But on board a ship, especially on a steamer, there are many noises made by the machinery. So the voice of the little boy was not heard above these sounds. Shut up as he was in a pantry some distance away from the dining saloon, Bunny’s voice did not carry very far. No one heard him calling.
By this time Mr. and Mrs. Brown were getting very much worried because Bunny could not be found, and when one after another of the men about the ship came back from different places where they had looked to report that nothing had been seen of the little fellow, Mrs. Brown was almost ready to cry and Sue’s lips were quivering.
Just then the dining-room steward, to whom Bunny had appealed for a cookie, came into the saloon. He had been in another part of the ship, having gone there soon after he had sent Bunny to the pantry steward; so this man from the dining room, whose name was Peter Wynn, did not know Bunny was lost until coming back on duty again.
“What’s that?” cried Mr. Wynn. “Bunny Brown gone? Why, he was here when I was setting my tables.”
“Where did he go?” asked Mr. Brown.
“I sent him to Jobson,” was the answer. “The little lad wanted a cookie. I didn’t have any, but I knew Jobson was in the storeroom getting out some packages of cakes and biscuits. So I sent Bunny there.”
No one had thought of the pantry, but as soon as Mr. Wynn spoke of it a hurried trip was made to the place. As Mr. and Mrs. Brown and some of the ship’s officers came to the corridor outside the pantry, they heard Bunny shouting:
“Let me out! Please let me out! I don’t want to stay here!”
“We’re coming, Bunny! We’re here! We’re going to let you out!” cried Sue, for she had followed to see what had happened to her brother.
It took only a second for one of the men who knew how to open the pantry, and then Bunny, with tears on his cheeks, stepped outside.