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."