"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 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 it over.
"Well, perhaps they are," she said by and by. "I never thought of it in
just that way. I'm afraid I've always thought them mischievous."
"What time shall we have the circus?" asked Ham.
"Not too soon after breakfast," said Capt. Noah. "I don't want any sick
animals aboard."
"We'll be careful," said Japheth. "Let's go to bed now so as to wake up
bright and early to-morrow."
[Illustration: The Laughing Hyena had to be put to bed for fear she would
laugh herself to death.]