'In my ark,' said Mr. Noah, 'buns were unknown and bears were fed entirely on honey, the providing of which kept our pair of bees fully employed. But if you are sure bears _like_ buns we must always be humane, dear Lucy, and study the natural taste of the animals in our charge.' 'They love them,' said Lucy. 'Buns and honey,' said the Lord Islander; 'and what about bats?' 'I don't know what bats eat,' said Mr. Noah; 'I believe it was settled after some discussion that they don't eat cats. But what they _do_ eat is one of the eleven mysteries. You had better let the bats fast.' 'They _are_, sir,' said the Lord High Islander. 'And is all going well? Shall I come down and lend a personal eye?' 'I think I'm managing all right, sir,' said the Lord High Islander modestly. 'You see it's a great honour for me. The M.A.'s are carrying in the provisions, the boys are stowing them and also herding the beasts. They are very good workers, sir.' 'Are you frightened?' Lucy whispered, as he turned to go back to his overseeing. [Illustration: A long procession toiled slowly up it of animals in pairs.] 'Not I,' said the Lord High Islander. 'Don't you understand that I've been promoted to be Lord Vice-Noah of Polistarchia? And of course the hearts of all Vice-Noahs are strangers to fear. But just think what a difficult thing Fear would have been to be a stranger to if you and Philip hadn't got us the ark!' 'It was Philip's doing,' said Lucy; 'oh, _do_ you think he's all right?' 'I think his heart is a stranger to fear, naturally,' said the Lord High Islander, 'so he's certain to be all right.' When the last of the animals had sniffed and snivelled its way into the ark--it was a porcupine with a cold in its head--the islanders, the M.A.'s, Lucy and Mr. Noah followed. And when every one was in, the door of the ark was shut from inside by an ingenious mechanical contrivance worked by a more than usually intelligent M.A. You must not suppose that the inside of the ark was anything like the inside of your own Noah's ark, where all the animals are put in anyhow, all mixed together and wrong way up as likely as not. That, with live animals and live people, would, as you will readily imagine, be quite uncomfortable. The inside of the ark which had been built under the direction of Mr. Noah and Mr. Perrin was not at all like that. It was more like the inside of a big Atlantic liner than anything else I can think of. All the animals were stowed away in suitable stalls, and there were delightful cabins for all those for whom cabins were suitable. The islanders and the M.A.'s retired to their cabins in perfect order, and Lucy and Mr. Noah, Mr. Perrin and the Lord High Islander gathered in the saloon, which was large and had walls and doors of inlaid mother-of-pearl and pink coral. It was lighted by glass globes filled with phosphorus collected by an ingenious process invented by another of the M.A.'s.