“If I could catch a bullfrog I’d be tempted to eat him raw,” Penny remarked sadly. “How about chasing up to the ark? Noah might give us a nibble of something.”
“Dare we go away and leave the boat?”
“Oh, it’s safe enough for a few minutes,” Penny returned. “The idea of staying here wasn’t such a good one anyhow. What if those men should never come back?”
“This is a fine time to be thinking of that possibility!”
Moving quietly through the woods, the girls came to the ark. They could hear the hens cackling, and as they called Old Noah’s name, the parrot answered, squawking: “Polly wants a cracker.”
“You’ve got nothing on me, Polly,” said Penny. “Where’s your master?”
The old ark keeper was nowhere in evidence. Nor were the girls able to board the boat, for the gangplank had been removed.
“Now if this isn’t a situation!” Penny exclaimed, exasperated. “It looks as if we’re going to starve to death.”
After lingering about the ark for a few minutes, they returned to their former hiding place. By this time they were so sorry for themselves that they could think of nothing but their discomfort. Belatedly, they recalled that Sara had smiled as she went away.
“She knew what we were up against staying here!” Penny declared. “Figured us for a couple of softies, I bet!”