A stands for Animal, Ant or Ape,
Quite different in spelling as well as in shape.
"Oh, dear!" sighed Marjorie, "I'm tired of writing in this old copy book.
What's the use of making the letters just like the copy, anyhow? Mother
doesn't. Her capitals are very different."
B stands for Bruin, Bee or Bug--
The Bee has a sting and the Bear has a hug!
"Oh, dear!" sighed Marjorie again, while she rested her head on her arm
and looked over at the Noah's Ark.
And then, all of a sudden, something very strange happened. Mr. Noah came
out of his little Ark and said, "You had better come with us, for it is
going to rain for 40 days and 40 nights, and goodness knows where this
nursery will be by the end of that time; probably floating about, half
full of water, in the apple orchard."
"Do you really mean it?" asked Marjorie, gazing anxiously out of the
window at the rain which was falling in torrents.
"I certainly do," replied Mr. Noah.
And then Mrs. Noah poked her head out of a little window in the Ark.
"Listen to Mr. Noah, my dear, for he was certainly right the first time,
and why shouldn't he be now?"
Mr. Noah smiled and walked across the table towards a little yellow hen.
"Shoo," he cried, as the contrary fowl tried to dodge around a toy
automobile. "Shoo there. You know you can't swim like Mrs. Duck, so why
don't you have some sense and get aboard out of harm's way?"
As he finished speaking, water began to pour over the windowsill, and soon
the nursery floor was ankle deep. Marjorie stood on a chair and, climbing
upon the table, walked over to the Ark. On her way she picked up her rag
doll, Maria Jane, and the little toy automobile.
"Hurry, my dear," cried Mr. Noah, "here comes the water over the edge of
the table."
As it was, Maria Jane was splashed a bit, and so was the automobile before
it was pushed through the narrow doorway, for the Ark was rolling from
side to side in rather a dangerous manner.
"Make everything tight. Close the hatches and the portholes!" commanded
Capt. Noah (for now that they were actually afloat, this seemed the proper
title for him), and in a few minutes it was comfortable and snug inside.
And then, all of a sudden, a big wave carried them over the windowsill and
out into the garden. But it didn't look very much like the garden, for
only the tops of the rose bushes could be seen, and the roses rested on
the water like pond lilies. And then, away sailed the Ark, across the
garden, over the fence, down the road, until it reached an open space.
"The ocean!" cried Mrs. Noah.
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Marjorie, "I beg your pardon, Mrs. Noah, I mean it's
Uncle Spencer's meadow. Why, there's Tim! Let's save him!" And Marjorie
ran down to the lower floor of the Ark and commenced to unfasten the door.
"Careful, my dear," cried Capt. Noah. "What are you about?"
"Oh, hurry, Captain," begged Marjorie, "Tim, Uncle Spencer's dog, is in
the water and I want to bring him aboard."
"Here, mates, bring me a life line," shouted Capt. Noah, and in less time
than I can take to tell it the line was thrown to the little dog, who
managed to catch hold of it with his teeth just in time, for the Ark was
going at a tremendous rate of speed.
"Don't haul in too fast," advised Capt. Noah, as his three sons began
pulling in the rope, "or he'll be drawn under the water and smothered
before we can get him aboard."
At last, the little dog was landed safely on the deck. Everybody ran away
from him to avoid getting a shower bath as he shook himself again and
again.
"Well, you've all proved to be brave lifesavers," said Mrs. Noah. "Now
I'll give him some warm milk and dry him by the kitchen fire, or he may
get a severe cold. Goodness knows what would happen if he gave it to the
other animals and they all got to sneezing and coughing at the same time."
And then the good woman took the little dog down into the hold of the Ark,
where the pantry and kitchen were, and he was soon fast asleep by the
stove, none the worse for his wetting.
It was now time for supper, so Mrs. Noah busied herself preparing the
evening meal, while Capt. Noah and his three sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth,
fed the animals. This was not an easy matter, for each animal had a
different taste, and the fodder had to be carefully measured so as to give
each one enough and no more.
The elephant ate almost a bale of hay for each meal, and the lion ate
about twenty large Delmonico steaks.
"It's lucky we haven't a whale on board," said Capt. Noah, as he rolled a
bale of hay up to Mrs. Elephant, at the same time warning Ham not to give
the lion a sirloin steak by mistake.
"You might feed the pigs, too," he added, wiping his forehead with a
red-bordered handkerchief. "They seem to like you, Ham. I guess they
consider you one of the family!"
Marjorie thought the rabbits were very pretty, but just as she was about
to play a game of hide and go seek with them, the supper bell rang, and as
soon as the three Noah boys had washed their hands and combed their hair
they came to the table. Shem pulled out his mother's chair and Ham
politely helped Marjorie into hers.
It was all very interesting to the little girl, and when Mrs. Noah looked
over at her and said, in a motherly way, "I always wanted a little girl of
my own," Marjorie felt quite at home.
"Thank you, ma'am," she said, "but I think you have very nice boys!"
After the supper table was cleared and the dishes washed, Mrs. Noah and
Marjorie went up on deck, where they found Capt. Noah contentedly smoking
his pipe. The three boys were having a merry time with the little dog. The
rain had stopped and the sky was full of stars.
"I don't know how much of a rainfall we have had this time," said Capt.
Noah, "but it must have been pretty heavy, for there seems to be as much
water around as there was when it rained for 40 days and 40 nights."
And then, all of a sudden, a harsh, grating noise was heard and everybody
jumped up. "Have we struck a rock?" inquired Mrs. Noah anxiously.
"I don't know," answered Capt. Noah, peering over the side. "I can't see
bottom."
Suddenly the Ark stopped altogether.
"Guess we're aground now, all right," said Japheth. "It's too dark to tell
much about it, though."
"No, it isn't!" cried a deep, gurgling voice, and their astonished eyes
saw the head of a whale rise above the bow.
"I have a passenger for you," continued the whale. "He doesn't like his
present mode of travel, so I'm going to ship him over to you."
"How do you know we want him?" inquired Capt. Noah, going forward to
investigate. "We have a pretty full house as things are. And, besides, he
might be a Jonah."
"That's just who he is!" spouted the whale, with a gleeful gurgle, and
before any one could say "Jack Robinson!" Mr. Jonah appeared upon the deck
of the Ark, and with a swish of his great tail the whale disappeared in
the darkness.
"Sorry if I am intruding," said Mr. Jonah apologetically, "but the truth
is it was so dark and uncomfortable inside that whale that I would have
had nervous prostration had I been obliged to remain there another
minute."
"Well," said Mrs. Noah, slowly, looking Mr. Jonah over and seeing that he
wasn't such a bad looking person, 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.]