking up with a
smile.
"Indeed I am," he replied, swinging around on one toe like a dancer.
"Isn't he graceful?" cooed the dove in Marjorie's ear.
"S-s-sh!" she answered. "Don't let him hear you. He might get
conceited."
"What are you talking about down there?" asked the weathercock.
"Oh, nothing in particular," answered the dove. "I was just receiving a
little advice from Marjorie."
"Well, you probably won't use it," said the weathercock. "So you might
just as well hand it over to me."
"My, how curious you are!" laughed Marjorie.
"You'd be, too," answered the weathercock, "if you were in the habit of
having the winds tell you each day what was going on. It's not so much
curiosity as habit."
Just then Mrs. Noah called: "Marjorie, I think you'd better come in. It's
too damp outside, my dear."
The cabin looked very cozy. Mrs. Noah was seated by the table knitting
a pair of socks for the captain, and the three boys were writing in their
copy books.
"I think, my dear," said Mrs. Noah, kindly, "it would be a good thing
for you to do a little studying each day." So Marjorie seated herself at
the table and Mrs. Noah opened a writing book and laid it before her.
With a cry of surprise Marjorie turned to Mrs. Noah:

"Why, it's the very copy book I have at home!"
"'A stands for Animal, Ant or Ape, Quite different in spelling as well as
in shape.'"
"The very same," cried Marjorie again.
"See how well you can make the capital letters," suggested Mrs. Noah.
"If you fill in this book nicely you can take it home with you and show
your mother how well you employed your time aboard the Ark."
"Oh, thank you," cried Marjorie. "That will be lovely. Mother is always
worrying about my handwriting. I shall try my best to improve."
Mrs. Noah then turned to look in Ham's book.
"That is not a very good 'C' you have just made," she said.
"Well, you see," answered Ham, with a laugh, "the sea is so rough that
it made my 'C' rough, too."
Everybody laughed at Ham's witty excuse.
"What's all this levity about?" asked Capt. Noah, entering the cabin.
"Coo!" said the little dove, "Coo!" said she, "And they all lived
together In the big green tree."
"Hello!" exclaimed Capt. Noah, forgetting his own question, "the dove
spouting poetry, eh? Well, we'll have to give an entertainment. There
must be lots of talent on board. Plenty of material for a circus,
anyhow."
"How jolly!" exclaimed Marjorie. "I'll make a ring to-morrow," said
Japheth.
"I've already trained one of the little pigs to walk on its hind legs," said
Ham. "It's the white one with the pink nose."

"The elephant and I are great friends," added Shem. "I think he'd do
anything I asked him. To-night when I rolled up his bale of hay, he said,
'Hey, young man, look out for my toes!' And then he stood up on top of
the bale on his hind legs just as they do in the circus. I'll bet I could
make him do a lot of stunts."
"Just you wait until you see my wrestling monkeys," cried Ham. "I've
taught two of them already. They'll be better than a moving picture
show."
"My goodness, I think you have very clever boys," said Marjorie, who
was tickled to death to think they were going to have a circus.
Mrs. Noah did not reply at once. I guess she was thinking