eally _was_, now, rather like what you imagine the inside of your
Noah's ark must be when you put in Mr. Noah and his family and a few
hastily chosen animals and shake them all up together.)

'It's the sea,' cried the Lord High Islander; 'it's the great Fear come
upon us! And I'm not afraid!' He drew himself up as well as he could in
his cramped position, with Mr. Noah's elbow pinning his shoulder down
and Mr. Perrin's boot on his ear.

With a shake and a shiver the ark righted itself, and the floor of the
saloon got flat again.

'It's all right,' said Mr. Perrin, resuming control of his boot; 'good
workmanship, it do tell. She ain't shipped a drop, Mr. Noah, sir.'

'It's all right,' said Mr. Noah, taking his elbow to himself and
standing up rather shakily on his yellow mat.

'We're afloat, we're afloat
On the dark rolling tide;
The ark's water-tight
And the crew are inside.

'Up, up with the flag
Let it wave o'er the sea;
We're afloat, we're afloat--
And what else should we be?'

'_I_ don't know,' said Lucy; 'but there isn't any flag, is there?'

'The principle's the same,' said Mr. Noah; 'but I'm afraid we didn't
think of a flag.'

'_I_ did,' said Mr. Perrin; 'it's only a Jubilee hankey'--he drew it
slowly from his breast-pocket, a cotton Union Jack it was--'but it shall
wave all right. But not till daylight, I think, sir. Discretion's the
better part of--don't you think, Mr. Noah, sir? Wouldn't do to open the
ark out of hours, so to speak!'

'Just so,' said Mr. Noah. 'One, two, three! Bed!'

The ark swayed easily on a sea not too rough. The saloon passengers
staggered to their cabins. And silence reigned in the ark.

* * * * * *

I am sorry to say that the Pretenderette dropped the wicker cage
containing the parrot into the sea--an unpardonable piece of cruelty and
revenge; unpardonable, that is, unless you consider that she did not
really know any better. The Hippogriff's white wings swept on; Philip,
now laid across the knees of the Pretenderette (a most undignified
attitude for any boy, and I hope none of you may be placed in such a
position), screamed as the cage struck the water, and, 'Oh, Polly!' he
cried.

'All right,' the parrot answered; 'keep your pecker up!'

'What did it say?' the Pretenderette asked.

'Something about peck,' said Philip upside down.