"The Thames!" exclaimed Roche. "Why, it's quite narrow. If we wanted to turn the boat round we wouldn't have room."
"I think so," corrected the Scoutmaster. "Viewed from a height it looks narrower than it actually is. We'll cross it several times before we get to Oxford."
"I wonder what sort of motor the boat has," remarked Roche.
"Mr. Murgatroyd gave no details," replied the Scoutmaster. "It's probably a well-known one. I don't think it ought to be beyond you."
Already the Sea Scouts had a good theoretical and practical knowledge of marine motors; Roche, Flemming, and Woodleigh showing quite good promise in that direction. They had the instinctive gift for locating troubles in internal-combustion engines, and not once but many times, during their short cruises on the Solent, they had assisted amateur yachtsmen whose motors had proved refractory.
Upon arriving at Oxford, the party hired a somewhat decrepit horse and cab to take their gear down to the river. The Scouts decided to walk. For one thing, it was a change after being in a railway carriage for the best part of four hours; for another, it enabled them to get a better view of the city.
"We shan't see many of the colleges," observed Mr. Armitage. "They lie, for the most part, in the north-eastern and south-eastern portions of the city. We'll have to visit them later."
"Rather a difference from Milford," declared Hepburn, as the Sea Scouts threaded their way through the crowds in Carfax. "Jolly fine old place, eh, what?"
Just then a tall, bronze-complexioned man of about thirty stopped Mr. Armitage, and extended his left hand true scout fashion.
"Excuse me, sir," he exclaimed, "but Sea Scouts are not often seen here, although I believe they are 'common objects by the seaside'. My name's Jackson, not that that will interest you, but it is the usual thing to give it. I'm Scoutmaster of one of the Oxford troops. I thought, perhaps, that you are on a visit; in which case my fellows could show you round."