Mr. Jonah, towering above the heads of the tallest animals, including the giraffe, announced that the circus would commence.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "allow me to introduce to you the most wonderful child rider in the world, Marjorie Hall, on her beautiful white horse, Marshmallow. Marjorie, without doubt, is the most daring bareback rider in the universe."
There was a great clapping of hands, hoofs and paws at this announcement, for she had become a great favorite with the Noah"s Ark people.
"Ladies and gentlemen," went on Mr. Noah, "you see before you in Ring No.
2 the most famous wrestlers of the world, Jocko and Monko. In Ring No. 3 is the largest elephant in existence."
While all this was going on the Noah boys had run into the Ark.
Presently they returned, dressed up as clowns, and then the fun commenced.
Ham held up a hoop, which he had carefully covered with tissue paper, and to Mrs. Noah"s amazement Marjorie leaped through it as if she had been a circus bareback rider all her life.
The boys performed marvelous feats of tumbling and jumping, and were so funny that half of the animals nearly split their sides with laughing.
The laughing hyena had to be carried into the Ark and put to bed for fear she would laugh herself to death.
"Well, well," exclaimed Mrs. Noah, when it was all over, "I certainly never enjoyed the circus so much in all my life, not even when I was a little girl."
And that night every one slept like a top, let me tell you, for each one was tired out with the day"s work. Even the weatherc.o.c.k, I think, tucked his head under his gilt wings and snored!
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Megaphone made Captain Noah as mad as a hornet.]
THE MAJESTY OF THE LAW
"Wake up! Wake up! We"re off again, Over hill and over plain!
The Arkmobile on sea or land Can sail away at our command."
Again the Weatherc.o.c.k awoke little Marjorie, on board the Noah"s Ark, where we left her in the last chapter, you remember.
It was the morning after the circus, and she probably would have slept much later had not the faithful bird, as usual, sung his bit of verse.
You see this wonderful Weatherc.o.c.k was just like an alarm clock.
"Where"s the ocean?" asked Marjorie, looking out of the window. "Why, we"re traveling on land!"
"Of course we are," answered the Weatherc.o.c.k. "Didn"t you see the wheels on the bottom of the Ark yesterday?"
"So I did," admitted Marjorie. "I"d forgotten all about them."
"Well, how did you like my poetry? You see, I make up a new verse every morning, so as to be sure to wake you up."
"I think you are a great poet," answered the little girl.
The Weatherc.o.c.k got very red in the gills. I guess that"s the only way he could blush.
So let the rain or sunshine come, Across the land, we"ll swiftly hum, We are prepared for rain or shine, For dusty road or foamy brine.
"Hurrah!" shouted the Elephant from down below. "Bravo, Sir Chanticleer!"
"You"ll have to excuse me now," said Marjorie to the Weatherc.o.c.k, "for I must pull on my shoes and stockings and brush my hair. You don"t have to bother about such things, you know. That"s one advantage of being a weatherc.o.c.k."
After breakfast, as they all sat in the cabin, Capt. Noah remarked: "I"m getting a trifle worried. You see, I can"t tell by the barometer whether the Ark is floating or wheeling. Now, that is rather important. If we keep on in this way I shall have to get a speedometer. It wouldn"t be very nice to be arrested for breaking the speed laws and be locked up in jail."
Mrs. Noah turned pale and the Weatherc.o.c.k shifted about uneasily on the top of the flagpole. "No, indeed," he said, "I don"t want to be a jailbird."
"Well, what"s the best thing to do?" asked Mrs. Noah.
"Count the telegraph poles as we go along," suggested Ham. "I think there are about thirty to a mile, and see how long it takes to pa.s.s them."
"That"s a good idea," said Mr. Jonah, but when they looked out of the portholes they couldn"t find any telegraph poles.
And just then, all of a sudden, a pistol shot rang out clear and loud.
The Arkmobile came to a sudden stop, and a voice outside was heard to exclaim:
"Where"s the chauffeur?"
Capt. Noah rushed up on deck, followed by his family, Mr. Jonah and Marjorie.
"What"s the matter?" asked Capt. Noah, looking about to find the owner of the voice.
"Oh, that"s what they all say!" came the reply. "You know jolly well what"s the matter!"
"Who are you, and where are you?" asked Capt. Noah, vainly trying to find this remarkable person, who seemed to be nothing but a voice.
"Who am I? You"ll find out pretty quick. Where am I? You"d better find that out even quicker!"
Looking up to the Weatherc.o.c.k, Capt. Noah shouted: "Ahoy, there, Lookout!
Who"s delaying us?"
"The Majesty of the Law," came the answering voice again--this time so distinctly that every one turned in the direction from which it came, and then a huge megaphone on the top of a post repeated: "The Majesty of the Law!"
"Well, I"ll be blowed!" exclaimed Capt. Noah.
"You have exceeded the speed limit," said the Megaphone, "and you are fined $15!"
"Oh!" interposed Mrs. Noah. "I"m sure you must be mistaken. I"m sure we were not exceeding it $15 worth."
"So am I!" added Mr. Jonah. "In fact, I didn"t think we were exceeding anything. We were just rolling along, don"t you know, quite comfortably."
"Well, suppose I haven"t the money with me?" asked Capt. Noah.
"Fifteen days in jail," answered the Megaphone.