At this outbreak the crowd again shouted with laughter, and went on laughing still more when Noah put his hands to his ears, moaning and complaining. By degrees, however, as the flood was supposed to rise higher and higher, he and his wife were quieted.
“Over the land the water spreads! (Noah explained.)
Now all this world is in a flood,
As I see well in sight,
This window will I close anon,
And into my chamber will I gone.”
The children eagerly watched him as, one after one, he closed the windows of the ark, shutting in all the little company of people and all the beasts and birds that were to be saved.
“Now you must imagine that the ark is floating on the water!” said Master Gyseburn, smiling at Colin and Margery, who found no difficulty at all in doing so. “The windows will be shut for a little while, and we have to pretend that forty days have passed before Noah opens them again. Soon we shall hear him singing, and then we shall see him once more.”
In a few moments, indeed, voices were heard within the ark, upraised in a psalm of praise; and when it was ended the windows were slowly slipped back, and at one of them stood Noah, a leaden weight fastened to a long cord in his hand.
“What’s that for?” asked Colin. “What is he going to do?”