"Oh, there are plenty of rooms," said Mr. Bobbsey. "Let's go up on deck and—-"
He stopped suddenly, and seemed to be listening.
"What is it?" asked his wife.
"There seems to be some one on this boat beside ourselves," answered
Mr. Bobbsey. "I'll go look."
CHAPTER V
THE STRANGE BOY
The Bobbsey twins looked at one another, and then at their mother, as Mr. Bobbsey went out of the living room of the houseboat, toward the stairway that led up on deck.
Bert tried to look brave, and as though he did not care. Nan moved a little closer to her mother. As for Flossie, she, too, was a little frightened, but Freddie did not seem at all alarmed.
"Is it somebody come to take the boat away from us?" he asked in his high-pitched, childish voice. "If it is—don't let 'em, papa."
They all laughed at this—even Mr. Bobbsey, and he turned to look around, half way up the stairs, saying: