Last week, Joe had a strange dream.
The door to Joe's cabin began to open slowly. A faint stream of from the storm-lantern fell across the bed opposite his. He was about to ask what all the noise was about as he propped himself up in bed on one elbow. Then Joe noticed the face of a young girl. She lay in the lower-bunk, across from his, clutching a white frilly parasol. The girl held one of her fingers to her lips indicting that she wanted him to remain silent.
The woman knocked on Joe's cabin door. "Emily?" she asked, as she poked her nose through the partially open door way.
"Ma'am," said Anders, who was now also standing outside the door, "this is the deck-hands' cabin. There won't be anyone home. Everyone's gone ashore. Let's try down at the end of the hallway. There seems to be some light down there."
"This is terrible," complained Mrs. Munshaw. "It's so dark down here." She turned and let Anders pass by with a second lantern.
"Down this way Ma'am," he said. The steward and the lady walked off down the passage-way. When Joe's cabin became dark once again he struggled to find his little box of matches. As soon as he had struck a match, he held it out towards the girl. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm hiding," said the girl. "We sure fooled them. Where's your lantern? It's very dark in this room."
"There's no lantern," answered Joe. "Are you hiding from that lady?" The match had burnt out making the cabin black again.
Yes," said the girl, "that's my Mama. I came down here to go exploring. I must have fallen asleep. My name's Emily Munshaw. What's your name?"
"I'm Joe," he said, as he struck another wooden match and then added, "Joe Caribou."
"Well, that's a strange name," said the girl still holding her umbrella with both hands.
Joe was about to light another match when he heard Emily's mother and old Anders coming back down the hall.
"There's one place we haven't looked," said Anders. "If young Emily's not in the life boats, we'll have to form a search party as soon as the crew arrives back on board." Mrs. Munshaw followed Anders up the stair-case and soon the sound of their voices had faded away.
"Why are you hiding, Emily?" asked Joe, as he lit a third match. The girl had disappeared.
In the next episode, MEAN MAMA MUNSHAW,
Mrs. Munshaw continues to search for her daughter on board the B.C. Express.
