20 THE DO VE.

 The ark was a safe, happy, busy home, and they lived
in it exactly a year.
 Did they know when Sunday came? Yes, indeed,
they had the church in the house, for Noah did not forget
the God whose love preserved them all alive.
 When the waters began to be less, Noah opened the
window and sent out a raven. It flew back and forth,
waiting for the waters to dry up, and looking to find some
dead bird, or bit of food.
 After seven days he sent out a dove, one of the
gentle birds they all loved; she found no place to rest as
she flew over the lonely waters, and she came fluttering and
panting back to the open window, and Noah's kind hand
reached out and pulled her in. In seven days more, the
next Sunday, he sent the dove out again. She spread
her wings and flew far away; when evening came she
flew back to the open window again, bringing in her
mouth a shining, dark green leaf, fresh from an olive-tree.
Then Noah knew the waters were gone, and fields and
trees were green again. He waited until another Sunday
then sent the dove again. Evening came and they
watched and waited for her in vain; she had found a
place to build her nest, and they knew that in some valley
she waited for her mate.
 Soon after this God told Noah to bring his family
and every living thing with him, and go forth out of the
ark.