“And is that the boat we are to take the trip in?” she asked, for the seaman was standing on the deck of a fine motor craft, dark red in color, and with shiny brass rails. A cabin, with white curtains at the portholes, or windows, seemed to offer a good resting place.
“Yes, that’s the Swallow, as Captain Crane calls his boat,” Mr. Bobbsey said.
“She’s a beaut!” exclaimed Bert.
“Come on board! Come on board! Glad to see you!” called the old captain again, as he waved his hand to the Bobbseys.
“Oh, I like him, don’t you?” whispered Nan to Bert.
“Yes,” he replied. “He’s fine; and that’s a dandy boat!”
Indeed the Swallow was a beautiful craft. She was about eighty feet long, and wide enough to give plenty of room on board, and also to be safe in a storm. There was a big cabin “forward,” as the seamen say, or in the front part of the boat, and another “aft,” or at the stern, or back part. This was for the men who looked after the gasolene motor and ran the boat, while the captain and the passengers would live in the front cabin, out of which opened several little staterooms, or places where bunks were built for sleeping.
The Swallow was close to the dock, so one could step right on board without any trouble, and the children were soon standing on the deck, looking about them.
“Oh, I like this!” cried Freddie. “It’s a nicer boat than the Sea Queen!” This was the name of the big steamer on which they had come from New York. “Have you got a fire engine here, Captain?” asked the little Bobbsey twin.
“Oh, yes, we’ve a pump to use in case of fire, but I hope we won’t have any,” the seaman said. “I don’t s’pose you’d call it a fire engine, though, but we couldn’t have that on a motor boat.”