"Don't stop squirting water," said Capt. Noah to the Elephants. "On with the pail brigade!" screamed Ham. And then the monkeys slid down from the roof and grabbed hold of the pails and threw water down the hold. But still the cruel flames crept nearer and nearer. "Oh, dear!" sighed Mrs. Noah. "I'm afraid my sealskin coat will get singed, and after all the trouble I've had putting it up in camphor." And then, all of a sudden, a tremendous stream of water fell upon the Ark, soaking every one to the skin. And soon the deck was a river, and the steam that came out of the hold almost suffocated everybody. "Goodness me!" screamed Mrs. Noah. "We'll be swamped!" "Hold on, there," shouted Capt. Noah, leaning over the side of the Ark, where the Whale lay like a fire patrol boat in action. "Hold on! Turn off the hose, or you'll drown us!" So the good-natured Whale shut off the water, while Capt. Noah added: "A Turkish bath has nothing on this!" "It was awfully kind of you to come to our rescue," said Mrs. Noah, smiling sweetly at the Whale as she leaned over the railing. "Well, if you hadn't come just when you did," said Capt. Noah, "I guess we'd all have gone down to Davey Jones' locker." "Don't mention it," said the Whale. "Glad to have been able to do you a little favor. You see," he added in a low voice, "Mr. Jonah was never satisfied when he was my guest. He was always complaining about the dampness. So when you came along and I had a chance to put him aboard the Ark I was tickled to death. In fact, I was so glad to get rid of my passenger that I made up this little poem," and then the Whale began to spout: "It's not so very pleasant, when sailing on the sea, To have a passenger aboard who's sulky as can be; And that's the reason, after dark, I landed him aboard the Ark." And after that he swam away, and the Ark began once more to skim over the dark blue sea. And by and by, after a while, Capt. Noah said: "We'll have to make new bunks and berths for the animals, I guess, for the fire has burned up everything." And, oh, dear me! When he went below he saw that everything was burned to a cinder. "We'll have to land somewhere and make repairs," said Mr. Jonah. "I guess we will," said Capt. Noah, and all the animals began to howl and make dreadful noises, for they didn't want to go down in the smoky hold, you see. And just then all of a sudden the Weathercock called out: "Land to starboard!" And, sure enough, looming up in the dim distance was a mountainous shore line. [Illustration: The Squirrel came aboard with a bag of nuts.] REPAIRS Ahoy, ahoy, Mount Ararat, Now we know where we are at. Run the Ark up high and dry, Close against the bright blue sky. "Not a bit of it!" shouted Capt. Noah, looking up at the Weathercock, "I don't propose to take any chances running up that mountain side. Suppose our motor gave out? We'd be in a nice fix. We'll run up on the shore and heave to."