He had a sister, but left her at home." "You can thank your lucky stars he did.

If she'd seen your weary, coal-covered visage, you could not even have been a brother to her," interrupted "Hay." "I guess you're right," responded "Stump," with an appreciative grin.
"Anyhow, she did not come.

So when her brother got home she plied him with questions--this he wrote me afterwards--wanted to know how I looked, asked what the ship was like, inquired about our food, and then she questioned him about my stateroom.

Was it prettily decorated?
Whose photograph occupied the place of honor on my dressing table?
"Billy, my friend," explained "Stump," "is a facetious sort of chap, so he told her that of course such a large crew could not _all_ have staterooms, but _I_ had a very nice one, that could be folded when not in use, and put to one side out of the way.

It was made of canvas, he said, so constructed that it would always swing with the ship, and so keep upright in a rolling sea.
"She listened intently, and finally broke out enthusiastically: 'How nice!' "Billy almost had a fit at that, and I nearly had, when I read his letter." We all laughed heartily and trooped below to enjoy a few hours' sleep in our "folding staterooms." The next day dawned bright and clear, and warm; with nothing to remind us of the storm of the night before except the seedy look on the faces of some of the "heroes" who were prone to seasickness.
The sun had not been up many hours when the masthead lookout shouted, "Sail ho!" To which the officer of the deck replied, "Where away ?" "Dead ahead, sir.