Previously, Joe met the Captain of the B.C. Express
"But, Sir," explained Joe,"I had a haircut this morning!"
"Don't get impertinent with me, young man," said the captain. "I know a haircut when I see one. Make sure that mop of straw is trimmed by tomorrow. Both the Stewart and the Carpenter cut hair. Ol' Anders will give you a shave you'll long remember. I like to keep a clean ship you know. Is that understood?" Joe nodded. "Now, hurry along and find the Boatswain."
Joe rushed off to start his first day on board the B.C. Express. He soon discovered that two cords of firewood was the main cargo to be loaded onboard the vessel. There were also fourteen passengers from South Fort George and a few mail bags. The passengers were made up of curious travellers and family members visiting the surveyors and engineers at Mile 53. The mail-bags contained correspondence of businesses at Tte Jaune Cache and other tent communities along the Grand Trunk Pacific line and the many workers who were employed by the new railway. Joe noticed one particular wooden box onboard the B.C. Express that Captain Baker later unloaded himself.
The wooden case had been stowed in the Captain's private cabin. The captain waited in the wheel-house for Mr. Bates, Joe's former employer, to appear below on the dock and then he brought down the mysterious box. It may have been a mystery to the rest of the men, but not to Joe. When the captain stepped off the end the gangway onto the Seims- Carey wharf Joe detected the distinct and all too familiar sound of tinkling glass.
"It's a pay-off if I every saw one," thought Joe to himself. Joe had often used a full bottle of whiskey to trade for services. He wondered what the captain would be receiving in exchange for the wooden box. The master of the sternwheeler was only in the shipping office a few minutes when he reappeared and boarded the B.C. Express. "Must be cash-on-the-barrel," thought Joe again when the captain appeared empty-handed.
"All right," called the boatswain to his men, "Let's get moving! There's work to be done! And, for those of you who will be taking shore-leave, no doubt to visit Mile 52 . . . you heard the Captain. Everyone back onboard by midnight!"
In the next episode, Joe meets and begins working with the other crew members. He also gets prepared for the most important order of all, 'FOR AND AFT.'
