“Hello, Noah!” croaked a brilliantly colored parrot, fluttering on her perch. “You old rascal! Polly wants a slug o’ rum!”
Noah glanced quickly at the girls. “I am humble and ashamed,” he apologized. “But the bird means no evil. I bought her of a sailor, who, I fear had wandered from the ways of righteousness.”
Placing a drink of water near the parrot, the old man directed attention to a cage containing a pair of doves.
“When the flood waters recede, I shall send these birds forth from a window of the ark,” he explained. “If they return with a branch of a bush or any green thing, then I shall know that the Lord no longer is angry.”
“How long do you imagine it will rain?” Louise asked absently, staring out the little round window.
“Forty days and forty nights,” answered Old Noah. Taking a bag of seed, he began to feed the chirping birds. “While your stay here may be somewhat confining, you will find my ark sturdy and snug.”
“Our stay here,” Louise echoed hollowly.
Penny gave her a little pinch and said to Old Noah, “We appreciate your hospitality and will be happy to remain until the rain slackens. But where are your living quarters?”
“On the third floor. First, before I conduct you there, I will throw out a few bottles. Although the fatal hour is near at hand, a number of persons may yet read my message and seek refuge in time to be saved.”
While the girls watched with deep interest, Old Noah moved to the porthole. Opening it, he tossed into the muddy waters a half dozen corked bottles which he selected from a basket beneath the window.