114 “COME DUCK SHOOTING WITH ME” 
“where would Noah get any raw meat in the Ark? He 
only had two of each kind of animal and he could not 
possibly kill those.’ 
‘“““Keep silence now, young man,’ said Captain 
Spooner sternly, ‘but ask all the questions you wish after 
my historical story is ended.’ Then continuing, he said 
the feathered tribe being lighter in weight were in coops 
forward on the upper deck. Aft there were twenty tons 
of gravel, some of which was placed in each coop every 
day to help the birds’ digestion. Shem and his two 
children Joseph and Mary took care of the birds. It 
happened that Shem had a terrible attack of lumbago, 
and after drinking a cup of hot peppermint tea, Shem 
went to bed, leaving his two children in charge of the 
birds for the day. Joseph was fishing off the lower deck 
of the Ark when Mary called to him to come up and help 
mix feed for the birds. Joseph called back, ‘In a min- 
ute.’ Mary was mixing up a lot of cracked corn and 
bran with hot water when Joseph called, ‘Come here 
quick, Mary.’ Mary dropped her work and rushed down. 
A big fish had taken Joseph’s bait and the line was cutting 
through the water in all directions. The line was taut 
and justhumming. Joseph was hanging on but the line 
was beginning to slip through his fingers. Mary caught 
hold of the line and together they held it pretty steady. 
“““Will he straighten out your hook, Joseph?’ asked 
Mary. 
‘“““No, the hook’s all right,’ replied Joseph. ‘It’s all 
steel. I bought it at the gunstore of Lycurgus Cesar 
in Gomorrah. It’s the line I’m afraid of.’ Just as he 
spoke the line parted and both Mary and Joseph almost 
fellbackwards. Joseph got up and pulled in the broken 
line, muttering to himself, ‘I'll get that goshdinged fish 
yet, see if I don’t!’ 
