"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 weatherc.o.c.k. "So you might just as well hand it over to me."
"My, how curious you are!" laughed Marjorie.
"You"d be, too," answered the weatherc.o.c.k, "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."
"h.e.l.lo!" 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 j.a.pheth.
"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 j.a.pheth. "Let"s go to bed now so as to wake up bright and early to-morrow."
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Laughing Hyena had to be put to bed for fear she would laugh herself to death.]
THE CIRCUS
The ark goes sailing down the bay Upon the rushing tide; And the circus will commence to-day With the animals safe inside.
This is the song the weatherc.o.c.k sang early the next morning.
Marjorie rubbed her eyes, and then jumped out of bed and looked out of the window.
"Good morning," she said to the merry gilt rooster, "it"s a fine day for the circus. That was a pretty verse you just sang. Did you make it up?"
"Oh, yes," said the weatherc.o.c.k proudly. "Just couldn"t help it, you know.
The circus doesn"t come to town every day in the week."
Well, after that, Marjorie hurried down to the breakfast table, where she found Mr. Jonah seated with the rest of the family.
She had forgotten all about him, and so had I and maybe you have too, for you see, Mr. Jonah hadn"t been feeling very well and had remained in his cabin since the day he"d left the whale.
"It"s certainly a relief to be once more at a breakfast table," he said.
"Traveling inside a whale is like sailing in a submarine. Although a whale is supposed to be neutral, nevertheless, I was frightened to death for fear we might be torpedoed!"
"Yes, indeed," sighed Mrs. Noah, "these awful times one isn"t safe anywhere."
"That"s right," exclaimed Capt. Noah, "we must keep a sharp lookout.
There"s no telling how soon we may be in the war zone, and I am responsible for the safety of all my pa.s.sengers!"
And just then the Weatherc.o.c.k shouted something which sounded very much like "Periscope!"
Well, you can imagine how excited everybody was after that.
"Where away?" asked Capt. Noah.
"Dead ahead," screamed the Weatherc.o.c.k.
Instantly all eyes were turned in that direction.