"Hardly on a visit," replied Mr. Armitage, and he indicated the nature of the business that brought him and six Sea Scouts to Oxford.
"I rather envy you," said Mr. Jackson. "I know the boat. However, I suppose you want to be getting on."
"We shall be delighted if, to-morrow afternoon, your troop will take us in hand," remarked Mr. Armitage. "We want to make the best of the opportunity and see the sights, and I quite realize that your suggestion offers the best solution to the question of what to and what not to see."
A little later on, as the Sea Scouts were crossing Folly Bridge, they had their first view of the Olivette—that being the name painted on the bows of the 50-footer.
She was lying alongside a floating stage, just below the bridge, and, if the truth be told, the Olivette was not at all the type of boat Mr. Armitage and his troop had expected to find.
Closer acquaintance showed that she was 54 feet in length with a beam of 12 feet. She drew 3 feet 4 inches aft—dimensions that were rather excessive for the upper Thames.
"Why, she's a tug, sir!" exclaimed Stratton, pointing to a massive beam at the after end of the coach-roof, in the centre of which was a strong, swivelled towing-hook.
"Apparently," agreed the Scoutmaster. "At any rate she's strongly built, and has a terrifically big rubbing strake. She'll stand some knocking about."
"She's more like a sea-going boat," remarked Roche. "She's different from all the other steamers and motor-launches about here."
"I'd like to take her to sea," observed Mr. Armitage. "Let's get on board, and see what she's like down below."