"We'd better set about it as soon as possible," said Mr. Jonah, after Capt. Noah had made an inspection. "Some of the animals are nearly perishing with the cold. The monkeys are rolled up so tight you'd think they were fur balls. Only the polar bears seem to enjoy life, and they are just crazy to take a run on the ice."
"Let them wait," said Capt. Noah; "we have more serious things to attend to than pleasure for the moment."
"Well, come and get a good hot breakfast first," said Mrs. Noah, bringing in the steaming coffee pot and a plate of hot corn muffins. "After breakfast you'll all feel differently."
This was, indeed, good advice, and when breakfast was over Capt. Noah said, "Get the crowbar and the wooden rollers, Japheth. We'll see if we can't start the old Ark moving. Maybe she's stuck too deep in the ice, but we'll try, at any rate."
"Here, my little girl," said kind Mrs. Noah to Marjorie, "put on this muffler if you're going out. It's pretty cold."
So Marjorie tied the warm muffler around her neck and stepped out on deck.
A beautiful sight met her eyes. Towering high above was a mountain of glittering ice, while as far as the eye could reach was a field of ice and snow.
Under the rays of the morning sun parts of the great berg glittered like a rainbow.
It was so cold that Marjorie had to jump up and down to keep her toes from freezing.
Down on the ice, close to the Ark, Capt. Noah and his crew were busily at work. One of the auto wheels had sunk deep into the ice and acted like an anchor. The other wheels also were embedded in the ice so that the Ark was held as if in a vise.