"I'm sure I don't know," answered the Weathercock. "I'll have to get some woolen socks and a pair of felt shoes or my toes will be frostbitten!"
"Perhaps Mrs. Noah will knit you a pair," said Marjorie. "I'm going down to breakfast now and I'll speak to her about it."
"Thank you," replied the Weathercock. "And tell her I wouldn't mind having a worsted muffler, too."
Down below matters were even worse, for the fresh water had frozen during the night, so that it was impossible to give the animals a drink.
Mrs. Noah had been forced to melt a piece of ice in a pan over the fire in order to have water with which to make the coffee.
"Whew!" exclaimed Capt. Noah, coming in from deck and closing the door as quickly as possible. "My hands are almost frozen. This is as bad as a trip to the North Pole. Perhaps worse, for we are totally unprepared for this kind of weather."
Just then Mr. Jonah and the boys came in, rubbing their hands and stamping their feet to keep warm.
"Merry Christmas!" laughed Ham, "the skating's fine out on the ice floe!"
"How jolly!" cried Marjorie. "Let's go skating after breakfast!"
"No, sir-e-e," said Capt. Noah. "The boys must help me float the Ark. One of the rubber-tired wheels is crushed and it will take a lot of hard work to get her off."