Michael’s Ark

“Dreamer,” Mike said carefully, “Could you help me?”

Camel raised his left eyebrow and studied Mike.

“How can I help you, my young friend?” Camel asked.

“Are you the ship of the desert?” Mike obliquely suggested.

“That is how our proud tribe is sometimes described!” Camel agreed.

“And the bottom here looks like the desert, doesn’t it?” Mike said.

Camel laid back his ears, chewed his lip and wiggled his brows, grumbling:

“I have laid aside the labours of a beast of burden[79 - An animal that carries things on its back.] in order to devote my life to intellectual pursuits for some time now.”

“Please carry me to the ship and back, please!” Mike asked.

Camel sighed deeply and dropped to his knees.

“All right, climb on!” he said. “But remember, my young friend, that I am a dromedary, not a Bactrian camel[80 - “Dromedaries” are one-humped camels that live in the Middle East and Africa. “Bactrian Camels” are two-humped camels that live in Central Asia], so try not to slide down on my head!”

Camel worked his way across the ocean bottom toward the ship. Mike had never ridden on the back of a camel, and it wasn’t comfortable. He laid his stomach on the hump so as not to slide down on Camel’s neck, and he started looking down. The exposed ocean floor was teeming with life. Bug-eyed little crabs swarmed around in the mud and fish swam in the puddles, and on the rocks seagulls were perched, springing up right under Camel’s hooves.

Camel plodded on silently, only grunting when Mike fidgeted on his back.

After five minutes they made it to the ship.

“Let’s check to see if there are any holes in the hull,” Mike suggested.

They walked around the ship. Fortunately, the sea bottom at that spot was fairly even, without any stones. The starboard side was fully visible, but the port side was sunk in sea mud.

“The likelihood of penetration appears to me to be minimal![81 - There were no holes in the ship.]” Camel said. “However, my young friend, enough riding on my hump. Climb aboard the ship!”

Mike looked around and noticed that the rope ladder had disappeared. Apparently Moosie had pulled it up.

“Moosie!” Mike called, “let down the ladder for me!”

He waited a bit, but Moosie didn’t appear on deck.

“He’s probably asleep,” Mike thought, pulling a pistol from his pocket and tapping on the hull with the handle.

The sound echoed around the gulf. And then there was silence. Not a rustle or a murmur was heard on the Ark.

“It would appear that our antlered friend has hoofed it!” Camel said.

Mike cried as loud as he could:

“Moose, I know you’re in there! Drop the ladder or else we’re sailing away!”

The clopping of hooves was heard from the depths of the ship. Slipping along the listing deck, Moosie managed with great difficulty to reach the edge and hold on to the railing with his nose. He was terrified. His horns and ears hung at different angles, while the crest on his head was all knotted and twisted. “H-how can you sail away?” Moosie stammered. We can’t sail anywhere! The sea is all dried up, and the boat is gone all sideways.”

“Gone all sideways…” Mike taunted. “Throw down the ladder!”

Moosie looked around, but didn’t go for the ladder.

“Where’s Wolf?” Moosie asked, hiding behind the railing. “Was he the one howling all night on the shore?”

“My antlered friend”, Camel said to Moosie, “May we please postpone this narrative for a more opportune time?[82 - “Can we please talk about it later?”] If you please, help my young friend climb aboard!”

Moosie took the end of the rope ladder in his teeth and threw it over the side. The ladder fell on Mike’s head and painfully whipped his face.

“Moosie! Can’t you watch what you’re doing?” Mike cried.

There was no response, and Mike climbed up.

When he finally was on deck, he saw that Moosie had disappeared again.

“I hurt his feelings!” Mike thought, immediately regretting that he had yelled at his friend.

However, there was no time for apologies. Walking along the listing deck turned out to be very difficult; you could fall down and go over the side at any time. Grabbing on to the railing, Mike got hold of a mooring line, worked it into a circle and hung it around his neck. Going back with the line looped around his neck was even harder. Fortunately, Camel was standing under the rope ladder, just as before.

“Well, Dreamer, shall we go back? You’re not too tired?” Mike tried to cheer up his means of transportation.

“That is of no significance!” Camel dignifiedly observed. “As the great commanders would say, ‘Gaudet patientia duris!’ which in the Latin means ‘Patience rejoices in adversity!’ Let’s be off!”

They were back on the shore next to Wolf’s hole in twenty minutes.

Wolf had recovered somewhat; he didn’t howl any more, he just cursed.

“We’ll get you out now, Wolfie!” Mike cried happily. “We brought a rope.”

“It’s not a rope, it’s a line![83 - On a ship, a “line’ is made out of nylon. A “rope’ is made out of wire.]” Wolf growled.

It was time to start the rescue operation. Mike tied one end of the line to Camel, and dropped the other carefully into the crevice.

“Okay, Wolf, wrap the line around you!” Mike cried. “We’ll pull you out now.”

Wolf tied the line around his waist, and then took it in his teeth.

“Okay!” Mike called to Camel. “Pull!”

Camel walked along the shore, moving away from the hole. The line took a strain, but immediately hung up by a rock on the edge of the hole and got stuck. Mike tried to work it loose, but he wasn’t strong enough.

“Halt!” Mike cried. “This won’t work.”

Camel took a step back, and Wolf plopped down on the bottom of the hole.

The friction is preventing any movement,” Camel observed. “We need to somehow enhance the lubricity of the line.”