"Mercy!" cried Mrs. Noah.
"Don"t worry," whispered Capt. Noah. "I"ll borrow the money from Mr.
Jonah."
Mr. Jonah was very obliging and lent the money, saying he had had no chance to spend a cent while he was aboard the whale.
"Now, where shall I put the money?" asked Capt. Noah.
"In the little box back of me," replied the Megaphone. And as soon as the money was dropped in the Megaphone shouted: "The prisoner is discharged!"
"Prisoner!" shouted Capt. Noah, as mad as a hornet. "How dare you call me a prisoner!"
But before he had time to say another word the Arkmobile started off and the Megaphone was left behind.
"Jehosaphat!" exclaimed Capt. Noah, wiping the perspiration from his forehead with his red bordered handkerchief. "Bad enough to be robbed of $15, but to be called a "prisoner"--well, that does make me angry."
"Never mind, my dear," said Mrs. Noah, soothingly. "All"s well that ends well. Just think, if we hadn"t been able to borrow that $15, we"d have spent fifteen days in jail!"
And then, all of a sudden the Weatherc.o.c.k shouted: "Everybody in the cabin! Water dead ahead!"
My goodness me! you should have seen the animals pull their heads in through the portholes. Poor Mrs. Giraffe didn"t get hers inside in time and her bonnet got soaking wet, for as soon as the Ark struck the water the spray flew here and there and everywhere and the deck was flooded ankle deep.
But the Ark was a st.u.r.dy craft, and as soon as it once more felt the ocean beneath it, rode the waves as gracefully as a swan.
"I guess we won"t be fined for speeding now," laughed Marjorie, and in the next chapter you shall hear what further adventures she had aboard this wonderful Noah"s Ark.
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Weatherc.o.c.k called out that he could see the little red Ant on the life-preserver.]
MAN OVERBOARD
Wake up! Wake up! and sing your song As we roll merrily along.
Above the meadow sings the lark, So let us sing aboard the Ark.
"There goes the Weatherc.o.c.k," cooed the Dove, flying over to the porthole and looking out over the bright blue ocean.
"Tell him I"ll get up in a minute," yawned Marjorie.
So the Dove, who slept in Marjorie"s cabin in a pretty gilt cage, spoke to the Weatherc.o.c.k, after which she commenced to sing:
There"s a robin in the woodland, There"s a robin in the sea, But they are just as different As different can be.
The one that"s in the forest Has feathers and a tail; The one that"s in the ocean Has a scaly coat of mail.
The robin in the forest Could never take a swim; The robin of the ocean Could never fly or skim
Across a gra.s.sy meadow, Nor fly up in a tree.
But he can do all kinds of stunts Within the deep blue sea.
"Where did you learn all that?" asked Marjorie, pulling on her stockings.
"Listen; there"s another verse and maybe two or three," cooed the Dove, and then she began to sing again:
The robin of the woodland Has a pretty crimson vest; He sings a merry, blithesome song And builds a cozy nest.
The robin of the ocean Has fins that look like wings.
He doesn"t build a nest at all, He grunts, but never sings.
Yet both of them are robins, As some of us have heard-- Although the ocean one"s a fish, The woodland one"s a bird.
"c.o.c.k-a-doodle-do!" crowed the Weatherc.o.c.k, as the Dove finished her song.
"Hurrah for you! You are the poet of the Ark."
"Oh, no!" replied the modest little Dove. "That is not my own. My mother taught me that song when I was a Dovelet."
"Is that so?" said the Weatherc.o.c.k, and he gave a sigh of relief, for I guess he wanted to be the only poet on board the Ark and sing his little songs every morning just as he had always done.
By this time Marjorie was dressed and, taking the Dove on her shoulder, went down to the diningroom. As usual, the Noah boys were on hand with great and glorious appet.i.tes.
"How are the animals this morning?" inquired Capt. Noah, helping himself to a big saucer of oatmeal.
"Pretty well," answered j.a.pheth.
"Some of the insects are getting restless," said Ham.
"I should say so," exclaimed Mrs. Noah. "Here"s that big red Ant in the sugar bowl."
"Catch him," cried Shem, "we ought to put him back where he belongs.""
But the Ant all of a sudden crawled out of the sugar bowl and ran down the leg of the table and out on deck.
"There he goes!" shouted Marjorie.
"Quick, or he"ll get away!" cried Capt. Noah. "I can"t afford to lose a single pa.s.senger!" Instantly the boys darted after the fleeing insect, but just as they were about to s.n.a.t.c.h him up from the deck a wave washed him overboard.
"Man overboard!" shouted the Weatherc.o.c.k.
And, my goodness! What a commotion there was after that! All the animals rushed up on deck to see who had fallen into the ocean.
"Throw him a life-preserver!" yelled Mr. Jonah, and in a second Ham unfastened a large "horsecollar" life-preserver and tossed it into the ocean.
"Suppose he can"t reach it," said the elephant. "I guess I"d better jump in and save him," and overboard went the big animal with a loud splash.
"Where is he?" asked the Elephant, after looking around in vain for the Ant. "I can"t see him!"